3 Old Testament Sacrifices (Stages Of Salvation)

 

      The LORD has instructed me to minister His word to you at this time, concerning salvation (eternal habitation in the presence of God), and our salvation walk. The following is a description of the Great Salvation that the Lord Jesus has afforded us, shown in three (3) stages, through three (3) Old Testament Sacrifices, out of the Book of Leviticus. The Three (3) Biblical stages are: 1) Justification - 2) Sanctification - and 3) Glorification: Number 1 - We are saved (Justification). Number 2 - We are being saved (Sanctification). Number 3 - We shall be saved (Glorification).

     God has revealed aspects of these Old Testament sacrifices to us in the "sermonet" series “How Do You Want Your Fire…Now Or Later?” At present this sermonet theme is up to 18 installments (readable online at fmh-child.org). This article is a short explanation of the “walk of salvation”, that we fulfill through our daily relationship with God. And it is described here, through the following three (3) Old Testament sacrifices:

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The Sin Offering

      “And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the LORD; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.” - Leviticus 4:31 (KJV).

     This FIRST Old Testament sacrifice is the “Sin Offering”. In the Sin Offering, the priest poured the blood of the bull at the base of the altar, where the fat was also offered. This sacrifice of the blood and fat is symbolic of our surrender to the Lord, when we recognize that we are sinners, and we come to the foot of the Cross. This is the beginning stage of salvation – where we are just starting to walk with the Lord. Through the spotless Blood of Jesus, our past sins are now forgiven the point at which we become “justified”. So it is “just as we had never done it”". This is Justification. And now we are ready to begin walking (in obedience) with the LORD.

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The Trespass Offering

     "And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof; the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul that is above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away" - Leviticus 7:3-4 (KJV).

     This SECOND Old Testament sacrifice is the “Trespass Offering" (also know as the Guilt Offering). In the Trespass Offering, the blood of the bull was poured out on the side (halfway) of the altar, and the fat and kidneys were offered also. This sacrifice that consists of the blood, the fat, and the kidneys, represents the strength that we need to fight against the temptation to sin that comes our way (the "fat" is energy that give us the STRENGTH to engage in "fight or flight"). The bloodwashed saint must now seek to follow the Lord by continually “striving against sin” (Hebrews 12:4). The temptation to sin enters through our five (5) senses, as well as chemicals that are released into our bloodstream. It is the function of the kidneys to help us to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12) against sin, by constantly filtering and PURIFYING the saint’s blood of the chemical signals that give the “sinful flesh” the components it requires to commit sin. As we seek to obey His word of direction for our lives, that Word is going to bring us face-to-face with a particular sin nature that God wants to deal with. And this is where our walk of obedience to the Word of God comes in. The LORD gave me a simple term for this, which is "Word processors". He speaks His word of instruction to us, and we "process" it into our spirit, soul, and body, as we walk in obedience to it But as we walk into the face of that fear and sin nature that opposes us, we begin to overcome the things in us that give us the desire to sin. This is Sanctification.

     A good example of temptation to sin is when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was tempted to abandon the mission of the Cross. Yet he sweated as it were great drops of blood (Luke 22:44) and he continued on to fulfill His ministry, and go and suffer the scourging and crucifixion.

     But at the point where Jesus was arrested by the religious establishment, Peter ran away. He was afraid of being arrested, tried, and crucified, too. Then he agonized over denying the LORD, on three (3) different occasions. Yet when he was anointed with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, he boldly stood up in the face of those that crucified Jesus and accused them of putting to death the LORD of glory - knowing that he could be the next to die.

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The Burnt Offering

     "And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces. And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire" - Leviticus 1:6-7 (KJV).

     The THIRD Old Testament sacrifice – “The Burnt Offering" - is where the whole animal is skinned and the entire body is offered as a “burnt offering”. The sacrifice is put “into the fire”. This represents the last stage of salvation, which the Bible calls Glorification (where we “shall be saved’). The salvation process in now “finished” (2 Timothy 4:7), and the saint has “arrived”. At this point the saint has “overcome” sin (Revelation 3:5), and his salvation is complete. The Lord gives His saints to know Him, walking with Him, by which the “flesh” (the sin nature) is replaced with the Holy Spirit (the Light of God). God grants us the time to strive to be “glorified” through walking in His holy and Living Word, Jesus Christ.

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     All we can offer to God is what pleases Him. And we must be holy in order to please Him. “Living sacrifices” (Romans 12:1) to serve Him, walking in obedience to “every word” of God (Matthew 4:4).

      “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 3:12-14 (KJV)

      “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” - 1 Peter 1:13-16 (KJV).

     Alan Richardson

     October 10, 2006

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