Bible glossary
What Does ‘Atonement’ Mean in the Bible?
Atonement is the making right of the broken relationship between God and people, the covering and removing of sin so that we can be at one with God again.
In short
Atonement is the making right of the broken relationship between God and people, the covering and removing of sin so that we can be at one with God again.
The word carries the idea of at-one-ment: two parties once separated brought back together. In the Old Testament, atonement was pictured through the sacrificial system, where the life of an animal, its blood, stood in for the guilty so the people could be reconciled to a holy God.
Those sacrifices were never the final answer. They pointed forward, teaching that sin is serious, that it costs a life, and that God Himself would provide the way for the debt to be truly settled.
Key verses
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”
Leviticus 17:11
“And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”
Romans 5:11
“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 2:2
Atonement and Jesus
Jesus is the atonement every earlier sacrifice was pointing toward. On the cross He gave His own life in our place, so the separation between us and God could be healed for good. Because of Him, we are no longer far off. We are brought near.