properly so called, is the solemn infliction of death on a
living creature, generally by the effusion of its blood, in a way of
religious worship; and the presenting of this act to God, as a
supplication for the pardon of sin, and a supposed means of compensation
for the insult and injury thereby offered to his majesty and government.
Sacrifices have, in all ages, and by almost every nation, been regarded
as necessary to placate the divine anger, and render the Deity
propitious. Though the Gentiles had lost the knowledge of the true God,
they still retained such a dread of him, that they sometimes sacrificed
their own offspring for the purpose of averting his anger. Unhappy and
bewildered mortals, seeking relief from their guilty fears, hoped to
atone for past crimes by committing others still more awful; they gave
their first-born for their transgression, the fruit of their body for
the sin of their soul. The Scriptures sufficiently indicate that
sacrifices were instituted by divine appointment, immediately after the
entrance of sin, to prefigure the sacrifice of Christ. Accordingly, we
find Abel, Noah, Abraham, Job, and others, offering sacrifices in the
faith of the Messiah; and the divine acceptance of their sacrifices is
particularly recorded. But, in religious institutions, the Most High has
ever been jealous of his prerogative. He alone prescribes his own
worship; and he regards as vain and presumptuous every pretence of
honouring him which he has not commanded. The sacrifice of blood and
death could not have been offered to him without impiety, nor would he
have accepted it, had not his high authority pointed the way by an
explicit prescription.
Under the law, sacrifices of various kinds were appointed for the
children of Israel; the paschal lamb, Exod. xii, 3; the holocaust, or
whole burnt-offering, Lev. vii, 8; the sin-offering, or sacrifice of
expiation, Lev. iv, 3, 4; and the peace-offering, or sacrifice of
thanksgiving, Lev. vii, 11, 12; all of which emblematically set forth
the sacrifice of Christ, being the instituted types and shadows of it,
Heb. ix, 9–15; x, 1. Accordingly, Christ abolished the whole of them
when he offered his own sacrifice. “Above, 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; then said
he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he
may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Christ once for all,” Heb. x, 8–10; 1 Cor.
v, 7. In illustrating this fundamental doctrine of Christianity, the
Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, sets forth the excellency
of the sacrifice of our great High Priest above those of the law in
various particulars. The legal sacrifices were only brute animals, such
as bullocks, heifers, goats, lambs, &c; but the sacrifice of Christ was
himself, a person of infinite dignity and worth, Heb. ix, 12, 13; i, 3;
ix, 14, 26; x, 10. The former, though they cleansed from ceremonial
uncleanness, could not possibly expiate sin, or purify the conscience
from the guilt of it; and so it is said that God was not well pleased in
them, Heb. x, 4, 5, 8, 11. But Christ, by the sacrifice of himself, hath
effectually, and for ever, put away sin, having made an adequate
atonement unto God for it, and by means of faith in it he also purges
the conscience from dead works to serve the living God, Heb. ix, 10–26;
Ephes. v, 2. The legal sacrifices were statedly offered, year after
year, by which their insufficiency was indicated, and an intimation
given that God was still calling sins to his remembrance, Heb. x, 3; but
the last required no repetition, because it fully and at once answered
all the ends of sacrifice, on which account God hath declared that he
will remember the sins and iniquities of his people no more.
The term sacrifice is often used in a secondary or metaphorical sense,
and applied to the good works of believers, and to the duties of prayer
and praise, as in the following passages: “But to do good, and to
communicate, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased,”
Heb. xiii, 16. “Having received of Epaphroditus the things which ye
sent, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing
to God,” Phil. iv, 18. “Ye are built up a spiritual house, a holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ,” 1 Peter ii, 5. “By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice
of praise to God continually; that is, the fruit of our lips, giving
thanks to his name,” Heb. xiii, 15. “I beseech you, by the mercies of
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service,” Rom. xii, 1. “There is a
peculiar reason,” says Dr. Owen, “for assigning this appellation to
moral duties; for in every sacrifice there was a presentation of
something unto God. The worshipper was not to offer that which cost him
nothing; part of his substance was to be transferred from himself unto
God. So it is in these duties; they cannot be properly observed without
the alienation of something that was our own,--our time, ease, property,
&c, and a dedication of it to the Lord. Hence they have the general
nature of sacrifices.” The ceremonies used in offering the Jewish
sacrifices require to be noticed as illustrative of many texts of
Scripture, and some points of important doctrine. See ATONEMENT,
OFFERINGS, EXPIATION, PROPITIATION, RECONCILIATION, and REDEMPTION.
living creature, generally by the effusion of its blood, in a way of
religious worship; and the presenting of this act to God, as a
supplication for the pardon of sin, and a supposed means of compensation
for the insult and injury thereby offered to his majesty and government.
Sacrifices have, in all ages, and by almost every nation, been regarded
as necessary to placate the divine anger, and render the Deity
propitious. Though the Gentiles had lost the knowledge of the true God,
they still retained such a dread of him, that they sometimes sacrificed
their own offspring for the purpose of averting his anger. Unhappy and
bewildered mortals, seeking relief from their guilty fears, hoped to
atone for past crimes by committing others still more awful; they gave
their first-born for their transgression, the fruit of their body for
the sin of their soul. The Scriptures sufficiently indicate that
sacrifices were instituted by divine appointment, immediately after the
entrance of sin, to prefigure the sacrifice of Christ. Accordingly, we
find Abel, Noah, Abraham, Job, and others, offering sacrifices in the
faith of the Messiah; and the divine acceptance of their sacrifices is
particularly recorded. But, in religious institutions, the Most High has
ever been jealous of his prerogative. He alone prescribes his own
worship; and he regards as vain and presumptuous every pretence of
honouring him which he has not commanded. The sacrifice of blood and
death could not have been offered to him without impiety, nor would he
have accepted it, had not his high authority pointed the way by an
explicit prescription.
Under the law, sacrifices of various kinds were appointed for the
children of Israel; the paschal lamb, Exod. xii, 3; the holocaust, or
whole burnt-offering, Lev. vii, 8; the sin-offering, or sacrifice of
expiation, Lev. iv, 3, 4; and the peace-offering, or sacrifice of
thanksgiving, Lev. vii, 11, 12; all of which emblematically set forth
the sacrifice of Christ, being the instituted types and shadows of it,
Heb. ix, 9–15; x, 1. Accordingly, Christ abolished the whole of them
when he offered his own sacrifice. “Above, 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; then said
he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he
may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Christ once for all,” Heb. x, 8–10; 1 Cor.
v, 7. In illustrating this fundamental doctrine of Christianity, the
Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, sets forth the excellency
of the sacrifice of our great High Priest above those of the law in
various particulars. The legal sacrifices were only brute animals, such
as bullocks, heifers, goats, lambs, &c; but the sacrifice of Christ was
himself, a person of infinite dignity and worth, Heb. ix, 12, 13; i, 3;
ix, 14, 26; x, 10. The former, though they cleansed from ceremonial
uncleanness, could not possibly expiate sin, or purify the conscience
from the guilt of it; and so it is said that God was not well pleased in
them, Heb. x, 4, 5, 8, 11. But Christ, by the sacrifice of himself, hath
effectually, and for ever, put away sin, having made an adequate
atonement unto God for it, and by means of faith in it he also purges
the conscience from dead works to serve the living God, Heb. ix, 10–26;
Ephes. v, 2. The legal sacrifices were statedly offered, year after
year, by which their insufficiency was indicated, and an intimation
given that God was still calling sins to his remembrance, Heb. x, 3; but
the last required no repetition, because it fully and at once answered
all the ends of sacrifice, on which account God hath declared that he
will remember the sins and iniquities of his people no more.
The term sacrifice is often used in a secondary or metaphorical sense,
and applied to the good works of believers, and to the duties of prayer
and praise, as in the following passages: “But to do good, and to
communicate, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased,”
Heb. xiii, 16. “Having received of Epaphroditus the things which ye
sent, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing
to God,” Phil. iv, 18. “Ye are built up a spiritual house, a holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ,” 1 Peter ii, 5. “By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice
of praise to God continually; that is, the fruit of our lips, giving
thanks to his name,” Heb. xiii, 15. “I beseech you, by the mercies of
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service,” Rom. xii, 1. “There is a
peculiar reason,” says Dr. Owen, “for assigning this appellation to
moral duties; for in every sacrifice there was a presentation of
something unto God. The worshipper was not to offer that which cost him
nothing; part of his substance was to be transferred from himself unto
God. So it is in these duties; they cannot be properly observed without
the alienation of something that was our own,--our time, ease, property,
&c, and a dedication of it to the Lord. Hence they have the general
nature of sacrifices.” The ceremonies used in offering the Jewish
sacrifices require to be noticed as illustrative of many texts of
Scripture, and some points of important doctrine. See ATONEMENT,
OFFERINGS, EXPIATION, PROPITIATION, RECONCILIATION, and REDEMPTION.