But I want you to notice that both sacrifices were needed for an individual to receive forgiveness for their sins. In other words, if an individual knew that they had sinned against God, they could not ignore that sin and rely on the sacrifice made by the high priest once a year to cleanse them from their sins, because the sacrifice made by the high priest was only for unintentional sins and sins committed in ignorance. Known sins had to be accounted for by the sacrifice of the individual themselves. And so, known sins that were not dealt with in the correct manner would not be forgiven and would therefore remain. Not only that, but the sacrifice made by the high priest would be ineffectual in cleansing their unknown sins because God is not mocked, and would not allow those sins to be cleansed while their known sins remained. That was symbolic for the present time, for many saints have been misled to believe that because Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, that every sin has already been forgiven and there is no need to confess and repent of their sins in order to receive forgiveness. However, although the blood of Jesus does cleans all sins, as our High Priest He obtains forgiveness for our unintentional sins and sins committed in ignorance, but God still expects us to confess and repent of the sins we know about, in order to receive forgiveness for those sins (1 John 1:9). That same principle also applies to salvation, for there are some that mistakenly think that because Jesus died for the sins of the world, that everyone’s sins are automatically forgiven and so all will be saved. However, they forget that the known sin that all unbelievers commit remains unforgiven, which is the sin of denying Jesus as Lord and Saviour. And so, because their known sin is not forgiven, neither are they cleansed from their unknown sins either, which in their case, is every sin that they have ever committed.
Michael E.B. Maher
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