Atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins

Leviticus 16:29-18:30 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

An Annual Atonement

²⁹ “This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; ³⁰ for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. ³¹ It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute. ³² So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on the linen garments, the holy garments, ³³ and make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. ³⁴ Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did…

Laws on Immoral Relations

18 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God. ³ You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. ⁴ You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God. ⁵ So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord…

The book of Leviticus details the law God gave to the Israelites, the regulations they were to live by. It deals with both the way to live to avoid unrighteousness and the sacrifices and offerings which were required to cover sins. Even with all of the guilt offerings and sin offerings and all of the various regulations, in today’s text God sets aside a day each year to cover or atone for the sins of the people.       ^” Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.”   None of these sacrifices, neither the daily, the regular nor this annual atonement actually did away with sin. These sacrifices didn’t change the people. Nothing that man can do can fully pay the price for sin, so the sacrifices needed to be repeated over and over.

In Romans 8:1-4, Paul writes: Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. ³ For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.        The sacrifice of Jesus is different. The cross did not merely cover our sin for a time, rather through the cross Christ provides forgiveness for sin. The law required constant sacrifices to atone for sin. Romans 6:10 says:  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all     Once for all, Jesus sacrifice on the cross was to pay the price for all sin for all people. In Christ our sins, past, present and future are forgiven. Does that mean it no longer matters if we choose to sin today or tomorrow because Christ has already paid the price for that sin? Paul asks the same question in Romans 6:1.    What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?   Paul answers the question in the next verses:   May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  

In 1 John 2:1-2, John writes: My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ² and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.   Jesus Christ is our Advocate, our representative, He is like our attorney, presenting our case to the Father and He, Jesus is the one who paid the price for our sin. When we choose to live in sin, we choose to be our own advocate, we forgo the representation of Christ and we choose to stand before God justifying our selves. In 1814 British scholar and writer Henry Kett wrote “A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client”  What is true in human courts of law is even more true regarding  the eternal judgment of sin and righteousness.

Today’s text in Leviticus continues: Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God. ³ You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. ⁴ You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God. ⁵ So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord…

Jesus sacrifice on the cross paid the price for all sin. The only sin that we cannot be forgiven of through the cross of Christ is the sin we refuse to confess. 1 John 1:9 says:   If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In John 2:3-6, after calling Jesus our Advocate, John says:  By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; ⁵ but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: ⁶ the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.      Jesus Himself is our Advocate, our Savior and Redeemer. Each person has the right to choose to be represented by Christ or to stand on their own. It is not up to any person to determine what is sin, God alone does that and He communicates it through His word. It is not up to any person to judge or convict another person of sin. That too is the job of God alone, through the Holy Spirit. Jesus says:     Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Lord Jesus Christ, my Advocate, my Savior and Redeemer thank You for Your sacrifice on the cross, Your perfect sacrifice to pay the price for sin once for all. Holy Spirit thank You for convicting me of my sin that I might, like the psalmist(in Psalm 51) confess to the Father, I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.  Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight—That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. My prayer is as his: Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.  Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.  Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.  O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.  For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise. Thank You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.