God is willing to forgive us because of the completeness and effectiveness of the atonement made by the Lord Jesus, but only as we confess our sins and make every effort through His grace to turn away from our sins and do the will of God.

The second part of the atonement was the removing of sin from Israel. This does not mean the removal of the guilt of sin, for that was accomplished by the taking of the first goat's life in place of the lives of the Israelites.

Rather, the putting of the sins of the Israelites on the head of the living goat and the sending away of this "scapegoat" into the wilderness signified the removal of the presence of sin from God's chosen people. Since actual removal was not possible until the sacrifice of God's sin-offering on the cross of Calvary, the leading away of the living goat, as was true also of the appeasement made with the blood of the slain goat (although the forgiveness was genuine!), was in anticipation of the true and eternal forgiveness and removal to come in the future.

The removal of the guilt of sin.

The removal of the presence of sin.

The redemption of a human being must include the pardoning of the guilt of his sins and also the removal of the presence of sin from him. Before a person can be healed, obtain full fellowship with God, and enter his Divinely appointed inheritance in the Lord, his sins must be forgiven and the presence of sin must be removed from him.

The removing of the scapegoat from the camp of Israel is a type of the removing of Christ from the city of Jerusalem, carrying away from the city the sins of Israel. It also is a type of the descent of the Lord Jesus into Hell, bearing our transgressions and rebellions on Himself.

The Lamb of God did not come only, or even primarily, to forgive the sin of the world but rather to take away the sin of the world.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)

"Which takes away."

The Lord Jesus does not save us in our sins but from our sins.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)

Our deliverance from sin is based on the forgiveness of our sin. Each of the two goats had its role to play in the Day of Atonement.

The captor and destroyer of mankind is Satan. God's judgment is on Satan and all his works. Satan is the source of sin. The Lord Jesus did not come only to forgive our satanic behavior but also to destroy the works of Satan out of our personality.

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (I John 3:8)

To be continued.