We Have Been Cleansed - Really
November 21st, 2009 by J.W.M.
“In a certain sense, the first three sacrifices [in Leviticus] are God-directed; they are propitiatory. The last two - the sin and the guilt offering - are sinner-directed. They’re expiatory; they cleanse away the accumulated guilt from the sinner, and it points us to the fact - as John says - the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. It not only placates the anger of God, but it cleanses us. And so anybody who is in Christ who has committed a sin and has confessed that sin has no reason to feel guilty about that sin. He has been cleansed. And that’s the good news. Part of the good news of the gospel is that if the sin’s been confessed, it’s been taken care of, and we no longer have the right (if you will) to beat ourselves up with it. And Satan no longer has the right to beat us up with it, because it has been washed away. God’s anger has been placated, and we have been cleansed.”
(Dr. Benjamin Shaw, “Sacrifices and Festivals in the Old Testament,” Christ the Center podcast, November 6, 2009. Available at http://reformedforum.org/ctc95/.)
