Propitiation - Part 2
Now we are coming to another wonderful word: propitiation, and propitiation is
toward God. It occurs seven times in the Greek text of the New Testament. The
reason it may not occur all seven times in your Bible is because in several places
it's not translated correctly into the same English word propitiation. For instance:
Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a
merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation
[reconciliation in some English translations] for the sins of the people. (Hebrews
2:17)
It should be propitiation here, for it is that in the Greek.
First of all, let me say that the word propitiation is absolutely void of any pagan
meaning. If you have read any Greek mythology or read anything concerning the
pagan religions, or if you've read any of the stories of the Greeks, you will recall
that even Agamemnon had to make a human sacrifice to appease the gods on
Mount Olympus. They were perceived to be angry, therefore a sacrifice had to be
made, and that was called a propitiation. In fact, the Greeks used it like that.
Well, may I say to you that the word as used in the Scripture does not even hint of
being used to appease a deity. It doesn't convey the idea that God is angry and
you've got to do something to win Him over. It doesn't have that thought at all.
Therefore, I want to turn to several passages where this word occurs, and let's
look at them. First,
.. being justified freely [that is, without a cause] by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His
blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance
God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. (Romans 3:24-25)
The word propitiation actually means "?place of propitiation.?" I want us to see
something in Hebrews, where we'll find again this word in the Greek text. It is not
translated propitiation here but with another word, a very vivid word. I'll move
back and quote a few verses before the occurrence of this word since the writer to
the Hebrews is describing the tabernacle. He says:
.. behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of
All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides
with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that
budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory
overshadowing the mercy seat [here is our word propitiation].. (Hebrews 9:3-5)
Propitiation means "?to be a mercy seat.?" That's the picture. Notice again the
passage in Romans for just a moment:
.. whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to
demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over
the sins that were previously committed. (Romans 3:25)
This is the tabernacle. Outside was the laver and also the brazen altar.
The Holy Place. The entrance faced east. Inside there was the golden lampstand
on the left (south), and over on the right (north) the table of showbread, and then
before the veil was the golden altar, which speaks of prayer.
The Golden Altar. It is interesting that the writer to the Hebrews puts the golden
altar inside the Holiest of All. The Old Testament places it in front of the veil, so
why did the writer to the Hebrews put it inside where the ark is? Because when
we come to the New Testament the veil which represented the body of Christ is
torn in two, opening the way into the presence of God, and Christ has gone up to
heaven. This altar of prayer is where the priest went to pray. And that's where our
Lord is now. He is in heaven, making intercession for us. Properly, the altar of
prayer belongs there now.
The Holiest of All. Behind the veil was the ark. And inside the ark there were three
things-the tables of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written, a pot
of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. On top of the ark, which was shaped like
a box, there was this very highly ornamented cover with two cherubim of gold
over-shadowing it. Once a year the high priest went inside, and we are told that
the Shekinah Glory was there, indicating that God dwelt there. This is where they
were to meet with Him, and the high priest went there once a year and sprinkled
blood on the ark's cover between the cherubim. And this is the throne of God
where the presence of the holy God is. Now it is a mercy seat. It's where God can
extend mercy to His people. That which was a throne of judgment before has
become a mercy seat now.
Let's refer again to Romans 3:25. The apostle Paul, speaking of Christ, wrote,
"?Whom God set forth as a propitiation [mercy seat].?" Christ on the cross served
as our mercy seat. We know that as He hung on the cross, blood was running
down His face from that thorny crown, blood was coming from the nails in His
hands and in His feet. It is John who mentions the propitiation, by the way. He and
Paul are the only two writers who do that. John tells us at the time of the
crucifixion:
One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and
water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and
he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. (John 19:34-35)
We know that this made a tremendous impression on John because, when he
wrote his first epistle, he made this statement again. He didn't forget about this
incident:
This is He who came by water and blood-Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by
water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.
(1 John 5:6)
Without going into detail, we will skip verse 7 since it is not in our better
manuscripts:
And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood;
and these three agree as one. (1 John 5:8)
John was present at the crucifixion. Remember it was there at the cross that the
Lord said to him, "?Behold your mother!?" In other words, "?You take care of
My mother,?" and John says, "?When I was there I watched, and I was very
close.?" It seems that at the trial of Jesus, John got in closer than anyone else. And
he's also closer at the crucifixion than anyone else. He said in effect, "?While I was
watching, blood was coming from His head, blood was coming from His hands
and His feet. Finally, this soldier came up to make sure He was dead, and he ran a
spear into His side.?" John says, "?Out of that side there came water and blood.?"
May I say that John is going to tell us that our Lord was the propitiatory sacrifice
for our sins. It was Christ, Paul says, "?whom God set forth as a propitiation by
His blood, through faith?" (Romans 3:25). Jesus Christ on the cross shed His
blood. I think that every drop of blood went out of His body and that His whole
body was covered with His blood. That, my friend, is the mercy seat for you and
me. Because He shed His blood, taking your place and my place, a holy God now
is able to extend mercy to us. And that's the meaning of propitiation. It means
simply that Christ is our mercy seat.
Now I want to follow through on what John has said. Let's look at that for just a
moment:
And He Himself [Jesus Christ] is the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 2:2)
John is the one who says, "?I was there and I saw that soldier put the spear in His
side, and there came out blood and water.?" And he adds, "?These three bear
witness on earth and they agree.?" The Spirit and the water and the blood-and
that blood speaks of the fact that He shed His blood that He might be the
propitiation for your sins and my sins. This is tremendous! "?He Himself is the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.?"
Notice something here which is very important: John said this: "?My little children,
these things I write to you, so that you may not sin.?" Well, John, I wish I could
say I didn't sin, but I do. Now what shall I do?
And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. (1 John 2:1)
And after all, John says, "?He Himself is the propitiation for our sins,?" referring to
our sins as Christians. I need a mercy seat every day, don't you? I don't want
justice from God. I don't want Him to treat me on the basis of legality because I
would come off a loser. I want mercy from God. That's the thing I want from
Him-mercy. And that is the thing both you and I need. He is the propitiation for
our sins.
John doesn't stop there:
.. and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (1 John 2:2)
There is a mercy seat today for every person on topside of this earth. And people
are not lost because of the fact they are so bad and cannot do enough to gain
God's forgiveness. That's not the reason. They are lost because they won't go to
the mercy seat. There's mercy for every person. God is merciful today. And the
reason He is merciful is not because He's just bighearted and sort of sentimental.
No, He is not that. God is holy and righteous. And He loves. God loved long
before He did anything about it-but God is not only love, God is holy. And
though He might love a sinner, He cannot take the sin into heaven. But then Christ
died and was covered with blood. So He is the mercy seat. A holy God now can
extend mercy because Christ paid the ultimate penalty for our sin.
And that's not all. He wants to mention it again to us: "?In this is love, not that we
loved God, but that He loved us.?" He loved us, and what did He do? Did He
fling open the door of heaven and say, "?Everybody, come in?"? No, He cannot
do that because He is holy.
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be
the propitiation [to be the mercy seat] for our sins. (1 John 4:10)
And so today a holy God is prepared to extend mercy down here to lost men and
lost women.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless
deeds I will remember no more. (Hebrews 8:12)
God says, "?I will be merciful to their unrighteousness.?" How can a holy God do
that? Because there is Christ on the cross, covered with blood, His precious blood
is poured out, and there is a mercy seat. The throne of God, where a holy God
would judge you and judge me-that very throne at this moment extends mercy to
us.
Oh, my friend, God is not a police officer waiting around the corner to give you a
ticket or to find fault with your conduct. God is not demanding. He is saying to the
world tonight, "?I have My arms outstretched toward you, and I am prepared to
extend mercy to you because Christ died. There is a mercy seat for you.?"
Now let's see that in action. Turn with me to the eighteenth chapter of Luke's
Gospel, starting with verse 9, our Lord
spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous,
and despised others: "?Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee,
and the other a tax collector [a publican]. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with
himself..?"
It's sort of like Hamlet's soliloquy. In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet goes out and
talks to no one but himself:
To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing, end them? To die, to sleep-
No more, and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to; 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep-
To sleep, perchance to dream-ay, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come..
And so on. He's just talking to himself. And when a soliloquy is done by a fine
actor, with expression, it's tremendous! But may I say that the Pharisee's prayer
was a soliloquy. Our Lord says, "?He prayed thus with himself.?" He didn't pray it
to God. He had a big time patting himself on the back and, in essence, said,
"?What a fine actor I am!?" And an actor was what he was.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, "?God [although he addresses
God, he is not really talking to Him], I thank You that I am not like other
men-extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a
week; I give tithes of all that I possess.?" (Luke 18:11-12)
Now that's what a lot of people brag about today. But, you see, that kind of talk
didn't get anywhere, didn't get out of the rafters, and it did not get to God. My
friend, you never get to God when you go to Him and tell Him how good you are
and all that you're doing for others. No one gets to our holy God that way.
Then will you notice, a publican, a despised tax collector, was there.
And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to
heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "?God, be merciful to me a sinner!?" (Luke
18:13)
The only thing is, he didn't actually say, "?God, be merciful to me a sinner.?"
Literally, he said, "?O God, if there was only a mercy seat for me to go to!?" You
see, the Pharisee was the fundamentalist of that day, and he was quite separated.
Well, listen to him, and know that everything he said was true. He said, "?I do
this,?" and he did do it, friend. And he said, "?I'm not like this publican,?" and he
wasn't. But he sure was proud, and he was depending on his works. He was
depending on himself, not recognizing he needed to have mercy from God. As you
know, most people-your neighbors and my neighbors-don't think they need
mercy from God. Oh, my friend, we all need mercy from Him. He is the
propitiation for our sins. For those of us who are Christians, He is the mercy seat
for our sins. And He is the mercy seat for the sins of the whole world.
But this publican stands way off and he beats his breast. He won't even look up.
He says, "?God, I'm a poor publican. I have no access to that mercy seat yonder
in the temple. If there was only a mercy seat for me to go to!?" Why did he say
that? Because when he became a publican he denied his people. When he denied
his people, he denied his God and his religion, and he no longer had any access to
the mercy seat in the temple of that day. Therefore when he went to the temple to
pray, he couldn't claim mercy there. He was pleading, "?O God, if there was only
a mercy seat for a publican to go to.?" And the Lord Jesus Christ said, "?That
fellow went down justified.?" Why? Because the Lord Jesus right there and then
was on His way to make a mercy seat for him.
And our Lord has made a mercy seat for you and me. Today we don't need to
ask God to be merciful. My friend, He is already merciful! What can you do to
make Him merciful? Do you think you can shed a few little tears and win Him
over? Do you think you could promise to do some good little thing to persuade
Him? My friend, what do you want Him to do? He gave His Son to die for you.
Don't you know that when Christ died on the cross He paid the penalty for your
sins? You can't add anything to that. He is holding out His arms to you. Don't ask
God to be merciful-claim it, my friend! Claim it!
That's the way I stay in fellowship with Him. Bad as I am, I have to go to Him
constantly and say, "?Lord, I need mercy. Oh, I need mercy.?" He hasn't run out
of it yet, and He has enough for you. In fact, He has enough for the whole world.
Jesus Christ is the mercy seat for the sins of the whole world. Oh, how we need to
get to that mercy seat! Have you been there recently?
[1]
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[1]McGee, J. V. (2000, c1996). Doctrine for difficult days (electronic ed.) (148).
Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
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