Researched and composed by Dr. Dave A. Schoch, Th.D. NT Theology
7/7/2020
The atonement in Christ is important to understand. For almost 500 years now there has been doctrine floating around the Church landscape which perverts the function and purpose of the atonement, because those who originated their doctrinal statements concerning the atonement did not understand the atonement under the Old Covenant. The only way one can come to a factual understanding of the atonement in Christ’s blood, and therefore the work of Christ upon the cross, is to understand the atonement under the Old Covenant. This is because the atonement under the New Covenant is based upon the same purpose and function of the atonement under the Old Covenant.
Under the Old Covenant, covenant relationship with God depended upon one being forgiven and cleansed from his sins. If one had unforgiven sin, he was cut off from the covenant people and the presence of God. To sin was to die spiritually:
Genesis 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
God tells us that the life of a being is in the blood, that when one sins he dies spiritually (because spiritual life is measured in context to Him – one who is in relationship with Him is spiritually alive, one who sins cuts himself off from relationship with God and dies spiritually). Therefore, God has give the rule of atonement, that blood offered “on the altar” that is offered according to the rules God gave Moses for atonement, will “make atonement for your souls”…
Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
The purpose and function of atonement, is (1) the basis for God to forgive a person of their unintentional sins…
Leviticus 5:18 He shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for the mistake that he made unintentionally, and he shall be forgiven.
And (2) for cleansing from sin, to be clean (spotless and blameless as far as sin is concerned)…
Leviticus 16:30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins.
When a person sinned, they had to provide their own sacrificial animal; if they did not have one then he would have to purchase one – either way the person who sinned was paying a monetary price. He either lost a financial commodity or he had to pay money in order to buy a sacrificial animal. Atonement under the Old Covenant was not free, it always cost the sinner the life of another in his place, so that he could remain in living relationship with God.
The atonement under the Old Covenant provided the means of remaining in a living relationship with the living God, it did not (in and of itself) cause that relationship, it only opened the door to the believer. David is an excellent example of this: we see in his life the example of the relationship one could have with God under the Old Covenant. In the lives of his contemporaries, such as Saul, we see covenant compliance but no personal relationship demonstrated in their lives.
However, in the atonement under the Old Covenant, we do not find the elements of atonement in which we find in the atonement in Christ’s blood under the New Covenant. The atonement under the Old Covenant was based upon the blood of bulls, goats, and other animals, and therefore could not actually take away a man’s sin, it only dealt with a man’s sin ceremonially – pushing the sins of the people forward until the time of reformation of the sacrificial system in Christ.
Hebrews 10:3-4 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Hebrews 9:10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.
Thus, we come to the atonement under the New Covenant in the blood of Christ, the perfect sacrifice that does wash away sin, cleanse free from sin, and is the basis for true forgiveness of God to the believer. The purpose and function of the blood of Christ, as our atonement for sin under the New Covenant, is the same as that under the Old Covenant: cleansing and forgiveness of sin…
Matthew 26:28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
The difference between the atonement under the Old Covenant and that of the New Covenant, is that because of the human perfection in Christ, His blood actually takes away the sin that the blood of bulls and goats could not…
Hebrews 9:12 He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
Because Christ’s blood secured for one time, an eternal redemption, there is no more need for daily and yearly sacrifices as there was under the Old Covenant system. So what did the cross of Christ – the blood-shedding of His blood – do for the believer today? Does it really take us into eternal life as some teach today? No, it does not. Just like the atonement under the Old Covenant, the atonement under the New Covenant in Christ’s blood is the basis for God’s forgiveness and cleansing from sin so that the believer can enter into the Holy of Holies and engage God in personal relationship. In the atonement in Christ’s blood, we have only been brought near to God, we have not been automatically entered into relationship with Him…
Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
In His blood we have been purified in order to serve God…
Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
In His blood, by His “work upon the cross,” we now have access to enter into the Holy of Holies so that we can engage God in intimate, personal relationship…
Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,
His blood does not give us eternal life as some like to pervert the gospel and teach, we are only sanctified, forgiven, and cleansed from sin through His blood…
Hebrews 13:12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through His own blood.
We were sanctified in order to enter into the Holy of Holies – symbolic for the very presence of God. The blood-shedding of Christ made peace between the believing sinner and a holy God, so that we could enter into personal relationship with Him (one does not enter into personal relationship with an enemy, one who is not at peace with him)…
Colossians 1:20 and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.
The sole purpose of the atonement in Christ’s blood – His “work upon the cross” which was making atonement for men, was to save (deliver, free) us from sin so that we could enter into relationship with God…
Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood
Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.
Christ did not come to this earth in order to give people a free ticket to heaven, and there is no Scripture that teaches such an ideology. He came in order to teach on the New Covenant, to inaugurate and ratify the New Covenant into effectuation, and then become the propitiatory sacrifice for our atonement, the purpose of which is to forgive and cleanse us from sin so that we can enter into relationship with God, wherein dwells eternal life. Eternal life is all about entering into an intimate personal relationship with God wherein we come to know Him completely:
John 17:3 And this is the purpose of eternal life, so that they can come to know You personally, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Eternal life is not in the blood of Christ, it is not in the “work of Christ upon the cross” as so many like to teach today (which is directly contradictory to the Scriptures) – eternal life is found only “in Christ,” covenant terminology for a personal relationship with God. Just as legal sexual intimacy is found only in the marriage covenant relationship, so eternal life is found only in a personal relationship with God. Anything illegal (that which is thought to be gained outside of “the way of God” which He has ordained) will be cast down into the Lake of Fire.
Blessings!
New Covenant Understanding 