Leviticus 16:15-17 Once every year a priest presented two goats
(lambs). One for a sin offering and the other a scapegoat. He
slaughtered and killed the sin offering "which was for
the people". ( i.e. A Substitute Punishment Taker ). He brought the
blood of the substitute into the tabernacle---into The Presence of God,
and that blood made atonement (appeased God)" for all
their sins". No one could go into the tabernacle--the place where God
was--until after the priest had gone in, appeased God and came out. "Where I
go you cannot follow Me now...but afterward". (John 13:36) Jesus said
this before He hung on the Cross. He went on to say, "I'm going[to
God]..for you ...I will come again and receive you to Myself. I Am the only Way for people to be where God is. Believe in(trust in, rely on) Me.
Hebrews 9:11,12 Christ came as high priest---with His own blood He entered The Holy Place once... for us,... having obtained eternal (past and future, without end) redemption (atonement).
Hebrews 9:24-26 Christ has...entered... into Heaven Itself now to appear in The Presence of God for us...as The high priest...with blood...to put away (disannul) sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
Hebrews 7:25 He ever lives to make intercession for [those who come to God through Him].
Hebrews 9:28 to those who look for (accept) Him He will appear a second time unto salvation.
All these Scriptures make one statement:
God's
"Way" is for A Substitute Victim to be punished and killed for
people's sins. The blood of that Substitute appeased God for all sins so
that people can be where God is. Jesus is both High Priest and
Substitute Punishment Taker. He is alive and now with God. His blood
has appeased God for all sin so that those who believe in (trust in,
rely on) Him--God's Way-- can be with God forever.
There are other "ways" that people have decided on to get into Heaven.
One of the most popular---Rely on one's own goodness or religiousness.
Jesus renounced this 'way' in
Luke 18-9-14. He spoke of one man who "trusted in himself that he was
righteous (innocent, justified, acquitted). The man told God of his
good, moral, religious qualities and used them as evidence. Jesus said this man was not justified (acquitted (cleared of guilt, freed from punishment).
The other man Jesus spoke of, who could not even raise his eyes to
heaven, simply and humbly begged God to "be merciful" (atone for,be
appeased for, propitiate for)" him a sinner".
Jesus said that this man[ who trusted in God's
Way of punishing a Substitute] was justified(acquitted)(cleared of
guilt, freed from punishment). This man thought differently than the 1st
man about how to approach God concerning guilt or innocence. This man
didn't promise to start being religious or promise to stop sinning, nor
did he ask God to forgive him. In fact, when The Bible speaks of God and forgiving, It refers to God forgiving [sins].
In Exodus 34:7, God made a distinction between forgiving [sins] and clearing(acquitting) [people].
In Matthew 12:31-37, after Jesus talked about [sins] being forgiven, He
went on to say that [people] would be either condemned or
justified(acquitted).
This man(in Luke 18:14) regretted sinning against God and admitted he needed God's mercy. Need involves TRUST. This man's seven word prayer was a declaration of trust in God's Way.
( Back to Leviticus 16)
After the priest sacrificed the sin offering and appeased God for all the people's sins, he laid his hands on the scapegoat, confessed the people's sins ( the same sins he had just atoned for),
and
sent away(put away) the scapegoat which bore the people's sins. The
priest appeased God for, and put away already atoned-for sins. Putting
away already atoned-for sins was a necessary part of the priest's role.
Putting away completed the atoning work of the priest.
Hebrews 9:11,12--- Christ...with His Own blood entered the Holy Place once
having obtained eternal(past and future) atonement. In other words,
Jesus' punishment appeased God for all sins,,,past and future.
Heb. 9:26--- All sin is put away by Christ.
Future sins have been atoned for, and all atoned for sin is put
away(dis-annulled---(deprived of binding force) i.e. cannot be used as
evidence!
This is why it is so vital to TRUST IN JESUS!
Unlike the imperfect priest who could only temporarily appease God for
sins up to the point of sacrificing an animal____new sins year after
year;
High Priest Jesus appeased God for all sin once!
And as sending away the already atoned-for sin completed the imperfect
priest's work,,,,, so Christ, Who appeased God for all sin, all at one
time is in Heaven now to put away(dis-annul) all atoned for sin--which is
all sin--past and future. Sins committed in the future are already
atoned for, therefore put away--can't be used as evidence; because
putting away completes the atoning work of the Great High Priest.
So, can someone whose sins have been atoned for and put away still be
punished in hell for those sins? Punished for those sins---no. Because
Jesus took the punishment,
offered His blood, and canceled God's obligation to punish. Punished
in hell---yes. "He who does not believe in(trust in,rely on) The Son..God's Way of dealing with sin..is condemned__the wrath of God abides on him."
1John 2:2--- He(Jesus) is the Propitiation(Atoning Victim) for..the sins of the whole world., John 3:18,36...he who [does] trust in,rely on The Son..is not condemned,,,,, and has eternal life.
Substitute punishment is how God has dealt with all sin. Jesus is God's Chosen Substitute Punishment Taker.This is God's Way.
These
definitions are vital to understanding Who Jesus is and what it means
to believe in Him. They are taken from the Hebrew/Greek concordance and
the Webster's 1828 dictionary.
Atonement-(H)-appease,forgive,pardon,be
merciful, expiate-(W)-satisfy,appease, avert, cancel obligation to
punish, procure forgiveness
Believe in-(G)-trust in, rely on, have faith in, commit to
Righteous-(G)-innocent,acquitted-(W)-a
judicial setting free,release from guilt,justified(W)absolve or acquit
from guilt or deserved punishment,clear from guilt
Clear -(H)- acquit, hold guiltless,leave unpunished
Propitiation(G)-be
merciful,atone,atoning victim,expiate(W)-satisfy,appease,cancel
obligation to punish,procure forgiveness, an act of appeasing wrath
Eternal (G)-past and future,without end,perpetual(W)-constant and forever,in the future
Redemption(G)-ransom,price,atonement
Look for (G)-accept,receive,,expect,await
Condemned(G)-damned,punished
