Did Jesus Teach Penal Substitution?

Did Jesus Teach Penal Substitution?

 

Modern Christians rely primarily on Paul’s writings for their understanding of forgiveness of sins.  The Bible tells us that Paul’s writings are difficult to properly understand and Christians who read his writings without a proper understanding of the rest of Scriptures tend to misinterpret him and create false doctrines.

2 Peter 3:15-18

15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Peter tells Christians that Paul’s writings are difficult to properly understand and many Christians, even in his day were misinterpreting Paul and creating false doctrines.  Peter says that, instead, they should focus on what Jesus taught.  If any of your doctrines relies almost entirely on Paul’s writings, then you should probably reexamine it.  That is why I occasionally quote Paul, but I try to always try to form the key components of my understanding of a particular doctrine from other parts of the Bible.

Peter tells us that the solution is to use Jesus’s teachings for the foundation of our doctrines, not Paul’s writings.  Jesus said that he came to fulfil the law and prophets (Matthew 5:17), so we looked at what they taught about forgiveness of sins.  Now we will look at what Jesus taught.

Before we get into what Jesus taught about forgiveness of sins, we need to define what sin is.  Is it a disease?  Is it dirt?  Is it an action?  Jesus’s disciple, John (who should be qualified to give us Jesus’s definition of sin), defined sin and its remission (or removal) this way.

1 John 1:5-10 KJV

⁵ This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

 

1 John 3:4-11 KJV

⁴ Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

⁵ And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

⁶ Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

⁷ Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

⁸ He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

⁹ Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

¹⁰ In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

¹¹ For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

 

Here we see that sin is an action, specifically the transgression of the law.  And it says that Jesus was manifested to take away our sins.  This is expressed in Matthew 26:28 as the “remission of sins”.  Here John explains that the way Jesus takes away our sins is by helping us to stop committing the action of sinning.  It doesn’t say anything about Jesus being punished in our place.

In chapter 2 verse 2 and chapter 4 verse 10 John uses the Greek word ιλασμος  (hilasmos), which is often translated as propitiation.  Propitiation is usually understood to carry the idea of appeasing a deity’s wrath.  The problem is this word doesn’t appear anywhere else in the New Testament so it is difficult to definitively say how they used it.  I believe that John is explaining what he means by it here.  And I believe that if you look at all of chapters 2 – 4 you will find that an understanding of ιλασμος as the removal of sinful actions will be more consistent with the themes  of those chapters than Jesus being punished for our sins.

So many of these words and phrases have developed such strong connotations in our culture that we can’t read them without instantly jumping to the conclusions we were taught in church.  Let’s do an exercise to see if we can shed those connotations. 

Matthew 1:21 says:

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Since we know sin is the transgression of the law, let’s replace the word “sin” with a modern transgression of the law, illegal drug use.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their illegal drug use.

If I say that Jesus saved me from illegal drug use, no one would take that to mean that Jesus took my drug related health problems on himself or went to jail in my place.  That would be a pretty big leap in logic, not to mention such actions would do nothing to stop my drug use. 

When we use the Bible’s definition of sin and the removal of sin we come to radically different conclusions than if we use the church’s definitions.

This is what Jesus said about why he needed to die.

John 12:23-33

²³ And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

²⁴ Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

²⁵ He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

²⁶ If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

²⁷ Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

²⁸ Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

²⁹ The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.

³⁰ Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.

³¹ Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

³² And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

³³ This he said, signifying what death he should die.

 

The purpose of his death was to draw all men to him.  He said that if a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it produces many more grains of wheat like itself.  The purpose of his death was to lead people to follow his teaching.  When we examine his teaching, it was focused on repentance of sin and following God.  If people followed his teaching, they would no longer sin.  Thus, we can see that John’s explanation of the purpose of Jesus’s death was drawn directly from Jesus’s own teaching concerning his death.  John wasn’t simply giving his own impression.

 

Matthew 26:28

²⁸ For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

 

Luke 24:46-47

⁴⁶ And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

⁴⁷ And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

 

We can see that Jesus’s death and resurrection was key to enabling his message to be preached in his name among all nations.  And the core of his message was repentance and remission of sins.  This is Jesus’s own explanation for his statement that his blood was shed for the remission of sins. 

He gave us another clue. 

Luke 4:17-19

¹⁷ And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

¹⁹ To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

The Greek word translated here as “deliverance” is “aphesis” which is the same Greek word which is translated “remission” in the above two passages.  So, they could be understood as saying that Jesus’s blood was shed to deliver us from our sinful ways.

 

But, how does this fit with the idea of us being saved by believing in him? If you keep reading after that famous verse, you will find that Jesus equates believing in him with following God and doing good deeds.

John 3:13-21

¹³ And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

¹⁵ That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

¹⁸ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

²⁰ For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

²¹ But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

 

John 5:24

²⁴ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

John 8:24

²⁴ I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

 

John 8:51

⁵¹ Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

 

 

Now, let’s look at what else Jesus said about his death.

Matthew 16:21-27

²¹ From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

²² Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.

²³ But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

²⁴ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

²⁵ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

²⁶ For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

²⁷ For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

 

Notice that Jesus didn’t say that he must die so the people wouldn’t have to.  He said the opposite.  He said that if someone wants eternal life they must follow Jesus and be willing to suffer and die like him.  Then everyone will be rewarded according to his works, not whether or not they believe Jesus was their substitute.

Jesus said that those who follow him will drink from his cup.  Again, this is the opposite of being our substitute.  The faithful will follow Jesus, even when they suffer the same fate.

 

Matthew 26:39

³⁹ And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

 

Matthew 20:18-23

¹⁸ Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,

¹⁹ And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

²⁰ Then came to him the mother of Zebedees children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.

²¹ And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.

²² But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.

²³ And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

 

In this parable Jesus links his death with the Jewish leaders’ rejection of him. 

Matthew 21:33-44

³³ Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

³⁴ And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.

³⁵ And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

³⁶ Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.

³⁷ But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

³⁸ But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

³⁹ And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

⁴⁰ When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

⁴¹ They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

⁴² Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

⁴³ Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

⁴⁴ And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

 

Let’s continue on.  He says that he must be betrayed and killed, but he doesn’t give any reason other than what was discussed earlier.

 

Matthew 17:22-23

²² And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:

²³ And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

 

Mark 8:31

³¹ And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

 

Matthew 26:2

² Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.

 

Matthew 26:23-25

²³ And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.

²⁴ The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

²⁵ Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

 

 

When someone asked Jesus directly what he must do to be saved.  The Gospel message is the good news of salvation.  So, when someone asked Jesus directly what he must do to be saved we get the opportunity to hear the Gospel according to Jesus.  Here he lays out all of the critical points of salvation plainly for anyone to see.  Jesus answered that he must keep the law and do good works and follow Jesus’s teachings.  The idea that Jesus would be punished for his sins never even entered into the discussion.  Search through the Gospels and you will find Jesus calling many times for people to repent and obey God.  But you will never find him instructing people to believe that he is their substitute or that he would be punished for their sins.  Jesus’s message is always centered on obedience to God and doing good deeds.

Matthew 19:16-22

¹⁶ And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

¹⁷ And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

¹⁸ He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

¹⁹ Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

²⁰ The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

²¹ Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

²² But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

 

There are certainly passages in the Gospels that can be interpreted as supporting penal substitution.  But it is never stated and when we looked deeper we found that Jesus actually said that his disciples would drink the same cup as him.  This is the opposite of Jesus being our substitute.  Jesus said that the purpose of his death was to draw all men to him and to make more people like him.  This is a perfect description of a martyr’s death.  And, of course his resurrection showed that God vindicated him and his message.

 

Acts 5:29-32

²⁹ Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

³⁰ The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

³¹ Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

³² And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

 

What about Peter’s statement that Jesus bore our sins in his body?  If we look at the context, it becomes clear that Peter isn’t talking about Jesus as our substitute, but rather our example calling us to be faithful to God through his willingness to suffer and die.

1 Peter 1:18-23

¹⁸ Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

¹⁹ But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

²⁰ Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

²¹ Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

²² Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

²³ Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

 

1 Peter 2:21-25

²¹ For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

²² Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

²³ Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

²⁴ Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

²⁵ For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

 

1 Peter 2:23 specifically tells us that when the people sinned by reviling and causing an innocent man to suffer, Jesus didn't retaliate.  Instead, he endured or bore those sins and committed everything to God's judgement.  This is the context for verse 24.  These are the sins Peter is talking about in verse 24.  When mainstream Christians apply verse 24 to sins that you and I commit today, they are reading something into the text that is not there. 


But, why would Peter say "our sins"?  There are two obvious possibilities.  First, Peter, along with the other disciples, abandoned Jesus when he was arrested.  Then, Peter followed Jesus to the trial.  However, instead of standing up and testifying in Jesus's defense, Peter denied even knowing Jesus.  So, Peter contributed to Jesus's suffering.  Second, Peter could be speaking collectively similar to the way I might say, "We defeated the Nazis in WWII", as an American, even though I wasn't born then.  When Peter lists the sins Jesus endured, or bore, in verse 23, we don't have a right to read into the text the idea that Jesus bore the sins you and I commit today.


More importantly, in verse 21 specifically says that Jesus did this as an example for us to emulate.  This is the opposite of Substitutiary Atonement, which teaches that Jesus suffered so we don't have to suffer.


Even if the discussion did include all sins of all people for all time, what would that mean?  Matthew explains that the disciples, when they applied Isaiah 53 to Jesus as Peter did here, they understood “bearing” to be metaphorically bearing away or removing or healing. 

 

Matthew 8:16-17

¹⁶ When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

¹⁷ That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

 

Scholars have long recognized that Matthew is quoting a variation of Isaiah 53:4 in the Septuagint (ancient Greek translation of the Tanakh or Old Testament).  Obviously, Matthew isn’t saying that Jesus became sick in the people’s places.  He is using “bare” to mean bearing away or healing or removing.  We should accept the disciple’s explanation of the phrases they used instead of imposing our own interpretation. 

Finally, we need to consider a passage that transitions nicely into Paul’s writings.

 

Jesus links his death to the establishment of the new testament (or new covenant).  He doesn’t elaborate on this, but we do find a detailed study of this in the book of Hebrews.  Hebrews does not name the author and its authorship is disputed.  However, it was traditionally ascribed to Paul.  And even if Paul did not actually write it, most scholars believe it has very Pauline themes.  Here is what it says about Jesus’s death establishing the new testament.

Hebrews 9:11-22

¹¹ But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

¹² Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

¹³ For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

¹⁴ 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?

¹⁵ And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

¹⁶ For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.

¹⁷ For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

¹⁸ Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.

¹⁹ For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,

²⁰ Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

²¹ Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.

²² And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

 

Let’s examine this passage very carefully.  We need to establish its meaning from the Bible.

Verse 13 establishes that the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of the heifer “sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh”.  They were used for purification from ritual uncleanness from such things as touching dead bodies and unintentionally breaking one of the Mosaic Laws through ignorance.

Numbers 15:22-31

²² And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which [Yehovah] hath spoken unto Moses,

²³ Even all that [Yehovah] hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that [Yehovah] commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations;

²⁴ Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto [Yehovah], with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering.

²⁵ And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto [Yehovah], and their sin offering before [Yehovah], for their ignorance:

²⁶ And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people were in ignorance.

²⁷ And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering.

²⁸ And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before [Yehovah], to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.

²⁹ Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.

³⁰ But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth [Yehovah]; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

³¹ Because he hath despised the word of [Yehovah], and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.

 

Numbers 19: 2-13

² This is the ordinance of the law which [Yehovah] hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke:

³ And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:

⁴ And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:

⁵ And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:

⁶ And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

⁷ Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.

⁸ And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.

⁹ And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.

¹⁰ And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.

¹¹ He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.

¹² He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.

¹³ Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of [Yehovah]; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

 

Numbers 15:22 plainly states that sin offerings are for breaking the laws that God spoke to Moses, which is the Mosaic Law.  The Ten Commandments were spoken by God to the entire nation and then written by God onto stone tablets.  Verses 23-29 make it very clear that the sin offering can only be given by and bring forgiveness to someone who does something wrong through ignorance.  Verses 30-31 plainly states that anyone who chooses to sin is “cut off” and bears their own iniquity.  The longer version of the description of the sin offering can be found in Leviticus 4-5.  If you read both chapters in their entirety, you will see it repeat over and over that the sin offering is only given for unintentional sins done in ignorance.

Numbers 19:9 makes it clear that the ashes of the heifer are a variation of the sin offering because “it is a purification for sin”.  And it goes on to explain that this “sin” it purifies is ritual uncleanness from touching a dead body.

Now we have the background for Hebrews 9:11-14.  These verses are comparing Jesus’s blood to ritual purification.  The sacrifices it is alluding to have nothing to do with a sinner that needs to be forgiven for a life of sin.  They are strictly sacrifices for purification as Hebrews clearly states when it says they “sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh”.

Verses 15-18 describe how a testament is not valid until after the death of the testator.  In this the author is using a will as an analogy of why Jesus needed to die to establish the new covenant.  This kind of analogy makes sense when we keep in mind that they style of Hebrews is that of a homily or sermon. 

He then says that the first testament was dedicated with blood.  With this he establishes that the context of the next few verses is the establishment of the first testament.

Verses 19 and 20 narrate how Moses read the precepts of the Law to the people.  Then he sprinkled the people and the book with blood.  This is a reference to Exodus 24:8, although Exodus doesn’t mention the blood being sprinkled on the book.  The covenant between God and the people was consecrated by sprinkling blood on the people.  And the scriptures themselves were consecrated by sprinkling blood on them.  The blood establishes the covenant and the Bible itself.

Verse 21 states that Moses sprinkled the entire tabernacle and all of its vessels with blood, establishing the tabernacle itself with blood.  This seems to be a reference to Leviticus 8:10.  Leviticus 8:30 mentions Moses sprinkling the priests with a mixture of anointing oil and blood, thus consecrating them.  Verse 10 only mentions the anointing oil when Moses consecrated the tabernacle and the vessels.  Josephus in the Antiquities of the Jews states that the mixture of anointing oil and blood was used to consecrate the tabernacle as well as the priests.  The writer of Hebrews may be drawing from that same extra-Biblical tradition as Josephus for the added details in verses 19 and 21.

Antiquities of the Jews Book 3 Chapter 8 Paragraph 6

And when Moses had sprinkled Aaron's vestments, himself, and his sons, with the blood of the beasts that were slain, and had purified them with spring waters and ointment, they became God's priests. After this manner did he consecrate them and their garments for seven days together. The same he did to the tabernacle, and the vessels thereto belonging, both with oil first incensed, as I said, and with the blood of bulls and of rams, slain day by day one, according to its kind.

(Josephus, Flavius (2013-01-21). Josephus Flavius: Complete Works and Historical Background (Annotated and Illustrated) (Annotated Classics) (Kindle Locations 11311-11315). Annotated Classics. Kindle Edition.)

Now we have the context to understand the conclusion given in verse 22 that “without shedding of blood is no remission”.  It is stating that blood is needed for purification from uncleanness and how the new covenant was established with the death of the testator and the first covenant and the tabernacle and the scriptures themselves were all consecrated with blood.  None of the things that bring us closer to God could have been established without blood.  And there is no remission of sins as long as we are separated from God.

One more thing to look at is the context of the verse in Leviticus the author of Hebrews is referring to when he says “without shedding of blood is no remission”.  He is referencing Leviticus 17:11.  When we look at the context we see that Leviticus isn’t saying that a sacrifice has to be given for a person to be saved.  Instead it is saying that we shouldn’t eat blood because blood is used in the sanctuary service to make atonement. 

Leviticus 17:10-12

¹⁰ And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

¹¹ For 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.

¹² Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.

 

Remember, Hebrews is quoting this in the context of the consecration of the covenant, the scriptures and the tabernacle itself.  This consecration was referred to as atonement.  For example, sin offering had to be offered on the altar to make atonement for the altar when it was consecrated. 

Exodus 29:36-37

³⁶ And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it.

³⁷ Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.

 

Also, women had to offer sin offerings to make atonement for giving birth.

Leviticus 12:6-7

⁶ And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:

⁷ Who shall offer it before [Yehovah], and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female.

 

Atonement in the context of the Sanctuary primarily referred to purification.  In this sense someone who is forgiven of their sins has had atonement made for them because they have been purified from their sins.  Insisting that atonement has to be talking about salvation would mean that the altar had to be saved when sin offerings were offered to make atonement for it.  And it would mean that mothers are damned to hell unless God forgives them for the sin of giving birth.

Hebrews applies the shedding of blood to forgiveness of sins because blood is used to establish both covenants, and consecrate the Scriptures, the tabernacle on earth and the tabernacle in heaven.  All of these things were established by God to help us follow and worship Him.  We cannot be forgiven of sins when we are separated from God.  We should not read into this passage more than what the author states when building doctrines.