Rebound Revisited, part 18. 1Jo 2:1-2; Rom 3:25; Psa 50:7-15; Psa 51; Isa 1:11-20.

Title: Rebound Revisited, part 18. 1JO 2:1-2; ROM 3:25; PSA 50:7-15; Psa 51; ISA 1:11-20.

 

1JO 2:1 My little children [believers under John’s ministry], I am writing these things to you that you may not sin [walk in darkness]. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate [Comforter] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

 

1JO 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

 

 “propitiation” - i`lasmo,j [hilasmos] = atoning sacrifice, propitiation, expiation, or sin offering. It is the satisfaction of the Father’s justice concerning sin.

 

All false doctrines are not originated, but they are perversions of truths communicated by God to His people in all dispensations.

 

In the OT, those who put their trust in Him demonstrated their trust by performing the sacrifices and offerings which God outlined in His covenant with them.

 

This sacrificial system modeled the supreme sacrifice, which was fully realized in the sacrifice of Christ. The mercy seat on the top of the ark of the covenant is referred to as the hilasterion, which is the adjective of our present word. Therefore, propitiation and mercy become synonymous.

 

Propitiation and mercy are synonymous:

 

HEB 9:5

And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat [hilasterion - propitiation];

 

ROM 3:25

whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation [hilasterion = mercy seat] in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;

 

The word for atonement in the OT Hebrew, kippur, means to erase, wash, or cleanse away. Another similar word is the Arabic word kafara which means to cover or to hide, and undoubtedly there is a connection here since that is exactly what the mercy seat did. It covered the articles within the ark which represented sin, rejection of God’s provision, and rejection of God’s ordained authority.

 

He is faithful and righteous in order to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

Moses used the blood and water with the hyssop brush to cleanse the Tora, the people, and the articles in the tabernacle.

 

Yet in Israel, the ritual alone was not enough, there was supposed to be a change of heart from hardness and arrogance to humility and grace, and the same is true in the CA. These truths are to change and soften your heart, as it states in ROM 12:2…

 

These doctrines are designed to transform the believers thinking:

ROM 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world [passive imperative], but be transformed [passive imperative] by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove [dokimazo] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

Passive imperative is a command to receive something. Here it is a command to receive the renewing of your mind through faith in the doctrines of the word of God.

 

These verbs are in the same tense voice and mood as the verbs in EPH 5:18 - be not drunk [passive imperative] with wine but be filled [passive imperative] with the Spirit.

 

Any tendency in Israel to secure the grace of God by means of the sacrificial system alone was completely rejected. The sacrifices themselves meant nothing if the reality behind them was unknown or not believed.

 

Witnessing an innocent animal wail and die because of a person’s sin was to show the coming work of the Messiah and to also cause Israel to become humble and to repent from rebellion against God.

 

PSA 50:7 "Hear, O My people, and I will speak;

O Israel, I will testify against you;

I am God, your God.

 

PSA 50:8 "I do not reprove you for your sacrifices,

And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.

 

PSA 50:9 "I shall take no young bull out of your house,

Nor male goats out of your folds.

 

PSA 50:10 "For every beast of the forest is Mine,

The cattle on a thousand hills.

 

PSA 50:11 "I know every bird of the mountains,

And everything that moves in the field is Mine.

 

PSA 50:12 "If I were hungry, I would not tell you [I still wouldn’t need you];

For the world is Mine, and all it contains.

 

We cannot give anything to God that He did not first give to us. God desires a humble and ready heart that is useful to the Master.

 

PSA 50:13 "Shall I eat the flesh of bulls,

Or drink the blood of male goats?

 

PSA 50:14 "Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,

And pay your vows to the Most High;

 

Every time we recover from dark thinking we should be thankful that we can do so in grace and endlessly.

 

PSA 50:15 And call upon Me in the day of trouble;

I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me."

 

If for any of you, 1JO 1:9 had become a ritual, then through this study it should be no longer.

 

Even in a dispensation where ritual was commanded, God wanted more than the ritual - God wanted the heart!

 

Would it be any different, or would it be even more so in a dispensation that contains only one ritual - the Lord’s Communion Table?

 

DEU 6:5

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

 

DEU 28:47

Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things;

And it is in the heart where opposition to God begins.

 

ISA 14:13

"But you said in your heart,

'I will ascend to heaven;

I will raise my throne above the stars of God,

And I will sit on the mount of assembly

In the recesses of the north.

 

ISA 1:11 "What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?"Says the Lord."I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, And the fat of fed cattle. And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats.

 

ISA 1:12 "When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts [ritual without reality]?

 

ISA 1:13 "Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies-I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.

 

ISA 1:14 "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them.

 

ISA 1:15 "So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

 

ISA 1:16 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean [in your thinking]; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease [stop] to do evil,

 

God did not graciously give the sacrificial system so that Israel could offer them and continue to think evil!

 

ISA 1:17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless; Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.

 

Now God conveys the proper motivation, just as He has been doing with us during the last two weeks. Who are you?

 

2 Cor 7:1

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

 

ISA 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together, "Says the Lord, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.

 

God reasons with them, “Your sins run scarlet in front of me, but they will be white as snow when the true, one and only sacrifice, which these offerings depict, comes. Since this is true what should your thinking and behavior be?”

 

2PE 3:11

Since all these things [all the world and its opposition to God] are to be destroyed in this way [but the believer is not], what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

 

God reasons with us through the person and work of Christ. “Since I have made you sons of light, why do you want to walk in darkness?”

 

EPH 5:7-10

Therefore do not be [ginomai PMI] partakers with them [unbelievers]; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk [PAI] as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn [dokimazo - proving] what is pleasing to the Lord.

 

Proving the purity of what is pleasing to the Lord comes from the active walking in the light and the passive, be renewed in your mind (ROM 12:2 - “that you may prove what the will of God is.”)

 

So proving the will of God, which is pleasing to Him, has active, passive and middle commands that go along with it. Active = make a volitional decision to walk in the light. Passive = be transformed by doctrine. Middle = don’t participate or partner in the destiny of the unbelieverdarkness.

 

“Don’t I actively take in doctrine?” You actively decide to walk in the light, which motivates you to take in doctrine each day, but the doctrine passively transforms you. See?

 

ISA 1:19 "If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land;

 

ISA 1:20 "But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword."Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

 

Stop the ritual sacrifices that have no reality, reason with Me about my doing all the work to cleanse you, let that change your perception of reality, then obey Me [resume the sacrifices in the proper reality] and you will eat the best of the land.

 

This principle is as true today.