atoning blood

If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed.

Leviticus 4:27-28

A sacrifice for sins was needed for everyone and anyone of the people of Israel in order to be in right standing before a holy God. It did not matter whether the sin was flagrant or unintentional. In fact great detail is given in Leviticus 4 regarding unintended sins, showing us that our brokenness is so endemic that many of our problems are due to sins we are oblivious to until they are brought to our attention.

But there is no such thing as a guiltless sin. We answer to God for every wrong. He is that holy and we are that sinful. All sin must be atoned. And so an altar in a tabernacle was the scene of countless sacrifices because sin is so daily embedded in our existence. Only at the cost of a life could sin be atoned by the priest. And only at the cost of our Great High Priest Jesus’ life can our sins be atoned. Blood has to be shed.

Just as the regular sacrifice was needed in Israel to atone even unintended sins, so daily we must seek to know, acknowledge, and claim the complete forgiveness found in Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice. We confess our sin. We plead His blood as the sacrifice. We need His grace. I am a humbled sinner every morning when I roll out of bed. I claim my Savior’s atoning love each day!