Why does blood atone for sin

Because the lawful wages for sin was death shedding of blood , the law could not be fulfilled without this penalty being meted out. That law could not be changed, but Christ could take that penalty in our place. This is what most refer to as the atonement, expiation, or propitiation. God's law is immutable unchangeable , and even God could not have changed it.

But by taking the penalty in our place, the requirement of the law is fulfilled and He can then offer forgiveness and life in place of the wages we have earned. And this is why Jesus Christ had to shed His blood to fulfill the law for us , taking our penalty, that He did not deserve, so that we might live--which we did not deserve.

Can fruit be offered instead of blood for the forgiveness of sins? Genesis Now it came to pass at the end of days, that Qayin brought from the fruit of the soil an offering to YHVH. But if you do not do right Sin couches at the door; Its urge is toward you, Yet you can be its master.

Genesis But for your own life-blood I will require a reckoning: I will require it of every beast; of man, too, will I require a reckoning for human life, of every man for that of his fellow man! Genesis Whoever sheds the blood of man, By man shall his blood be shed; For in His image did Elohim make man.

These passages seem to set forth clearly lex talionis aka "the principle of retaliation," at least in the case of bodily harm or murder:. Whatever anyone does to injure another person must be paid back in kind. So when David had, by proxy, murdered Bathsheba's innocent husband Uriah the Hittite, he accrued bloodguilt. The Torah said that he must be killed. However, he was not killed. Instead, he was freely forgiven and went on to be a celebrated hero of the LORD.

Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. In the Substitutionary Theory of the Atonement, the death of Christ satisfies justice by saying that the death of the son of God was so "valuable" that it was "worth the bloodguilt related to every sinner's guilt, so when Jesus suffered and his blood was shed, it "paid for" and "vicariously suffered" the punishment of every sinner's crimes.

However, this does not accord with lex talionis because in that jurisprudence, it is the sinner that receives the payback. So instead of "the principle of retaliation," substitutionary atonement is an example of the principle that "two wrongs make a right".

It is a jurisprudence that says that justice can be served either by the sinner being punished and the righteous rewarded OR by the righteous being punished and the wicked rewarded.

Thus Substitutionary Atonement is a nonsensical approach to justice. I like to summarize its logic like this:. Okay, well then how about if you kill my son and then we'll call it even. Two wrongs do not make a right. Paul explains that God's plan of salvation is not about justice at all. It is about mercy triumphing over justice:.

Mercy triumphs over judgment. The body and blood of Jesus also was the requisite bloody corpse that was used to seal an ancient blood covenant, in the case of the New Covenant.

It seems to indicate that if God fails to forgive sins, he becomes subject to being killed just as the corpse was and if his subjects do not keep covenant, they too will be destroyed. There is also the suffering of Jesus himself which, though measured and very limited compared to many people's deaths, did show that he had "skin in the game" so to speak, making him a qualified and compassionate high priest, to intercede on behalf of the sinner that approaches his mercy seat.

In the OT, though, the blood of the sacrifices served primarily as an atonement. IE: An expression of remorse, an appeal for mercy and a commitment to turn from that behavior. Click here for a related answer. Sign up to join this community.

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Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Hebrews Ask Question. Asked 8 months ago. Active 2 months ago. Viewed times. In particular, verse 22 says: Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Improve this question. Spirit Realm Investigator. Spirit Realm Investigator Spirit Realm Investigator 9, 1 1 gold badge 12 12 silver badges 64 64 bronze badges.

The life is in the blood. Leviticus God is just arbitrarily requiring the death of His own Son? AnthonyBurg - Good point. So there must be a reason. What is it? Don't have a solid answer for this but just want to point out that Heb says the death of the sacrifice makes a covenant binding - and in this particular case the covenant under consideration regards forgiveness of sins.

Show 3 more comments. Active Oldest Votes. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. John - The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Lev - For the life [literally "soul"] of the flesh is in the blood , and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Lev - For the life [literally, "soul"] of all flesh is its blood. Deut - Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life ["soul"], and you must not eat the life ["soul"] with the meat.

Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life , and I will raise him up at the last day. Job , Ps , Isa , , , , Zech , 5, Matt wedding garment parable , Rev , , , It is used of sins in Matt , 5, 6, , 32, , Mark , Acts , Rom , James , 1 John , , etc.

That is, our sins are sent away or banished. See also Mark , Acts , , , Eph , Col Again, Jesus accomplished this great work on the cross. Paul, in Romans, tells us that God has freely justified all sinners Rom and that this occurred while we were still sinners Rom , 8, 9 by His death on the cross.

In Gal we are emphatically told that we are justified by trusting God and not by works of the law. Jesus death was to demonstrate His justice Rom In Rev the process that leads to atonement is depicted as a war which Jesus wins.

His victory obtains atonement for mankind Col , 1 Peter See also Rev The atonement is also presented as a kind of recapitulation : Jesus became the second Adam and succeeded where Adam failed. Rom 5 discusses this idea at some length but the idea of sacrifice and the gift of salvation are never too far away even in this passage.

The idea is based upon the assumption that sin creates a debt to God which must be repaid Col , Matt Again, it is only an analogue, metaphor or figure of speech and so is not literally true. Rom , 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24, 2 Cor , Gal , James See also Gen Rom , , , 2 Cor , 15, Eph , , Heb Both speak of Christ redeeming sinners as slaves Luke , by paying a ransom Matt , Mark , 1 Tim , Heb , but, Scripture is silent about to whom the manumission fee was paid it is only an analogue, metaphor or figure of speech!

Perhaps the most touching example of redemption is contained in the enacted parable of Hosea and Gomer — see Hosea The New Testament also presents several things from which the sinner needs freedom: a Freedom from the devil, Heb , 15 b Freedom from death, 1 Cor , 57 c Freedom from the power of sin that enslaves, Rom d Freedom from the condemnation of the law, Rom , Gal , Reconciliation describes the process of reuniting an estranged family member.

Further, a comparison with v9 shows that justification and reconciliation are used in parallel. This a perfect figure of our relationship with Jesus who delivers us from the danger of sin Phil and eternal loss Rom , 1 Thess , 9 2 Thess , Heb , , 1 Peter , 2 Peter , etc.

See also Eph where salvation is described as a helmet to protect from spiritual danger. This figure also emphasises that salvation must come from outside the person. The practice of Baptism is built on this vivid metaphor and thus depicted as washing away of sin Acts as well as death to the old life and resurrection to a new life in Christ. Gal , who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. Gal , Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

John , For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. That is, Jesus was treated as we deserve so that we can be treated as He deserved.

Improve this answer. Dottard Dottard I'm not sure if this answers the question. Are you saying the reason why there is blood shedding is because it's for propitiation, and propitiations by definition require blood shedding? If that's the case, I have two objections: 1 I checked the definition of the word 'propitiation' in several dictionaries, but didn't find the requirement of blood shedding in any of them. I still don't understand why blood has to be shed. But it's fine if the right answer is "we don't know, it's a mystery, as many other things".

This is clearly not reality but a metaphor as is "paying the price" to whom?? SpiritRealmInvestigator - The shedding of blood has to do with killing and the "soul" as shown above - it anticipated the shedding of Christ's blood. Christ died because He was crushed by sin and the sacrifices simply were a prefiguring of that. There is a direct link!

I cannot put the dots any closer. Add a comment. Charles Mbogo Charles Mbogo 2 2 silver badges 8 8 bronze badges. The goal of Hebrews is not to explain why I think to answer the question of why , we need to turn Hebrews on its head, because in this passage, the goal of the author is to teach , going from the natural to the spiritual, the principle of forgiveness of sins: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: But the pedagogical process is not the right one to use when asking why. Hosea 6. The shedding of blood is a shadow for Christ's devotion to the Father All the various sacrifices and principles of atonement are shadows of Christ's sacrifice, and so the reason why the shedding of blood was required in the sacrificial system is because Christ laid down his life in obedience to the Father.

Zech It is the Father's love for the son that is the source of forgiveness By passing this trial, the incarnated Christ demonstrated his love for the Father in creation. It is the mutual love between the Father and the Son that is the true spiritual mechanism by which creation can access forgiveness, as love keeps no record of wrongs And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

We participate in that love and thus forgiveness by identifying with the Son This is also why more than just the shedding of blood is required. Robert Robert 5, 1 1 gold badge 3 3 silver badges 28 28 bronze badges. Best answer so far. I appreciate the commentary about creation being a crucible. I might also include some commentary about how Christ's test proves he is fit to be the new Adam who would never lose the new creation to sin.

We are covered as a result of Christ's rule. Notice that sin didn't come into the world through Eve, but through Adam, because he was the chief ruler. Also when God was mad with Israel, it was necessary for David to sin before God would exact punishment 1 Sam Austin thanks, Austin. Yes, I agree with these points as well. I wanted to add more but fear I already added too much and the answer is too lengthy as it is — Robert.

Well, you saved me from struggling with the same problem of length. Yes, send me answers to interesting and challenging questions about Jesus and the Bible. Help me get equipped and be encouraged so I am empowered to know, live, and share my faith. Get equipped with knowledge! Be encouraged in hope! Live empowered with love! We need your help to share God's truths.

Genesis Abraham was instructed by God to offer Isaac as a sacrifice on Mt. Gen Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. God provided this ram a lamb that had reached maturity as a substitutionary atonement. This pointed toward the Lamb of God who would come as the final atonement for sin. Blood Required in Leviticus The practice of animal sacrifice was more clearly defined by God and practiced by the people of Israel beginning with the wilderness wanderings.

No Other Way The atonement for sin could not have been done in any other way. Phil …He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death … God knew what He was doing when He created man. Philip P. Visit our YouTube Channel. We need your help to keep our site ad-free. A Must Read for All People! The Gospel Made Simple — Easy as 1, 2, 3!

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Does not atonement come through the blood? And yet, Rabbi Asor calls what God defined in the Pentateuch as the only way to receive atonement and forgiveness over sins as paganism and idolatry. The Book of Leviticus, the book which is dedicated in detail to the sacrifices and atonement for sins, talks about atonement 49 times! Each time, the context is always the blood sacrifices.

Why blood is so important to God? In the blood on the altar, and then sacrificed it. So what will happen if a rabbi comes and claims that the blood sacrifice is only one of the ways for forgiveness of sins, but not the only way? As the rabbis expressed it, there is no ritual expiation except by means of blood.

Jesus is not only the Priest who offers a sacrifice for us, but He in Himself, is the High Priest, who shed His blood as a sacrifice for our sins, once and for all. Facebook-f Twitter Instagram Youtube Pinterest. OFI Partner. Is Blood Necessary for Atonement of Sins? Eitan Bar. Share on facebook. Share on twitter.