“For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to
cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.” –
Leviticus 16:30
Where would we be without Jesus? Is there anyone that can bring salvation
other than him? Without Jesus there is
no sacrifice, no atonement, no resurrection, and no Holy Spirit. We are all born into this world sinners
before God, in need of a Savior. We have
on our heads the guilty verdict, because of our sin. We stand condemned because of our wrongful
deeds. Therefore, we need a Savior. We need the blood of Jesus.
When there is a need for atonement; then by
default, there must be an act of wrongdoing.
The scripture tells us that the law was our “schoolmaster to bring us to
Christ.” What an effective teacher it
is! Under the old law, if a man or women
committed sin, they atoned for it by sacrificing a: lamb, goat, dove, etc. The blood that was shed was for atonement for
sins, and it was shed often. Why so
often? Well, because they kept on
sinning. Why did they keep on sinning? The blood could not make the “comers
thereunto perfect.” (Heb 10:1) The blood of animals could not purge the
conscience from “dead works.”
There was an inclination in every man that could not be eradicated; the
stain of sin was too deep for the blood of bulls and goats to cleanse. Therefore, we needed the Lamb of God to
“take away the sin of the world.” We
had to have Jesus’s blood, not just for our unholy actions, but for our unholy
intentions. That carnal seed lodged in
the human heart which produces carnal fruit.
Before Jesus, there was provision made for adultery, fornication,
idolatry, etc. Sins manifested in action
could be cleansed through blood of bulls and goats; however, the stain of sin
on the heart was more stubborn than the manifestations of it (lying, cheating,
stealing, etc.). This stain of sin was
inherited and embedded in the very fabric of our being. For this, no atonement was available before
Jesus. What sorrow those under the old
covenant had to endure! These men and
women had an earnest heart to serve God but found only a defeatist testimony
could be obtained. They would strive
with all their might to do right, but only for a while was this accomplished
before they were overcome by an evil inclination within. No amount of discipline or will power could
combat this monster that lived inside!
By and by they would commit sin, and then, back to the priest they went
with their best goat (and their guilt) in hand.
Now we see our school master teaching us; showing us that atonement is
needed. It is needed for committed sin, and
for the inclination to sin, for the inbred sin.
Now, because of Jesus, we can have fellowship with God. We can be redeemed to a relationship with God
and be one with Him. Jesus’s death
commutes the sentence of death, and His resurrection brings the life; “whereby
the Holy Ghost is a witness unto us.” Without
Jesus, none of this is possible. We need
Jesus. We need His blood to atone for
our sins.
Allow me a word of caution on this point. One might hear this and preach saying Jesus
came and died and took away all sin. This
of course is scripture. They then will
say whatever you do, no matter how vile, your sin is gone because of
Jesus. If you recognize this fact, that
Jesus died for you then you’re “covered by the blood.” Is there a more readily damning theology in
existence? Not only does this fly in the
face of virtually every basic principle to which the Bible counsel’s men to
seek, including the very title itself “Holy Bible”; but and perhaps graver, it
promotes the very thing that Jesus himself died to destroy. “For this purpose the son of God was
manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.”(1 John 3:7-9) The scriptures will plainly bare out that the
blood of Christ is an instrument of eradication, not a merely a blanket of
toleration. Salvation is what it
means. Salvation. Salvation from sin.
