The doctrine of atonement is fundamental to the Christian faith. However, due to the influence of cheap justification theory on some traditional conservative pastors, the grace of atonement has faded from people’s attention. Many only understand it theoretically but fail to grasp it accurately, resulting in the loss of its power. Consequently, heresies have been allowed to take its place. Therefore, we seek to firmly establish the doctrine of atonement from a biblical perspective in order to restore Christianity to its rightful position.
All people have sinned, and therefore, everyone needs the grace of atonement for salvation. The key question is: where is our sin recorded, and how can it be cleansed?
The Bible provides insight into this matter:
“The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus; with a diamond point it is engraved on the tablet of their heart and on the horns of their altars.” (Jeremiah 17:1)
This verse reveals that sin is recorded both on the tablet of the heart and on the horns of the altar.
But how does Judah’s sin relate to us?
The Bible testifies that our Lord came from the tribe of Judah (Hebrews 7:14).
Furthermore, regarding Jesus’ name, it is written: “He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
Therefore, to receive salvation through Jesus, one must belong to the tribe of Judah.
However, the Bible clearly states that those who belong to Christ are Abraham’s descendants in a spiritual sense.
“If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:29)
Moreover, it is not one’s physical birth as a Jew that makes them a true Jew, but rather a person who has undergone a true transformation of the heart.
“A person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, but a Jew is one inwardly.” (Romans 2:28-29)
Therefore, from a spiritual perspective, “the sin of Judah” refers to our own sin.
Sin is recorded on our hearts and on the four horns of the altar. However, there is a way to cleanse that sin. In Leviticus 17:11, God says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” Likewise, Hebrews 9:22 states, “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”
In Leviticus 16, God established a method of atonement. The high priest first sacrifices a bull and a goat, then applies their blood to the four horns of the altar and sprinkles it seven times to purify it. This signifies that the price of sin is death, and the shedding of life’s blood serves as a substitute for the sinner’s death.
Next, the high priest lays his hands on the head of the live goat (the scapegoat), confesses all the sins of the people over it, and sends it into the wilderness. This act symbolizes the goat carrying away the sins of the people into a desolate place.
This atonement ritual foreshadows the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Through His shed blood, He has completely and eternally atoned for our sins.
Today, we do not follow the Old Testament method of cleansing sins because it was only a shadow of the reality to come. The blood of bulls and goats could not completely remove sin; it was merely a foreshadowing of the good things to come (Hebrews 10:1-4).
So, what is the reality behind this shadow? It is Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:9-10).
Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away our sins.
- Scapegoat (Azazel): John 1:29 “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
- Passover Lamb: 1 Corinthians 5:7 “For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.”
- Propitiation (Atoning Sacrifice): Romans 3:25 “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.”
- Ransom: Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Therefore, the Old Testament atonement sacrifices prefigured the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who, through the shedding of His blood once and for all, fully atoned for our sins.
The sacrifices offered to God must be without blemish. So, what about Jesus? He is without sin (Heb. 4:15, 1 John 3:5, 2 Cor. 5:21), and He is like a lamb without blemish or defect (Heb. 9:14, 1 Pet. 1:19). He committed no sin, there was no deceit found in His mouth, He did not retaliate when insulted, and He did not threaten but entrusted Himself to God (1 Pet. 2:22-23).
So, what does the blood of this perfect, unblemished Jesus accomplish? It brings forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:28, Eph. 1:7), it is the true drink (John 6:53-56), it justifies us (Rom. 5:9), it brings peace with God (Col. 1:20), it gives us access to the Most Holy Place (Heb. 10:19), it sanctifies us (Heb. 13:12), it cleanses our conscience so we can serve God (Heb. 9:14), it brings redemption (1 Pet. 1:18-19), it cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7), it frees us from sin (Rev. 1:5), it purchases us for God (Rev. 5:9), it washes and whitens our robes (Rev. 7:14), and it enables us to overcome Satan (Rev. 12:11).
Through these Scriptures, we can understand the power and authority of Jesus’ blood. It is through His blood that we experience its full, transformative impact.
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the core of the Christian faith. So, what does Jesus’ death on the cross, His shedding of blood, have to do with me personally? It is directly related to my transgressions. As Romans 4:25 says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins.” Jesus’ resurrection—His rising from the dead—also has a personal connection to me. The same verse continues, “He was raised to life for our justification.”
Here we see that the doctrine of justification is directly linked to the resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, justification cannot be fully explained by a theology of the cross alone. It must also include a theology of the resurrection for it to be complete. However, historically, we have often tried to explain justification only through the lens of the cross. This has, in part, opened the door for theological perspectives like religious pluralism and postmodern theology to enter the church.
In 1 Corinthians 15:17, it says, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” This means that if Jesus had not been resurrected, then our faith in His sacrifice—His death on the cross for our sins—would be meaningless, and our sins would remain with us. Why? Because while the blood of atonement was shed on the cross, without the resurrection, there would be no high priest to apply that blood to each person. Our sins would, therefore, remain.
So, who holds the authority to sprinkle the blood? God gave this authority to the high priest. In regard to our sins, God granted this priestly authority to the risen Christ (Heb. 2:17-3:1, 4:14-15, 5:6-10). This is a central theme of the book of Hebrews.
So, what is the faith we must hold firmly to? We believe that Jesus Christ shed His blood for our sins on the cross, was raised from the dead to justify us, and ascended into heaven, where He now serves as our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 4:14-16, 9:24).
So how can we participate in the sprinkling of blood in order to be justified? Since these things are spiritual, they are not ceremonies we can observe with our physical eyes. We can only partake in the sprinkling of blood by faith. That is why Scripture says that by faith Moses kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood (Heb. 11:28).
In the same way, by faith, we can approach our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary (Eph. 2:6), saying, “I am a sinner deserving of judgment, but please, Lord, have mercy on me through Your blood.”
And where does our High Priest, Jesus, sprinkle His blood? He sprinkles it on our hearts. Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:22, Ex. 12:7).
Why is the blood sprinkled on the heart? Because that is where sin is recorded (Jer. 17:1).
Do you know that you are chosen to receive the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ? 1 Peter 1:2 says, “To those who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood.”
And do you know what Jesus does for those who are sprinkled with His blood? He buys them with His blood and presents them to God. Revelation 5:9 tells us, “You purchased people for God with Your blood.” Acts 20:28 further says, “The church of God, which He bought with His own blood,” and 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 adds, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”
So, who owns those who have received the grace of justification? They belong to Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:5-6, 1 Pet. 2:9). What do we call the conscience of someone who uses something that isn’t theirs as if it were their own? We would call it wrong or even evil.
So, what happens to a person’s conscience when they receive the grace of the sprinkling of the blood? They receive a good and pure conscience (Heb. 10:22, 9:14). And what is a good conscience? It is the honest acknowledgment that I am not my own, but I belong to the Lord. The evidence of this is the certainty that I no longer live for my own will, but I exist solely to fulfill God’s will.
Even though you may not live according to your own will, do you still desire to receive the grace of the sprinkling of Jesus Christ’s blood? If so, do you have evidence that you have received this sprinkling from Christ? If there is no such evidence, you cannot escape the judgment of hell.
According to John Wesley, even if you diligently practice the means of grace—such as prayer, fasting, studying the Bible, giving to the poor, and fellowship with the saints—and even if you avoid evil, strive to maintain a clear conscience, fight the good fight, believe the Bible is the Word of God, and have been baptized, it is still possible to be only an Almost Christian if you have not received the grace of the sprinkling of Christ’s blood. Wesley says that even holding a position of leadership in the church or being a clergyman is not enough. To be an Altogether Christian, you must have evidence that you have received the grace of Christ’s blood.
What is this evidence? It is having a good conscience, which means you no longer live according to your own will because you have died with Christ on the cross. It also means the Holy Spirit dwells within you, and you live in obedience to the Word of God as the Spirit reminds you of it. This is what it means to live a sanctified life.
Without the assurance of the grace of justification, living a sanctified life remains merely an ideal—something that seems unattainable and unrelated to our personal experience. We may not want to quarrel, but if we are still “alive” to ourselves, we will inevitably find ourselves in conflict when things don’t go our way, choosing not to submit to the Word of God. This leads to division. We might preach sermons that say, “Do not judge your brother,” as Scripture teaches, but if we are not truly dead to ourselves, we will end up condemning and judging our brothers. It’s inevitable because the grace of justification is what sets us free from sin.
In other words, sanctification is not something achieved through effort alone. It is a gift from God that follows justification. We must not forget this. As the Apostle Paul said, “By the grace of God, I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15:10).
What happened to the sin that was recorded on the horns of the altar? The altar that symbolized the shadow of things to come finds its reality in the cross. The cross is the altar, and the blood of Christ was sprinkled on its four corners. Therefore, the sin of Judah—meaning the sin of those who belong to Christ—has been wiped away.
If we do not hold firmly to our faith in Jesus Christ, our risen High Priest, we can fall into the error of believing that God’s love, because of Christ’s suffering, has forgiven everyone’s sins and thus, all people will be saved. This misunderstanding leads Christianity away from the truth that the blood of Jesus must be applied to each person’s heart. Instead, Christianity turns into a religion focused solely on social issues like justice and ethics.
The evidence of this is that instead of preaching the Gospel, people begin using the law to condemn, judge, and even “kill” sinners in the name of justice. But what does the Bible say about this? (Rom. 2:1-5, James 4:11-12).
What is the Gospel? It is Jesus Christ. He died on the cross to save us from our sins and was raised to life to justify us. The Gospel is this: whoever, by faith, acknowledges their sins and prays for salvation, the Lord will sprinkle His blood on their heart, making them righteous and presenting them to God as His own, sanctified for His purposes.
Because those who receive the sprinkling of Jesus’ blood through faith belong to God, they cannot live according to their own will. Instead, they share a common confession that they will live according to the will of the Lord. The Holy Spirit then works through their lives, revealing them as the body of Christ, the salt and light of the world, empowering them to bring salvation to the world.
However, many who have identified with evangelicalism have emphasized living a sanctified life without the biblical assurance of the grace of justification. As a result, the Gospel has turned into law, leading people to judge and criticize one another. Witnessing how Christianity was becoming more secular, those who opposed this movement opened the door to a new theological horizon—one connected with religious pluralism and postmodern theology.
These theologians argue that the doctrine of justification has corrupted Christianity. In response, they introduced the concept of the “historical Jesus” and claimed that the virgin birth of Jesus was a creation designed to elevate Him above Augustus Caesar, who was also called the son of god and savior during that time. They further argue that the resurrection of Jesus was originally a collective symbol of the righteous who lived justly and were martyred for their faith, but the church later elevated it into a resurrection focused solely on the individual person of Jesus. Therefore, they assert that the true meaning of Jesus’ resurrection is found in the community’s pursuit of justice and love.
Thus, they subtly deny the confession that Jesus is the Savior and instead focus on the idea that living according to the spirit of Jesus is what constitutes salvation. In other words, they treat the doctrine of justification as an outdated relic that no longer resonates with modern people. These theologians use public opinion to present themselves as living more righteous lives than those who identify with evangelicalism. Furthermore, they have made significant contributions to the field of eco-theology, and as a result, many people have aligned themselves with their views, turning away from the evangelical path.
In this global theological climate, where such ideas are openly spreading, the establishment of a biblical doctrine of justification is urgently needed. Since our Lord Jesus Christ conquered Satan at the cross, wherever and whenever the core message of the Gospel—justification—is clearly proclaimed, the power of Satan to distort the Gospel will be rendered powerless.
According to Scripture, everything that touches a sanctified altar becomes holy and must be offered to God. If that is the case, then the cross of Christ, made holy by His blood, sanctifies all that touches it. Therefore, as Paul confessed, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). If someone can make this confession, they have been touched by the cross of Christ and have thus been made holy. This is also a confession that they have received the grace of justification.
So, what is holiness? Holiness means being offered to God. Anything that is given over to God becomes holy.
How then should we live, having been made holy? The Apostle Paul firmly declares, “Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!” (Rom. 6:15). Indeed, can you imagine committing a sin, even if someone offered you millions of dollars to harm your neighbor? Could you bear false witness to bring harm to another? Once you have received the grace of justification, sin no longer has mastery over you (Rom. 6:14: “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace”).
John tells us, “No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God” (1 John 3:6-9).
Then why does the Apostle Paul say, “Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law, but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me” (Rom. 7:21-25)?
Before knowing commandments like “Do not covet” or “Do not judge,” I did not consider such actions to be sin. I lived my life judging and condemning others as I pleased (Rom. 7:9). This was when I was “alive” in myself. But when I learned the commandments, I realized that these actions were sin. So, I tried to stop committing these sins, but sin continued to rule over me, and I found myself still judging others. This meant that I was still sinning. And since the wages of sin is death, I realized that in this state, I was heading toward death. Thus, the law, rather than leading me to life, led me to death (Rom. 7:11). More precisely, the law made me aware that I am a sinner destined for death.
The fact that I kept sinning shows that I had become a slave to sin. This means I was sold under sin, bound to my flesh (Rom. 7:14).
Jesus is the one who purchases me from being sold under sin, offering His own blood as the price, and presents me to God. When this happens, I am set free from the slavery of sin. The Holy Spirit then comes to dwell within me. Before the Spirit dwelled in me, I belonged to the flesh and was enslaved to the law of sin. But once the Holy Spirit takes up residence in me, I begin to live in the Spirit. From that point on, I live according to the Spirit. Shall I continue to sin? By no means!
In other words, Romans 7 describes the struggle of a Christian who is still in the flesh. But Romans 8 declares the victory of those who, through Jesus Christ, have received the grace of justification and now live in the Spirit.
Scripture tells us, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Our Lord Jesus also said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind… If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains” (John 9:39-41). Furthermore, it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith” (Heb. 10:38).
Therefore, we are not people who judge and live by what we see. Instead, we are those who walk by faith, speaking as the Holy Spirit reminds us of God’s Word in our hearts, and obeying that Word. In other words, we serve as the body of Christ, giving life to others and fulfilling His mission.
If Christians build their foundation on this biblical doctrine of justification, I am confident that Christianity will be trusted as the salt and light of the world.