10/17/2021 Without the Shedding of Blood ~Rev. Bernie Chung

Unitarianism existed as a church organization from mid second century AD to near the end of the third century AD. Followers of Unitarianism advocate monarchism and do not believe in the trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Even though the consciousness of monarchy had become unpopular and gradually faded away, the Unitarianism ideology reappeared in the doctrine called Arius in the fourth century. This Arius heresy proclaimed that Jesus Christ was a creature and insisted that Trinity does not exist. The doctrine of Arius was condemned at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, but the Unitarianism heresy did not stop infecting the faith of the Christian churches.

In the 16th century, Unitarianism germinated again among Roman Catholics in Italy and Poland. In the 17th century, Unitarianism continued to rise in England. By the 18th century, the work of this heretical Unitarianism extended to the United States and became a compromise solution between orthodox Christianity and deism. Not only did Unitarianism attract the support of rationalists, Harvard University also accepted it from the standpoint of original Christian theology in the early days.

Today, all groups that lean toward Unitarianism beliefs have joined the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), which was established in 1961. There may be as many as 500,000 UUA’s worldwide. Their theology is constantly changing. Dana McLean Greeley, the former chairman of Unitarianism, said: "Unitarianism is always changing. We will not be bound by the Bible or anyone, not even Jesus."

Unitarian believe that man should not seek God’s help because he is his own savior, and he has no guilt. What people need for their salvation is to follow good rules and live a clean life. We Christians believe that all man are sinners. Romans 5:19 (NIV) says: “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” Unitarians do not believe in Jesus Christ as a savior who sacrificed himself on the cross and completed the sin offering to forgive our sins. They rather accept self-salvation through good character. But Romans 3:24-25 clearly states, "and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice

of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.”

Old Testament records the uses of sacrificed animals’ blood in cleansing offering rituals. Now God is relying on the blood of Jesus to satisfy his righteous requirements. "The blood of Jesus" refers to the sacrifice of life and the atonement of sin. Brothers and sisters, Hebrews 9:22 says, "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” We thank God that He will forgive our sins as long as we confess and repent. The grace of God's forgiveness comes to us by Jesus’ blood. We believe that if blood is not shed, sins will not

be forgiven. Thus we rejoice for the Lamb of God’s blood that was shed for us! Amen!