Leviticus 7:1-21
The epistle to the Romans teaches us that God has had to be occupied with two questions: that of sins, up to Romans 5:11, then that of sin up to Romans 8. He has had to condemn the tree as well as the fruits, the sin in our nature just as much as the results it produces. In requiring a sacrifice for the fault (the act committed), and another for sin (root of the act), God teaches us that the work of Christ meets both these needs of the sinner.
The law concerning the sacrifice of peace offerings illustrates the conditions necessary for the realisation of Christian fellowship. It was a question of a sacrifice of thanksgiving (v. 12; 1 Corinthians 10:16) of a willing and joyful character (v. 16; 2 Corinthians 8:4), free from all contact with that which is unclean (v. 21). While sacrifices for sin were offered because a man was not clean, only the Israelites who were clean (v. 19) had part in the peace offering. Whoever touched the flesh of the sin offering became holy (Leviticus 6:27), whereas conversely every impurity soiled the peace offering. We watch over the cleanliness of our food. Let us take still more care that no spiritual pollution comes in to interrupt the communion of which this sacrifice is the picture.