Results of Christ’s death (2):

Propitiation and substitutionSimon Attwood

Bible Basics Conference09-10 October 2010

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Let’s talk about atonement first

• Atonement is an Old Testament term which is closelyrelated to propitiation*

• The Hebrew verb ‘to atone’ – kaphar – means ‘tocover’ in the sense of shelter from God’s judgment

• Sin deserves His judgment so we need something orsomeone acceptable to Him to atone for our sins

• There are many examples of this (Genesis 3:21; 6:14;Exodus 12:7, 13; 30:11-16; Leviticus 1:2b-9; 4:27-35)

* ‘atonement’ in Romans 5:11 in the Authorised Version should be translated ‘reconciliation’

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Atonement in the Old and New Testaments

• The Old Testament offerings,atonement money etc. had no intrinsic– real – value to atone for sins butsymbolised – pointed to – the One whodoes: the Lord Jesus (Hebrews 9:7-8;10:14; 1 Peter 1:18-19)

• The New Testament is based on the factof His death and goes into the truth ofits atoning value in much fuller detail,using terms like ‘ransom’ – a price paidto set someone free – (1 Timothy 2:6)

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So what does the word ‘propitiation’ mean?

• ίλασμός is Greek for vindicating – upholding – God’sholiness and righteousness so that He can bless us,which is what He desires to do (not us appeasing –placating – Him to try to get Him to treat us well)

• It’s God-ward because its primary purpose is toglorify Him about the question of sin

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Propitiation in Paul’s letter to the Romans

• The gospel in the New Testament brings to light the‘righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christunto all and upon all them that believe’ (3:22)

• God presents Him there as His ‘mercy-seat’ –ίλαστήριον, a word closely related to ‘propitiation’ –‘through faith in his blood’ (3:25)

• This demonstrates God righteousness in the past andthe present, and enables Him to ‘be ‘just, and thejustifier of him which believeth in Jesus’ (3:25, 26)

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Why refer to the mercy-seat in the tabernacle?

• It was on the ark in the holy of holies where God ‘sat’between the cherubim (Exodus 25:21-22, Psalm 80:1)

• Once a year on the Day of Atonement the High Priestsprinkled the blood of the goat of the sin offering onand before the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:15; Hebrews9:7) for God to continue dwelling among His people

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So what have we learnt about propitiation?

• All our sin is unrighteousness againstGod (Romans 1:19; 2:8; 3:8) andmust be put right for His glory

• The Lord Jesus did this ‘once for all’when He offered ‘one sacrifice forsins’ (Hebrews 2:17; 10:1-18)*

• This provides a righteous basis forGod’s offer of love and blessing to all(John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

* ‘reconciliation’ in Hebrews 2:17 in the Authorised Version should betranslated ‘propitiation’

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John confirms this in his first letter

• And he adds: ‘Herein is love, not thatwe loved God, but that he loved us,and sent his Son to be the propitiationfor our sins’ (4:10)

* The words in italics – the sins of – in 1 John 2:2 in the Authorised Versionshould not be there

• ‘Jesus Christ the righteous’ is ‘the propitiation for oursins’ – actual effect – ‘and not for ours alone, but alsofor the whole world’ – potential effect – (2:1, 2)*

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But we must be a ‘whosoever believeth’

• We cannot benefit frompropitiation unlessthose words in Romans– ‘them that believe’(3:22), ‘faith in hisblood’ (3:25) and ‘himwhich believeth inJesus’ (3:26) – are trueof us

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That’s because of the truth of substitution

• The word ‘substitution’ maynot be in Scripture but thetruth – the use of one personor thing instead of another –definitely is (Genesis 22:13; 1Peter 3:18)

• It’s us-ward because eachone of us needs to believe onthe Lord Jesus as the Onewho has suffered and died onour behalf in order to save us

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Substitution on the Day of Atonement

• There was a second goat that day,called the scapegoat (Leviticus 16:7-10)

• The High Priest had to lay his hands onthis goat and confess the sins of thepeople of Israel over it before it was ledaway to the wilderness to bear thosesins in a land apart (Leviticus 16:20-22;Hebrews 10:17)

• That’s what the Lord Jesus did for us inreality on the cross if we believe onHim as our Saviour

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Substitution in Romans and Isaiah

• God reckons – counts – His righteousnessto us if we believe on the Lord Jesusbecause He was ‘delivered for ouroffences’ and ‘raised for our justification’(Romans 4:25 – not by law-keeping in Hislife)

• Isaiah says: ‘he was wounded for ourtransgressions, he was bruised for ouriniquities: the chastisement of our peacewas upon him; and with his stripes we arehealed’ (53:5, see also verses 4 and 6)

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The all and the many

• From the point of view of propitiation,God desires ‘all men to be saved’ so theLord Jesus ‘gave himself a ransom forall’ (1 Timothy 2:4, 6; see also Titus2:11)

• From substitution’s standpoint, Hecame ‘to give his life a ransom formany’ and ‘was once offered to bearthe sins of many’ i.e. believers who‘look for him’ (Matthew 20:28;Hebrews 9:28; Mark 14:24)

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So propitiation and substitution go together

• We can’t benefit from propitiation unless the LordJesus is our substitute (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15; 1Peter 2:24-25)

• But He can only be our substitute if we believe onHim as the One who has glorified God about thequestion of sin so that He can bless us (Romans 4:24)

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What can we learn from all this as believers?

• In propitiation Christ’s death glorifies God about thequestion of sin, laying a righteous basis for new birthwhich makes us children (John’s writings) and themany spiritual blessings He bestows on us such asacceptance (Paul’s letter to the Ephesians)

• In substitution Christ’s death proves His great lovefor each one of us by suffering God’s judgment onour behalves to secure the benefits of propitiationfor us so that we can be assured of enjoying themnow and for all eternity (Romans 5:1-2)

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