atonement

Sin [[➝ sin]] destroys the relationship between God and people, and atonement is the means by which a reconciliation is effected. In the OT, sacrifices and offerings [[➝ offering, sin]] are prescribed and were well developed in the post-exilic period with a view to removing the barrier caused by sin which cut a person off from God's favour. Sacrifices were appointed by a merciful God for the restoration of fellowship which an individual by his own personal act was incapable of achieving. In the time of the Maccabees [[➝ Maccabees, books of]] animal sacrifices were thought to be supplemented by the atoning value of suffering. In the stories of Maccabean martyrs their sufferings are held to be an atonement not only for the sufferers but also for others. So the youngest of the seven brothers appeals to God that through him and his brothers the wrath of the Almighty which has fallen on the nation may be brought to an end (2 Macc. 7:38).

In the NT atonement is connected with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and he may have understood his coming death in atonement terms (Mark 10:45). In Paul's letter to the Romans the source of God's mercy in reconciling mankind was Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:25) and in the letter to the Hebrews the notion of sacrifice is employed; the defilement of sin is cleansed by the blood of a sinless victim. The blood of Christ's obedient and offered life is sprinkled on our sinful consciences so that we can then draw near to God with a similar obedience.