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The foundation of our salvation is that it is a free gift, received by trusting G-d and letting him provide our atonement. This appears to be at odds with the sacrificial system, with its offerings and instructions, and so it is claimed that there was a time of Law and a time of Grace. In this view, during the time of Law, we were subject to the Torah and judged by how closely we followed it, bur during the time of Grace, that was done away with and we were judged on whether we trusted in Messiah Yeshua as Lord and Savior. However, at Yom Kippur - and especially during the Kol Nidre, the release from vows - it is affirmed that we need to come before G-d as supplicants before his throne, trusting in His mercy rather than our virtues. It is this humble trust in G-d, rather than prideful trust in ourselves, that is proclaimed as the basis for salvation in the Tenakh (Old Testament).
The Tenakh shows that we cannot come before G-d by personal merit because of our basic nature. Proverbs 14:12 tells us, "There can be a way which seems right to a person, but at its end are the ways of death." We do not even properly understand what G-d requires, because "there is not one righteous person on the earth who does good and does not sin" (Eccl. 7:20). We do not understand G-d because we are unholy at the core, and so our hearts are themselves unclean. With unclean hearts, we cannot be good, and if we are not good, we cannot do good, and so, as we are,we cannot please G-d. As sinners in the hands of an angry G-d, we are doomed. But, G-d's anger against unholiness does not negate His love for us. Habakkuk 2:4 tells us, "The person who is righteous will live his life by faith." The father of the Jewish people, Abraham, is himself received by G-d as righteous, not by personal virtue or works, but by his trust in G-d (Gen. 15:6). Thus, the relationship G-d established with Israel, expressed in the Mosaic covenant, is based on faith and not works. For while "everyone shall die for his own sin" (Jer. 31:30), yet "the life of a creature is in the blood and I have given it to you to make atonement" (Lev. 17:11). G-d provided a way of salvation for sinful people, which involved sacrifice, the shedding of blood, the giving of a life in place of the sinner's own. But, if a person cannot pay for another (Psalms 49:7-9), certainly no animal can pay for a person. The Temple sacrifices were a promise, pointing to the seriousness of sin and the need for atonement by blood. But, whose blood could pay the price? "For great is your [G-d's] love for me; you have delivered me from the grave." (Psalms 84:13) Our deliverance, our redemption, our ransom is from G-d himself. No sinful person can redeem another, for that which is unholy cannot atone for unholiness. Even less can an animal pay for us, who are made in the image of G-d (Gen. 1:27). Its value for atonement is in directing the one who trusts in G-d and repents of sin to G-d's provided atonement, Messiah Yeshua, the Son of G-d, who "was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5) Only a perfect sacrifice - G-d by his sovereign will coming as one of us - could pay that price, could make atonement for us with the identity of man and the holiness of G-d. Love and trust in G-d is the mitzvah ("good deed", "act of obedience") that makes all the other mitzvot ("deeds") valid and allows us to choose life (Deut. 30:10-20), or, as it says in Joel 2:32, "And everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved." So, let us all follow the advice of the prophet: "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him." (Isaiah 55:6,7) G-d came near to us as Messiah Yeshua, so let us choose life by turning to him. |
| Atonement from the Tenakh by Rabbi Kevin Lind |