What is the Meaning of Propitiation?
Satisfaction of Sin
One aspect of the work of Christ is satisfaction of the necessary judgment on sin. When Jesus died on the cross, he satisfied the justice and holiness of God. A biblical term meaning satisfaction is used to describe this aspect of the work of Christ. Since the law is an extension of the nature of God, Christ had to satisfy the demands of the law in his death.
The word “propitiation” (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2, 4:10) is from hilasterion, “a place of propitiation,” or the mercy seat. In the holy of holies in the tabernacle, the mercy seat was the covering on the ark of the covenant. The priest sprinkled blood on the mercy seat on the day of atonement, hence it was symbolically the judgment seat. This was the place where the justice of God was satisfied.
Satisfying God
Sin is offensive to God because it represents rebellion against himself and a rejection of who he is. As such, the sin of mankind could never be retracted or simply ignored. The nature of God is such that he could not forgive the sinner without a payment or propitiation of satisfaction. The only price worthy had to come from a sinless substitute, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). God did not save us because of any merit in ourselves but rather because of the merit of Christ our substitute.
The blood is important to God, not because it is blood but because it represents both life and death. When blood circulated from the heart, it represented life and when it was spilt, it represented death. In Old Testament times, God forbade the eating of blood that men might respect the sanctity of life (Gen. 9:4). When Jesus left the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper with his disciples, he provided a symbol to remind all Christians of the sacrifice of his blood (1 Cor. 11:25).
Paul asked a carnal church, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?” (1 Cor. 10:16). The blood therefore represents the perfect life of Christ given in death for sinners. At the first Passover, God instructed Moses, “And the blood shall be to you for a token, upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon YOU to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt” (Exod. 12:13). The context of the first Passover suggests an Egyptian could have escaped the plague if he had spread the blood upon the doorposts of his house and a Jew would suffer the plague if he did not do as instructed. It was the blood, not the people themselves or anything they had done, that satisfied the justice and holiness of God.
Satisfying the Law
While most Christians tend to think of the law as something evil, the New Testament teaches that “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Rom. 7:12). As such, the demands of the law needed to be satisfied because man had broken them in every part.
When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, he violated the “law of God” he had received. As the law is an extension of the nature of God, the head of the human race offended the moral nature of God. The law could not be ignored, overlooked, or changed any easier than God could be ignored, overlooked, or changed. The demand of all the law was upon every man, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).
Jesus perfectly kept the law, hence he could say, “Think not I am come to destroy the law … but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17). Therefore when he died on Calvary, he “abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in the ordinances; to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (Eph. 2:15). In another place the propitiation of the law is described as, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Col. 2:14).
The demands of the justice of God have been met and the broken law, no longer is a moral judge to condemn mankind. Christ has satisfied the justice of God and paid the penalty for broken law. Now, persons do not go to hell because God is angry at them or because they broke God’s law. People go to hell because they have not received the provision of salvation.
