God's instruction to Israel, when He made them His peculiar people, was, "Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy" (Lev. 19:2). Then He instituted the tabernacle service, with all its types and ceremonies, to teach men the way to holiness.

Anciently when an Israelite sinned, he was required to bring an offering, a kid of the goats or sheep, to the door of the sanctuary, confess over its head the sin or sins he had committed, and slay the victim with his own hand. The object lesson was plain--sin brings death. Emphatically, he was told by the prophet, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:4). Paul later confirmed this by saying, "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23).

The death of the individual sinner is demanded by the broken law. That is justice. But the Israelitish transgressor who presented himself at the sanctuary with an offering brought a substitute. A lamb or goat could die in his stead. God provided a way by which a sinner could be forgiven, the law could be satisfied, justice could be vindicated, and yet the transgressor could retain his life. That way was vicarious atonement--someone else may bear the penalty for sin.

There was an additional lesson available to the guilty Israelite who appeared at the door of the tabernacle: In his progress back to God and holiness he could only do certain things. He could bring a lamb or a goat, he could confess his sin, he could even slay the victim with his own hand; but here his work ended, and here the whole process might have ended, except that a mediator was provided to carry on the work, for no transgressor had direct access to God in the sanctuary service. The priest had to offer the blood, which was the essential element of sacrifice. "The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul" (Lev. 17:11).

Thus, even in the typical service, man was taught that he cannot be saved by his own works. An anointed priest must take the blood of the sacrificial victim, place it or sprinkle it upon the appropriate furniture of the sanctuary, and, in the words of instruction to Aaron, "bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord" (Lev. 10:17).

When a transgressor brought a lamb to the temple, he placed his hands upon its head while he confessed his sins, thus symbolically placing his sin upon the head of the innocent animal, which then died in his stead. His sin was thus transferred, through the animal's shed blood, to the tabernacle itself. In the case of ordinary sins, the blood was either placed upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering or sprinkled upon its side. This constituted a record of the sin itself.

When an Israelite slew his offering, and the priest administered the blood, the Israelite was forgiven. But a record of the sin remained. In fact, the sin itself had simply been transferred to the tabernacle, and in some way had to be disposed of. This was accomplished in the yearly ceremony on the Day of Atonement.

This holy day was a day of judgment, on the outcome of which depended the life of the nation. Every case from the preceding year was, in type, reviewed. The apostle describes it: "In those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year" (Heb. 10:3).

On the Day of Atonement the high priest went into the most holy place of the sanctuary with appropriate sacrifices. "He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins. And so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation. . . . And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it. . . . And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel" (Lev. 16:16-19).

The figure is obvious. The priest in this ceremony removed the accumulated sins of the year. Then "Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited" (Lev. 16:21-22).

Here, in type, was the final disposition of sins --- sent away, removed forever. No Israelite, as he afflicted his soul before the tabernacle that day, could avoid the lesson so obvious and plain: only confessed sins are removed. The reality of the lesson for the believer today is inescapable.

Sin brings separation from God. God wishes to separate us from sin, that He may reunite us to Himself. Tenderly, He is calling His people to "follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14).

Yes, my reader, it is God's plan for His people to be holy. This was typified, as we have seen, under the law. But, since "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins", Jesus had to shed His own precious blood in order that we might obtain this true, antitypical New Testament holiness. And, "if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Friend, do you know anything about this experience? Has the blood of Christ been applied to your heart? You see, the Lord wants to cleanse us as well as to forgive us. And "If we confess our sins," I John 1:9 tells us, "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins AND to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness."

Doubtless, many will ask whether this cleansing is essential. God's specific message to His people was, and still is, "Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy" (Lev. 19:2). In both the Old and New Testaments, the people of God were called holy. What about us? Aren't we to be called holy?

Holiness is required of God's people, as much today as ever. There are those in our own ranks who are trying to streamline God's plan of Biblical holiness; regardless of their blood-draining efforts, the word of God remains true and is still saying, "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."

One does not grow "into" the experience of holiness; however, he does--or should--grow "in" it. The act is definite and complete; being made holy is a definite experience, an instantaneous operation of the Spirit of God in the life of a believer, called the "baptism of the holy Ghost" (Acts 1:5). Strange as it may seem, many who enter into this blessing of holiness soon lose it. The same disastrous experience was true in the early congregation. Moral failures are largely responsible for the unbelief that robs us of this blessing and leaves us cold and dry. The strain of trying to live the holy life is insufferable when once the life of the Spirit itself refuses to manifest.

First, every sanctified believer should sincerely desire to please God at all times. It was Paul who warned the saints at Corinth, who were evidently unsettled, to cleanse themselves "from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." This is a challenge to every double minded, self-centered believer.

We notice the burden that was on Paul's heart for the Thessalonians when we read these words: "That we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith" (1 Thess. 3:10). And why did Paul want to bring this perfection to the Thessalonians? "To the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints" (1 Thess. 3:13).

My dear reader, if God has called us to holiness, then He is demanding that we be cleansed and set apart as a vessel suitable for the Master's use. God's family is made up of such holy believers, believers whose sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. And the most dependable evidence that one has received this cleansing is the baptism of the holy Ghost. Now, why do I say this? Because we are told that "by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof the holy Ghost also is a witness to us" (Heb. 10:14-15). Do you have this experience? If not, write us and let us help you to receive it.