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The Biblical Basis for Deliverance From Sin

That the actual removal of sin from us is included in the atonement is portrayed by the ceremonies included in the Old Testament Day of Atonement.

The Day of Atonement comes after Pentecost in the sequence of the feasts of the Lord. Therefore we can expect the spiritual fulfillment of the Day of Atonement to be presented to us after we have been at Pentecost, so to speak.

Notice carefully the following passage:

Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats-one lot for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat.~ Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat. (Leviticus 16:7-10-NIV)

On the Day of Atonement two goats were selected. The "Lord's goat" was sacrificed as a sin offering. The other goat was kept alive. Be sure to observe (above) that an atonement was made by the scapegoat as well as by the slain goat. This tells us something very important: the atonement made by the Lord Jesus Christ includes not only the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, but also the removal of our sin from us-not the guilt of our sins only, but the sinful behavior itself. God is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and then to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull's blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. (Leviticus 16:15-NIV)

The above verse speaks of the forgiveness of our sins by means of the offering of the blood of Christ on the cross of Calvary.

Then follows the portrayal of the actual removal of the presence of sinful tendencies from our personality.

When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites-all their sins-and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert. (Leviticus 16:20-22-NIV)

The sins of the Israelites were confessed. Then the goat, symbolically bearing the sins, was led away from the congregation and released in the desert.

There is no clearer picture in the Bible of the forgiveness of the guilt of our sins, and then the removal of our sinful nature as part of the same atonement. Here is a biblical basis for the concept that the atonement includes the removal of sin as well as the forgiveness of sin.