Shadow vs. Substance: Why the Atonement is Actual, Not Just Potential

Day of Atonement: Two Goats and Jesus Christ

Was the sacrifice of Jesus a "down payment" for salvation, or did it pay the debt in full? In this episode of Bible Insights, Wayne Conrad explores the profound relationship between the Old Testament Day of Atonement and its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

By comparing the "shadow" found in Leviticus 16 with the "substance" revealed in Hebrews 9, we examine how Jesus alone embodies the work typified by the two goats. We also dive into a theological contrast between the Reformed evangelical view of a finished atonement and the Seventh-day Adventist teaching regarding the role of the scapegoat.

Key highlights include:

The Finished Work: Why R.C. Sproul argued that "if we don’t get the doctrine of atonement right, we don’t have a gospel at all."

Shadow vs. Reality: Understanding the biblical relationship between the rituals of Leviticus and the reality of the Cross.

Atonement Defined: A look at why Christ’s sacrifice provides actual and complete atonement rather than just a "possibility" for salvation.

Join us as we search the Scriptures to find assurance in the "double cure" of Christ’s finished work.

Bible Insights with  Wayne Conrad
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Transcript

Title:  Did Jesus Pay it All? The Scapegoat and the Finished Work of Christ

Date: March 28, 2026

Scripture: Hebrews 9:11-28; Leviticus 16:5-22

AI TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to Bible Insights with Wayne Conrad. God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light on our path. 

In our last podcast, we talked about Jesus Christ and the day of atonement. And we showed from the scriptures that the two goats that were presented to Yahweh on the day of atonement represent Jesus Christ in his person and his work. He fulfilled the work of atonement that's typified by these two goats in his one person on the day of actual atonement. Jesus Christ accomplished this on the cross of Calvary.

Today, I'm going to be looking at not only the day of atonement and its fulfillment in scripture but also will be considering in light of the scripture, a misunderstanding or more accurately, a teaching contrary to the word of God in regard to Christ atonement.

Dr. R.C. Sproul is a well-known evangelical theologian and preacher, well-respected in many quarters who recently died. He once said that if we don't get the doctrine of atonement right, we don't have a gospel at all. And I agree with him. As you see in the Bible, it says that when Jesus died on the cross, that he paid the penalty for the sins of his people. So, in our tradition, meaning in our biblical understanding traced throughout Christian history, we believe that when Jesus died on the cross, he didn't make salvation merely a possibility. We believe he actually saved people. He didn't just do a down payment. He wasn't making an installment. He paid the debt in full. And that's the whole significance of his cry of triumph on that day when he said, it is finished.

Today, we're going to be looking again at the shadow of this work that's given to us in Leviticus 16 and the substance of it that is found in Hebrews chapter nine, actually throughout the letter to the Hebrews. This is what we call the type and the anti-type, or the shadow and the substance, or we could call it the prefigurement and the reality.

Also, we're going to contrast this biblical view with the teaching of the Seven-Day Adventist movement that teaches that Satan is the final scapegoat. So we're going to be discussing who or what is the scapegoat that is given to us in Leviticus 16 in the light of the epistle to the Hebrews.

We're going to use as our secondary authorities, that is a primary source representing the views, two people. With reference to the Adventist position, we will present the teachings of their prophetess, Ellen G. White. That's the primary source on which we would draw. And with the Reformed evangelical view, we will go with R.C. Sproul. We could also go back to Calvin, to Luther. We could go all the way back to others in the early history of the church. But today I'll just use these two to represent the teachings, but primarily we will be presenting the scriptures themselves. For after all, the scripture is our final authority.

As we look at the shadow of Christ's work in Leviticus 16, and then the substance of it in Hebrews 9, I'd like for you to consider with me the lyrics of a hymn written by Auguste Toplady. which captures the reformed biblical cry of a finished work in these words. Rock of ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flow be of sin the double cure, safe from wrath and make me pure.

Actual atonement, not potential atonement, not partial atonement, not first installment atonement, but actual, complete, sufficient, and perfect atonement. That is what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross. You see, when we talk about Jesus Christ, his passion, that is his suffering and his death, his crucifixion on behalf of sinners, the question isn't about the value of Christ's blood. The value of Christ's blood is infinite because of his person. He is the almighty God incarnate. He is God, man. And so whatever Christ does, is of infinite value. So, the question is not the value of his blood, but the purpose.

What actually is the purpose of Christ's death on the cross? So, the question again, did Jesus actually save anyone by his death on the cross? Or did he make everyone savable? That's a big question. And that is the ultimate question. Did Christ actually save his people? Or did he simply make it possible for people to be saved, people in general to be saved, or for everyone to be saved? In other words, what did Jesus Christ accomplish by his death?

Is it up in the air? Or did he actually do the work of saving people? Did he pay the debt in full? Or did he just provide a down payment that we have to complete through our own worthiness, through our own obedience, or through our own actions or rituals?

Is our salvation an open-ended question at the end of time? Are we on probation with the need of an investigation at the conclusion to determine our status? Do we have Christ plus our Sabbath keeping? Do we have Christ plus our law observance or our ritual observance or our attendance at mass or whatever we may be adding? That's the question.

To answer this, let us go on a journey back to the Old Testament tabernacle that was set up in the days of the wilderness wandering. And there we shall see the high priest as he ministers in accordance with the law given in Leviticus 16. And then let's travel in our mind's eye up into heaven itself, where our Lord Jesus Christ is present at the right hand of the father in his resurrected immortal body. And there is our standing high priest. He is before the father. and he pleads his blood, his sacrifice for us, for our ongoing struggles with sin. See 1 John 1. See, the blood of Jesus Christ goes on cleansing us from sin. The sacrifice is done. It's completed, it's perfect. We cannot re-sacrifice Christ in any shape, form, or fashion. He died once for all. But his work as high priest has continued value and application to the lives of all of those who are united to him by faith.

Again, let's hear the words of a hymn, one written by Isaac Watts. Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain could give the guilty conscience peace or wash away the stain. But Christ, the heavenly lamb, takes all our sins away, a sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood than they. Dr. R.C. Sproul, whom I'm using as a representative of the Reformed tradition, once said that if we don't get the doctrine of atonement right, we don't have a gospel at all.

That's found in his book, The Truth of the Gospel, and also his book with reference to the holiness of God. Jesus Christ did not die just to make a possibility for salvation. He's not wondering if anybody's gonna receive his death and benefit from it. He actually saved. He knew all he was saving. He didn't just pay a down payment; he paid the debt in full. And on the cross, when the suffering was ended, and just before he committed his soul into the hands of the father, he cried out, it is finished.

Now let's go back some 3,500 years. Imagine the day of atonement. It's called Yom Kippur in the Hebrew calendar. It was the one day a year when the high priest can enter the most holy place. It's the only day of the year. He had to go in in freshly washed body with clean garments. Garments wore only on that day. This one day of the year, he goes in with his special garments to present the offering directly to the presence of Yahweh, who lived above the mercy seat.

Leviticus 16, the word of God tells us that he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering. This is detailed for us in Leviticus 16. Note carefully the wording, two goats, but one sin offering. This is absolutely crucial in understanding what's written here in the word of God.

These two animals together provide a complete picture of what Jesus would do for us and did for us when he died on the cross. The first goat, the slain goat, was sacrificed. This was the goat first presented and designated for Yahweh. His blood was then carried behind the heavy veil and sprinkled on the mercy seat. This goat was doing the work of propitiation.

Now that's a long word, one you're not necessarily familiar with, but it represents the vertical work of the cross. It goes upward to God. It's the satisfaction of God's justice. Sin requires the punishment of condemnation, judgment. The wrath of God is against sin and therefore his own sinners who are not reconciled to him. But the blood of the atonement averts his wrath and satisfies his justice. Because God is holy, sin must be punished.

And the blood of this goat signaled that the penalty was paid. Now the blood of the goats that was slain on this day could not actually take away the blood. I mean, the sins of men could not actually take away. of their sins by the blood of the goat. This would require the blood of the God-man, the Messiah, the mediator, the one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. But their blood, the blood of these animals, covered over the sins of the people until the full satisfaction was made by the perfect offering to come, which was Jesus Christ.

Now the second goat represents expiation. This is the scapegoat. So, the second goat, this is the one that will be guided by a guide into the wilderness and then let go. This is a very grave moment in action in the ritual on the Day of Atonement. Listen to Leviticus 16. Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites, all of their sins, and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task." Leviticus 16, 21 and 22.

This goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place, to the desert place, and the man shall then release it in the wilderness. Now, when the priest laid his hands on the goat, it was a legal transferal, an imputation. The sins of the people moved from them to the goat. Now, how could that be?

Well, it's because the first goat had been sacrificed. His blood had been presented to God in the holy place. So, the penalty of their sin had been paid by the death of the first goat. But now, the result of that, we're talking about the horizontal relationship here. the relationship of man and now man in relationship to God being reconciled. The imputation, that which belonged to the people in their sin had been given to Christ, the first goat, and that goat had died. He had been sacrificed, paying the penalty of their sin.

But now Christ, you see, has died, and now he has been raised from the dead. And being raised from the dead, he is declared to be the righteous son of God. There was no sin of his own. He paid for all the sins of his people, but he never had any sin of his own, and even taking the sins of his people by imputation and paying for their sins did not defile him. He now is risen in the full glory of his righteousness.

And so that's what the goats are representing, the work of Christ in the two stages. His sacrifice, Jesus Christ is the sacrificial lamb. In addition, he is the goat who takes the sins away. And so not only does the imputation involve the removal of our sin to Christ, where he paid it, but the removal of our guilt, which comes to us. And now we are free to live for Christ. Well, that's represented by the work of Christ in expiation. This goat, with the transferred sin to his head, is taken into the wilderness and then let go.

So, the people now know their sins have been paid for, the penalty of death has been met, and now their guilt has been removed from them, and they are legally cleared, at least for another year, when the Day of Atonement will be repeated. The guilt was carried away on the head of the scapegoat. This is the actual nature of the atonement. It wasn't a suggestion.

It is a transaction, a transaction that occurred in history in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ in his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. represented here by these two goats, the one that's slain and the one that lets go. This is the biblical teaching about Jesus Christ, the meaning of his death with reference to fulfilling the day of atonement rituals. Now let's consider one of the false understandings of Christ's work on the cross. This teaching not only brings confusion but actually takes away the very value of what Christ did on the cross.

And I'm talking today with reference to the Seventh-day Adventist and their teaching concerning the scapegoat. This is a major point of theological confusion that's persisted for over 180 years. The first time it was ever taught was in the mid-19th century, that's mid-1800s. It was a movement that would, in time, become the Seven-Day Adventist Church. At first, it was just the Advent movement, But after the Lord did not return on the designated day that it was prophesied, in the disappointment that followed, a group of people rallied around certain people saying that Christ just moved from one position in the heavenly temple to another. In other words, the prophecy had been wrong in what it actually said, that Jesus Christ was coming back on a certain day in a certain month in that year, but that now they're shown that he just moved from one room in the heavenly temple to another room.

This is central to his theology, and it is a unique interpretation of the scapegoat. And as you can see, if you read carefully Leviticus 16, that it does not fit the story. And if you read carefully the epistle to the Hebrews, you can understand that that teaching, this teaching is false. is primarily found in the writings of their prophetess, Ellen G. White. And it's found specifically set out for us in her book, The Great Controversy, which to them is the great, great book of interpretation. And I can read those words to you that she actually wrote concerning this activity.

She wrote in The Great Controversy on page 422, she says, And I wrote, quote, it was seen also that while the sin offering pointed to Christ as a sacrifice and the high priest represented Christ as a mediator, that's true, the scapegoat typified Satan, the author of sin, upon whom the sins of the truly penitent will finally be placed.

Christ will place all these sins upon Satan, the originator and instigator of sin. So, Satan, bearing the guilt of all the sins which he has caused God's people to commit, will be for a thousand years confined to the earth, which will then be desolate. So, she says that the scapegoat is Satan himself. That's her words in her book, The Great Controversy. Christ will place all of the sins that he died for upon Satan, the originator and instigator of sin. So Satan, bearing the guilt of all the sins which he has caused God's people to commit, will be for a thousand years confined to the earth, which will then be desolate, what most people call the millennium, and subsequently later, he'll be cast into the lake of fire, where he will be burned up and consumed completely, along with all others who are not believers.

She further claims in her book, Patriarchs and Prophets, on page 357, quote, the blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin. It would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement. Can you grasp the severity of this deception? that Christ's work was just putting our sins on the shelf in the holy place. But ultimately, those sins for which he died will be taken off the shelf and put on Satan, who will then bear the punishment, not only for his sin, but all the sins that he's caused mankind to commit. So you see what she did and what this movement's theology does is it takes the one all sufficient sacrifice of Christ by which our sin debt is completely satisfied in the work of Jesus and it separates that work and assigns part of it to Christ in the first action and the second part to Satan the devil in the second action. So according to this view, when Jesus died on the cross, the work wasn't finished.

Instead, according to their view of eschatology of the end times, in 1844, Jesus Christ went out from the holy place and went into the most holy place, and there he begins what is called the investigated judgment, where he reviews the books of all who are believers to see whether they're worthy or not in accordance to their observance of God's law, especially the law of the Sabbath. And only at the very end, if they're counted worthy, are these sins then taken from Christ, off the shelf as it were, by himself and transferred over to Satan, who becomes the true scapegoat. Friends, this teaching, this religious tradition that arose in the mid 1800s is a false teaching, a false interpretation.

If the scapegoat is Satan, then Satan is part of the sin offering of Leviticus 16 verse five. But we read in that passage of scripture that the two goats together are the one offering, the one atonement. Satan is truly the instigator of sin. He is the one who tempted Satan, tempted Adam and Eve in the garden, but it was Adam himself who deliberately disobeyed God. They, that is Adam and Eve, listened to the voice of the tempter and they yielded to the temptation and willfully violated the command of God.

In so doing, they were not only damning themselves but condemning themselves and all of their posterity to condemnation and ultimate damnation. This is the transmission of original sin that occurred on that day and continues. We are sinners by nature. We are sinners later by our actual actions. So, we are condemned as sinners in Adam from the get-go, as we say. But we add to that condemnation our own transgressions of the law. So, when we are born into the world, we are not born righteous, innocent, and holy. We are born with a sentence over our heads, a sentence of condemnation. And then we add to that sentence by our own actual transgressions time and time again.

But the blood of Christ, you see, satisfies both. The blood of Christ himself, the blood that he shed himself, makes atonement for the sins of his people. But the work of Christ should never be divided up and given part of it to the devil. It's part of it to Satan. This is utter folly. It is a tremendously false teaching. When we make Christ the one who finally bears our sins into the wilderness, we're looking for a savior in the very one who tried to destroy us.

The Bible offers a much more glorious alternative. And this is called the Great Exchange. I borrow that language from Dr. R.C. Sproul, who famously taught the doctrine of the atonement of Christ using this expression of the Great Exchange. He used to say that at the cross, God did something that seemed impossible. It was impossible, except for God. He remained just while being the justifier of the ungodly. And that's exactly what Romans 3 says that he did, that he is both the just and the justifier of those who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me quote to you from the words of R.C. Sproul concerning this. R.C. Sproul, on the finished work, of Christ in the book, The Truth of the Gospel says, when the word finished was pronounced from the cross, it meant that the work of satisfaction was completed. There's no more sacrifice for sin. The debt has been paid in full.

To suggest that there's a future work of judgment required to determine who's worthy of the atonement is to miss the point. It's the atonement of Christ that makes us worthy. R.C. Sproul, in his book, The Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, identifies the scapegoat as Christ. In the ritual of the Day of Atonement, the laying on of hands on the scapegoat was a symbolic act of imputation.

Our sins were transferred to the animal, which then carried them away. This is the perfect type. This is the foreordained symbol of Christ, who bore our sins in his own body on the tree. So first, Christ is the sacrificial lamb who died. He was the first goat that was slain.

But he also is the second goat that was let loose in the wilderness, 1 Peter 2.24. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree.

And if we move that final bearing of sin to Satan, we've moved the center of the gospel away from Jesus Christ and have assigned it to the devil himself, the role of being a savior. This is utter biblical nonsense. It is not in accordance with the word of God. It is a made-up doctrine of man. 

Only Christ Jesus has the ability to pay for our sins because he was the incarnate Son of God. And as his work has infinite and perfect value because he is both God and man in his one person, he is the one and only mediator between God and man. He, therefore, in his own person, not only took the penalty of our sin and satisfied the wrath of God against it by his death on the cross, but he also removed our sin and our guilt far from us, as far as the east is from the west. So, he not only did the propitiation of our sin, but he also expiated for our sin. This is the great glory of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ in his great exchange.

He remained just while being the justifier of the ungodly. Read Romans 3, 21 through 26. Read it carefully in more than one translation but especially read it in some very literal translation. Notice those wonderful words written by Peter. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.

By his wounds you have been healed, Isaiah 53 5. Hear that glorious word, the word finished. It is finished, pronounced from the cross. It meant that the work of satisfaction was completed. The debt has been paid in full. The atonement is not potential. The atonement is actual.

Hear the words of another hymn. when Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within. Upward I look and see him there, who made an end of all my sin. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free. For God the just is satisfied to look on him and pardon me. First written by Charity Smith, long ago and revised or modernized by Vicki Cook. Here are these concluding words of the Holy Scriptures themselves, our final authority.

I'm reading from Hebrews chapter nine, verse 11 and 12, followed by Hebrews chapter 10, verse 12. When Christ appeared as a high priest, He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing eternal redemption. We have this hope as an anchor for our soul, firm and secure, Hebrews 6, 9 and 19. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. And then Hebrews 10, 12, when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins. He sat down at the right hand of God, for by a single offering, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Thank God for a true gospel and for a glorious Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.

He did not come to do work that needed to be completed by someone else. He didn't begin an atonement that someone else had to finish, especially Satan or the sinner. They can't possibly do it. He did a complete, full, final work of atonement on the cross, and his resurrection and ascension is the receipt. Job completed. Job well done. It's finished. Christ is Lord. 

This has been Wayne Conrad with Bible Insights.