On the Day of Atonement, the high priest sacrificed one goat as the sin offering, and he laid his hands on a second goat, confessed over it the sins of the people, and sent it away for the removal of that sin. Christ is our Atonement. And we must see that the cross of Christ not only gives us the forgiveness of our sins, but His cross is continually available for us to confess over Him our sins, lay upon Him our sins, and see those sins completely removed from our lives.

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Show Notes:

On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, one goat was sacrificed as a sin offering. Next a second goat was offered as the Azazel or scapegoat. The high priest laid his hands on this goat and confessed over it all the sins and transgressions of the sons of Israel. Then the scapegoat, which now bore all their iniquity, was sent into the wilderness, thus removing their iniquity from them. It is important to see that after the sacrifice for sin was made, God provided for the complete removal of the sin.

In Christ, we have the fulfillment of Atonement. Yet as Christians we continue to struggle with the sin nature after we have accepted Christ as the offering for our sin on the cross. Christians often feel condemned and even shunned and put down by those in their church if they have problems with their flesh. This is why the Day of Atonement is so important for believers in Christ. We need to see that we can confess our sins and lay those sins on the cross of Christ just as the high priest confessed the sins of Israel and laid them on the Azazel goat.

The cross of Christ is not something that happens once in our life at our original salvation experience. We recognize that He is our Messiah, that He died for our sins, brought the forgiveness, and reconciled us to the Father. But we must also recognize that He is able to remove from us all the remaining iniquity and nature that is at war within us. The cross of Christ is happening right now at this moment, and we can lay on that cross all the sin that remains in us. He knows our weakness and does not condemn us for what remains, but He wants us to accept that He is able to deliver us from all those things.

Key Verses:

• Leviticus 16:8-10. “Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the LORD fell, and make it a sin offering.”
• Leviticus 16:21-22. “The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land.”
• Romans 7:12-25. “I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.”
• Romans 8:1-3. “Sending His own Son … as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.”
• 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
• Colossians 3:5-10. “You laid aside the old self with its evil practices.”
• Isaiah 53:6.“The LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”
• Ephesians 4:17-27.“Lay aside the old self … and put on the new self.”

Quotes:

• “I like the terminology ‘goat of removal’ because the idea here is that all that was remaining in the lives of the people was removed out of the camp.”
• “I believe for sure that I am forgiven by Christ for anything that remains dwelling in me. But I also believe in the provision, as I see reflected in the Day of Atonement, that there is a final removal of the nature of sin out of me.”
• “I bless us as we walk in this Day of Atonement that we likewise put off the old man, put away the old nature, and put on a new self that is filled with righteousness, truth, and holiness in the will of God.”

Takeaways:

1. The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, is one of the most special times in the biblical feasts. It is very pertinent for our lives as Christian believers because it deals with what is available to us in our total deliverance from the sin that dwells in us, which we continue to labor under.
2. Often condemnation is so heavy on Christians that it is destructive to their walk with God and ruins their lives in Christ. This should not be. In Romans 7, Paul wrote of his own struggle with the flesh to help us recognize that we do not deal with these issues by ourselves, but there is a provision in Christ for the removal of the sin nature.
3. Just as the high priest laid hands on the head of the goat and imparted their sins on the Day of Atonement, lay your hands upon the Lord as He is on the cross for you at this moment and let Him remove the sins from you wholly and completely.