Welcome, Luis.
Well, first let me make clear that there was no atonement specified in the law for "intentional" sins (that is, willful sins), for which the penalty was death. Only "unintentional" sins could be atoned for.
Second, that form of atonement (in which the blood was brought within the sanctuary) was specified for the sins of priests and for the sins of the whole congregation of Israel (Lev. 4:13ff). In the case of the common sinner, the blood wasn't brought within the sanctuary, but the priest ate the flesh of the sacrifice (Lev 6:25, 26; 7:7), symbolically taking the sins of the person upon himself, as if they were his own (Lev 10:17). And, again, in the atonement for his own sins, the blood was taken inside the sanctuary.

Thank you.

1. The scripture you quoted (Heb. 9:12) is interesting. It says that Christ needed to do that ONLY ONCE for all time and everyone: "Nor by the blood of goats and calves, but BY HIS OWN BLOOD HE ENTERED ONCE FOR ALL into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption FOR US."

2. Secondly, it says that His sacrifice on earth was the means of "our eternal redemption". Therefore, when He entered "into the Holies" (i.e. ascended into heaven), He was ALREADY in possession of "our eternal redemption".

3. What then was the purpose of HIS sacrifice? Was it:
a. for individual sins (being committed many times throughout the ages, past present and future), OR
b. for the sin of the world (i.e. Adam's fall and banishment from Paradise, once in the beginning -- under which all other, and every form of sin falls)?

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Paul is contrasting Christ's ministry with the ministry of earthly priests. They had to enter the sanctuary many times, and offer many sacrifices, but Christ offered Himself once for all and entered once for all into the sanctuary.


Through His sacrifice He obtained - or secured - eternal redemption for us. But this redemption must be individually appropriated.


It seems to me that the purpose of His sacrifice involves both things, for the following verses refer to individual sins.

Heb 2:17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Heb 9:28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

1Pe 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

1. Heb. 9:13-14 says, "For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, CLEANSE YOUR CONSCIENCE FROM DEAD WORKS to serve the living God?"

Therefore where is the "blood of Christ" sprinkled in the "temple of heaven" for cleansing? And what is this "blood of Christ"?

2. Heb. 9:15 says, "And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."

What does it mean that his death was for "the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant"?

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As I pointed out in my last post, the sprinkling of the blood upon the inner veil of the earthly sanctuary symbolized a record of the "covered" sins of the penitent being transferred to the sanctuary.

Thus the sins are no longer upon the person, Christ has taken them upon Himself, as the lamb that was sacrificed, He then as the priest takes the record of those covered sins and transfers them to the sanctuary.

This reality, that whosoever confesses His sin is forgiven and cleansed (See 1 John 1:9) is what cleanses the conscience of dead works.
What are 'dead works' -- it is trying to erase our sins by doing penance, punishing ourselves in hopes of appeasing.

But Christ has taken our sins away, and covered them with His blood. And on the day of atonement all covered sins were forever disposed of. But all sins that people still clung to and refused to send into the sanctuary through the blood of the sacrifice, condemned them.









The blood of sheep, goats, or even bulls could not really take away sin. All this was a promise of the REALITY of what Christ would do. The people who followed God's plan in the OT were forgiven, but it was a promissory forgiveness based on the future death and priestly ministry of Christ.

Look again at the scripture I quoted and at the question I asked. I'm NOT asking about covered sins, transfer or disposal of sins.



Secondly, do you know what it really means for Christ to have died "for the redemption of ALL OLD COVENANT transgressions"? What does it mean to die "for the redemption of transgressions"?

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Paul is referring to symbolisms of the old covenant. If the sprinkling mentioned here, besides that done with the ashes of a heifer, refers also to the sprinkling of blood, Paul probably is referring to the sprinkling of people with blood (see v. 19, 20 of the same chapter). However, even if he was referring to the sprinkling of blood in the sanctuary, it should be remembered that, through the sacrifice and all that it involved, the person was purified because his/her sin was taken away.
As I said in my last post, the fact that, in the sanctuary of the old covenant, the blood of the victim was sprinkled before God for the forgiveness of the sinner, means that today Christ presents His blood (sacrifice) before God as a reason why the sinner should be forgiven. I think the symbolism is clear.


It means the following:

Rom 3:24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Rom 3:25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
Rom 3:26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin, so the sins committed before the death of Christ were not punished. God does not forgive sins without punishing them. Since all sins were punished at the cross, the forgiveness granted before this was in promise, as Dedication pointed out.

Exactly? I doubt it. Jesus does so much more than is symbolized by priests officiating in the earthly sanctuary. Also, He doesn't literally sprinkle His blood. Nor does He spend one day in the most holy place. The essence is the same. His perfect life and death serves to save us. It also gives Him the legal right to punish unsavable sinners. Hebrews 7-9 explain it quite nicely.

James, the benefits of Jesus' atoning life and death have been available to sinners since the day Adam and Eve sinned. Jesus is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Rev 13:8). Enoch, Elijah, and Moses were in Heaven before Jesus lived and died the perfect life and death.

When you say "sins were punished at the cross" do you mean sinners were punished in Christ on the cross?