Propitiation and The Just Justifier
Propitiation and The Just Justifier
Romans 3:25-26
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
There is a unique and peculiar English word that you are unlikely ever to encounter outside scripture. So unusual is this word that many translations of the Bible replace it with something else, often an entire phrase. The word is propitiation.
I want to encourage you to learn this beautiful word. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, propitiation is, “the act of gaining or regaining the favor or goodwill of someone or something : the act of propitiating.”
The word propitiation is often (incorrectly) used interchangeably with the word atonement. This is understandable, but unwise. Atonement translates Hebrew and Greek words that mean “to cover.” Propitiation means something far different.
We often speak of Jesus having atoned for our sins, but this is not accurate. Jesus did not cover our sins. Jesus took them away. The reason this is so crucial is twofold. First, If Jesus had merely atoned for, or covered, our sins (as I was taught in my youth) then our sins still exist “under the blood” so to speak, and God could still be holding them against us at the judgment.
God is far too wonderful for such a sloppy form of reconciliation. Jesus propitiated our sins. He made a fully satisfying sacrifice. It is fully satisfying because by it, a human person paid the wages of sin (death) and by it, the wrath of God was removed from those whose faith is in Jesus for righteousness. John 3:36 makes this point well. There we read, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Propitiation is the reason why God is both just and the One who justifies those who believe.
He is just because the wages of sin is death, and those wages have not gone unpaid. The perfect blood, the actual death, of Jesus the Christ, the perfect Son of God and the perfect human being, was offered. More than that, it was of necessity, acceptable and accepted by God as full and sufficient payment.
He is the justifier of everyone who changes their mind about sin and about God and decides to believe Him because He is God. He is the only One who could possibly justify us, first because we cannot do it ourselves, and second because He is the offended party. All sin is against God.
Our sins are gone and forgotten because Jesus propitiated on our behalf. God Himself provided the sacrifice, just as Abraham told Isaac that He would and it fully satisfied the debt.
