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The Tabmuclt This is another way of saying that, while the believer on the Lord Jesus Christ has been saved for time and for eternity by faith in the shed blood of the great Sin-Offer- ing, while he may have assurance of eternal salvation be- cause of what Christ did in His finished work on the cross; yet in this present life the born-again soul does not experi- ence sinless perfection, because he still has the old, sinful nature. That is what Paul meant when, in the sixth and seventh chapters of Romans, he wrote of the struggle be- tween the old nature and the new nature in Christ, the flesh and the Spirit; the nature inherited from Adam and the new life received by faith in the Lord Jesus. When Paul wrote those chapters, he gave expression to the strug- gle that every child of God knows-what he wants to do because he loves the Lord, he does not do; and what he does not want to do, he finds himself doing, in his weak- ness and frailty of the flesh. The climax of this bitter war- fare between the flesh and the spirit is stated in the words, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?" (Rom. 7:24, R. V.) But no sooner had the apostle uttered this cry than the Holy Spirit gave him the answer, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 7:25). Then follows that wonderful eighth chapter of Romaru, which gives the secret of victory over sin--even the in- dwelling Spirit of God. Thus every need of the sinner is fully met in Christ. He was our Sin-Offering, paying the penalty of guilt and sin, justifying the sinner before a holy God. And He is our Trespass-Offering, giving power and victory over sin in our daily lives, even as He promised, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
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The Tabernacle forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unright- eousness" (I John 1:9). Christ, our Great High Priest, takes our confession and presents it unto the Father, who is «faithful and just" to cleanse and to forgive! Sometimes Israel's trespass against God was that of unwittingly eating the fi.rstlings of the flock, which had to be set apart for Jehovah; sometimes it was in neglecting the tithe, which belonged to God. Sometimes the sin was against a fellow-Israelite, such as stealing, defrauding another, or telling falsehoods. For all trespasses there had to be: ( l ) .confession of the sin; ( 2) restoration of an Y theft or fraud, with an added fifth part for restitution; and ( 3) the presentation to God of the trespass offering at the brazen altar. These trespasses against «the holy things" of God and against the rights of man had to be atoned for by the offering of the innocent victim, the substitute, which was but a faint picture of Christ, our Trespass-Offering. Thus every claim which God had upon the offender was redressed, and the rights of roan were restored-with a plus. When the Lord Jesus suffered «without the camp," outside the gate of Jerusalem, He atoned for the guilt of our sinful souls, as our Sin-Offering; and as our Trespass- Offering, He also atoned for our trespasses, our overt acts of disobedience toward God and our acts of iniquity to- ward our fellow-creatures. He made expiation for all our sins; and He will one day give a regenerated world back to His Father-with a plus, with far more than He had in the beginning. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53: 5 ) •
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