On the day of atonement, the sins of Israel were symbolically transferred to the scapegoat. It was led by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness to never be seen again, thus signifying the removal of their sins. There were two responses required form the children of Israel. On this day they were required to afflict their souls and do no work at all, Leviticus 16:29. This was established as a statute forever! It is still in effect today! There are two things we see clearly from this.
1. True godly sorrow for sin only comes when we see it has already been put away. It is the successful atonement of Christ that produces true godly sorrow and repentance.
2. In light of the atonement of Christ, don't dare do any works. To try and add something to what He has done is the greatest insult we can give God. This is a paradox, but true. We rejoice most in the freeness of His grace when we do the most sorrowing over our sin. It is when we see what He accomplished for us on the cross that we will not do any work, but look to His work alone!
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