Finally, we find more warnings about the solemnity of the day in Leviticus 23:26-32—26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “27 Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. 28 And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29 For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.” So on the 9th of Tisri, at sundown (or, to be more accurate, the hour before sunset), you stopped doing anything—ANYTHING. That includes eating. This was to be a fast from sundown on the 9th until sundown on the 10th. You took that 24-hour (or so) period and mourned over your sins—that is, you afflicted your soul. This was the great fall holy day, with Passover being the great spring holy day.
And then look at what happens to those who do not afflict their souls, and who work on that day. Verses 29-30—“29 For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.” Again, God threatening immediate destruction to any who disobey His direct command, and who treat the observance of the holy days of God as a trifling thing. Not only does this show us, again, the absolute right of God to destroy that which He has created, but it shows us that the atonement granted by God is not universal. When the one goat was killed and the other sent off into the wilderness, were these acts effective for all in Israel? Well, yes…and no. They were effective only for those who afflicted themselves and who did no work on that day. Did the slaying and sending off of those goats make it possible for the people to be atoned for? Or did it purchase actual atonement? It would be silly to say the former was the effect. And yet there are some who say that our Scapegoat, the One slain for our sins and sent into the wilderness of death to take away our sins, was slain and sent away to make men savable, or that He paid the price for—and atoned for—even those who willingly reject Him. He may be the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world (1st John 2:2), but that does not mean He is the propitiation for every single person. To say that is to make His sacrifice of no effect since, if He paid for even the sins of the unbelievers, then they are saved, since in Christ all are made alive (1st Corinthians 15:22). And since it is ludicrous to argue that 1st Corinthians 15:22 means that Christ has made every single person ever born alive (since not every single person who has ever been born has believed on Christ and thus those who do not believe are not made alive by Him), then it is equally ludicrous for one to argue that 1st John 2:2 means that Christ died for (and consequently atoned for) the sins of every single person ever born (since not every single person who has ever been born has believed on Christ and thus the sins of those who do not believe are not propitiated by Him).
So what are we to say then? Only this: that just as the goats were killed and sent away only for those who afflicted their souls and did no work on the Day of Atonement (יֹום הַכִּפֻּרִים, yom ha’kippuryim), so too the Lamb of God was slain only for those who would come to Him and believe on Him who is our atonement for sin and our Scapegoat. John Gill explains 1st John 2:2, and its implications concerning “the whole world”—
“[Phrases such as] ‘When a great man makes a mourning, כולי עלמא, “the whole world” come to honour him;’ i.e. a great number of persons attend the funeral pomp: and so these phrases, כולי עלמא לא פליגי, ‘the whole world’ is not divided, or does not dissent; כולי עלמא סברי, ‘the whole world’ are of opinion, are frequently met with in the Talmud, by which, an agreement among the Rabbins, in certain points, is designed; yea, sometimes the phrase, ‘all the men of the world’, only intend the inhabitants of a city where a synagogue was, and, at most, only the Jews: and so this phrase, ‘all the world’, or ‘the whole world’, in Scripture, unless when it signifies the whole universe, or the habitable earth, is always used in a limited sense, either for the Roman empire, or the churches of Christ in the world, or believers, or the present inhabitants of the world, or a part of them only, (see Luke 2:1); and so it is in this epistle, 1st John 5:19; where the whole world lying in wickedness is manifestly distinguished from the saints, who are of God, and belong not to the world; and therefore cannot be understood of all the individuals in the world.
And the like distinction is in this text itself, for ‘the sins of the whole world’ are opposed to ‘our sins’, the sins of the apostle and others to whom he joins himself; who therefore belonged not to, nor were a part of the whole world, for whose sins Christ is a propitiation as for theirs: so that this passage cannot furnish out any argument for universal redemption; for besides these things, it may be further observed, that for whose sins Christ is a propitiation, their sins are atoned for and pardoned, and their persons justified from all sin, and so shall certainly be glorified, which is not true of the whole world, and every man and woman in it; moreover, Christ is a propitiation through faith in his blood, the benefit of his propitiatory sacrifice is only received and enjoyed through faith; so that in the event it appears that Christ is a propitiation only for believers, a character which does not agree with all mankind; add to this, that for whom Christ is a propitiation he is also an advocate, 1st John 2:1; but he is not an advocate for every individual person in the world; yea, there is a world he will not pray for John 17:9, and consequently is not a propitiation for them.”
To say that Christ paid for the sins of every person who has ever been born is tantamount to saying that Jesus saved every single person who has ever been born—His paying for sins and that person being saved being synonymous with one another. Thus, our Lord Jesus Christ has paid for your sins—if and only if you believe upon Him for salvation; if you afflict your soul, mourn over your sins, repent of your sins and follow in His obedience to the Father; if you cease from your own labors, trying to work your way into a right relationship with God. For if you still labor and work to make yourself righteous, you will fail, and the cross will not be anything more to you than a decoration on a wall, a talisman to try and ward off evil spirits, which is of no effect to the spirits which beset a man. To conclude, I leave you with the words of the apostle Paul, from Galatians 5:1-6—1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
The Day of Atonement was a great day. It is when our sins were transferred to an animal that had done nothing wrong. But it only cam around once a year. And if you weren't there at the Tabernacle on that day, and if you did not prepare yourself rightly, your sins were not atoned for. But now, we can have our sins forgiven at any time, as they were transferred to the One who had done no wrong.
Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
full of pity, love, and pow'r.
Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
God's free bounty glorify;
true belief and true repentance,
every grace that brings you nigh.
Let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream;
all the fitness He requireth
is to feel your need of Him.
Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
lost and ruined by the fall;
if you tarry till you're better,
you will never come at all.
pleads the merit of His blood;
venture on Him, venture wholly;
let no other trust intrude.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Amen.
