In this short paper, it is presumed that all who bear the name of Christian are agreed that there is no way of approach to God but by a propitiatory sacrifice—no possibility of pardon and justification by any other means than by faith in that propitiation—the substitution of all believers. Now the Romanists claim that in the Mass they have a true expiatory sacrifice for the sins of the living and the dead.
We propose, then, first, in dependence on the Holy Spirit, to examine—though it must be briefly in a short paper—what is a sacrifice for sins, as set forth in scripture? and, secondly, does the Mass answer to that sacrifice, or is it a total mistake, and in every particular contrary to scripture?
Woe be to us if the Mass is God’s appointed sacrifice for our sins, and we despise and reject it. Let us, then, approach this subject in the fear of the Lord, and not in the spirit of mere party controversy.
That statement in Heb. 9:2222And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22), “and without shedding of blood is no remission,” is a truth that is found shadowed in all the types and offerings of old.
The offering of Cain was a bloodless one. He did not understand or recognize what sin was, or the need of the death of a substitute. Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. In Cain’s there was only offering—no suffering of the death of a substitute. “By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice exceeding that of Cain,” &c. It exceeded Cain’s, as his was only an offering, not a sacrifice at all. God could not accept such an offering without sacrifice. Abel’s was both an offering and also a sacrifice. There was actual death, shedding of blood. Abel’s was a true type of Christ. He not only offered Himself, but He endured the atoning death of the cross. But more of this in its place.
Examine each of the sacrifices of Genesis—Noah’s, Abraham’s, Isaac’s and Jacob’s. Do we not find the actual death of the victim—the shedding of blood? Now we see Israel in the cruel bondage of Egypt. God comes down in love to deliver them. Heavier tasks are given them, and they labor to make bricks without straw—like an awakened soul trying to keep the law without strength. Then sweetest promises are given them, then the most wonderful providential dealings, in sparing them from the plagues of Egypt; but still they are in bondage. The lamb must be offered, and the lamb must be slain. It is the blood. They were sinners, and there is no shelter or refuge from divine judgment but the shed and sprinkled blood of the lamb! Thus must Jesus not only offer Himself, but He must needs suffer (John 3). Is it not equally so in all the many offerings of the law? True, those repeated offerings could never take away sins (Heb. 10). But when they were brought to remembrance every year, on the day of atonement, the victim must be slain -it must die, its blood must be brought before God. Without shedding of blood there is no remission.
In Lev. 4 we find, if an Israelite sinned, there could be no forgiveness but by the death of a substitute. The blood must be shed, and be sprinkled seven times before the Lord. Without shedding of blood is no remission. In the case of that loathsome figure of sin—leprosy—the poor leper was brought to the priest for his cleansing. There must be death. Two birds had to be taken alive. One of the birds had to be killed, the other had to be dipped in its blood, and that blood sprinkled on the leper. He was then pronounced clean, and the living bird let loose. Jesus must die for our sins—yes, be made sin; and God has raised Him from the dead, declaring that all who believe are justified from all things (Acts 13:38, 3938Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38‑39)).
Yes, while the meat-offering and the incense set forth the adorable Person of the incarnate Son of God, Son of man, yet every sacrifice must be killed—its blood must be shed. So we find Jesus not only offered Himself, but He actually became a sacrifice for sins. This seems to have been overlooked by Roman Catholic writers. In John 12:26, 2726If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor. 27Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. (John 12:26‑27), we see Jesus offering Himself. The sacrifice was before Him; none but He knew its tremendous character. He only knew how God had been dishonored by the creature’s sin. His soul was filled with trouble at the prospect, yet He says, “for this cause came I unto this hour.” Then He said, “Father, glorify thy name.” Wondrous love! yet this was not the sacrifice, it was the offering. So in the garden of Gethsemane, still offering Himself. What, then, was the atoning sacrifice? Hearken to these words: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” “Made sin for us.” “Being made a curse for us.” “Delivered for our iniquities.” “Wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities.” “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” “For the transgression of my people was he stricken.” “He bore the sin of many.” These, and many other scriptures, show not only the offering of Jesus, but the true, solemn character of the atoning sacrifice for sins. And more, not only the shedding of His blood as true expiation for sins, so as to glorify God, but the blessed truth that He died the Substitute of His people. By that death of the cross God is glorified, and all the believer’s sins have been borne by the Substitute. This is the scriptural ground of peace with God, for God “raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 4; 5). There is also another question that the Roman Catholic writers seem to have overlooked—that all the sins of believers were atoned for by this one sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross. Clearly all our sins, from birth to falling asleep, or the coming of the Lord, were future then. This, then, is the question for every believer, Did that one infinite sacrifice, the atoning death of Jesus, make full expiation for all our sins; or, if we should sin again, do we need another expiatory sacrifice? This lies at the root of the whole question. Before, however, we carefully examine scripture as to this point, we would inquire what is the true character of expiation? The heathen had the thought that their gods were hateful and hating beings, that they required sacrifices, in order to avoid their gods’ hatred, or to reconcile them so that they might become favorable. We would ask our Roman Catholic readers if this is not something like their thought of God. Have you not thought that God hated you because of your sins, and that the many sacrifices which are constantly offered are to reconcile God to you, and make Him favorable unto you? A reconciled Father is common in theology. No such thought is in scripture. The infinite sacrifice of Christ is never thus spoken of. The least calm reflection will show that great numbers are totally mistaken as to this. Did not God so love the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son? Sin must be judged, or the sinner, however God might love him, could never be brought into His presence, or be happy there. But who gave the spotless Victim to bear man’s sins? Thus the eternal love of God to man reigns through righteousness in the gift and atoning death of Jesus. It is not man reconciling a hating God by sacrifice to Him, but God, in infinite love, reconciling us to Himself by the very death of the cross. We do not say that many have got entirely clear of this false thought of God. Jesus bore our sins on the cross, not that God might love us, and be favorable to us, but because He did love us. Many scriptures declare this. “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)).
Propitiation, then, was the death of Christ glorifying God by making full expiation for sin. Substitution was Christ bearing all our sins as our Substitute. They were, as before God, transferred to Him, the Substitute. The two goats on the day of atonement illustrate, or typify, this {Lev. 16}. The blood of the one was brought before God. All the year’s sins of Israel were laid on the other, the substitute. Both pointed to Christ, the gift of the love of God. He has met the whole question of God’s glory and man’s need. What a place He took for us! The infinite wrath of God against sin has been borne by Him, that the infinite love of God might flow out to the sinner. Truly thus to know God is eternal life. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love.”
We would further ask, When God in love gave His beloved Son to be the sacrifice for sins, did He provide an inadequate expiation for sins? Did it make nothing perfect, so that it had to be continued, or often offered again?
It is quite certain this was the exact case with all the sacrifices of the law. “The law made nothing perfect” (Hebrews 7:1919For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. (Hebrews 7:19)). These were “a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience” (Heb. 9:99Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; (Hebrews 9:9)). “For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins” (Heb. 10:44For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. (Hebrews 10:4)). “And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins” (Heb. 10:1111And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: (Hebrews 10:11)). All this is clear enough. And such was the love of God to us poor sinners, that He could take no pleasure in those oft-repeated sacrifices, because they could not take away sins. (Heb. 10:3-93But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. (Hebrews 10:3‑9)). Thus they “can never with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because the worshipers, once purged, should have had no more conscience of sins.” It was because God could have no pleasure in that system of repeated sacrifices, that never could take away sins, that Jesus said, “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.” Note this well, it was the will of God that our sins should be put away. “Therefore he taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” He taketh away the whole system of the law’s many sacrifices, that He may establish—what? Some other system of repeated sacrifices often offered, and that can never take away sins? The thought would be a denial of and an insult to Christ. No, the many repeated sacrifices are taken away, and the ONE sacrifice of Christ abides, and is established.
Let us, then, carefully note the effect of that one sacrifice. The sacrifice of the law on the day of atonement was for a year. “But by his own blood he entered in ONCE into the holy place, having obtained ETERNAL redemption for us” (Heb. 9:1212Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12)). The believer has thus what He obtained for him—eternal redemption, even the forgiveness of sins. Is it not sin to doubt what God thus says about the ONE sacrifice of Christ? But if you do believe God, you have eternal redemption.
If you have, then, eternal redemption, how can you need another offering for sins? And on this ground Christ is entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; no need to “offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others, for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now ONCE in the end of the ages hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” “Christ was ONCE offered to bear the sins of many.” Thus this ONE offering, offered ONCE, is the very point of contrast with the many repeated offerings and ineffectual sacrifices for sins, and the one sacrifice declared to be the will of God. “By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE for all.” And mark, Christ sitting down in heaven is a proof that this one offering is all that God requires forever—a sacrifice never to be repeated. “But this man, after he had offered ONE SACRIFICE for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God.” What, then, is the effect of this ONE sacrifice on us? Clearly we need no other sacrifice for our sins. “For by ONE offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” This is truly wonderful. How little is it believed! How little enjoyed! Yet of this very thing “the Holy Ghost is a witness” (v. 15). Do we not grieve the Holy Spirit, then, by doubts or fears? Such is the eternal efficacy of this one sacrifice, that God says, “And their sins and iniquities I will remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.”
Has not the Church of Rome forgotten all this? No more, strange as it may seem, we believe it would be impossible to find a page in all the Fathers, so called, that clearly states the eternal efficacy of the ONE sacrifice of Christ, as stated in this scripture—Heb. 10. The worshiper’s conscience forever purged, God remembering his sins no more, and consequently no more offering for sins. Is this your faith, your happy enjoyment? Oh, wondrous truth! our sins were laid on Jesus, they cannot be charged or imputed to us. This fills the soul with adoring worship.
To the Roman Catholic the Mass is a true expiatory sacrifice for the sins of the living and the dead. Some would tell us it was like the offerings of the law, often repeated, only without blood. Others would tell us it is the expiatory sacrifice of Christ continued. “The Mass is, and ought to be, considered one and the same sacrifice with that of the cross, for the victim is one and the same... The bloody and unbloody are not two, but only one, victim, whose sacrifice is daily renewed in the Eucharist... The priest is also one and the same, Christ the Lord (Catechism of the Council of Trent). Could there be a more fearful mistake, or one more contrary to scripture? Every Mass is a true expiatory sacrifice for sins renewed, or the one sacrifice continued. Mark the consequences. We have seen in scripture that the true atoning sacrifice on the cross was Christ forsaken of God—made sin -being made a curse for us. Can any Roman Catholic say he really believes this, that true sacrifice for sins still continues? Is Christ still forsaken of God? Is He continuously a curse, made sin? Is He still on the cross? This, and this alone, was the true sacrifice. If Christ is still forsaken of God, and a curse, then so are we, for as He is, so are we in this world. This surely is the denial of Christianity—Christ still continuously, or repeatedly, forsaken of God? Does He not sit in the radiance of the glory of God? Has not God raised Him out of death for our justification? But if the Mass is a truth, all is lost. The one sacrifice did not forever perfect—we are not justified—the awful sacrifice is still going on, and Christ is still to continue forsaken of God through all time! For this was the true expiatory sacrifice. Think of that awful hour when His soul was made an offering for sin. Now look at the Mass, the sacrifice for those, whether dead or alive, “whose sins have not been fully expiated,” says the Catechism of the Council of Trent. Where is there one atom of true sacrifice in the Mass? Even supposing the priest really turned the bread into the body, blood, bones, &c., of Christ -suppose that wafer to be Christ—where is the sacrifice? Offering up to God alone, we have seen, is not sacrifice. “Without shedding of blood is no remission.” Does the priest shed His blood in the Mass? No; this is admitted. The only thing Roman Catholic writers can find to say is, that the priest eating the wafer, or Christ, is the sacrifice. If this could be so, where is the resurrection? If the priest swallowed Christ, we say, where is the resurrection of Christ in the Mass, the true sacrifice for sins? “But if Christ be not risen, ye are yet in your sins” (1 Cor. 15). If, then, there is neither real death nor resurrection in the Mass, there is neither a true sacrifice for sins, nor an atom of proof that God accepts it. How can there be? when God says in His word that Christ need not offer Himself often (Heb. 9:2525Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; (Hebrews 9:25)); that “there is no more offering for sin” (Heb. 10:1818Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:18)); that “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins” (Heb. 10:2626For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, (Hebrews 10:26)). Such is the immutable and eternal efficacy of the one sacrifice of Christ, once offered, that there can be no other; all the believer’s sins forgiven, to be remembered no more; his conscience forever purged—forever perfected—no charge of sins against him possible, since Jesus has borne them all, and God declares, all who believe ARE justified from all things (Acts 13:3939And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:39)). As to all charge of sin or sins, absolutely God declares, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:11There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)). No more, God has raised Jesus from the dead for our very justification, made Him to be our ever-subsisting righteousness. “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:11Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)). Thus has God shown His acceptance of the true, only, one sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, once offered, and thus does He declare, “There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.”
It is a terrible thing to fight against God. “For if WE sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain looking for of judgment,” &c. For a Jew who had professed to be a Christian, sanctified by the one offering of Jesus, to go back to the many sacrifices of the law, was to sin willfully. Is it not the same in principle to deny that the one sacrifice of Christ fully purges, or expiates, our sins, and that we must again have priests to offer up sacrifices which never can take away sins? And that, as we have seen, is the flattest possible contradiction of the word of God. Is not this to sin willfully beyond all hope of mercy? It is said, But Christ instituted this continual or repeated sacrifice. Where is there a syllable to show He did? Would you charge Him with instituting that which is no sacrifice? and the word of God declares there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin. When we compare the Mass with the true sacrifice of Christ, it is amazing that Satan can so deceive men. Look at that Russian priest; he takes a cake with a seal upon it—mark, before it is consecrated. Then he takes a spear, and pierces the right side of the cake; then stabs it above, then below, then again the right side; then the deacon holds it up, and says, “Slay, sir.” He then cuts across it, and says, “The Lamb is slain.” After this—as it is still allowed to be only a cake of bread—he invokes the Holy Ghost to change it into the body of Christ. Thus he slays Christ before he makes Him. The Roman Catholic priest does not ask the Holy Ghost to change the bread into Christ, but chews the wafer, and says it is Christ!!
And is this the awful blasphemy that is spreading, and fast displacing all true faith in the only one true sacrifice of Christ on the cross? Reader, it is a solemn question for you: Are you resting in the finished work of Christ, or turning to this great masterpiece of Satan? We do not say, Have you found rest there?—how can you find rest in a falsehood? It may be asked, But what did Jesus mean by these words, “This is my body”? We hope to inquire in our next paper.
For a fuller examination of this subject, we commend the reader to “Familiar Conversations on Romanism,” by J. N. D.