Leviticus 5-7
I’ve learnt a lot about sin in the last couple of days.
Leviticus 1-7 are pretty gory chapters of the Bible. What’s clear is that blood must be shed to make atonement for sin. I can only think of one part of the Bible that is more gory than this and that comes at the end of the 4 gospels when God sacrifices his own son to make atonement for the sin of the world.
Another lesson is that when it comes to sin, ignorance doesn’t = innocence. If we sin, we are guilty whether we knew we were sinning or not. Jesus’ blood cleanses us from this guilt too.
It is clear from chapter 5 that sin can be a failure to do something good just as much as it can mean doing something “bad”. You might have heard such sin described as “sins of omission”, where the good thing remains undone. I’m so grateful that Jesus didn’t even sin in this way. He was so in tune with and submissive to his Father’s will that he never failed to the good things that God had prepared for him. God graciously credits this righteousness to us through faith in Christ.
And finally, these chapters reveal that sin against another person is always against God first. This means that there are two stages necessary in dealing with sin: atonement with God and restitution towards the person we have sinned against. It is impossible to sin against another person without also sinning against God. The fact that we are “the body of Christ” should help us to understand this and spur us on to love one another as God has loved us in Christ.
I have to admit, I am someone who tries to avoid reading, how shall I put this, the less ‘interesting’ parts of the bible. I can find commiting to daily bible reading a challenge even when it’s the ‘juicy’ bits. However, with the daily reflections I am sticking with it. Thanks guys your comments have been my lifeline!
Lately and again today the readings have been about so many rules, rituals and regulations that had to be so strictly adheared to. For someone who finds sticking to a recipe a challenge I feel stressed at the thought of all the stuff that the OT folks needed to follow every day of their life and the accuracy with which they had to do it. The offerings for unintentional sins really toped it off for me today. Makes me feel so relieved and grateful that Jesus came once and for all and I don’t need to do all the rituals. Also makes me realise how complacent I become and how much I take for granted.
Hey Ela
Thanks for joining the conversation and its great to hear that someone so dailybiblereading-challenged is sticking at it!
I realise you may not have been saying this but it’s important that we see behind the OT laws to see that they’re not just mere rituals but actually a means for Israel to understand and deal with their sin. And even though it might not seem like it to us, they’re actually God’s gracious provision – a means of atonement anticipating King Jesus.
Having said that, I too am SO profoundly grateful that I live this side of Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice for sin. May Jesus be our motivation in everything!