Yom Kippur - Life in the blood
Lev 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.
All this talk about the blood atonement that is bantered about lately curiously falls around Israel’s holiday of Yom Kippur. (See ‘What’s with the blood‘ and ‘Stricken by God‘). The need for a blood atonement has always offended people, from a Christian perspective it is called the offence of the cross. I wonder if Adam and Eve were offended when God sacrificed an animal to cover Adam and Eve’s sin? The blood atonement is an affront to mankind, full-stop.
Trying to skirt around the horrid nature of atonement and obviously the disagreeable reality of the blood that is needed to bring back man and reconcile him with his creator, is a failure to see ones fallen nature and ones sin in all its horridness, brutal, barbaric and diagreeable reality. One needs to clean it up so one does not see the truth of the matter! Clean it up, make it not so brutal, happily 
look away from that nasty mess, put on the biggest rose coloured glasses imaginable and think of happy thoughts. (See ‘re words‘ and ‘That cursed Fig Tree‘)
Anyway, after emailing a very hard working friend of mine he mentioned this word - hilasterion - to me, which is the greek word for propitiation found in this verse…
Rom 3:25 whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood, as a demonstration of His righteousness through the passing over of the sins that had taken place before, in the forbearance of God,
What does this word relate to? It relates to the mercy seat, the lid that covers ‘The Ark of the Covenant’. The blood of atonement was to be sprinkled on this Ark, and now we have the completed fulfillment of this by the blood of Christ mentioned throughout the NT. It is in fact one of the main themes of the NT, if not THE main theme.
To deny this bloody sacrifice - it is, what it is - is to deny the whole works of the cross and the fulfillment of the law required of God. To deny it is to come under the works of the law again. Rememeber …
Rom 3:25-30 whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood, as a demonstration of His righteousness through the passing over of the sins that had taken place before, in the forbearance of God, for a demonstration of His righteousness in the present time, for His being just and justifying the one that is of the faith of Jesus. Then where is the boasting? It was excluded. Through what law? Of works? No, but through a Law of faith. Then we conclude a man to be justified by faith without works of Law. Or is He the God of Jews only, and not also of the nations? Yes, of the nations also, since it is one God who will justify circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
By faith we are justified. The law points to our sin, the law points to the blood needed for appeasement, penal substitutionary atonement and reconcilation because of our sin, the law if followed without the faith that Christ has fulfilled the law makes us guilty of every law even if we commit just one thing against the law of God.
Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all.
Don’t try to white wash it!
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