Today we must provoke God's people to reexamine their traditions in the light of the Scriptures, the Old Testament as well as the New; for both Testaments speak of the one Kingdom of God. It absolutely is not true that God proceeds in dispensations in which His goals are changed. As has been stated: "The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed."

The very concept of the "dispensation" is destructive of sound biblical interpretation and practice.

One thing is certain: if you can't find your belief set forth plainly in the New Testament, in context, it might be a good idea to go to the Lord about it.

The Day of Atonement

But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat. (Leviticus 16:10—NIV)

The Day of Atonement is described in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Leviticus. This was the one day of the year when the High Priest could go behind the Veil of the Tabernacle, or Temple, and sprinkle blood upon and before the Mercy Seat.

The main ceremony of the Day of Atonement involved two goats. One goat was slain and an atonement was made with its blood.

The second goat was also a goat of atonement, or reconciliation, but it was not slain. Rather the sins of Israel were confessed over this goat and it then was led away into the desert.

These two goats portray an extremely significant truth. It is that the Divine salvation includes not only the forgiveness of sins but also the removal of sins from us. I do not mean the removal of the guilt of our sins but of the sin itself—the body of sin of which the Apostle Paul speaks.

The Day of Atonement follows the feast of Pentecost. This means after we receive the Holy Spirit, God will begin to deal with us concerning worldliness, the lusts and passions of our sinful nature, and our self-will. We must be reconciled to God in these three areas before we can be considered to be in the moral image of Christ and in the rest of God's complete will.

As an experienced Christian you may find that the sins and rebellion of your personality are becoming obvious. You are not to ignore these leadings of the Spirit and claim God sees you only in Christ. This is not the approach indicated in the New Testament. There is no New Testament passage to my knowledge that informs us God sees us only in Christ; but there certainly are passages that teach the contrary.

There are only two ways in which a human being can live—in the life of his flesh, or in the Life of the Spirit of God. It is God's will that every human being walk in the Spirit of God rather than in the life of his or her flesh. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

It is your job to walk in the Spirit of God each day. It is the Spirit's task to bring your sins to your attention. It is your responsibility then to cooperate with the Spirit as He enables you to put to death the sin or rebellion under scrutiny.

This process is an eternal judgment of sin. Once you confess your sin and turn away from it with the Lord's help, it never again will be mentioned to you. It is an eternal judgment.

But if you ignore the Spirit's warning and do not confess your sin, do not seek the Lord's help in turning away from it, you will be judged for your disobedience at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Do not let anyone deceive you.

To be continued.