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Being intentional with unintentional sins

Scripture Reading for February 2rd: Leviticus 4-7

Leviticus 4:27-29 “”If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering.””

What is the difference between an “intentional” sin and an “unintentional” sin?  Does ignorance excuse us?  How does God look at the person who doesn’t know anything about God’s law?  Is there really such a person who is totally ignorant of God’s basic laws?  If after we “ignorantly” sin, someone informs us that what we “ignorantly” did was a sin in God’s eyes and reads us God’s view from the Bible, are we thereafter guilty of an “intentional” sin?   Is there any sacrifice for a willfully defiant sin?  These questions come to my mind as I read these chapters of Leviticus. (See Leviticus 4:1, 13, 22, 27.)

God has made his basic laws known to all men through the conscience.  Each person has a conscience and it must be trained to know and recognize sin. (Romans 2:12-16)  Each person will be judged by God according to the light he has.  The conscience can be seared by repeated sin.  We are to keep a “clear” conscience by walking in love towards others. (1st Peter 3:16)  Deacons must hold the deep truths of the faith with a “clear” or “pure” conscience. (1st Timothy 3:9)  The conscience is the elementary voice of God that acts like a stoplight, letting us know when to stop and when to go and when to be cautious! All have sinned and sin must be confessed and turned away from to be covered by Christ’s sacrifice.

“If we confess our sins, , He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1st John 1:9) 

Our priest, Jesus Christ, has already made the blood sacrifice for us.  He offered his own blood as atonement for our sins and bore them on the Cross!  We can “intentionally” be made clean from our “unintentional sins”!  Praise the Lord!  What amazing love! 

Sin and death

Scripture reading for February 1st: Leviticus 1-3

Leviticus 3:16 “And the priest shall burn them (kidneys and fat) on the altar as a food offering with a pleasing aroma. All fat is the Lord’s.” It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.”

This book of Scripture was not originally one I liked to read.  But after careful and prayerful reflection, I began to understand.  Sin causes death.  (Genesis 2:16-17)  Death spread to all men by Adam’s sin. (Romans 5:12-14) God provided the first blood sacrifice for Adam and Eve after they sinned.  Initially, they had used fig leaves. God clothed them with bloody skins of animals.  (Genesis 3:21)  He was showing them the effects of sin each time they put their new “clothes” on.

God was again visually helping His people to see how sin affects their lives and nation.  These sacrifices offered made man aware of the cost of sin and a safe way to approach God.  When an animal was offered according to God’s instructions in Leviticus, God would accept the sacrifice and be pleased. (Leviticus 1:9,17; 2:9)  God was pleased because those who made the sacrifice were using their faith in His Word!

Jesus Christ shed his precious blood on the cross of Calvary and declared: “It is finished!” (John 19:30)  When we approach this same Holy God, we can come boldly before His throne any time day or night for prayer, fellowship, or forgiveness. (Hebrews 4:14-16)  We do it by faith in the sacrifice of the body and blood of our Savior!

Why did God choose blood sacrifice as a way to cover sin? How would you describe your faith in Christ’s sacrifice for you? Why is a works-based salvation easier for mankind to trust in?

“But now He (Christ) has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.  Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.” Hebrews 9:26-28

Cling to your confidence!

Scripture reading for March 1st: Leviticus 26-27, Psalm 112, Hebrews 10

Hebrews 10: 32-36 “But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may received what is promised.”

The Hebrew believers suffered great persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ. Sometimes, their own families disowned them and they were imprisoned and lost their property, the family inheritance. The writer of Hebrews encouraged these believers to cling tightly to their confidence in Christ and His eternal promises. They have something better and ever-lasting. Shrinking back to the law and Judaism would cause their destruction. Pressing on in faith would bring great reward as God had promised to all who would believe! Endurance and confidence are byproducts of true faith.

Hebrews 10:37-39 “For, ‘Yet a little while, and the coming One will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

Prayer: Father God, help me to cling tightly to Your promises and the promise of Jesus’ return with a full reward for those eagerly awaiting Him. There is nothing in this world that compares to You! Help me to do Your will here on earth and live confidently in faith and endurance, sharing the great reward with whoever will believe and receive! In Christ Jesus I shall never be moved or fear bad news!

Psalm 112:6-7 “For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.”

Leviticus 26:9, 11-12 “I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm My covenant with you. . . I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God and you shall be My people.”

Once–for all!

Scripture reading for February 28th: Leviticus 24-25, Psalm 81, Hebrews 9

Hebrews 9:24-28 “For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer Himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood, not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.”

The old covenant had this interesting provision for the year of Jubilee, when at the end of forty-nine years, on the day of Atonement, a trumpet was to be sounded and the Lord decreed liberty and restoration of all property and relationships. This was in the Law, but was never really enacted. But in Jesus Christ, through His sacrifice and the new covenant, He has become our Jubilee! In Him we have our sins forgiven. In Him we have relationship with God and others restored! In Him we await our full restoration at the resurrection at the last trumpet! In Him we have eternal inheritance and full reward! We eagerly await a Savior, Christ Jesus our Lord!

Leviticus 25:8-10 “You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and to his clan.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are our Jubilee! In You we have full pardon, redemption from sin’s power and penalty, and an inheritance in Father’s House forever! We rejoice at Your great goodness and mercy and that You remember our sins no more! You are our Strength and Joy! Amen!

Psalm 81:1-3 “Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.”

Obsolete and passing away

Scripture reading for February 25th: Leviticus 21-23, Hebrews 8

Hebrews 8:6-7 “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant He mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.”

The old covenant of Law mediated by the Aaronic priesthood was made obsolete when God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to mediate a new covenant. The old covenant was written on tablets of stone and every violation required a blood sacrifice. The priests had to offer sacrifices for their own sins as well as the sins of the people. These sacrifices could not remove sin, but only cover it temporarily. The new covenant through Jesus Christ was enacted on better promises. The appointed Priest would live forever and be seated at God’s right hand. He would forgive their sins and remember them no more through the sacrifice of His own blood. The law would be written on tablets of human hearts and each person would personally know God and have access through Jesus Christ, their High Priest. Lay hold of the new today, and let the obsolete pass away!

Hebrews 8:10-13 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”

Prayer: Father God, thank You for the new covenant through the sacrifice, once for all, of Jesus’ body and blood. Thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit Who writes Your laws and Word on my heart and causes me to want to obey and love You and others. Empower me to proclaim the powerful message of freedom through the new covenant to those still living in the obsolete and vanishing dead religion.

Leviticus 22:1-2 “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they abstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to Me, so that they do not profane My Holy Name; I am the Lord.”

Everlasting intercession!

Scripture reading for February 24th: Leviticus 19-20, Hebrews 7

Hebrews 7: 21-27 “. . but this One was made a priest with an oath by the One Who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever.'” This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but He holds His priesthood permanently, because He continues forever. Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a High Priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

Jesus Christ was appointed by God, His Father, to be a Priest forever. God swore by Himself, since there was nothing greater or higher and His Word is forever settled in heaven and on earth! Because Jesus lives forever and is an eternal priest, He is able to save completely and eternally all who come to Him. These are comforting and encouraging words to all who have humbly put their trust in Jesus Christ. It is indeed fitting for us to have such a High Priest! Jesus is holy and exalted. He is unstained by sin and has conquered death and hell. He lives by the power of an indestructible life and imparts that life to those who repent and believe on Him. He ever lives to intercede for us! We are now made holy by His sacrifice and intercession and are free to love our neighbor as ourselves, entrusting all judgment to our Intercessor.

Leviticus 19:1-2 “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”

Prayer: Father God, Thank You for Your divine appointment of Jesus Christ as High Priest forever. I am greatly encouraged and cling to Him as my High Priest before Your throne. I trust that He is able to save me completely! Help me to live a holy life of loving You and loving my neighbors as You have commanded and made possible through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Leviticus 19:18 “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.”

Holy reverence

Scripture reading for February 22nd: Leviticus 12-14, Psalm 111, Hebrews 5

Hebrews 5:7-10 “In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him Who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. And being made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, being designated by God a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.”

The fear of the Lord–holy reverence for the power and majesty of God and holy reverence for His holy Name is the foundation of wisdom. The psalmist told of the blessedness of those who practice respect and reverence for God. God give them good understanding and reveals to them His covenant love. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, also demonstrated a holy reverence for His Father and fully submitted to His will in going to the cross and tasting death for us. He was made perfect through suffering and offering His own body and blood in perfect reverence for God’s eternal plan of salvation. He was designated by God to be our High Priest forever and ever! Praise His Holy Name!

Psalm 111:9-10 “He sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever. Holy and awesome is His Name! The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! ”

Prayer: Father God, Thank You for the example of holy reverence set by Your Son. Thank You that I now have eternal salvation because of His perfect submission and holy reverence. Fill me with You Holy Spirit to empower me with holy reverence in my walk through this world. Use me as an example of holy reverence to a world that is increasingly profane and irreverent.

Leviticus 11:44 “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.”

Abundant grace and mercy!

Scripture reading for February 21st: Leviticus 8-11, Psalm 110, Hebrews 4

Hebrews 4:14-16 “Since then we have a great high priest Who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest Who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One Who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Under the Law in Leviticus, the priests had to offer sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people. The only sacrifice acceptable was a spotless animal who gave up his life to cover the sin. But we have a new High Priest, Jesus Christ, Son of God Who after visiting earth as a man and then dying on a cross, offering His own blood as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. He is seated at God’s right hand, able to sympathize with our weakness, and intercedes for us granting a cleansing from sin, not just a covering, to all who come in faith. Jesus is not of the lineage of the Levites and Aaron but of the order of Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God and King of Salem (Jerusalem). He is a type of an eternal priesthood because there is no record of his birth or his death. Jesus, like him, lives forever and is able to meet our every need for help. He is God’s appointed High Priest!

Leviticus 9:7-8 “Then Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people, and bring the offering of the people and make atonement for them as the Lord has commanded.” So Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering which was for himself.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for being appointed our High Priest forever! I am comforted to know that You are able to sympathize with my weakness and come to my aid with grace and mercy. Thank You for cleansing me from sin and sin’s power.

Psalm 110:4 “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Holding our confidence and hope

Scripture reading for February 18th: Leviticus 4-7, Hebrews 3

Hebrews 3: 1-6 “Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to Him Who appointed Him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses–as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the Builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken about later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a Son. And we are His house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.”

When we receive Jesus Christ as God’s Son and His sacrifice for the atonement for our sins, we become members of the band of heaven-bound brothers and sisters. The writer to these Jewish believers sought to reassure them of their heavenly calling and to the faithfulness of Jesus Christ and His superiority to Moses. Moses was truly a man of God and a prophet of God, but Moses was a servant in God’s Old Covenant house. Moses faithfully spoke God’s laws to God’s people. But Jesus was God’s Son and the architect and builder of God’s New Covenant house–the Church. Christ was faithful even unto death on a cross and in spite of the rejection of the Jewish leadership of His Messianic revelation. His example calls all men to confidence and hope and to stand firm in faith. Beware of falling away!

Hebrews 3:12-14 “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”

Prayer: Father God, thank You for Jesus Christ, the Son of God Who was faithful to You and completely obeyed Your Word and will. I want to be part of His eternal House–the Church. Give me grace to stand firm and guard my heart against unbelief and falling away in my relationship with Jesus Christ. Keep me from unintentional sins and willful sins that will harden my heart.

Leviticus 5:14-16 “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued in silver shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering. He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest.”

Jesus our faithful High Priest

Scripture reading for February 17th: Leviticus 1-3, Psalm 27, Hebrews 2

Hebrews 2:14-18 “Since, therefore, the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels He helps, but He helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore He had to be made like His brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because He, Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.”

The writer of Hebrews shared how the descendants of Abraham were partakers of flesh and blood. They were also sinners and lived under a slavery to the fear of death. God had placed eternity in their hearts and they knew that they would stand before God as a judge. God’s remedy to help lost and enslaved mankind was to send His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to live in perfect obedience to the Father. Jesus came in human flesh and was subject to the trials and temptations common to sinful man. But He was sinless and offered His body and blood as the perfect sacrifice for sins. Atonement and propitiation are the two words used to describe what the substitute sacrifice would provide. Through Jesus, deliverance from the slavery of fear of death and sin’s power and cleansing from sin was accomplished.

Leviticus 1:3-5 “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.”

Prayer: Father God, thank You for sending Your Son as the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. Thank You that He is a merciful High Priest and understands our weaknesses and need for mercy. Thank You for the perfect and complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ delivering us from fear of death and the power and penalty of sin. We now see the goodness of God in the land of the living!

Psalm 27:13-14 “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.”