Since God provided for the forgiveness of sins in the Old Testament, why do we need Jesus?

Question

I thought of this when I was researching this question.

---

Leviticus 4 goes into great detail about the sacrifice that must be made in order for a sin to be forgiven. However, we see here that God actually provided a way for these sins to be forgiven.

Specifically, Leviticus 16 shows that this sacrifice and the Day of Atonement did provide forgiveness of sins:

Leviticus 16:30 (NIV)_{Emphasis added}
because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins.

Now, Jews no longer provide sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins, however God has still provided a way for these sins to be forgiven. (See Why don't Jews sacrifice animals anymore? for more information.)

So, if God has previously given us a way to have forgiveness of our sins, why did he send Jesus to be our ultimate sacrifice?

Edit:
I believe that there is some doctrinal basis for this. I'm not sure which specific doctrine would best be applied to this, but I am seeking a mainstream Protestant doctrine on the matter.

Answer 1

Actually, it never worked.

Hebrews 10:4 (ESV)
For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

All the OT sacrifices were useless in an of themselves. What they did all along was not actually solve something but point people to the idea that something needed to be solved and the way that had to happen was through sacrifice. All the OT sacrificial rules only served to point us to Christ, who was already arranged as the Lamb to come.

In other words, the forgiveness for sins that God "provided" in the Old Testament was through Jesus from day one, so you can't just take him out of the picture. There isn't another way.

See also: Who saved people before ~33AD?

Answer 2

One indicator that the Levitical sacrifices were insufficient is that they had to be offered each year for the nation and more often for individuals, depending really on the frequency of offenses. In essence, they were only effective for past offenses. The next time a sin was committed, the person and nation were susceptible to judgment if a sacrifice was not offered at the appropriate time.

Furthermore, there was nothing in the sacrificial system for some sins, including adultery and murder.

The Levitical Law only existed from the time of Moses as well, while Abraham lived 400-500 years before that. "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness." Salvation has always been through faith in God's provision rather than through our own works.

Adam and Eve's attempts to cover their own shame with the fig leaves in the garden were insufficient. They needed the clothing that God provided (and the promise of a Deliverer who would crush the work of Satan that brought death to the world).

In Isaiah, God actually tells the nation of Israel to "stop bringing meaningless sacrifices". The issue was that they were "honoring God with their mouths while their hearts were far from Him." Dutifully carrying out rituals was never a means of salvation.

Judaism may believe that God no longer requires animal sacrifices and that there is forgiveness apart from those and apart from Jesus, but the Bible is very clear that this is not the case. The sacrifices were an act of faith in God, and the sacrifice of Jesus is the only thing that has ever provided atonement for sins, "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." (Hebrews 10:14)

There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) Christianity is very clear that Judaism without Christ cannot provide forgiveness of sins. In fact, nothing else can provide forgiveness of sins.

Romans 3 states the following:

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Note that it says, "He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished". God's justice requires that all sins be punished. No sin was punished until Jesus died and endured the righteous punishment of God for sins.

So, neither Levitical Law nor good deeds nor being religious can achieve forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness comes by faith in Christ and in His work of atonement.

Answer 3

Caleb is pretty close to the answer.

Remember that the greatest of all commandments is to love God "with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Matthew 22:37) that Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments," (John 14:15) and that at the final judgment, everyone is judged according to their works. (Revelation 20:12)

As Hebrews 10:4 points out, the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament had no intrinsic value for redemption or remission of sins; all forgiveness comes through the Atonement of Christ and in no other way. But the sacrifices provided two important things: they served as a way to point people's minds forward to Christ, which helped them to have faith, and they were a commandment of God to obey, giving them an opportunity to show their devotion. (And remember that these sacrifices were sacrifices; to a nation of shepherds, giving up the best of their flocks did indeed require an act of faith!)

Simply because the blood sacrifices did not provide forgiveness of sins in and of themselves did not make them worthless. It was the people's faith and their acts of obedience that allowed them to have claim on the cleansing power of the Atonement, the same as in modern times. That's the missing link here. This is why various Old Testament prophets (Isaiah and Samuel come to mind immediately, and I know there were a few others) talked about how the sacrifices themselves were worthless and abhorrent to the Lord when the people were disobedient, unrighteous, and unfaithful. This was not a new concept that Paul came up with.

Answer 4

To try and answer your question with brevity instead of wordiness, I will just say that the OT sacrifices were sufficient for a time seeing as they were instituted by God. However, they were to forshadow the day when instead of us making sacrifices, God would provide the unlimited and infinite sacrifice, Himself.

As long as there was finite sacrifices, only finite forgiveness was achieved. But once there was an infinite sacrifice, then, infinite forgiveness was achieved.

For instance, when there was the sacrifice of small animals, there was small forgiveness. But when an infinite being, the incarnate creator God of the cosmos is sacrificed so much more is acheived.

Here is Colossians 1:19-20

• 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Thus, through Christ, God reconciled to Himself "ALL THINGS," which interestingly enough includes things in heaven that apparently needed reconciliation. The self-sacrifice of an infinitely good, holy, and loving God can acheive far more than we could ever imagine!