The Offering Had to Be Spotless
“Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God.”Deuteronomy 17:1 (KJV)
Under the law, God was strict about what could be brought to his altar. “Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God.” And again, “it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.”
Notice who had to be perfect. Not the worshipper. The offering. A sinful Israelite came with a spotless animal, and the offering was accepted for him.
That is the gospel. We come to God as we are, with plenty of blemishes. But we don’t come with our own record. We come with a perfect sacrifice. Peter says we were redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
Hebrews says Christ “through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God.” You don’t have to be spotless to be accepted. Your offering already is.
Read it yourself
Read 1 Peter 1:17–21. When does Peter say the Lamb was foreordained?
Do you come to God trusting your own record, or the spotless offering of Christ?
Lord Jesus, you are the Lamb without blemish and without spot. I come to God trusting you, not myself. Amen.