Atonement - New and Old

The scripture reading guide I use has got us in Hebrews. We are reading about the new atonement that Jesus made for us one time on the cross. It is better than the old way, the way detailed in Leviticus 16. So Saturday's reading takes us back to that old day. We read three or four different variations on the description on how it is done. Is this repetition for effect? Or is it different writers telling it a slightly different way?

But the point is clear. The priest must make himself as holy as possible before he makes the sacrifice for sin for the whole people. He does it once a year. Hebrews makes it clear Jesus was a willing sacrifice for all of our sins, past, present, and future. So he makes his sacrifice once for all time. He is truly holy.

The priest can make himself holy on the outside by washing and wearing clean white linen which he only wears for the occasion and take off before he leave the temple. He makes a sacrifice of a bull for himself and then a goat for the people.

Anyway the Jews dare not enter into the holy of holies. Yet we do dare because the temple veil was torn when Jesus died on the cross. By the atonement of Jesus, even though we are sinners God calls us holy. So we can now enter the holy of holies and talk to God, as Moses did.

But we dare not take this for granted. We still should work to be as holy as we can. I think by obedience to God's laws, as much as we can, this helps the channel between us and God to be more open. "You shall be my friends if you do what I tell you." Obedience is involved. Yet it is still a work of Jesus and not ourselves for our holiness is as filthy rags before a truly holy God.