Note 37 — SERMON XXXV. The Atonement of Christ. Rom. iii. 25.—Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation——
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It may be worthy our notice here, that blood is no very proper liquid for purification of any defilements, unless it be, as it represents death to be an atonement for the guilt of sin, which is a moral defilement of the soul. And yet Heb. ix. 22. Almost all things under the law are purged by blood: One would think water should be a much better cleanser: But we find this purging or cleaning signifies atonement for sin, when the very next words give us the reason why blood is appointed, viz. because pardon or remission is the thing sought; for without shedding of blood is no remission.
It is plain therefore, that to a guilty and defiled soul or conscience, every thing is defiled; as Tit. i. 13. But when both the people and their sacred utensils were sprinkled with blood, it denotes that all things are sanctified and pure, to those whose souls partake of the atonement of Christ, and whose sins are remitted through his bloody death.