The whole process of salvation
is ascribed in the New Testament to the sacrificial
death of Jesus Christ. It is upon the moment of
death that the foundation of salvation is totally
focused. The work of salvation was completed when
Jesus cried, “It is finished!” Nothing more needed
to be done.
The sacrifice of Jesus Christ
was a substitutionary sacrifice and atonement for
sin. Christ died in the place of the believing
sinner. Christ suffered for the believer’s
punishment. Christ endured the divine wrath for all
that His people ought to have suffered as a result
of sin. “Who shall lay anything to the charge of
God’s elect?” Not God because He has justified the
believing sinner for the reason that Christ died in
his place and suffered his punishment.
C. H. Spurgeon said it
correctly: “My hope is not because I am not a
sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ
died. My trust is not that I am holy, but that,
being unholy, Christ died for me. My rest is, here,
not in what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but
in what Christ is and must be,--in what Christ did,
and is still doing as He stands before yonder throne
of glory.”
My hope is built upon Jesus’
blood and righteousness alone.
Jesus Christ saves us by
vicariously enduring the penalty to which we were
exposed. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the
law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).
Moreover, in the process of
redeeming us, He purchased us with His own blood and
set us free.
Man broke God’s law and came
under the penalty of sin, which is death (Rom.
3:23). “The wages of sin is death . . .” (6:23).
Man’s sin exposed him to divine punishment (Rom.
1:18; Isa. 53:6; Jer. 17:9; Psa. 14:3; Rom. 1:18-32;
5:10; 8:7; Col. 1:21). We all stand guilty before a
holy God. However, God’s love makes the propitiating
sacrifice (Rom. 5:6, 8). God did punish sin by
making His Son a curse (Gal. 3:13; Rom. 3:25-26;
5:8). Christ, who was sinless, suffered vicariously
for sinful men (2 Cor. 5:21). His resurrection
proved that He was the sinless Son of God (Rom.
1:4). The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that
God accepted His vicarious substitutionary atonement
on behalf of sinful man.
What is very clear in both the
Old and New Testaments is that God provided the
sacrifice. The important truth taught in the Word of
God is that sinful man does not do anything to
obtain forgiveness. God took the initiative to save
the sinner from beginning to end. God provided the
only acceptable sacrifice for sin. The sacrifice was
a work of God for man, not the other way around.
When the life was given up, a
death occurred (Lev. 17:11). The shedding of blood,
the giving up of life symbolized a violent death.
The central act in a sacrifice was the shedding of
blood. “Without the shedding of
blood there is no remission of sins” (Hebrews 9:22).
The death of Jesus Christ on the cross provides
atonement for the sinner.
A vicarious expiation of sin by
a victim whose life is forfeited instead of the
sinner’s is the only one that will fulfill the idea
in Levitical sacrifices.
The life of the spotlessly pure
animal was offered to a thrice Holy God in place of
the sinful soul. The meaning is obvious that this
self-sacrifice necessarily involves suffering and
punishment, which is inflicted on the beast to which
the guilt and sin are imputed, not imparted.
The essential idea of bloody
sacrifices was that the victim took the place of the
sinful man, redeemed him, or atoned for him as a
substitute.
The Levitical system of
sacrifices was the typological comparison of
redemption by Jesus Christ. The Jewish sacrificial
system was fulfilled in Jesus Christ being
sacrificed as the Lamb of God “who takes away the
sin of the world!" (John 1:29, NET). The sin
offering became the ultimate sacrifice. It was the
means by which a sinful people approached a holy
God. The entire sacrifice was offered up to God by
the shedding and sprinkling of blood (Lev. 7:11).
The death of Jesus Christ is
seen in the New Testament as the fulfillment of all
that was prefigured by the Old Testament sacrificial
system. The sacrifices were typical of the vastly
superior sacrifice of Jesus. The animals could not
take away sin. The self-sacrifice of Jesus is
superior to the sacrifices of the old system as the
new covenant is superior to the old. This is the
focus of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament.
The New Testament regards the
Levitical sacrifices as divine in origin and
obligatory, but imperfect and only a type of
Christ’s sacrifice. The sacrifice of Jesus was the
perfect sacrifice and supplanted the Old Testament
sacrificial system.
The one central idea of New
Testament writers is that the sacrifice made by
Christ on the cross is the final perfect sacrifice
for the atonement of sin and the salvation of men.
The sacrifice of Christ was typified in the various
sacrifices of the Old Testament. Moreover, the one
perfect final sacrifice of Christ abrogated all of
these typical sacrifices.
Jesus is “the Lamb of God that
takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, 36). B.
F. Westcott said, “The title as applied to Christ
conveys the ideas of vicarious suffering, of patient
submission, of sacrifice of redemption, etc.” He is
the one who came to make “the great sacrifice for
man’s sins.” Jesus was “suffering under the load of
human sin.”
Jesus saw His own death as a
sacrifice for sin (Mk. 10:45; Matt. 20:28; Mk.
14:24; Matt. 26:28; Lk. 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; John
1:29, 36; Rev. 13:8). He gave His “life a ransom”
“to pay the price for redeeming.”
His death by crucifixion was an
atoning sacrifice for sin (Rom. 3:25; 5:9; 1 Cor.
10:16; Eph. 1:7; 2:13; Col. 1:20). He is identified
as the sin offering (Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21), and the
Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7). Believers are redeemed
by the blood of Jesus (1 Peter 1:18, 19; 1:2; 3:18),
which is also propitiation and cleansing (1 John
1:7; 2:2; 5:5; Rev. 1:5).
Jesus saw His own death as the
confirmation of the new covenant (Ex. 24:3-8). He
regarded His sufferings and death as the fulfillment
of the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus referred to
His own death as sacrificial, comparing it
especially with the covenant sacrifice (Matt.
26:27-28). Jesus said, “My blood of the new
covenant, which is shed for many unto remission of
sins” (Matthew 26:28). The apostle Paul wrote, "In
the same way, he also took the cup after supper,
saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of
me’" (1 Corinthians 11:25). The old covenant and its
sacrifices were fulfilled and done away with by the
new covenant and its one perfect sacrifice for sin.
“Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). The death of Jesus Christ
was expiatory. It was a covering or our sins. It was
looked upon as an atoning sacrifice and spoken of in
sacrificial terms.
The apostle Peter speaks of the
death of Jesus in clear sacrificial terms in 1 Peter
1:2, 18, 19; 2:21-25; 3:18. The “sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ” . . . “you were . . .
redeemed . . . with the precious blood of Christ, as
of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” The
emphasis in 1 Pet. 2:21-25 is clearly a vicarious
suffering in the language of a sacrifice.
The apostle Paul regarded the
sacrifices of the Old Testament as types of the true
sacrifice which Christ made and based his theology
of salvation on the death of Jesus as a sacrifice.
He uses the expression “blood of Christ” in the
sense of a sacrificial death (Rom. 8:32; Gal. 2:20;
Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:20). In Ephesians 5:2, he tells us
Christ “gave Himself up for us, an offering and
sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell.” He
tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “Our Passover also
has been sacrificed, even Christ.” The bloody
sacrifice of Jesus Christ satisfied the justice of
God and enabled Him to be just and justify the
believing sinner who puts his trust in Christ (Rom.
3:25; 5:9; 1 Cor. 10:16; Eph. 2:13). For Paul the
sacrificial blood of atonement saves sinners who
believe on Christ (Rom. 3:24-26; 5:9; 1 Cor. 10:16;
Eph. 1:7; 2:13; Col. 1:20; Rom. 8:3; 1 Cor. 5:21;
5:7; Rom. 5:10-11; 8:15, 17).
The Epistle of the Hebrews
tells us Christ “tasted death for every man” (Heb.
2:9). The sacrifice and the covenant of Jesus Christ
are vastly superior to the Levitical rites and
sacrifices of the old covenant. The shadows and
types of the old covenant fall short of the eternal
reality in which the new covenant is established in
the blood of Christ. He offered a new and better
covenant with a better high priest (Heb. 8:6-13;
9:1ff).
Jesus was the high priest
offering Himself up on His own altar, the cross of
Calvary. He accomplished on the cross that which was
typified in the Old Testament sacrifice made on the
Day of Atonement. The sacrificial death of Jesus
Christ is portrayed in the language of the Old
Testament. He offered Himself up once-and-for-all,
never to be repeated, sacrifice well pleasing to God
the Father.
Jesus yielded up His life in
death (Lev. 17:11). The blood of Jesus Christ is the
“blood of the covenant” (Heb. 9:20; Matt. 26:28). He
is “the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the
world” (John 1:29), and “the Lamb as it had been
slain” before the throne of God in Revelation (Rev.
5:6, 12). The saints in heaven are those who “washed
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb” (Rev. 7:14). “They overcame him (Satan) by the
blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:11).
The importance of “blood”
cannot be over stressed in the atoning sacrifice of
Christ. The blood was of supreme importance in the
Levitical system. Nothing in the Old Testament was
cleansed without the use of blood (Heb. 9:22). On
the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the
Holy of Holies bearing the sacrificial blood (Heb.
9:7). The culminating language of the sacrifice of
Jesus Christ was accomplished when He entered into
the heavenly temple “through His own blood” (Heb.
9:21ff) “to make propitiation for the sins of the
people” (Heb. 2:17). That is not to say that Jesus
repeated in heaven His once-for-all sacrifice on the
cross. The atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross
was equivalent to the sacrifice on the Day of
Atonement. Westcott says the idea of cleansing for
the whole process of putting away sin, from the
atonement to sanctification. The death of Christ
procured the cleansing (Heb. 1:3; 9:14, 22, 23;
10:2; 1 John 1:7; Rev. 7:14).
The Jewish high priest was the
type of Christ the great high priest under the new
covenant.
The sacrifices of the old
covenant could not take away sin. They had no power
to produce moral transformation in the heart of
sinful depraved man. This is why the priest had to
come daily offering up sacrifice after sacrifice.
Even the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement had to be
repeated year after year.
However God in His grace
provided another high priest who offered up Himself
as the perfect sacrifice for sin which never again
needed to be repeated. Both the priest and the
sacrifice were holy and perfect.
The heart of the teaching in
the Epistle of Hebrews is that animal sacrifices in
the Levitical system cannot possibly atone for sin
because they are appointed by the LORD God only as a
type or shadow of the one great sacrifice by Christ
(Heb. 8:7; 10:1).
The clear teaching in Hebrews
is that the sacrifices of the Old Testament could
not permanently take away sin (Heb. 10:3). Christ’s
sacrifice is final, complete and perfect because it
is related to the heavenly and eternal realm (Heb.
8:1f; 9:1, 24; 10:11). Christ entered into heaven
itself with His sacrifice (Heb. 9:24) and obtained
eternal salvation for us (Heb. 7:27; 9:12, 15;
10:10).
"How much more will the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without blemish to God, purify our
consciences from dead works to worship the living
God" (Hebrews 9:14 NET).
The sacrifice of Jesus was an
offering of a pure and spotless life on our behalf
and as our representative. "God made the one who did
not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we
would become the righteousness of God" (2
Corinthians 5:21, NET).
All of the Levitical sacrifices
were perpetually repeated because they had no
permanent efficacy (Heb. 9:6; 10:3f). However the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ was made once for all,
perfecting forever them that are sanctified (Heb.
7:27; 9:12, 25f, 28; 10:12, 14).
Christ’s sacrifice cleansed His
people’s conscience that they might serve the living
God (Heb. 9:14; 10:22). Christ dealt with our sin
efficaciously at its deepest seat instead of the
limited efficacy of ceremonial sacrifices (Heb. 9:9;
10:3). The sacrifices of the Leviticus did not open
a way of spiritual access to the holy presence of
God (Heb. 9:8). However, they showed the way to God
by the blood of Jesus which was a new and living way
by which men could draw near to Him with spiritual
assurance (Heb. 10:19f).
Spurgeon said, “If God be
unjust I may be damned; but if God be just I never
can be. That is how the saved sinner stands” before
God. “Christ has paid the debt His people to the
last jot and tittle, and received the divine
receipt; and unless God can be unjust as to demand
twice payment for one debt, no sinner for whom Jesus
died can ever be cast into hell.”
Since God is just, the sinner
who is standing in Christ can never be punished.
However, if you and I die without a divine
substitute, we must be punished.
Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28;
Romans 3:24-5:21; Ephesians 1:7; 2:13-14, 18;
Hebrews; 1 John 1:7-2:2; 2 Corinthians 5:21;
Revelation 7:14
1. The
sacrificial death of Jesus Christ redeems or
delivers the believer from the curse of sin (Mark
10:45; Matt. 20:28). Jesus paid the ransom price
with His own blood (Rom. 3:24-25). The blood of
Jesus has redeemed us and that redemption procures
justification. “In whom we have our redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of our
trespasses” (Ephesians 1:7).
2. The death
of Jesus Christ makes reconciliation between the
guilty sinner and a holy God. He restores us to a
right relationship with God (Rom. 5:10; Eph. 2:13,
14, 18). The cross of Christ is the means of
reconciliation (Heb. 8:12). God has forgiven the
sinner who believes on Christ; therefore his
relationship with God is restored. Because of the
death of Jesus Christ it is possible for the
believing sinner to have an intimate love
relationship with God the Father.
3. The blood
of Jesus Christ is the basis of God’s forgiveness
(Matt. 26:28; Rom. 3:21-5:21). Forgiveness is based
on the shed blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7-9).
4. The
believer’s guilt is removed by the perfect sin
offering of Jesus Christ (Heb. 2:15).
5. The
believing sinner has a right relationship before
God. He is acquitted or justified. We have been
brought into a right standing before God by the
death of Jesus (2 Cor. 5:21).
6. The blood
of Jesus cleanses the sinner (1 John 1:7; Rev. 7:14;
Heb. 1:3; 9:14, 22-23; 10:2).
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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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Reports on what God is doing through Bible believing evangelical Christians in Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, India and Ecuador. Jesus said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you" (John 15:7).
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