And He Shall Be Forgiven
Escaping the labyrinth of morbid introspection
“And the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.” (Leviticus 4:31)
One of the truths that is easily obscured, and sometimes forgotten altogether in contemporary evangelical circles, is what we might call the objectivity of atonement. By this I mean the concrete and historical nature of atonement; the fact that it takes place outside oneself and apart from oneself, wholly independent of our thinking, feeling, or willing.
Atonement, in other words, is more than a concept, more than simply an idea or theological category. It is, in actual fact, a bodily and historical event—one in which real blood is shed for the procurement of real forgiveness for very real sins and offences against Almighty God. As the Presbyterian theologian John Murray described it, “The atonement is objective to us, performed independently of us, and the subjective effects that accrue from it presuppose its accomplishment.”1 Without atonement, there is no forgiveness; the two hang together like fruit and branch.
This, it turns out, is an important point to emphasize, if for no other reason than that it prevents us from grasping at assurance in all the wrong places. After all, the temptation when approaching the question of assurance is always to look inward before looking outward, to cast about within ourselves for confidence or hope rather than simply looking to the objective fact of God’s grace shining magnificently in the person of Jesus Christ.
But this miserable habit reverses the biblical order. The covenant people of God have never been encouraged to look to themselves for the ground of their standing before Him; always the direction has been the other way: look to the ram; look to the place of sacrifice; look to the blood-stained altar and there find rest for your souls. As our text puts it so comfortingly, “...the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.”
To put it simply, forgiveness and cleansing are extended on the basis of real and prior atonement. If atonement has been made, forgiveness is irrevocable.
What this means, then, is that the defining movement in our salvation is not, finally, how fervently we believe or how sincerely we desire to obtain reconciliation with God. Both of these things are necessary, but they are not ultimate. And they certainly aren’t the sources from which we should be seeking spiritual comfort.
Rather, the ground of our hope and the assurance of our pardon can only ever be derived from the sufficiency, efficacy, and acceptability of the atonement God has provided. If satisfactory atonement has been made—if an offering has been given that is pleasing and acceptable to God—then those who are trusting in God’s mercy may be assured that their sins are certainly forgiven; their guilt is covered. For the truth that speaks most in the end is not their striving, hoping, or doing, but simply the blood that has been shed on their behalf.
And the good news of the Christian gospel is that this sort of atonement, the very kind we need, has been given for us in the offering of God’s only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is the spotless lamb, the perfect sacrifice, and His blood and merits rest at the bottom of our redemption. Praise be to God!
I’ll leave us, then, with a word from Spurgeon, reflecting upon this glorious truth. He, of course, expresses it far better than I. Listen to him, and “look unto Jesus”:
“Remember, therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you—it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to your hand with which you are grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to your hope, but to Jesus, the source of your hope; look not to your faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by ‘looking unto Jesus.’”
Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, June 28.
John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, 50.
Great reminder Jacob!