Jesus Christ the Propitiation for Our Sins

The wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Rom 1:18). This is the just wrath of God. It is the manifestation of His hatred against sin and sinners (Ps 5:5; 7:11; 11:5).

Because all sinned (Rom 3:23; 5:12), all are guilty before God’s righteous throne of judgment (2 Cor 5:10; Rev 20:11). For this reason, there is a wrath to come, in which we must be delivered (Mt 3:7; Lk 3:7), and it is Jesus Christ who delivers us, His people, from the wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10). He is the only Savior (Acts 4:12; Titus 1:4; 2:13; 3:6) from the just and eternal punishment (Mt 25:46; Jude 7), in the lake of fire (Rev 20:14–15).

God’s people, Israel, in the Old Testament typology, were given instruction on how to approach the living and holy God. There were required sacrifices, to be offered by the priests, in the Temple. A propitiation sacrifice was one that appeased the wrath of God. The blood of the sacrificed animal was the appeasing agent.

Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Heb 9:22). Without blood atonement, according to God’s precise prescription, the separation of God and sinners remains. Only blood redemption can reconcile a man to God (Rom 3:24; 2 Cor 5:18–20). Reconciliation brings a person into union with Christ, who is in union with God the Father (Jn 17:5, 21, 22, 23, 26).

God sent His only begotten Son, to be the propitiatory sacrifice, in a one-time, once for all His people, sacrifice for the sins of all His people, from all over the world. This was God’s public display of His solution for sin, guilt, judgment, and eternal punishment (Rom 3:25).

When the world looks at God’s public display of His just wrath against sinners, it is looking at God’s one and only Son, who was Himself without sin (Heb 4:15). Therefore, it sees the imputed sins of unjust, ungodly sinners being placed on Jesus who became sin for us (2 Cor 5:21).

Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29). He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only our sins, but also for those of the whole world (1 Jn 2:2). Many take these verses to support the false doctrine of Universalism, as if everyone, everywhere has their sins forgiven. This is an incorrect conclusion.

Jesus Christ, the righteous, is our Advocate with the Father (1 Jn 2:1). He represents those who belong to Him (1 Cor 3:23). They belong to Him because He bought them for a price (1 Cor 6:20; 7:23). The currency with which He redeemed those His Father had given Him (Jn 6:37; 17:2, 6, 24), was His own precious blood (1 Pet 1:19).

Jesus Christ, in love, bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Pet 2:24). His blood, shed on Good Friday at Jerusalem, is the blood of the eternal covenant of grace (Mt 26:28). In this act of love for His bride (Eph 5:25), His church (Mt 16:18), the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), He laid down His life for a particular people, the sheep of His pasture (Jn 10:11, 15).

Jesus came to set His captive people free (Is 61:1), to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21). His people, for whom He is the sin bearer, are a chosen race, a holy nation of royal priests (1 Pet 2:9). Their names are written in the Lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8; 17:8; 21:27). God has predestined these chosen ones to be His adopted sons (Eph 1:4–5). He gives them the Spirit of Adoption (Rom 8:15, 23), and they are given the right to be called “children of God” (1 Jn 3:1). They call God, “Abba, Father” (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6).

When these elect receive the Spirit and the Word of God, they receive the life of God in their souls (Jn 6:63). They are made alive in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:5; Col 2:13). The Holy Spirit causes them to be born again of God (1 Pet 1:3). It is Christ who justifies His people with His blood (Rom 5:9). It is the Spirit who applies that justification, giving saints the grace they need, to believe in all that Christ has done for them. It is the Spirit who indwells and who manifests faithfulness, that is, faith in Christ.

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). In being their propitiation, Jesus Christ shelters His beloved from the wrath they deserve because of sin. This is true for God’s people everywhere in the world.

The world cannot receive the Holy Spirit because they of the world are none of His (Rom 8:9). They are not of God (Jn 8:47). They do not belong to Christ (Jn 10:26). They are in Adam (1 Cor 15:22), as sons of disobedience (Eph 2:2), children of the devil (1 Jn 3:10), who are in his image because he is their father. These are already judged (Jn 3:18). They have no place in their hearts for God’s Word, nor do they have any love for God in their hearts (Jn 5:42).

The reprobate sinner has no propitiation for sins (Rom 3:20; Heb 2:17; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10). The wrath of God remains against the man without God’s grace. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb 10:31), and without Jesus Christ’s propitiation, there is only the terror of His wrath to come. Vessels of wrath are prepared for destruction (Rom 9:22).

Do you understand Jesus Christ’s protection? He is protecting you, Christian, from the holy God Himself, who must judge and punish sinners. His protection is called “propitiation”,,,and that is what He is for us.

David Norczyk

Spokane Valley, Washington

December 23, 2022