Thoughts concerning sin and trespass offerings, and the reconciliation of all

[gregoryfl]

Eph 2:1 You were made alive when you were dead in trespasses and sins,

Notice that we were dead in two things, trespasses AND sins. There is a difference between the two.

Trespasses have to do with specific acts of sin, while sin (not sins, but sin) has to do with a state of being. In other words, trespasses are always about what a person does, while sin is about what a person is. Let me make one point of clarification though. There are actions that can be done that are called sins, but I am referring to sin itself, as a principle.

Under the law covenant, there was the sacrifice for sin, and the sacrifice for trespasses. While they seemed to be the same, they were not. Sins and trespasses are basically the same, but sin is not the same as either of them. Sin is the root law or principle, or state of existence, behind those acts that are called sins or trespasses.

With that in mind, here is what scripture says about the relationship between sin and our flesh, which needed to be dealt with by the sacrifice for sin. Paul described it this way:

Rom 7:17,18 So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing.

All who have ever lived have lived in sinful flesh, flesh in which sin dwells. It is not alive however, until the law brings sin and temptation together in intercourse thus birthing the act of sin. This state of existence included Jesus himself, for it is said of him:

Rom 8:3 For what the law couldn't do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin...

2Co 5:21 For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The reason Jesus is said to have dwelt in the likeness of sinful flesh is because he never sinned. Because of that, he knew no sin. Yet, he was made to be sin for us. Why? Because by him being born of a woman, under law, and thus being shaped in iniquity, conceived in sin, thus dwelling in a sinful body, he could then condemn that sin by never giving into its desires. He lived under the law, which gave sin power in his body. The law brought the sin in his members and the temptations he faced together, but he never allowed the two to consummate. He was kept by the power of his Father dwelling in him so that sin never got one chance to be birthed in him. By him going all the way to his physical death without sinning, he was able to condemn sin in that very body of sin he lived in. In other words, he found sin guilty of killing an innocent man, one who had never sinned!

This may sound like blasphemy to speak of Jesus actually having sin in his body, but the problem is in identifying what one has with who they are. Dwelling in sinful bodies, being born in sin, does not make us sinners, anymore than me wearing a police uniform makes me a police officer. Living in bodies with sin in its members merely sets up impossible odds for anyone who is empty of Life, the Life of the one who made us to dwell in. Like Paul, we were all "alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and [we] died." Rom 7:9

Now though, we are apart from law, dead to it, so that, filled with the fullness of God in Christ, we are alive, never to die. This all came about because Christ took that sinful body of his outside the camp, in which dwelt the beginning of that new creation of which we are a part of, and sacrificed it, and us in him, as sin. That body of sin is no more. His body is now one of immortality, glory, power, and spiritual.

Nowhere in scripture is it said that Christ was our trespass offering. Rather, he is only spoken of as our sin offering. Here is one such instance:

Heb 13:11,12 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate.

This is a direct fulfillment of the type, spoken of here:

Lev 4:21 He shall carry forth the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

The reason it was to be outside the camp was because it was a repulsive sacrifice, unlike some of the others, such as a simple burnt offering given on occasion which were sweet smelling sacrifices to him. The offering for sin symbolized the rejection of that sin on the one bearing the sin. Sin was thus condemned and consumed.

Why is this distinction important? Christ could not be a sacrifice of trespasses because he never sinned. He did however dwell in a body of sin, which is why he could be our sacrifice for sin.

How then were our trespasses dealt with? He dealt with the root, the source, sin itself, which dwells in our bodies. He destroyed sin's power by killing us so that rather than being dead in sins, we are now dead to sin. Every act that could flow out of that root has been dealt with totally, with finality. Paul speaks about it this way:

Rom 4:25 who was delivered up through our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.

Notice that he was not delivered up for his own trespasses, but ours. Nowhere does scripture say he was made to be a transgressor. He could not be, for he never sinned. He is spoken of as being made sin however. This, as I have shared above, was the condition he was born in, although most confuse the issue by saying he was made sin only on the cross. Not so. They are confusing the difference between sin and trespass. Our trespasses, our acts of sin, were borne by him on the cross. This is how he dealt with what we do. But he went further than that, for trespasses and sins are merely the symptom of a greater problem, sin itself. Therefore he himself was made sin when he was conceived in his mothers womb "brought forth in iniquity. In sin [his] mother conceived me. Ps 51:5 It was in this state of who he was that he dealt with who we were, for we, in him, died that day with him and thus all of the old Adam died that day, and sin itself dealt with.

We today, who have Christ in us, are in the same place Christ was while he was on earth, as Paul said in Rom 8:10 If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

That is reality. His body was subject to the same frailty, futility, and decay that ours is. As a flesh and blood human, he could not, in that state, inherit the kingdom of God anymore than we can in ours. He is no longer in such a body, having put on the dwelling of God himself after his body was raised from the dead.

The truth of the matter is, nothing good dwells in our fleshly body. It is indeed dead because of sin. Sin dwells there, dead though it may be, being separated from law. This is why we do not evaluate anyone according to the flesh, nor do we judge based on the flesh, that which is outward. It is a bogus evaluation because it is based on who we used to be. And by the way, when I say anyone, I am speaking of everyone you come into contact with, not just believers. God is at peace, and conciliated with every person, whether they believe it or not.

That is also why we do not find our identity in the flesh. Please understand that neither did Christ when he was on earth. He always identified himself with reality, who he truly was, as the joining of God and man together. That is God's calling for us as well, to speak of what is true with ourselves and each other. Not only that, but we also do not evaluate Christ by his flesh either. We often fail to think of that, but it is what Paul said. Gone are the days of looking at the gospels and making judgments about our Lord based on his human life in the flesh. He is who he is now, and that is how we see him and relate to him.

In saying "It is finished," he truly could say that, having condemned sin itself, and all which spring from it's law, in his body. Thus we all died to both sin AND transgression, which we were in at one time, freed to be placed in another, namely, Christ.

[gregoryfl]

Picture a tree:

If the tree is rotten, or bad, that can be likened to Sin. That speaks of the condition of the tree.

A tree produces 2 things, foliage and fruit.

The fruit of the tree can be likened to sins. They are what the tree produces. A rotten tree produces bad fruit.

The foliage can be likened to trespasses. They, like fruit, are what the tree produces, but there is an obvious difference between a leaf and a fruit.

All foliage is fruit, but not all fruit is foliage.

Same with sins and trespasses.

Sins come from sin. They are what sin produces.

Trespasses also come from sin. They, like sins, are what sin produces, but there is an obvious difference between trespasses and sins.

All trespass are sins, but not sins are trespasses.

[gregoryfl]

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them: if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin, which he has sinned, a young bull without blemish to Yahweh for a sin offering. He shall bring the bull to the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh; and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull, and kill the bull before Yahweh. The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull, and bring it to the Tent of Meeting. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Yahweh, before the veil of the sanctuary. The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before Yahweh, which is in the Tent of Meeting; and he shall pour out all of rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. He shall take all the fat of the bull of the sin offering off of it; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away, as it is taken off of the bull of the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. The bull's skin, all its flesh, with its head, and with its legs, its innards, and its dung, even the whole bull shall he carry forth outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. Where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.

"'If the whole congregation of Israel sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and are guilty; when the sin in which they have sinned is known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting. The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before Yahweh; and the bull shall be killed before Yahweh. The anointed priest shall bring of the blood of the bull to the Tent of Meeting: and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before Yahweh, before the veil. He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before Yahweh, that is in the Tent of Meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. All its fat he shall take from it, and burn it on the altar. Thus shall he do with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. He shall carry forth the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

"'When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and is guilty; if his sin, in which he has sinned, is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish. He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before Yahweh. It is a sin offering. The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he will be forgiven.

"'If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and is guilty; if his sin, which he has sinned, is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has sinned. He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from off of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

"'If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish. He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. All its fat he shall take away, like the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, and he will be forgiven. -Lev 4

In this chapter Moses writes concerning the sin offering. Notice the following:

'If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them:... "'If the whole congregation of Israel sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done,... "'When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done,... "'If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done,

1) No specific acts of sin are mentioned. He just speaks of sin in general, any of the ones that are broken. Notice also that these are sins of which the person was not aware of committing. The reason sins are not named is because the sin offering is concerned with the ROOT of the problem, the condition of the person.

He shall bring the bull to the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh; and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull, and kill the bull before Yahweh.

2) The priest lays his hands on the animal. The practice of laying on of hands is symbolic of transference. In this case, it is transferring the sin of the person or persons onto the sacrifice.

The anointed priest shall take some of the [1] blood of the bull, and bring it to the Tent of Meeting. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Yahweh, before the veil of the sanctuary. The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before Yahweh, which is in the Tent of Meeting; and he shall pour out all of rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. He shall take all the [2] fat of the bull of the sin offering off of it; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, and the [3] two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the fatty cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away, as it is taken off of the bull of the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering.

3) After it is killed, there are 3 things that are removed and presented before the Lord. Father just showed me this morning how this is significant in our understanding of how God looks at us.

The first thing that is removed is the blood, which is presented in 3 ways before the Lord, before the veil, on the altar of sweet incense, and at the base of the altar of burnt offering. Blood represents life, as scripture speaks of the soul, or life, of a person being in the blood.

Gen 9:4 But flesh with its life, its blood, you shall not eat.

This 3-fold presenting of the life of the sacrifice speaks of the totality of who we truly are being presented before the Lord and him being pleased with it.

The second thing that is removed is all the fat. Fat in scripture speaks of the best parts of something. Here is an example:

Gen 45:18 Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.'

This fat is dealt with the same way as the final thing removed.

and the two kidneys,

Kidneys are the deepest organs in the body. They represent our inner self, who we truly are. The kidneys, along with the fat, are consumed on the altar of burnt offering within the camp of the Lord. The heart is not removed because it is dealt with in the blood which it pumps. Thus we see that who we truly are, spoken of as blood, fat, and kidneys, is presented wholly before the Lord. This takes place before the final part of the sacrifice, which deals with the following:

The bull's skin, all its flesh, with its head, and with its legs, its innards, and its dung, even the whole bull shall he carry forth outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. Where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.

What a revelation! The flesh, which includes inner and outer parts, is the part where sin is dealt with. Notice though that even though the blood, kidneys and fat have been removed already, the WHOLE bull is still spoken of as being carried outside the camp to be burned. Does any of this sound familiar?

1Co 5:5 are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Rom 7:17,18, 25 So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don't find it doing that which is good. So then with the mind, I myself serve God's law, but with the flesh, the sin's law.

Mat 3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire."

Rev 14:19,20 The messenger thrust his sickle into the land, and gathered the grapes of the land, and threw them into the great winepress of the wrath of the Mighty One The winepress was trampled outside of the city, and blood came out from the winepress, even to the bridles of the horses, as far as one thousand six hundred stadia.

1Co 3:15 If any man's work is burned, he will suffer loss. However he himself will be delivered, but as through fire.

While these are speaking of slightly different things, they do have a commonality:

The chaff is part of the wheat, but not the wheat itself. The wineskin is part of the grape, but not the grape itself. The work of man is part of the man, but not the man himself. The flesh is part of man, but not the man himself. These verses more clearly define to me exactly what it is that is burned up by fire.

God is after the blood, fat, kidneys, heart, wheat, juice of the grape, the spirit, all different ways of saying he is after who we truly are. Every part of man, spoken of as the flesh, chaff, wineskin which is not of God is done away with, destroyed.

This is how it is that scripture can speak of the wicked being destroyed, and yet at the same time, for that wicked person to come to salvation. The whole bull was burned outside the camp, yet the life and value of it was given to the Lord, apart from the sin the bull died for. Likewise, when scripture speaks of the wicked being destroyed, it is speaking of that part of us all being destroyed that is not of value to God. Who we truly are is not part of that destruction.

Time for a break, will continue later...

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9: I like.  :thumbsup: Fat also speaks of that which is above what is needed.  :Sparkletooth: Our cup runneth over. Blessings....

[gregoryfl]

Thanks Card,

I was always so confused as to how it was the the wicked would be destroyed, yet all would be saved. Now, having seen what I have in the offerings, it makes so much sense now.