THE GROUND OF SALVATION | PROPITIATION

1. The ground of Salvation

a) God wanted to save man from the effects of sin. Man surely needed to be saved. But how could God do it?

b) In a word, God can save man only because of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

c) To understand better the importance of this event, we must think about four words: Propitiation, Substitution, Atonement, and Redemption. These words sum up a great deal of the teaching of the Bible on the meaning of Christ's death.

2. Propitiation

a) God hates sin and as a judge He shows His righteous wrath against the sinner. This cannot mean that He does not love him. A father loves his son even when he is punishing him for not obeying. A judge in a court might have to give a sentence against his own son. God as Judge cannot show favor to anyone. He cannot be kinder to one person than to another.

b) The first thing we want to think about is propitiation. What is propitiation? It means the turning away of wrath by an offering. The Lord Jesus Christ bore the punishment for our sins when on the cross He offered Himself as a sacrifice to God. God no longer has to be angry with the rebel-sinner. He can now show Himself as a merciful God.

i) "God sent His Son to be the propitiation (or expiation) for our sins", 1 John 4:10.

ii) "Not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world", 1 John 2:2.

iii) "Christ Jesus is a propitiation through faith in His blood", Romans 3:25. 

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