One of the earliest and most central concepts of the Bible is atonement. The idea of atonement is that an innocent life is given in the place of one's life who is not innocent. In this manner the person's sin was covered. In fact the word 'kaphar' (atonement) also means to cover.
1) to cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation, cover over with pitch
a) (Qal) to coat or cover with pitch
b) (Piel)
1) to cover over, pacify, propitiate
2) to cover over, atone for sin, make atonement for
3) to cover over, atone for sin and persons by legal rites
c) (Pual)
1) to be covered over
2) to make atonement for
d) (Hithpael) to be covered
Incidentally we see foreshadowings of this in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.
Gen 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
I say this because previously in the narrative God had promised that in the day that they should eat of the tree they would surely die. While it is certain death began to have its' effects on them from that day forward it would seem God's immediate punishment was forestalled. Why? It would seem that a life was given that Adam and Eve might be covered. The fact that God made clothes for them seems a bit superfluous given they had already clothed themselves unless there is an underlying reason for it.
To drive the point home I have included some of the more relevant passages that deal with atonement and the purpose behind the practice.
Exd 29:36 "Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to consecrate it.
Exd 30:10 "Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD."
Lev 1:4 'He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.
Lev 4:20 'He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; thus he shall do with it.
So the priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven.Lev 4:26 'All its fat he shall offer up in smoke on the altar as in the case of the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings.
Thus the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven.Lev 4:31 'Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the LORD.
Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
Lev 4:35 'Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to the LORD.
Thus the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.Lev 5:6 'He shall also bring his guilt offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat as a sin offering.
So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin.
Lev 5:10 'The second he shall then prepare as a burnt offering according to the ordinance.
So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed, and it will be forgiven him.Lev 5:13
'So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has committed from one of these, and it will be forgiven him; then the rest shall become the priest's, like the grain offering.'"
Lev 5:16 "He shall make restitution for that which he has sinned against the holy thing, and shall add to it a fifth part of it and give it to the priest.
The priest shall then make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and it will be forgiven him.
Lev 5:18 "He is then to bring to the priest a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation, for a guilt offering.
So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his error in which he sinned unintentionally and did not know it, and it will be forgiven him.Lev 6:7
and the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for any one of the things which he may have done to incur guilt."Now there are two things certain in this life. God is holy and expects us to be holy. And we have all sinned and are guilty before an holy and just God. There is no debating this inescapa
ble fact. I bring this up because I believe that out of all the differences between other religions and faith in Christ this has to be the biggest. NO other religion promises atonement.
No matter how good we may be we have all fallen short of the glory of God. We have all sinned. The sad part is that many delude themselves into thinking that enough good deeds will somehow outweigh the bad. But it doesn't work that way in this life. So why should we believe it will work that way in the next. If you skip out on paying your taxes the government doesn't look the other way because you help your neighbor paint his house. If you shoplift the police don't let you go because you donated what you stole to charity. So why do we believe that God will act differently?
The fact is because we are all guilty someone has to pay the penalty. The good news (that's what the Gospel is by the way)is that God sent a willing substitute into the world to pay that penalty so that we may inherit eternal life instead of waking up to eternal shame. On judgement day do you really want to be judged by your deeds? Because if atonement is not made on your behalf you will be.
Take a moment to take stock of those misdeeds you have against you. Even the one's you think are hidden from the world. Have you ever lusted after someone other than your spouse? Ever coveted someone else's possessions? Ever been angry with no cause? Without atonement you will be called to account for all of those as well as the more obvious sins.
For those muslims reading this. Has atonement been made for you? Are you confident that you will enter heaven based on your deeds? As a muslim will you really trust your eternity to a man who himself wasn't sure where he would end up?
The Prophet said, “By Allah, though I am the Apostle of Allah, yet I do not know what Allah will do to me.†Hadith vol. 5, no. 266
46:9 Say: I am no new thing among the messengers (of Allah), nor know I what will be done with me or with you. I do but follow that which is inspired in me, and I am but a plain warner.
For those of the Jewish community reading this. How has atonement been made for you? Can you show me in scripture where the system of atonement has been abolished? Can you show me where good deeds erase bad deeds? If they could are you sure that you have done enough good to erase all the bad? Do you KNOW you are forgiven?
Here are some links to earlier posts on this subject that go into a little more detail.
http://islamchristianforum.com/index.php?topic=580.msg2294#msg2294http://islamchristianforum.com/index.php?topic=930.0
