by R.B. Theime, Jr. – 1972 Edited by Stephen E. LaFleur, ThD

The Mercy Seat Reference verses Romans 3:20-25 “Therefore by the deeds of the law (Mosaic Law) there shall no flesh be justified in God’s sight.” You cannot be justified by keeping the law or the Ten Commandments – only by faith in Jesus Christ. No adherence to morality can justify you. According to I Timothy 1:9-10, the purpose of the law was to prove that we are sinners and need a Savior. The Blood of Christ 1

The “righteousness of God” is apart from the law. The righteousness of God comes by faith of Christ. This righteousness was “manifested” and “witnessed by the law and the prophets (OT)” and was given to “all them that believe”. The believer who brought the offering did so of his own free will. He was expressing the fact that he had appropriated salvation (Acts 16:31). “For all have sinned and come short” of the perfect character of God, “being justified freely by his grace”, this grace being expressed through the burnt offering (spiritual death of Christ). The Blood of Christ 2

“Through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ whom God the Father has set forth to be a propitiation”. This word for propitiation is also used in the OT for “mercy seat”. In the Holy of Holies was a box called the Ark of the Covenant. It was made of acacia wood, representing the humanity of Christ and overlaid with gold, representing the deity of Christ. (Exodus 37:1-9). The wood and the gold represented the uniqueness of the Person of Christ, the God-Man – undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever. The Blood of Christ 3

Inside the box was the pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the law (Hebrews 9:4), all speaking of sin, the violation of God’s law. The tables of the law represented transgression against God’s standard (Deut. 10:1-5). Aaron’s rod represented rejection of God, the Levitical priesthood; the pot of manna represented the rejection of God’s provision. The Blood of Christ 4

Over the top of the box was a Mercy Seat, and on each end was a cherub. One cherub represented the righteousness of God, the other, the justice of God; together they were a picture of the perfect holiness of God. God cannot have fellowship with sin. His justice looks down on sin and condemns it. But once a year on the Day of Atonement, the door where the brazen altar was located, an animal was sacrificed, and the blood collected. The Blood of Christ 5

The blood, representing the spiritual death of Christ, was sprinkled over the top of the Mercy seat. Romans 3:25 says “through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” Now the righteousness of God was satisfied; the justice of God was satisfied because the blood, which represented the spiritual death of Christ, as payment for our sins. God, the Father is satisfied with the work of His Son, and therefore sin is no longer an issue. The Blood of Christ 6

End of Part Three The Blood of Christ 7