Romans 8:3-4 - Levitical Offerings Fulfilled in Romans (Conciliation Series, Part XLVIII)

Part IV: God’s Conciliation, Confirmed

For what was impossible to the law, in which it was infirm through the flesh, did God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sin’s flesh and concerning sin, He condemns sin in the flesh, that the just requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who are not walking in accord with flesh, but in accord with spirit.

In Christendom, Christ’s death is often considered in the above verse, because the ‘likeness of sin’s flesh’ is present. Even though the verse doesn’t explicitly mention His death, many expositors feel fit to discuss His death here anyway, when it’s not necessary for us to do so. We’ve spent the previous two articles discussing anything but His death, but there is a much larger reason that His death is not the focal point, here. In order to understand why this is the case, we must take a look at a critical, yet oft-overlooked, aspect of Romans:

The presentation of Christ as an offering from God.

In the third book of the law, Leviticus, God spends the first eight chapters breaking down five separate sacrificial offerings by name and purpose. Those five offerings are as follows:

1)    Burnt Offering (Lev. 1, 6:8-13, 8:18-21)

2)    Meal Offering (Lev. 2, 6:14-23)

3)    Peace Offering (Lev. 3, 7:11-34)

4)    Sin Offering (Lev. 4:1-5:13, 6:24-30, 8:14-17)

5)    Trespass (sometimes called ‘Guilt’) Offering (Lev. 5:14-6:7, 7:1-6)

So! Why am I telling you this?

Well, over the course of my studies in the book of Romans, I found that those over in the Concordant Publishing Concern have told us that all five of these offerings are covered in the first eight chapters of Romans. Each are covered in a critical regard by Christ’s earthly sojourn, His crucifixion, His entombment, His resurrection, and His ascent. However, they don’t go into much detail showing why or how this is the case. So, in this article, I’m going to (attempt to) break down each offering, its function in relation to Israel and the law, and how Christ serves as a just Anti-type, fulfilling each sacrifice.

One last thing, before we begin: as this is a study on Romans, and not Leviticus, I will be considering each offering in the order that they are presented in Romans, not in Leviticus.

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The Trespass Offering

The first offering that finds its anti-type in Romans is the “Trespass Offering.” This is one of two offerings that were required under law. The “trespass” offering is exactly how it sounds: when you sin, this offering to God would not cover the Hebrews’ sin itself, but the transgression under law. It is viewed as a part-time, temporary remedy in a governmental aspect. There would have to be an atonement, or reparation, for the law that was broken. It was repaired by the blood of the offering. When the blood was spilled, the trespasser’s transgression was covered over. Observe Lev. 5:14-16–

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying: When a soul offends with an offense and sins inadvertently in any of the holy things of Yahweh, then he will bring as his guilt offering to Yahweh, a flawless ram from the flock, by your appraisal in silver shekels by the shekel of the holy place, as a guilt offering.

Whatever he has sinned in any of the holy things he shall repay and add a fifth of its value onto it, and he will give it to the priest. The priest, he shall make a propitiatory shelter over him with the ram of the guilt offering; and it will be pardoned him.

We’ll cover this in regards to Romans in a moment, but I will clarify that this aspect of Christ’s sacrifice is really covered and presented in the circumcision evangel, in Matthew’s account – the first book of the New Testament. It’s shown here because the book of Matthew covers Christ as king, and thus handles broken law. It also comes first in Romans because it is the first bit of information that the sinner gets of the word of the cross. As you may have deduced, this verse sounds an awful lot like justification! The verse that best contrasts and parallels this offering can be found in Romans 3:24-26–

Being justified gratuitously in His grace, through the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus (Whom God purposed for a Propitiatory shelter, through faith in His blood, for a display of His righteousness because of the passing over of the effects of sins which occurred before in the forbearance of God), toward the display of His righteousness in the current era, for Him to be just and a Justifier of the one who is of the faith of Jesus.

See how the roles have been flipped on their head? Now, instead of man offering an innocent ram to God, spilling its blood to cover transgression, it’s God offering His innocent Son to you, spilling His blood to cover transgression. The effects of sins, being the transgression (or guilt of breaking the law,) occurred, and have now been covered over. The goal for the Israelites was to be made just in the moment. The goal for God is to display His justness, for your sake. He shows us proof that He is worthy of justifying others. Sure enough, here’s Romans 4:25–

[Christ] was given up because of our offenses, and was roused because of our justifying.

The only other verse that we’ve studied so far that considers this trespass offering can be found most blatantly in Romans 5:9, which has become one of my favorite verses:

…being now justified in His blood, we shall be saved from indignation, through Him.

Thus we have a full account of Christ’s covering of our offenses. The “justifying” that you see is the ‘silver shekels’ part of Leviticus. God later says in Lev. 6:5 that, when monetary payment is involved, and the individual has to pay something to the priests, that they are to add an extra fifth of the initial value to their payment. This is fully exemplified in Christ bringing an extra fifth to man – bringing a new glory to God and to man, in His sacrifice.

The Peace Offering

The next offering that we will consider is the “Peace Offering.” This is the second offering that finds its anti-type in Romans, and it is not required, or mandatory, under law. It was a voluntary offering that the Israelites could freely give away, at their discretion.

This offering is a beautiful one, being an offering of thanksgiving to God. This is a much larger offering to break down, as God requests that each animal be slain and offered in a different way, so I’m not going to bore you with repetitious quotes. God repeats the offering three times throughout Leviticus 3 – one, if the animal is from the herd, one if the animal is from the flock, and one if the animal is a goat.

Each carry their own description, but I’m not here to break down all of Leviticus 3 to you. The point is that each one is described as a ‘fragrant odor’ to Yahweh. This is not the only time you’re going to hear this phrase, ‘fragrant odor’ (2 Cor. 2:15, Eph. 5:2.) As you may know, an odor is an effect of the sacrifice. What, may I ask, is the effect of your justification? Paul, do you have an answer for us?

Being, then, justified by faith, we may be having peace toward God, through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Oh! So the effect of justification is peace! Thaaaaat makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?

In each description of each animal, the blood, the fat, and the kidneys of the animal were offered to God. Then the meat, the breast of the animal, was given to Aaron and the priests. So – some of the animal went to God, and some of the animal went to man. The animal, per the law, served as a mediator of God and of man. Through this, peace is established, if only for a short while.

The voluntary nature of this sacrifice deserves our earnest consideration. As I discussed in a previous article in the Romans series, we are all at different stages in our understanding of God’s peace with us (it is the difference between maturity and immaturity – Col. 1:26-28, Eph. 4:3, 11-14 – and God delights in this contrast – 1 Cor. 11:18-19.) The same was true of the Israelites under law. Some gave more peace offerings than the others, and led to a matured relationship with God.

It is also the book of Luke that the peace offering is most apparent. Luke covers Christ as a Man, so naturally, peace is most notable with Christ being sacrificed in the likeness of sin’s flesh.

What does this have to do with Romans? Well, here’s the anti-type of the law, found in Romans 5:10–

For if, being enemies, we were conciliated to God through the death of His Son, much rather, being conciliated, we shall be saved in His life.

The conciliation that we have been studying in Romans is a voluntary understanding. In obtaining conciliation, as well as justification, we are able to reign with Christ for the eons (Rom. 5:17.)

The Burnt Offering

Here we have yet another offering that is not required – the “Burnt Offering.” The burnt offering (Lev. 1) is also a blood sacrifice, but, as the name indicates, it is burning the whole animal (so long as the animal is flawless,) and, like the peace offering, it serves as a fragrant odor to Yahweh (Lev. 1:9, 17.) The burnt offering, unlike the peace offering, which correlates with the conciliation of an individual, the burnt offering correlates with one’s wholehearted devotion to Yahweh. It displays Christ’s commitment to do the entirety of God’s will, hence why the animal is said to be ‘without blemish,’ and it’s why God had the priests either wash or remove any ‘dirty’ parts of an animal before placing it on the altar (Lev. 1:13, 15-17.)

The skin of the animal is also removed from the burnt offering, which parallels the fact that, while in death, Christ’s flesh, which was only like man’s (not actually man’s – Rom. 8:3, Phil. 2:7-8,) did not decay (Acts 2:27.) The burnt offering finds its parallel in John’s account, where Christ is displayed as the Word of God, as the Light and Life of all men, and the method by which God operates all (John 1:1-4.) Christ fulfills His Father’s will to its fullest extent in flesh (John 5:19, 6:38, Heb. 10:9)

As this offering concerns the whole, it finds its anti-type in Romans 5:19. Observe:

For even as, through the disobedience of the one man, the many were constituted sinners, thus also, through the obedience of the One, the many shall be constituted just.

It is only through the complete fulfillment of Christ’s obedience to God in the flesh that the many (all – Rom. 5:18) will be saved. If Christ had not fully obeyed God, then the sacrifice would not be flawless, and Christ would not be a fitting Savior.

The Sin Offering

The “Sin Offering” is the only other offering documented in Leviticus that was required for salvation. This is a much longer passage, and there are many intimate details concerning this sin offering that I am not going to be covering here (it’s a study on Romans, guys, not the law.) That said, I will pick one aspect of the sin offering that I believe covers the bulk of the other aspects. Here is God’s description of the ‘Sin offering’ in relation to Israel as a group, in Lev. 4:13-21–

If the whole congregation of Israel, they should err inadvertently and the matter is obscured from the eyes of the assembly, and they do something departing from any of Yahweh’s instructions of what should not be done, and they realize their guilt when the sin with which they have sinned becomes known, then the assembly will bring near a flawless bull calf of the herd as a sin offering and bring it before the tent of appointment.

The elders of the congregation will support their hands on the head of the young bull before Yahweh, and one will slay the young bull before Yahweh. And the anointed priest will bring some of the blood of the young bull to the tent of appointment. The priest will dip his finger into the blood and spatter it seven times before Yahweh, at the surface of the curtain of the holy place.

And some of the blood the priest shall put on the horns of the altar of the incense of spices before Yahweh, which is in the tent of appointment. All the rest of the blood shall he pour out at the foundation of the altar of ascent offering which is at the opening of the tent of appointment. All its fat shall he raise up from it, and he will cause it to fume on the altar. So he will do to the young bull just as he did to the young bull of the sin offering; thus shall he do to it. The priest will make a propitiatory shelter over them, and it will be pardoned them. Then he will bring forth the young bull outside the camp and burn it just as he burned the former young bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

As you can see, the nature of the sin offering is precise and careful. This, as I (and Lev. 4:13) pointed out, concerns the whole congregation of Israel, but the sin offering throughout chapters 4 and 5 of Leviticus all document different aspects of the sin offering. It’s too large for me to break down each individual point, as each offering varies from animal to animal, and is based on individual identity (whether you’re a priest or not, for example,) or your financial situation. The blood of the animal was always shed in a specific way, and was centered around atonement for one’s sin.

Christ as a ‘sin offering’ can be found most notably in Mark, bearing with the depravity of His chosen, covering Him from the perspective of a Servant to Israel. The One not knowing Sin became Sin for our sakes – and, embodying the Enemy, Christ was graphically murdered. He was resurrected, and Sin was not.

The parallel for this sin offering can be found in Romans 6:6. Observe–

…our old humanity was crucified together with Him, that the body of Sin may be nullified, for us by no means to be still slaving for Sin…

God, it’s borderline scary how carefully perfect this is! When the sin offering is slaughtered, the blood nullifies our infirm actions – we are cleansed, freed from Sin. If this were the only aspect of Christ’s sacrifice, it would not be enough to save us. But it’s this while paired with the other four offerings that fully encapsulate the true power of Christ’s death, entombment, and resurrection. Both mandatory offerings, and their voluntary effectual offerings, give us a complete picture of our Savior.

The Meal Offering

The only other offering for us to consider here is the “Meal Offering.” This offering is the only one that is not bloody, as it’s offering oats, grains, cereal-esque food. Why cereal? Well, because cereal is the best breakfast food! Everyone knows that!

…Okay, okay, fine. Because it’s not a bloody offering, it’s the only offering that doesn’t consider Christ from the perspective of His death. It must speak of His life, as the perfect Son of God, brought in flesh. His life – not His obedience, not His act, simply His very essence – is holy, set apart to God. Observe Lev. 2:1-7–

When a soul brings near a cereal approach present to Yahweh, of flour shall his approach present be; and he will pour oil on it and put frankincense on it. It is an approach present. And he will bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests. He will extract from there his full fistful of its flour and its oil along with all its frankincense. Then the priest will cause this memorial portion of it to fume on the altar; it is a fire offering, a fragrant odor to Yahweh. Yet the rest from the approach present is for Aaron and for his sons, a holy of holies from the fire offerings of Yahweh.

When you bring near an approach present, baked in the stove, it shall be unleavened perforated cakes of flour mingled with oil or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. If an approach present on a pan is your approach present of flour, it shall be unleavened bread mingled with oil. You are to morsel it into morsels, and you will pour oil on it; it is an approach present. If an approach present of the kettle is your approach present, of flour with oil shall it be made.

Only the best of the best cereal was making it on that altar, guys. See the flour, the oil, the frankincense? All of those were crucial. The oil was always made a specific way, including the exact spices God required (Ex. 30:22-33,) but that’s a study in and of itself. The oil and the frankincense oozed all over the flour-y meal, all of which spoke of His perfect excellence, His spirit of holiness, and, of course, His fragrance (His emanating love.) The unleavened side of things is more well-known, highlighting His sinlessness.

This offering, unlike the previous four, is found everywhere. It’s not highlighted in one account during His earthly sojourn, but all of His accounts. It’s hinted at in the Old Testament, and shown time and time again in the New Testament – most often, of course, in Paul’s letters.

Here, once again, is Romans 8:3-4, which speak of this offering:

For what was impossible to the law, in which it was infirm through the flesh, did God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sin’s flesh and concerning sin, He condemns sin in the flesh, that the just requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who are not walking in accord with flesh, but in accord with spirit.

Christ’s flesh was unleavened, and He walked His life in accord with the spirit. This is the only offering that was never presented alone (Lev. 23:9-14, Num. 15:1-16.) It was usually offered in conjunction with the Burnt Offering (Josh. 22:23, 29.) This is because Christ’s life apart from His sacrifice doesn’t save you. However – He also could not have been a proper sacrifice if His life was not holy or undefiled!

And the best part? All five of these offerings now include us. You have been justified through the faith of His spirit (Rom. 3:21-23.) You have been baptized into this spirit (Rom. 6:3-11.) You have been exempted from these sacrifices (Rom. 7:1-6.) Thus, nothing is now condemnation to you (Rom. 8:1-2.) Now, here, you see that these five offerings, fulfilled in Christ, have joined you to Him.

Thus, Romans gives us a complete presentation of God’s accomplishment –through Christ’s authority, His descent, His life, His death, His entombment, His resurrection, His ascent, His reign, and His love. Each aspect is perfectly presented separately, for the sake of keeping everything clear. We need not read Christ’s ‘death’ into Romans 8:3-4, but His life. Let’s not join something together when God doesn’t ask us to!

Praise Yahweh, our Father, and His perfect Son.

- GerudoKing