SIN SERVED THREE WAYS (Leviticus 16)

My son, a kosher-observant believer in his Savior, Yeshua, has told me, "There are no offerings for willful, intentional sin. The offerings are all for times when people sin without knowing it." His point was, that until the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, God had made no provision for intentional sin.

I did read that chapter, about unknown sins, a few days ago. But thank God, I ran across this verse today: "He will make atonement for the Holy of Holies, because of the uncleanness of the Israelites, their acts of rebellion, and all their other sins." (Leviticus 16:15-17. MSG)

God gave Moses three reasons why atonement was needed:

• We are unclean. Of course, Leviticus gives us a whole host of things that make us unclean (death, bodily fluids, infectious skin diseases, etc.)  But we are born unclean, sinners by nature as well as by choice. We need atonement because we will always choose sin.
• We rebel against God. We know what God wants from us--and we choose to disobey. Look at all those "do nots" from the 10 Commandments, or how about about all the things from the old nature that we are told to get rid of?
• We sin in other ways. There are those unknown sins that God provides for. We sin by omission--when we know to do good and don't act. 

Whatever the nature of our sin, God knows us. He loves us. He provides for our atonement, so that we can be reconciled to Him. 

It was true in Aaron's day.

It is still true today. 

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. 1 John 1:7 ESV

P.S. I posted a bonus blog today about a love letter to God. Check it out below. :)