Atonement and the New Covenant

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We have always heard that Christ came as a perfect sacrifice to atone for our sins. However, some deceivers have over extended it to say, He had already atoned for all the sins of the world, including the past, present and future sins. The blog is to address this false teaching and deception. It is important for us to understand what God says about His atonement and how we are saved to avoid being deceived.

Who is the Atonement for?

Exod 29:36 “.. a sin offering for atonement ..

Exod 30:10 “.. the blood of the sin offering of atonement ..

Exod 32:30 .. You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

Atonement is the act of making amends or reparation for guilt or wrongdoing through a sacrifice.

Ezek 16:62-63 “I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

Matt 15:24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

As we see above, Christ did not come to atone for the sins of all but only the sins of Jews as God spoke to Ezekiel fulfilling the requirement of the law.

What is the Atonement for?

Lev 17:11 ‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’

Exod 21:12 “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.

In the law, there is no atonement for certain sins esp., for murder, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality etc which all have punishment as death (Lev 20). The blood of the animals cannot atone for these sins.

Gen 9:5-6 “Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.

Any spilling of blood including murder or accidental death, atonement cannot be made except by the blood of him who shed it.

2Sam 12:9, 13 ‘Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. … So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

David coveted his neighbor’s wife breaking the 10th commandment (Exod 20:17). David committed adultery with Uriah’s wife while Uriah was still alive breaking the 7th commandment for which the punishment is death (Lev 20:10). David then committed murder to cover it up breaking the 6th commandment for which the punishment is death (Exod 21:12).

How did the Lord put away the sins of David without any atonement?

Zech 9:11 “As for you also, Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

Isa 42:7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.

David had no atonement in the law, nor was his sins atoned for. Yet his sins are forgiven by the Lord. These are the prisoners in the waterless pit or Hades who were freed by the Messiah Jesus Christ, who gave His own life as a sacrifice by spilling His own blood as an atonement for all the sins of His people who committed sins worthy of death , yet obtained mercy from the Lord.

1Sam 3:14 “And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

In the above, we see God speaking to Samuel that He will not provide an atonement for the sins of the house of Eli.

Num 35:33-34 ‘So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. Therefore do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.’ ”

Acts 1:6-7 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.

Blood pollutes the land of Israel and God cannot restore the kingdom to Israel until it is cleansed. Christ’s blood was also shed to cleanse the land of Israel, paving way for the Father’s promise according to the law to be fulfilled in 1948.

New Covenant

As we saw in the above section, Christ’s atonement was only for the land of Israel and for the Jews who had obtained mercy for sins which had no atonement in the law like king David. It is wrong to consider that His atonement is for everyone. However, His blood spilled as an atonement for the sins according to the old covenant, is also the same blood spilled to create a new covenant which redeemed us not through the atonement but through His victory over death itself which He won through His death, who now holds the keys to death an Hades.

John 5:21 “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

Rev 1:18 “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

Just as God the Father who gave life in the old covenant through the atonement provided by His Son, Christ also provides life to those whom He will. With Christ having the keys to death and Hades, there is no longer any atonement for our sins. Instead, His blood of the new covenant got victory over death itself redeeming and cleansing sins from anyone who Christ declares worthy (Luke 20:35).

1 John 2:2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Heb 2:17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Propitiation is not atonement but an action meant to regain someone’s favor or make up for something you did wrong. After creating a new covenant with His own blood, Christ Himself is the propitiation for our sins from whom we receive forgiveness if we are worthy to receive it (Matt 18:21-35).

Conclusion

If you are under the false teaching that Christ’s atonement was for the whole world and all our the past, present and future sins are already atoned for, then you are greatly mistaken. Christ’s atonement was only for the land of Israel and only for the people of Israelite who had obtained mercy for sins which had no atonement in the law like king David. Christ’s Blood spilled as an atonement for the sins according to the old covenant, is also the same Blood spilled to create a new covenant which will redeem and cleanse us not through the atonement but through His victory over death itself which He won through His own death, who now holds the keys to death and Hades. Just as God the Father who gave life in the old covenant through the atonement provided by His Son, Christ also provides life to those whom He will.Therefore, let us listen to Jesus Christ and obey Him to become worthy of His Salvation.

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