Hebrews 9:15 ¶ And for this cause he is the mediator of the
new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. 16
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the
death of the testator. 17 For a
testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength
at all while the testator liveth. 18
Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
19 For when Moses had spoken every
precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and
of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the
book, and all the people, 20 Saying,
This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both
the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged
with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
You’ve heard of the phrase “Last Will and
Testament” haven’t you? In the order imposed by the God who created all things
and in His ministry of reconciling mankind to Himself there is no forgiveness
without the shedding of blood. Here are some thoughts of mine on remission and
forgiveness from my comments on Romans.
Romans 3:25 Whom God hath
set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance
of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this
time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus.
In the ancient world it was a well-known practice to try to
propitiate a god through a sacrifice or a ritual. The idea was to appease the
god’s anger and to try to obtain his or her favor and avoid their anger and the
consequence of their wrath. Christ is the only propitiation for God’s righteous
anger against the rebelliousness of mankind. By trusting in His righteousness
and by faith in His blood we obtain remission or forgiveness of sins, based
totally on God’s patience, restraint, and tolerance. It is Christ who justifies
us, renders us legally unblameable for past sins against God before God our
judge.
In English remission is the cancellation of a debt and remission
is linked as a synonym with forgiveness in the Bible with both words several
times translated from the same Greek word. Remission is important to understand
God’s forgiveness for the debt we owed to God is cancelled by the remissions of
sins because of His forgiveness. Remission goes along here with justifying the
believer due to the legal aspects of both words.
Modern definitions of remission include, “the cancellation of a
debt, charge, or penalty,” or, “a temporary recovery from a disease or the pain
associated with it,” and, “forgiveness of sins.”
In the era the King James
Bible was translated there was a thesaurus called Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et
Britannicae. This
was compiled by Thomas Cooper in 1584. In it, remit, meant, “to acquit one of
his debt; to forgive…”, and, “to pardon and remit the punishment one has
deserved.”
In 1587 Thomas Thomas’ Dictionarium Linguae Latinae et
Anglicanae had, “to
remit, or forgive, to pardon.” Remission in those early dictionaries and thesaurus
in Early Modern English is listed as synonymous with forgiveness or pardon.[1]
What does the Bible say? Clearly, in the
verse in Romans we know that Christ’s shed blood is required for the
forgiveness of our sins.
Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace;
Colossians 1:14 In whom we have
redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
John the Baptist preached the
baptism of repentance to the Jews for the remission of sins to prepare them for the
Messiah.
Mark 1:4 John did baptize in
the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
And when Peter faced the proselyte Jews
after the Resurrection he told them that they must receive this baptism of
repentance to receive the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto
them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost.
But, what about the Christian? Does remission mean forgiveness and was this a
special authority given to the Apostles only or was it for all
Christians?
The use of the word remission has to do with a debt that is cancelled.
Many would say that remission and forgiveness are
distinct and that if sins are remitted they not completely removed. But it
is clear that remission and forgiveness are
synonyms. Remission is used
by the Holy Spirit’s guidance after Christ’s resurrection so the
bond of forgiveness and remission is completed. So, it is incorrect to say that
remission only applies to the yearly setting aside of sin and does not apply to
the believer as the word is used very clearly in Romans and elsewhere where it
is a reference to what results as a consequence of forgiveness.
This
teaches us another very important point about forgiveness. Forgiveness,
remission, involves the cancellation of a debt and the forgoing of a punishment
that is rightly due but in and of itself does not imply restoration. Not
punishing mankind to eternal misery is not quite the same thing as giving him
fellowship with His Creator for eternity, our eternal inheritance. That is the
gift of God as we have seen. He does not forbear our punishment by
non-existence. That isn’t the alternative. The alternative to eternal suffering
is eternal fellowship with Him, eternal life.
Hebrews 9:23 ¶ It was therefore necessary that the
patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the
heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 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: 25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often,
as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
26 For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this the judgment: 28 So
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for
him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
This is an amazing conclusion to chapter 9 of
Hebrews. Basically, the need and requirement for all sacrifices to God
involving blood and death ended with Christ’s sacrifice, the once and for all
sacrifice that saved all those who would look to Him for salvation. This He
will accomplish, He has accomplished. We will see Him face to face when we
enter the heavenly realm.
The tabernacle on earth, the Holy of Holies,
were made with human hands. They were only pictures of the truth. Christ served
as our High Priest, offering up Himself as the ultimate and final sacrifice.
Genesis 22:8
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt
offering: so they went both of them together.
As Paul explained in chapter 6, there can be
only one sacrifice, one salvation. For you or I to be able to lose our
salvation would require Christ to be sacrificed a separate time, requiring His
suffering for all human time, an absurdity. Christ died once. You are saved
once. It is for ever. There is no reincarnation as you live once and, as a
Christian, die only once, then have eternal life with your Creator. Praise God!
[1] Ian Lancashire, editor, Lexicons
of Early Modern English, University of Toronto, https://leme.library.utoronto.ca/search/quick (accessed 1.21.2021)
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