Bible Studies

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The Bible's Answers to Man's Questions
Key Verses  Numbers 15:28 And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him
Romans 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement
To atone, in the Old Testament usage, means to cover, as in covering one's sins that are placed symbolically on the altar, with the blood of the sacrifice. By extension, atonement involves reconciliation with God, by means of removing from his sight the stain of sin. This was the whole purpose of the sacrificial system, to restore relationships with God by substituting the blood of animals for that of the sinner, for the price of sin is always death (Romans 6:23). The practice of being covered for our sins goes all the way back to Adam and Eve; God himself sacrificed animals to die in their place, and clothed them with the skins to cover their nakedness (Genesis 3:21). At the original Passover, in Egypt, the blood of lambs on the doorposts was used in place of the blood of the firstborn, when the angel of death passed by.
In the New Testament, atonement still involved reconciliation, but the blood shed to cover our sins was not that of bulls and sheep, but the matchless blood of Christ. Though he died as a man, his sacrifice as God was infinite, and did not need to be repeated like the sacrifices under the old system (Hebrews 10:7-11). In him, there is only one act of atonement, the atonement. It is because of this free gift, the covering of our sins when we repent and accept Jesus as our Savior that eternal life is possible. Without the shedding of blood, the Bible says, there is no remission, or forgiveness, of sins (Hebrews 9:22). Atonement, as used in Scripture, necessarily involves the shedding of blood, or death. We can never talk about salvation, or about eternal life, or about deliverance, without talking about the blood of Christ. Atonement is one of the central truths of our faith.

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