19 He will again have compassion on us;
    he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our^[a] sins
    into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19 ESV)

The beauty of the salvation Christ brought to us on the cross is that He has atoned for all of our sins. He has trodden them underfoot and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. What wonderful news if you are a believer.

But this separation from sin does require belief.

And our belief should also separate us from the sinful acts we were practicing before coming to faith.

So this separation is one that while Christ paid for them, is something we must continue to work at in our lives to keep us from repeating. Nothing is left for payment, Christ paid it all. And we cannot do any form of works to forgive ourselves. But we must stay vigilant against the temptations that continue to reside within us or those that come our way from the enemy.

While life will not be free of this tension, all of our sins have been overcome. We must simply put in the work to remain faithful and avoid sinful temptations. We cannot play in the fires of sin and not expect to be burned.

So we can give thanks today for Christ sacrifice and His separation from the wages of sin. But we must remain vigilant.