Chapter four begins with the instructions regarding the “sin offering.” It’s the sacrifice that we must bring in order to receive God’s forgiveness for our sin. It’s interesting to me that verse two begins the instructions for the sin offering by saying, “If anyone sins….” It is clear that this means everyone! Romans 3 tells us clearly that “all have sinned…” That’s me and you. Romans goes on to tell us that “the wages of sin is death…” Fear of death is a very real thing. Lucado says, “The fear of death has filled a thousand prisons.
You can’t see the walls. You can’t see the warden. You can’t see the locks. But you can see the prisoners. You can see them as they sit on their bunks and bemoan their fate. They want to live, but they can’t because they are doomed to do what they most want to avoid—they will die. And, oh how restrictive is the ball and chain of death. You try to run away from it—you can’t. You try to run with it—it is too heavy. You try to ignore it, and it yanks you into reality.” But Jesus is our “Sin offering.” He is the offering we must present if we seek God’s forgiveness. He represented us as he was offered up on the cross.
Martin Luther advises us to pray: “Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness, I am your sin. You have taken upon yourself what is mine and given me what is yours. You became what you were not, so that I might become what I was not.”