Day of Atonement

Pastor Martin answers the question, by what specific activities does our great priest fulfill His task? He shows from the Old Testament Day of Atonement ritual in Leviticus 16 and its fulfillment in Hebrews that Christ's priestly work consists of two inseparable elements: oblation (the shedding of His blood) and intercession (the presentation of that blood in heaven). He argues that these must never be separated — like inhaling and exhaling, they form one complex priestly activity securing the salvation of God's people.

Pastor Martin begins a focused study on Christ's priestly sacrifice, establishing first the fact of His priestly sacrifice from Ephesians 5:2, Hebrews 9:24-28, and Hebrews 10:10-12. He defends the Bible's unequivocal presentation of Christ's death as a true, bona fide priestly offering to God rather than a mere example of self-giving. He then begins to unfold the context of sacrificial activity — the reality of God as holy, just, and gracious, and of man as accountable, guilty, and polluted.

Pastor Martin drives to the essence of Christ's priestly sacrifice through two key texts: Hebrews 9:14 and Hebrews 7:27 — 'He offered up himself.' He unfolds Christ as both the passive substitutionary victim (Isaiah 53, 1 Peter 2:24) and the active representative priest who bound Himself to the altar with cords of love. Drawing on Hugh Martin, he shows that Christ's death was His grandest doing — not mere passive endurance but the most intense spiritual activity, through the eternal Spirit, offered to God without spot.