This article was written for the members of First Baptist Church of Matawan on July 15, 2020.
For the last couple of weeks, I have not been able to stop thinking about a concept from one verse out of a large passage I preached, which had to do with the high priest's clothing. The passage was the second half of Exodus 28, and the verse was about a small signet worn on the high priest's forehead: "It shall be on Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD" (Exodus 28:38).
Consider what's implied in that verse. There are "holy things" that the people "consecrate as their holy gifts," but which still carry "guilt." If the high priest did not bear that guilt, even these supposedly-holy offerings would be unholy before God, and he would not accept them. But because the high priest bears the guilt of the offerings, they are "accepted before the Lord."
This is a reminder that there is no good work we can do for God that is acceptable to him in and of itself. If even the most holy, worshipful offerings of the people of Israel were still stained with the guilt of their sin, then there is no act of worship that you or I can give to God that would be pleasing to him in and of itself. There is nothing we can present to God that is free from the taint of our sin—not our baptism, not the Lord's Supper, not church attendance, not heartfelt singing, not attentive Bible study, not acts of kindness toward others, not even fervent prayer. "All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" (Isaiah 64:6).
But there is good news! Just as Aaron bore the guilt of Israel's holy offerings, Jesus is our great High Priest who bears the guilt of our worship. By means of Aaron's mediation, God not only overlooked Israel's guilt but accepted their offerings as pleasing. Aaron's role existed for the purpose of pointing forward to the one true Mediator between God and man—the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). For those who come to the Father by faith in Jesus the Son (John 14:6), God not only overlooks the guilt we bring with us to worship but also turns his favor toward us and is pleased with our worship. We can now "offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5).
Believer, do you worry that you are coming to worship with a heart that's not quite sincere enough? You're probably right, and yet God is pleased with your worship anyway because Christ has born the guilt for it. Do you wonder if we are getting something wrong about how we do church? It's possible that we are, and we want to correct that if Scripture tells us to. But even if we never come to understand the Scriptures properly on some ecclesiological issue, God is still pleased with our worship because we have embraced Christ through the gospel.
Believe the gospel, seek to conform your beliefs and actions to God's Word, and trust that even though you haven't yet arrived, God is pleased with your worship because Jesus has born your guilt.