Objective Guilt, Objective Grace Text: Leviticus 4:27-31
Introduction: The Unblinking Eye of the Law
We live in a sentimental age, an age that prizes sincerity over truth and good intentions over righteous actions. Our culture has convinced itself that the primary standard for morality is located somewhere in the murky region of our own feelings. If you meant well, then all is well. If your heart was in the right place, then it does not much matter where your feet went. Consequently, the modern conception of sin is almost entirely subjective. For a modern to feel guilty, he must first believe he has done something wrong, and since his own feelings are the ultimate arbiter of what is wrong, this creates a very convenient, self-justifying little loop.
Into this soupy subjectivism, the book of Leviticus crashes with the force of a freight train. The Mosaic law operates on a different principle entirely. It teaches us that sin is an objective reality. It is a violation of God's holy standard, and it creates real, objective guilt, regardless of whether you were aware of it. Sin is not primarily a feeling; it is a fact. It is a debt, a stain, a state of pollution that defiles not only the sinner but also the sanctuary of God itself. And because the guilt is objective, the remedy must also be objective. You cannot feel your way out of this kind of debt. You cannot wish the stain away. It requires a real transaction, a real cleansing, a real, bloody, substitutionary atonement.
This passage deals with the sin offering for one of the "common people" who sins unintentionally. This is crucial. This is not for high-handed, defiant rebellion. There was no sacrifice for that kind of sin; the penalty was to be "cut off from the people." This sacrifice is for the man who broke one of God's commands without realizing it. Perhaps he became ceremonially unclean without knowing how, or violated a dietary law in ignorance. But here is the point: ignorance is not innocence. Unintentional sin is still sin. It still incurs guilt. It still requires blood.
This is a hard lesson for us, but a necessary one. It teaches us about the absolute holiness of God and the pervasive nature of our sin. We are sinners, not just because we do sinful things, but because we are the kind of creatures from whom sinful things proceed, sometimes without us even noticing. Our problem is deeper than our conscious choices. And so, the solution must be deeper as well. This detailed, bloody, and very specific ritual is not some arcane relic of a primitive religion. It is a master class in the grammar of grace. It is a picture, a type, a foreshadowing of the one, final, and perfect sacrifice that would deal with all sin, both intentional and unintentional. It teaches us how God deals with our guilt, and it is the foundation for understanding the cross of Jesus Christ.
The Text
‘Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty, or if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering. And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to Yahweh. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
(Leviticus 4:27-31 LSB)
Unknowing Guilt and Known Sin (v. 27-28)
The text begins by establishing the situation: a common person, an unintentional sin, and the reality of guilt.
"‘Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty, or if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed." (Leviticus 4:27-28)
Notice the sequence. A person can sin and become guilty before they are even aware of it. Guilt is not a psychological state; it is a legal one. It is the state of being liable to punishment for an offense. The law of God is like the law of gravity; it operates on you whether you know the formula or not. If you step off a cliff, your ignorance of physics will not suspend your fall. In the same way, violating God's holy standard incurs real guilt, even if you do it by accident. This demolishes our modern therapeutic notions where guilt is something to be managed or overcome. In the Bible, guilt is something to be atoned for.
The process of dealing with the sin begins when "his sin which he has committed is made known to him." This could happen in a number of ways. Perhaps a neighbor points it out. Perhaps he studies the law and realizes his error. The point is, the moment he becomes aware of the objective sin, he is responsible to deal with it through the prescribed means. He cannot shrug and say, "Oh well, I didn't mean it." He must act.
His action is to bring an offering: "a goat, a female without blemish." Two things are significant here. First, the offering is scaled to his station. A high priest had to bring a bull; a ruler a male goat; a common person a female goat or a lamb. God's law is equitable. But second, and most importantly, the offering must be "without blemish." It must be perfect. This is a non-negotiable requirement for all the substitutionary sacrifices. A flawed sacrifice cannot atone for a flawed sinner. This requirement points relentlessly forward to the only one who was truly without blemish, the Lord Jesus Christ, "a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:19). This perfect animal represents the perfection that is required to approach a holy God.
The Great Exchange (v. 29)
Verse 29 describes the central act of the entire ritual, the moment of identification and substitution.
"And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering." (Leviticus 4:29 LSB)
The laying on of the hand is not a gentle pat. It is a formal, legal act of transference. The worshiper leans his weight on the animal, symbolically identifying with it. In this action, he is saying, "This goat is now standing in my place. My sin, my guilt, my liability to judgment, I hereby confess and place upon this substitute." This is the doctrine of imputation in living color. The sin of the man is reckoned to the goat.
Immediately following this act of transference, the sinner himself slaughters the animal. The priest does not kill it; the sinner does. This is a stark and brutal reminder of the reality of sin. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). His sin caused this death. He must feel the warm blood on his hands. This is not a sterile, abstract transaction. It is visceral. It teaches the worshiper in the most graphic way possible that his sin is a capital offense in God's courtroom. The death he deserved is now being visited upon his substitute. Every sacrifice was a bloody sermon, preaching the lethal consequences of sin and the glorious hope of substitution.
The Blood on the Altar (v. 30)
Once the substitute is slain, the priest takes over, acting as the mediator between the guilty man and the holy God.
"And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar." (Leviticus 4:30 LSB)
The blood represents the life of the substitute that has been poured out in death (Leviticus 17:11). The priest takes this blood and applies it to the horns of the altar. The horns of the altar were symbols of power and refuge. To touch the blood to the horns was to present the evidence of a life given, a penalty paid, to the very seat of God's power. It was a plea for mercy on the basis of a substitutionary death. It was a declaration that the demands of justice had been met by the blood.
The rest of the blood is poured out at the base of the altar. Nothing is wasted. The entire life, represented by the blood, is given over to God. This act of applying the blood is what the Bible calls atonement. The blood covers the sin. It cleanses the defilement. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22), because without the shedding of blood, there is no death, and death is the penalty that justice demands.
The Soothing Aroma of Grace (v. 31)
The final verse brings the ritual to its conclusion, with a declaration of God's satisfaction and the sinner's forgiveness.
"Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to Yahweh. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven." (Leviticus 4:31 LSB)
The fat was considered the richest, best part of the animal, and it was always reserved exclusively for God. By burning the fat on the altar, the priest is offering the very best of the sacrifice up to God. This offering ascends as a "soothing aroma to Yahweh." This is a beautiful anthropomorphism. It does not mean that God has a physical nose and enjoys the smell of barbecue. It means that the sacrifice is acceptable to Him. It satisfies Him. The demands of His law have been met. His justice has been honored. His wrath against that sin is pacified, or propitiated. The relationship, which was ruptured by the sin, is now restored.
And because God is satisfied, the result for the sinner is declared with stunning, objective clarity: "Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven." Forgiveness is not a feeling the man has to work up. It is a verdict that is declared over him. It is a legal declaration from the court of heaven. The debt is canceled. The guilt is removed. The slate is wiped clean. He can walk away from that altar not hoping he is forgiven, but knowing he is forgiven, because God has said so. The basis of his forgiveness is not his sincerity or his remorse, but the blood of the substitute and the promise of God.
Christ, Our Sin Offering
As Christians reading this under the new covenant, we must see that every single detail of this ritual is screaming the name of Jesus Christ. We are the common people who have sinned, not just unintentionally, but with full knowledge and intent. Our sin is not just an occasional stumble; it is a treasonous rebellion that has run through every faculty of our being.
But God, in His mercy, provided the true offering, His own Son, the Lamb of God without blemish. On the cross, we, by faith, lay our hands on His head. Our sin, our guilt, our filthiness was imputed to Him. "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21). And we, in our sin, slaughtered Him. It was our sin that held Him there.
His blood, the precious blood of God the Son, was not daubed on a bronze altar, but was presented in the heavenly tabernacle itself, before the very throne of God (Hebrews 9:12). That blood is the ultimate satisfaction for all our sins. His sacrifice was the ultimate soothing aroma to the Father. The Father was satisfied with the work of His Son. And because He was satisfied, He raised Him from the dead, declaring to the entire universe that the payment was accepted in full.
Therefore, the verdict is declared over all who are in Christ: "you will be forgiven." This is not a subjective hope; it is an objective fact, grounded in the finished work of Jesus. When you are plagued by guilt over past sins, even sins you committed in ignorance, you do not look inside yourself for feelings of peace. You look outside yourself to the cross. You look to the empty tomb. You look to Christ, your perfect sin offering, and you rest in the objective, blood-bought, legally declared reality: "atonement has been made for you, and you are forgiven."