Gifted with Propitiation

This is definitely an old-fashioned word, a relic from the ancient past which sounds as if it can have no relevance to our life and times. Certainly, it is a word which we never use anymore, but is it an action that is no longer done? In fact, it is done all the time! Whenever we try to gain someone’s favor, placate their anger, or appease their demands we have been “propitiating” without even know it. Yet, God did it best of all when God did it for God...

But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1-2

All scripture citations are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.

Why This Is Important

In the ancient world around the Mediterranean basin it was well known that “the gods” could angry with you in a heartbeat. Even if you weren’t trying to offend them, they could still kill you or make your life miserable if anything you did set a match to their temper. To placate the anger of the gods, sacrifices were offered to restore the hapless worshipper to favor. This is the origin of propitiation. The human initiated attempt to turn a god’s anger aside is the desperate impulse behind all religious sacrifice—apart from Christianity.

We know what that impulse is like don’t we? We hate the feeling of someone’s anger hanging over us like a sword. Is God’s anger “hanging over” us too? Even in Christianized countries where the image of God as a loving Father has been somewhat restored, the impulse to fear God’s sudden wrath runs strong in many imaginations. It appears that the fear of God as an angry God is deeply embedded in our hearts—and with good reason it would seem. Is God not justly angered over our sins?

Amazing Grace to the Rescue!

Thankfully, He is not. This alone would set Christianity apart from all other religions: God has placated His own anger! He offered up His own Son in propitiation for the sins of the world.[1] God the Son’s punishment’s fully satisfied God the Father’s righteous indignation.[2] The wrath that should have been ours has completely been turned aside and we (who believe) have been restored to high favor with God through the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.[3] Rejoice and be exceedingly glad: Your Father is not mad at you (and never has been)![4]

There are three powerful “theories” of what God was doing through the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross (see Victim, Victor, Vision). The earliest idea was that of Christ as Victor: He defeated Satan who held us captive. This builds on the ransom. During the Middle Ages Anselm of Canterbury set forth the idea of Christ as Victim: His death fully satisfied God’s wrath. This built upon propitiation and justification. A third idea focuses on the vision of sacrificial love that transforms us. This builds on revelation. All three ideas have great merit and, happily, there is no need to choose between them. God is fully capable of accomplishing many things at one time!

Next "Free Gift" to Open

Gifted with the Ransom  Everyone loves a good romance. The idea of star crossed lovers, of undying love, of wicked villains and heroic sacrifice—these are the stuff of legend and great movies. They are also the hidden truths of your story. The Lord’s rescue of us has all the elements of a great romance. What could turn the bride-to-be’s heart better than that sight of her Beloved risking His all to ransom her from the grip of pure evil?

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Propitiation Scriptures

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1-2

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:21-26

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Hebrews 2:14-18

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:9-12