What is propitiation?

Answer

The term propitiation conveys the fundamental concept of appeasement or satisfaction, particularly towards God. Propitiation involves two parts: appeasing the wrath of an offended individual and being reconciled to them.

The need to appease God is a common aspect in many religions. In ancient pagan religions and in various present-day religions, the belief persists that individuals appease God by presenting different gifts or sacrifices. However, the Bible teaches that God Himself has provided the sole means by which His wrath can be appeased and sinful individuals can be reconciled to Him. In the New Testament, propitiation always pertains to the work of God rather than the sacrifices or gifts offered by individuals. This is because humans are entirely incapable of satisfying God’s justice apart from facing eternal damnation. No service, sacrifice, or gift that humans can offer will appease God’s holy wrath or fulfill His perfect justice. The only acceptable satisfaction or propitiation to God, enabling reconciliation with humans, had to be provided by God. Therefore, God the Son, Jesus Christ, came into the world in human form to serve as the perfect sacrifice for sin and to make atonement or “propitiation for the sins of the people” «Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. », (Hebrews 2:17).

The term propitiation is employed in various verses to elucidate what Jesus achieved through His death on the cross. For instance, in Romans 3:24-25, believers in Christ are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrAt His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.” These verses are a crucial point in Paul’s argument in the book of Romans and are truly at the core of the gospel message.

In the first three chapters of Romans, Paul argues that everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, is under the condemnation of God and deserving of His wrath «For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; », (Romans 1:18). Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God «for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; », (Romans 3:23). All of us deserve His wrath and punishment. God in His infinite grace and mercy has provided a way that His wrath can be appeased and we can be reconciled to Him. That way is through the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus Christ, as the payment for sins. It is through faith in Jesus Christ as God’s perfect sacrifice that we can be reconciled to God. It is only because of Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection on the third day that a lost sinner deserving of hell can be reconciled to a holy God. The wonderful truth of the gospel is that Christians are saved from God’s wrath and reconciled to God not because “we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” «Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. », (1 John 4:10).

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” «Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. », (John 14:6). The sole way for God’s wrath against sinful humanity to be appeased and for us to be reconciled to God is through Jesus Christ. There exists no alternative path. This truth is also conveyed in 1 John 2:2, “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the entire world.” A crucial aspect of Christ’s redemptive work is liberation from God’s wrath; Jesus’ propitiation on the cross is the exclusive means to avert God’s divine condemnation of sin. Those who repudiate Christ as their Redeemer and decline to have faith in Him have no prospect of salvation. They can only anticipate facing the wrath of God that they have accumulated for the impending day of judgment «But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; », (Romans 2:5). There is no other propitiation or offering that can be presented for their transgressions.