Romans 3:23-25 says, “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.” Of particular interest to me right now is Jesus’ work of propitiation.
You Can Be Saved . . . From What?
I sometimes wonder if the Bible uses these complex words as means to evangelism. Use the word propitiation in a sentence this next week and see if the immediate question isn’t, “What does that mean?” To which you can respond, “Well, I’m glad you asked.” And you can begin to speak the gospel to them, for propitiation means to satisfy the demands of God’s wrath.
Christians have always struggled with how to talk about God’s wrath. A storm of controversy arose over the Revised Standard Version when the middle of the 20th century for they chose not to employ the word propitiation because the translation committee said people in this age do not like words like that. Last year a mainline Presbyterian denomination yanked a hymn out of their hymnal because it spoke about Jesus satisfying God’s wrath. Even the NIV translation mutes the truth somewhat by translating 3:25 as, “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement.”
Divine Medicine for the Soul
Propitiation is a divine medicine, and just because you don’t like the taste doesn’t mean you don’t need it. Oh, how glorious the cross of Christ becomes when we understand it was there God’s wrath was satisfied! That’s what Jesus saved us from—God’s wrath. There’s a peculiar beauty in God putting forward Jesus as a propitiation. Throughout the ages pagan religions have practiced propitiation. But propitiation was something the people did in order to spiritually bribe away their gods’ anger. Yet, the Christian faith says God, not people, offers the propitiatory sacrifice. God saves us from Himself in order to save us to Himself. Notice the stunning mercy of God revealed in propitiation as 3:25 continues, “God put [Jesus] 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.” So, the Bible is saying that God left the sins of former generations unpunished, not because He was unjust, but because in His divine forbearance He would pour out the wrath their sin deserved on His Son.
Are you not amazed by this? What incredible news! You, I, we all should be punished and suffer the fury of God’s wrath, but if have faith in Jesus, what we discover is not that our sin goes unpunished, but that Jesus bore it for us. Beware of meditation on propitiation, for it may just reduce you to tears at the righteousness and love of God shown in His Son. In other words, you should do this quite often.
If you are not a Christian, what will you do with all this news—bad and good? Your sin deserves God’s wrath and will receive God’s wrath for all eternity, but salvation is offered to you tonight in the gracious gift of Jesus Christ. If would but place your faith in Him and His work on the cross, acceptance and freedom and salvation are yours forever. In His death you can find life.
So while many people today don’t want to sing it, we can pour forth in glad praise the words,
And on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Disciple-Making & Jesus,” on Romans 3:24-25.