Tag Archives: mosaic law

The Christian Priesthood

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Before the giving of the Mosaic Law, priestly functions were carried out by family heads who served as mediators between God and their households. These patriarchal priests offered sacrifices and interceded on behalf of their families. Noah, for example, built an altar and offered burnt offerings after the Flood (Gen 8:20). Merrill F. Unger states, “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob built altars, offered sacrifices, purified and consecrated themselves and their households (Gen 12:7; 13:18; 26:25; 33:20; 35:1–3).”[1] Melchizedek, the king of Salem, was described as “a priest of God Most High” (Gen 14:18), and Job offered burnt offerings for his children (Job 1:5). Before Sinai, priesthood was thus familial rather than institutional, and worship was based on a direct, personal relationship with God through sacrifice and prayer rather than through a formal priestly tribe or sanctuary system.

Transitioning to the covenant at Sinai, God’s original intention was for the entire nation of Israel to function as a kingdom of priests, representing Him to the nations and mediating His truth and blessing to the world. At Sinai, the Lord declared, “you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:6), revealing His desire that Israel live in covenant fellowship with Him and reflect His holiness among the Gentiles. Each Israelite was to know and serve the Lord directly, demonstrating through obedience and worship what it meant to live under divine authority.

However, following Israel’s failure at Sinai and the golden calf incident (Ex 32:1–35), the priesthood became restricted to one tribe. The Aaronic priesthood was established when God formally appointed Aaron and his sons to serve as priests on behalf of the nation of Israel (Ex 28:1; Lev 8:1–2). According to Donald K. Campbell, “The main task of the high priest was to officiate at the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement (Lev 16). The ordinary priests were assigned to officiate at the specified Levitical sacrifices and offerings (Lev 1–6) and to declare clean those who had been made ceremonially unclean by certain infectious diseases (Lev 13–14).”[2] The Levites were chosen in place of Israel’s firstborn males to assist the priests in the service of the tabernacle (Num 3:5–13). The priests were responsible to maintain ritual purity, offer sacrifices, and teach the people the Law of God (Lev 10:8–11; Deut 33:10). Only those from the tribe of Levi could serve in tabernacle duties, and only male descendants of Aaron could function as priests (Ex 28:1). Levites began serving at age twenty-five and retired at fifty (Num 8:24–25), while priests began their sacrificial duties at age thirty (Num 4:3). Furthermore, priests had to be free from physical defect or deformity, for those with blemishes were disqualified from offering sacrifices, though they could still partake of the holy food (Lev 21:16–23).

At the heart of Israel’s worship stood the Mosaic sacrificial system, which provided a means for maintaining fellowship with God and covering sin until the coming of Christ (Heb 10:1–4). The five major offerings described in Leviticus 1–7 include the burnt offering (Lev 1), symbolizing complete devotion to God; the grain offering (Lev 2), expressing thanksgiving and dedication; the peace offering (Lev 3), celebrating fellowship with God; the sin offering (Lev 4), providing atonement for unintentional sin; and the guilt offering (Lev 5:14–6:7), which required restitution for specific offenses. Each sacrifice taught Israel essential truths about holiness, substitutionary atonement, and reconciliation to God.

In contrast, believers in the present Church Age are all priests before God through Jesus Christ, who is Himself our great High Priest (Heb 4:14–16; 7:23–28).[3] Through faith in Christ, every believer has direct access to the Father without the need for a human mediator, for “there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). Walter A. Elwell notes, “It is remarkable that the term ‘priest’ is never used in the NT of a minister or order in the church.”[4] The New Testament identifies all believers as a “holy priesthood” and a “royal priesthood” (1 Pet 2:5, 9), declaring that Christ “has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father” (Rev 1:6; cf. Rev 5:10; 20:6). This universal priesthood is unrestricted by tribe, gender, or physical condition, but embraces all who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ (Gal 3:28; Eph 2:13–18; Heb 10:19–22). According to Robert L. Thomas, “The priestly office established by the OT law was hereditary, and only members of Aaron’s family were eligible. Jesus Christ has provided a new family relationship by which all believers have a priestly ministry to God.”[5]

The New Testament teaches that Christians are called to offer “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:5). These sacrifices express the believer’s priestly service in the Church Age and arise from gratitude rather than obligation. Paul urged believers to “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Rom 12:1), indicating that consecration of the whole person (mind, body, and will) is a central act of priestly devotion. Moreover, believers are called to continual worship and thanksgiving, to “continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” (Heb 13:15). Likewise, acts of goodness and generosity are viewed as sacred offerings, as we’re directed, “do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Heb 13:16). Evangelism and discipleship are also presented as priestly functions. Paul described his ministry “as a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God” (Rom 15:16a). In addition, financial giving is regarded as a fragrant act of worship, for Paul commended the Philippians’ generosity, saying, “I have received everything in full… having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God” (Phil 4:18). These offerings are not performed to gain or retain salvation but flow from hearts already justified by grace through faith, seeking to glorify the Lord in all things. As Scripture commands, “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31).

In summary, before the Law, patriarchal priests represented their families before God through personal sacrifice and prayer. Under the Mosaic covenant, the Aaronic priesthood mediated between God and Israel through prescribed sacrifices that foreshadowed the redemptive work of Christ. Now, in the Church Age, all believers serve as priests, offering not the blood of animals but spiritual sacrifices of praise, service, generosity, and devotion through Jesus Christ, our eternal High Priest.

Steven R. Cook, D.Min., M.Div.

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[1] Merrill Frederick Unger et al., The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988).

[2] Don K. Campbell, “Priesthood,” in The Theological Wordbook, ed. Charles R. Swindoll and Roy B. Zuck, Swindoll Leadership Library (Nashville, TN: Word Publishing, Inc., 2000), 278.

[3] The book of Hebrews portrays Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament priesthood, combining in Himself both the Aaronic and Melchizedekian types. Like Aaron, He offered a sacrifice for sin—Himself (Heb 7:27)—and entered heaven, the true Holy of Holies, “by His own blood… having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb 9:12; cf. 9:7, 24), granting believers direct access to God (Heb 4:16). Yet His priesthood is patterned after Melchizedek’s, being eternal, non-hereditary, and superior to the Levitical order: Levitical priests died but Christ lives forever (7:23–28), and He mediates a “better covenant” through His once-for-all sacrifice (8:6–10:18). Thus, Jesus Christ is both High Priest and atoning Sacrifice, completing all that the Old Testament priesthood foreshadowed.

[4] Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale Reference Library (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 1073.

[5] Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1-7: An Exegetical Commentary (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1992), 71.

Jesus’ Substitutionary Atonement in Salvation

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Atonement is a very important concept in the Bible. In the OT, the word atonement translates the Hebrew verb kaphar (כָּפַר) which means to “cover over, pacify, propitiate, [or] atone for sin.”[1] Theologically, it means “to bring together in mutual agreement, with the added idea, in theology, of reconciliation through the vicarious suffering of one on behalf of another.”[2] The animal sacrificial system—which was part of the Mosaic Law—taught that sin must be atoned for. The idea of substitution was clearly taught as the sinner laid his hands on the animal that died in his place (Lev 4:15, 24; 16:21). The innocent animal paid the price of death on behalf of the guilty sinner.

Sacrificial LambThe animal sacrificial system under the Mosaic Law taught that God is holy, man is sinful, and that God was willing to judge an innocent creature as a substitute in place of the sinner. The animal that shed its blood gave up its life in place of the one who had offended God, and it was only through the shed blood that atonement was made. A life for a life. The animal sacrificial system under the Mosaic Law was highly symbolic, temporary, and pointed forward to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Levitical priests would regularly perform their temple sacrifices on behalf of the people to God, but being a symbolic system, the animal sacrifices could never “make perfect those who draw near” to Him, for the simple reason that “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb 10:1, 4). For nearly fourteen centuries the temple priests kept “offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins” (Heb 10:11), until finally Christ “offered one sacrifice for sins for all time” (Heb 10:12), and through that one offering “perfected for all time those who are sanctified” by it (Heb 10:14). What the Mosaic Law could never accomplish through the sacrifice of symbols, Christ did once and for all time through His substitutionary death on the cross when he died in the place of sinners.

Christ our Hope in Life and DeathJesus’ death on the cross was a satisfactory sacrifice to God which completely paid the price for our sin. We owed a debt to God that we could never pay, and Jesus paid that debt in full when He died on the cross and bore the punishment that rightfully belonged to us. In Romans 3:25 Paul used the Greek word hilasterion (ἱλαστήριον)—translated propitiation—to show that Jesus’ shed blood completely satisfied God’s righteous demands toward our sin, with the result that there is nothing more for the sinner to pay to God. Jesus paid our sin-debt in full. The Apostle John tells us “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:2; cf., 1 John 4:10). Jesus’ death on the cross forever satisfied God’s righteous demands toward the sins of everyone for all time! God has “canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Col 2:14). Regarding Christ’s death, J. Dwight Pentecost states:

You can be adjusted to God’s standard, because God made Christ to become sin for us. The One who knew no sin, the One in whose lips had never been found guile, took upon Himself our sin in order that He might bear our sins to the cross and offer Himself as an acceptable substitute to God for us—on our behalf, in our place. And when Jesus Christ identified Himself with sinners and went to the cross on their behalf and in their place, He was making possible the doctrine of reconciliation. He was making it possible for God to conform the world to Himself, to adjust the world to His standard so that sinners in the world might find salvation because “Jesus paid it all.” You can be adjusted to God, to God’s standard, through Christ, by His death, by His cross, by His blood, and by His identification with sinners.[3]

In the NT, the idea of substitution is observed in the use of two Greek prepositions. The first is the preposition huper (ὑπὲρ), translated “for,” which means “in behalf of, for the sake of someone.”[4] The idea of Jesus dying as a substitute in the place of sinners is seen in Romans 5:8 where Paul wrote, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The second preposition that denotes substitution is anti (ἀντὶ), also translated “for,” which expresses the idea “that one person or thing is, or is to be, replaced by another, instead of, in place of.”[5] The preposition anti (ἀντὶ) is seen in Jesus’ statement, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28). According to Robert Lightner:

The biblical view of the Savior’s death is that he died to satisfy the demands of the offended righteousness of God. The Savior died in the sinner’s place. This is an essential, indispensable truth in evangelicalism. It is true that Christ died for the sinner’s benefit, but that does not fully describe the nature and purpose of his finished work. He gave his life in the sinner’s place. He died as the sinner’s substitute. The strongest expression of Christ’s substitutionary death is given with the Greek preposition anti, translated “for.” Christ himself used this word when he said, “even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28; cf. Matt 26:28; 1 Tim 2:6). Christ died in the sinner’s place. He died instead of the condemned.[6]

Jesus’ atonement for sins is the basis for reconciliation, because God has judged our sins in the Person of Christ who died on the cross in our place. The death of Christ has forever satisfied God’s righteous demands for our sin and it is on this basis that He can accept sinners into heaven. The blood of Christ is the only coin in the heavenly realm that God accepts as payment for our sin-debt, and Christ paid our sin debt in full. That’s good news!

Because Jesus’ death satisfied God’s righteousness demands for sin, the sinner can approach God who welcomes him without reservation. God has cleared the way for sinners to come to Him for a new relationship, and this is based completely on the substitutionary work of Christ. God has done everything to reconcile humanity to Himself. The debt that was owed to God was paid in full by the blood of Christ.

Dr. Steven R. Cook

Related Articles:

[1] Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and Charles A. Briggs, The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers 1979), 497.

[2] G. W. Bromiley, “Atone; Atonement,” ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 352.

[3] J. Dwight Pentecost, Things Which Become Sound Doctrine (Grand Rapids, Mi., Kregel Publications, 1965), 89.

[4] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 1030.

[5] Ibid., 87.

[6] Robert P. Lightner, Handbook of Evangelical Theology: A Historical, Biblical, and Contemporary Survey and Review (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1995), 194.

The Biblical Teaching on Tithes

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tithe

I took this picture with my camera phone while passing through an apartment complex one day.  The person living in the apartment apparently thought the message important enough to stick on the front of her door for others to read as they passed by.  It certainly reveals her theology.  So, will you “tithe if you love Jesus”?

 The word tithe means “to give a tenth.” Prior to the giving of the Mosaic Law (ca. 1445 B.C.), we see an example of Abraham giving Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils of war which he had accumulated after he had defeated Chedorlaomer at the Valley of Shaveh (Gen 14:17-20). Later, Jacob made a vow to give God a tenth of his possessions if God would be faithful to protect him on a journey (Gen 28:20-22). In the accounts of Abraham and Jacob, there was no mandate from heaven for them to give a tenth, and when they did give a tenth, it appears to be a one-time act, never repeated as far as Scripture is concerned. It was not until several centuries later that tithing became mandatory for the nation of Israel when they entered into the Mosaic Covenant and came under the Mosaic Law.

When God established the nation of Israel as a theocracy under the leadership of Moses and Aaron (ca.1445 B.C.), He gave them 613 commandments known as the Mosaic Law. This law-code was designed to regulate the values and behavior of the citizens of the nation, morally, religiously, socially, economically, etc. Within the Mosaic Law, God required Israel to pay several tithes, which was tantamount to a form of taxation. According to Ross, “The so-called tithe (‘a tenth’) added up to far more than a simple 10% annually, because there was a second tithe annually, and a third tithe in the third and fifth years…In the Old Testament economy all the giving covered the sanctuary offerings for God, the taxes for the nation, and charitable gifts all rolled together.”[1]

The tithe consisted of produce and livestock (Lev 27:30-32), and was given to the Levites for their support for ministry (Num 18:21-24). The Levites, in turn, gave a tithe of the tithe to the Priests for their service (Num 18:25-28). Additionally, the worshipper could eat a portion of the sacrifice with his family and the Levites (Deut 12:17-19; 14:22-27). Lastly, a tithe was taken every third year to help the poor, the alien, the orphans and the widows. This tithe was comparable to a social welfare system for the most unfortunate in society.  Moses wrote, “At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do” (Deut 14:28-29)

tithe-storehouseThe tithe was to be gathered into a “storehouse” (הָאוֹצָר בֵּית – bet ha otsar; Mal 3:10), which referred to a large room where “they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests” (Neh 13:5). Withholding the tithe was a form of robbery to God, the Levites, and the less fortunate in society who depended on it for daily living (Mal 3:6-11).

Non-tithers-boardSome pastors have grievously misapplied Malachi 3:8–10 by imposing it upon the Church, using the passage as a means to coerce believers through guilt and intimidation into financial giving. In extreme cases, some have demanded access to members’ tax returns or have publicly displayed individual contributions as a method of exerting social pressure. The misuse of this Old Testament text reveals both a lack of sound hermeneutical understanding and a deficiency in spiritual maturity among church leaders. In its original context, Malachi 3:8–10 pertains to Israel under the Mosaic Law, not to the Church of Jesus Christ in the present dispensation.

To be clear, Israel and the Church are both God’s people, but Israel was under “the Law” of Moses (John 1:17), whereas the Church is under the “Law of Christ” (1 Cor 9:11; Gal 6:2). Israel had a priesthood that was specific to the tribe of Levi (Num 3:6-7), whereas all Christians are priests to God (Rev 1:6). Israel worshipped first at the Tabernacle and later the Temple (Ex 40:18-38; 2 Chron 8:14-16), but for Christians, their body is the temple of the Lord and they gather locally where they want (1 Cor 6:19-20; cf. 1 Cor 16:19; Col 4:15). Israel offered animal sacrifices to God (Lev 4:1-35), but Christians offer spiritual sacrifices (1 Pet 2:5; cf. Rom 12:1; Heb 13:15). Israel was required to tithe from the produce of their land (Deut 14:22-23; 28-29; Num 18:21), but there is no tithe required from Christians, only a joyful attitude when giving, “for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7).

To Christians, the apostle Paul mentions systematic giving (1 Cor 16:1-2), but nowhere specifies an amount. Giving 10% of one’s income is fine, so long as it is understood that it’s a voluntary action and not required by the Lord. One could easily set aside a different amount to be given on a regular basis. Certainly, the financial support of the Pastor is in line with Scripture (Gal 6:6; 1 Tim 5:17-18), although the apostle Paul supported himself in his own ministry as an example to others of sacrificial living (Acts 20:32-35). Giving systematically and giving joyfully is consistent with the teaching of the New Testament (1 Cor 16:1-2; 2 Cor 9:7).

Lastly, we should realize all we have is on loan from God, for “the earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it” (Psa 24:1). The Lord declares, “every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psa 50:10), and “‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine’, declares the LORD of hosts” (Hag 2:8). When we give to the Lord, it’s a test of our love and loyalty to Him; for what we give is already His, and giving back to Him means we trust and support His work in the world. David captures this well when he says, “who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You” (1 Ch 29:14).

Steven R. Cook, D.Min., M.Div.

Related Articles:

 

[1] Allen P. Ross, Malachi Then and Now: An Expository Commentary Based on Detailed Exegetical Analysis (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), 156.

Atonement for Sins

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For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement. (Lev 17:11)

And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Heb 9:22)

Sacrificial LambAtonement is a very important concept in the Old Testament. The word atonement translates the Hebrew verbכָּפַר  (kaphar) which means to “cover over, pacify, propitiate, [or] atone for sin.”[1] Theologically, it means “to bring together in mutual agreement, with the added idea, in theology, of reconciliation through the vicarious suffering of one on behalf of another.”[2] The animal sacrificial system—which was part of the Mosaic Law—taught that sin must be atoned for. The idea of substitution was clearly taught as the sinner laid his hands on the animal that died in his place (Lev 4:15, 24; 16:21). The innocent animal paid the price of death on behalf of the guilty sinner.  God established the Levitical animal sacrificial system as a way of teaching that human sin must be atoned for. The atoning animal sacrifices were performed daily by the Jewish temple priests on behalf of Israelites who committed sins in ignorance (Lev 4:1-4, 20, 26, 31). More serious sins—those deliberately committed—were atoned for once a year on the Day of Atonement—Yom Kippur—by the High Priest who would enter the Holy of Holies in the temple and sprinkle the blood of a sacrificed bull and goat on the mercy seat which was on the top of the Ark of the Covenant (Lev 16:14-15). There were two sacrifices on the Day of Atonement: a bull was sacrificed for the sins of the High Priest (Lev 16:6, 11), and two goats for the sins of the nation (Lev 16:7-10). The sacrifice of the goats were “to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year” (Lev 16:34). One goat shed its blood on the altar, and the other was sent away into the wilderness after the High Priest had laid his hands on it and confessed over it “all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins” (Lev 16:21). The innocent animals died in place of those who were guilty of sin.

The animal sacrificial system under the Mosaic Law taught that God is holy, man is sinful, and that God was willing to judge an innocent creature as a substitute in place of the sinner. The animal that shed its blood gave up its life in place of the one who had offended God, and it was only through the shed blood that atonement was made. A life for a life. The whole animal sacrificial system under the Mosaic Law was highly symbolic, temporary, and pointed forward to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Levitical priests would regularly perform their temple sacrifices on behalf of the people to God, but being a symbolic system, the animal sacrifices could never “make perfect those who draw near” to Him, for the simple reason that “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb 10:1, 4). For nearly fourteen centuries the temple priests kept “offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins” (Heb 10:11), until finally Christ “offered one sacrifice for sins for all time” and through that one offering “perfected for all time those who are sanctified” by it (Heb 10:12, 14). What the Mosaic Law could never accomplish through the sacrifice of symbols, Christ did once and for all time through His substitutionary death on the cross when he died in the place of sinners.

The Lamb of GodJesus’ death on the cross was a satisfactory sacrifice to God which completely paid the price for our sin. We owed a debt to God that we could never pay, and Jesus paid that debt in full when He died on the cross and bore the punishment that rightfully belonged to us. In Romans 3:25 Paul used the Greek word ἱλαστήριον (hilasterion)—translated propitiation—to show that Jesus’ shed blood completely satisfied God’s righteous demands toward our sin, with the result that there is nothing more for the sinner to pay to God. Jesus paid our sin-debt in full. There’s nothing for us to pay. The Apostle John tells us “He Himself is the propitiation [ἱλασμός hilasmos – the satisfactory sacrifice] for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:2; cf., 4:10). Jesus’ death on the cross forever satisfied God’s righteous demands toward the sins of everyone for all time! God has “canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Col. 2:14). Regarding Christ’s death, J. Dwight Pentecost states:

You can be adjusted to God’s standard, because God made Christ to become sin for us. The One who knew no sin, the One in whose lips had never been found guile, took upon Himself our sin in order that He might bear our sins to the cross and offer Himself as an acceptable substitute to God for us—on our behalf, in our place. And when Jesus Christ identified Himself with sinners and went to the cross on their behalf and in their place, He was making possible the doctrine of reconciliation. He was making it possible for God to conform the world to Himself, to adjust the world to His standard so that sinners in the world might find salvation because “Jesus paid it all.” You can be adjusted to God, to God’s standard, through Christ, by His death, by His cross, by His blood, and by His identification with sinners.[3]

Atonement for sins is the basis for reconciliation, because God has judged our sins in the Person of Christ who died on the cross in our place. The death of Christ has forever satisfied God’s righteous demands for our sin and it is on this basis that He can accept sinners before His throne of grace. The blood of Christ is the only coin in the heavenly realm that God accepts as payment for our sin-debt, and Christ paid our sin debt in full! That’s good news! Paul wrote, “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18-19). According to Charles Ryrie:

God’s provision of reconciliation is universal. Because of the death of Christ the position of the world was changed—people were now able to be saved. But that alone saves no one, for the ministry of reconciliation must be faithfully discharged by proclaiming the Gospel message. When an individual believes, then he receives the reconciliation God provided in Christ’s death (2 Cor 5:18–21). The world has been reconciled, but people need to be reconciled. The universal reconciliation changes the position of the world from an unsalvable condition to a salvable one. Individual reconciliation through faith actually brings that reconciliation in the individual’s life and changes the position of the individual from unsaved to saved. Then, and only then, are his sins forgiven, though they were paid for on the cross.[4]

Because Jesus’ death satisfies God’s righteousness demands for sin, the sinner can approach God who welcomes him in love. God has cleared the way for sinners to come to Him for a new relationship, and this is based completely on the substitutionary work of Christ. God has done everything to reconcile us to Himself.  The sin debt that we owed to God has been paid in full by the blood of Christ.

Dr. Steven R. Cook

Related Articles:

[1] Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and Charles A. Briggs, The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers 1979), 497.

[2] G. W. Bromiley, “Atone; Atonement,” ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 352.

[3] J. Dwight Pentecost, Things Which Become Sound Doctrine (Grand Rapids, Mi., Kregel Publications, 1965), 89.

[4] Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1999), 338.