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Bible Q

Tag: atonement

Did God require a sacrifice to forgive the sins of mankind?

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Yes. This is perhaps one of the simplest questions to answer. The New Testament makes it clear that the Old Testament sacrifices were only shadows of what God really wanted. Such as in “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired” (Hebrews 10:5). But nevertheless, the final sacrifice, the submission of Jesus to his father’s will, was […]

How exactly does Jesus pay for our sins if he is not God?

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It is because Jesus is not God that he can save us from our sins. Jesus was a mortal man who faced the same temptations and weaknesses we face. He was able to relate to what we go through, although unlike us, Jesus never gave in to temptation. Hebrews vividly makes this point. Heb 2:14-18 […]

In what way were sacrifices “shadows”?

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A shadow is a picture cast by a tangible object. The sacrifices were a representation of the atonement/reconciliation/forgiveness of sins the coming messiah would achieve. Jesus the Messiah was the tangible reality. The sacrifices were the picture illustrating aspects of this amazing salvation to come through Jesus. The Law of Moses, extensively used physical things […]

What does ‘atonement’ mean?

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Atonement in the Old Testament The Hebrew verb ‘to atone’ (kaphar) means ‘cover’, so the noun ‘atonement’ (kippurim pl.) is a form of ‘covering’. The most usual form of the word in the Old Testament is kipper (piel form, causative form, of kaphar) which means to ’cause to be covered’, ‘make covering for’. Lev.5:18 And […]