(August 10, 2012 at 10:08 pm)ChrisN Wrote: Yes and no. A sacrifice was needed for the atonement of sins, but it can only be atoned by faith, hence the fact that Jesus commended the scribe that faith in God was better than just burnt sacrifice.
"Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required (Psalm 40:6)."
"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6)."
Jeremiah 7:21-23
King James Version (KJV)
21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
Also, the Bible instructs the reader to not worship God the way the "heathens" did. "Heathens", sacrificed animals as well as humans to their gods, so I take it, and the verse(s) above (there are numerous others similar to the ones you provided), as further evidence that sacrifices were never intended. Also, as I pointed out in my other thread, blood sacrifice was only for "unintentional" sins.
