The Five Pillars of Salvation: Part 1 - Propitiation

What Jesus accomplished through his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and coming return is and will be so spectacular and comprehensive that it cannot be contained in a single Bible idea or word.

Under the New Covenant, we use the word “salvation” to describe in general what our Lord did on our behalf, but that word is so comprehensive that important details are lost. That would be like saying a chef “cooked” a meal, which leaves out all that was done to make the food delicious. It would be similar to saying that the doctor “treated” the cancer, without describing the education, thought, expertise, and effort that went into the treatment regimen. Just as a mountain range looks different from various vantage points along a scenic drive, salvation can be viewed from various perspectives, each one overlapping the other and containing something unique and magnificent.

When my eyes were first opened to Christ’s lordship and I was born again, I did not understand all of what I will share in the following articles in this series. We don’t have to understand everything in order to benefit from it. Our bodies’ immune system works whether we know how or not, but when we gain understanding it makes us appreciate God’s genius. If I were told that someone gave me a gift, I would be grateful, but if I later discovered that the gift was far more magnificent than I would have ever dreamed, then my appreciation would skyrocket. Over the years, as I have grown in understanding of what the Bible calls our “great salvation,” I have gained more and more appreciation for what Jesus did.

The articles in this series are intended to increase your understanding, appreciation, and faith in what God has accomplished on our behalf through Christ.

Propitiation or Atonement

Most people think of forgiveness as the essence of salvation. It is certainly the beginning, the first step toward the ultimate goal. Rather than settle for that familiar word, however, I choose to use a more theological concept – propitiation.

Propitiation is the turning away of God’s wrath by making an offering. It is what Jesus did on the cross to appease the terrible wrath of God against sin. The result of Christ’s sacrifice is that all who place their trust in him are made right (or “at one” – at-one-ment) with God or forgiven.

For some moderns, this sounds barbaric and out of sync with current ideas of a loving God’s being above such bloody vengefulness. Some attempt to make a distinction between the “angry” “violent” God of the Old Testament and the forgiving one represented by Jesus. But this overlooks the violence and blood letting that took place on Good Friday. All the Old Covenant sacrifices, the means of temporary propitiation, pointed to the sacrifice of God’s Lamb, Jesus.

For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, ²⁶ for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Romans 3:25-26 (NLT)

Just as John the Baptist announced, Jesus was / is the Lamb of God who took / takes away the sins of the world. Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22)

Those who discount or dismiss the concept of propitiation, show that they neither understand God’s holiness nor the horror of sin. Sin is an affront to the character and being of God – a slap in his face.

When Adam and Eve believed Satan’s lie and judged God as being a self-serving liar, they acted on that false belief, causing evil to enter the human race bringing death, destruction, and warping of the entire creation. That sin has multiplied through the generations, causing humanity to spiral toward utter chaos and death. Only the return of the Lord Jesus will save us!

God has a holy and just wrath against sin and the blasphemous rebellion which is behind it. As our substitute, Jesus took upon himself the wrath of his heavenly Father against mankind’s sin.

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 (ESV)

Faith in his atoning death is our only means of escape. There is no other way to the Father (John 14:6); no other way to be saved (Acts 4:12)

Another way to put this is that life is sustained by our connection to God. When sin broke that connection, the lifeline was cut. In order for us to truly live again, it had to be re-established.

Adam’s and Eve’s sin was not simple disobedience. Rather, it was the rejection of God as their source and an attempt to usurp his glory and authority by foolishly attempting to become independent agents who were “like God.” (Genesis 3:5) Since that initial act of disobedience, humanity has drifted even farther from God – rejecting him outrightly, denying his existence, and refusing to give him glory. For millennia men and women have been shaking their fists at God, arrogantly and defiantly doing whatever they please. No wonder we need a Savior to placate God’s justifiable wrath.

By suffering as an innocent Lamb, Jesus propitiated (appeased) God’s wrath, the first step in allowing us to be restored to a right relationship with Him. Every other aspect of our salvation hinges upon Jesus’ obtaining forgiveness for us.

I have heard people say that God always forgives us because that is “his job.” No it is not. God is just. He cannot simply forgive. A price has to be paid. Never take for granted the enormity of the cost for us to be forgiven!