Miles McKee Ministries
PO Box 541, Kingston Springs, TN 37082
PROPITIATION Part 1 (by Miles McKee)
“Two things were necessary in order to the making of propitiation: first, a complete satisfaction must be offered to God’s outraged holiness and offended justice and this, in the case of our substitute, could only be by him suffering the outpoured wrath of God. And this had been borne. Now there remained only the second thing, and that was for the Saviour to taste of death. "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). With the sinner it is death first, and then the judgment; with the Saviour the order was, of course, reversed. He endured the judgment of God against our sins and then died.”
Arthur Pink: The Seven Sayings of the Saviour From The Cross
“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God” (Rom. 3:25)
Oh mercy!!!!!!
“Romans 3:25 is one of the most important verses in the whole Bible”.....so said the great expository preacher Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones. Indeed he’s correct. That one verse is in itself a treasure chest of truth. But right now we want to concern ourselves with just one of its words .....PROPITIATION.
The word propitiation appears only three times in the New Testament (KJV) (Rom 3:25, 1Jn 2:2, 1Jn 4:10). Indeed, readers of some of the modern translations may be surprised to find it does not appear at all in their versions. Yet propitiation lies at the very heart of the gospel and is one of the most vital doctrines of God’s great salvation. Indeed, a gospel without propitiation at its heart is “another gospel” and therefore no gospel at all.
The ancient truth of propitiation is of course closely related to the doctrine of Justification. It could be said that while Justification looks at salvation from a legal viewpoint, Propitiation sees salvation as being accomplished by a sacrifice that appeased the righteous anger and wrath of a justly offended God.
Now, just to “stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance”, Justification is an act of God’s free grace by which He, as the righteous Judge, declares the believing sinner to be righteous. This righteousness is reckoned and imputed to the believing sinner and is nothing less than the righteousness of Christ. Christ Himself. Christ Himself and Christ alone becomes our righteousness and nothing other than He can make us accepted today as we fellowship with our Father in Heaven.
As we’ve already seen, we cannot come before God with a less than perfect righteousness and expect the Holy Judge of all the earth to accept us. That is why our salvation is totally dependent on Jesus the Christ. Christ Jesus, as you remember, has taken responsibility for our sins and has been punished for them at the cross. But more than that, now, because of grace, all of Christ’s righteousness has been placed to the believer’s account.
The word propitiation appears only three times in the New Testament (KJV) (Rom 3:25, 1Jn 2:2, 1Jn 4:10). Indeed, readers of some of the modern translations may be surprised to find it does not appear at all in their versions. Yet propitiation lies at the very heart of the gospel and is one of the most vital doctrines of God’s great salvation. Indeed, a gospel without propitiation at its heart is “another gospel” and therefore no gospel at all.
The ancient truth of propitiation is of course closely related to the doctrine of Justification. It could be said that while Justification looks at salvation from a legal viewpoint, Propitiation sees salvation as being accomplished by a sacrifice that appeased the righteous anger and wrath of a justly offended God.
Now, just to “stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance”, Justification is an act of God’s free grace by which He, as the righteous Judge, declares the believing sinner to be righteous. This righteousness is reckoned and imputed to the believing sinner and is nothing less than the righteousness of Christ. Christ Himself. Christ Himself and Christ alone becomes our righteousness and nothing other than He can make us accepted today as we fellowship with our Father in Heaven.
As we’ve already seen, we cannot come before God with a less than perfect righteousness and expect the Holy Judge of all the earth to accept us. That is why our salvation is totally dependent on Jesus the Christ. Christ Jesus, as you remember, has taken responsibility for our sins and has been punished for them at the cross. But more than that, now, because of grace, all of Christ’s righteousness has been placed to the believer’s account.
ACQUITTAL
Furthermore, every ungodly person who comes to Christ by simple faith and trust is justified (acquitted, declared not guilty). All charges against him are dropped and the Father reckons him to have never sinned.
Justification teaches us that Christ has been punished instead of the sinner. We therefore are saved not merely by an act of God’s love but by His love working in concert and agreement with His unchangeable character of justice. If we now believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we will be saved.
Justification teaches us that Christ has been punished instead of the sinner. We therefore are saved not merely by an act of God’s love but by His love working in concert and agreement with His unchangeable character of justice. If we now believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we will be saved.
TOO EASY?
How many times have I heard people say, “Oh that is too easy” Too easy? Too easy for whom? Too easy for us maybe, but not for Him. The cost involved for Jesus is too hard to compute. What did it cost Him to be despised and rejected? What did it cost Him to, by Himself, take our punishment? What did it cost Him, the one who had nothing to do with sin to have the sin of His people placed upon Him? What did it cost Him to have the Father turn His back and, as it were, forsake Him? What did it cost Him to lay down His life and die? Spurgeon says,
“It seems too costly for him who is the Prince of Life and Glory to let his fair limbs be tortured in agony; that the hands which carried mercies should be pierced with accursed nails; that the temples that were always clothed with love should have cruel thorns driven through them. It appears too much. Oh! Weep, Christian, and let our sorrow rise. Is not the price all but too great, that your beloved should for you resign himself?”
“It seems too costly for him who is the Prince of Life and Glory to let his fair limbs be tortured in agony; that the hands which carried mercies should be pierced with accursed nails; that the temples that were always clothed with love should have cruel thorns driven through them. It appears too much. Oh! Weep, Christian, and let our sorrow rise. Is not the price all but too great, that your beloved should for you resign himself?”
GODS PICTURE BOOK
Now, what has propitiation got to do with all this? To explain this word, let’s first lay the foundation and build from there. It’s important to know that the Old Testament can often be viewed as God’s picture book. So that we can better understand Him, God has marshaled into His service much of nature and come up with metaphors, similes and pictures that speak of His character and saving work. For example, God uses the mountains to speak of His love (Ps 125:2), the rivers to speak of His abundance (Job 28:10, PS 1:3) and even fire to speak of His wrath and judgment (Deut.4:24).
THE TABERNACLE
Indeed, God revealed His character in many and various ways in the Old Testament, not the least of which was through the building of the Tabernacle (Ex 25:8-9). This tabernacle was to symbolize and represent God’s dwelling place in the wilderness and as such had to be built according to divine pattern. Moses, who was told to construct the tabernacle, could not deviate from or change God’s instructions about the building. If Moses changed the blueprints he would give people the wrong impression of the very character of God. Every board had to be accurately cut, every color made exact and every detail done to precision.
This tabernacle, then, was to have three areas, the outer court, the holy place and the Holy of Holies. “Area Three”, the Holy of Holies is where God’s presence was manifest and it is crucial to note that no one could just glibly walk into that area and approach God any old way he felt like it.
God designated how He could be approached in the Holy of Holies and every other way of approach was an outrage. You didn’t just breeze in and talk flippantly to Him as so many think they can today. He was not then and is not today, “The man above” or ‘The man upstairs’. He is still the Holy God, the Sovereign Lord and Governor of the Universe. While it is true the Holy Spirit will cause the believer to relate to Him as, ‘Abba Father’, we should never forget that we are approaching a King who sits upon a majestic Throne and is awesome in holiness.
Furthermore, God, at the Tabernacle, revealed exactly how He was to be approached. The Israelites were to meet with His anointed priest at the entrance to the Tabernacle and bring a sacrifice. There then was a long and involved process which we won’t go into here but suffice it to say that every detail was ordered by the Lord. Then once a year the High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies, to the very presence of God, for the purpose of making atonement for his sins and the sins of the nation. No one else could go in with him. He had to go alone, into the Holy of Holies, taking the blood of an innocent animal sacrifice to appease the wrath of a Just and outraged God.
God designated how He could be approached in the Holy of Holies and every other way of approach was an outrage. You didn’t just breeze in and talk flippantly to Him as so many think they can today. He was not then and is not today, “The man above” or ‘The man upstairs’. He is still the Holy God, the Sovereign Lord and Governor of the Universe. While it is true the Holy Spirit will cause the believer to relate to Him as, ‘Abba Father’, we should never forget that we are approaching a King who sits upon a majestic Throne and is awesome in holiness.
Furthermore, God, at the Tabernacle, revealed exactly how He was to be approached. The Israelites were to meet with His anointed priest at the entrance to the Tabernacle and bring a sacrifice. There then was a long and involved process which we won’t go into here but suffice it to say that every detail was ordered by the Lord. Then once a year the High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies, to the very presence of God, for the purpose of making atonement for his sins and the sins of the nation. No one else could go in with him. He had to go alone, into the Holy of Holies, taking the blood of an innocent animal sacrifice to appease the wrath of a Just and outraged God.
THE MERCY SEAT
Inside the Holy of Holies was a remarkable piece of furniture, The Ark of the Covenant. No bigger than an orange box, this ark contained the tablets of the law, Aaron’s rod and manna. Its lid, made of pure gold, was called the Mercy Seat or the propitiatory covering (that is were we get our word propitiation). Each year the blood of sacrifice was taken into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled, by the High Priest, on the lid, The Mercy Seat. God had been offended and outraged by His people’s sins and that offense had to be taken away. It was not enough to merely remove the sins or merely cover them ----the very offense of sin had to be done away with. But more on that later!
A BLOOD STAINED RELIGION
It is so important to remember that all approaches to God were made by blood. There was, in those days, no hope of drawing near to God apart from the sprinkling of blood. So today, our only way to God is by the awesome sacrifice of Christ made with His own blood. As in Old Testament times, so today, there is only one approach to God. It is the way God has ordained and every other way is an offense.
Christianity is a bloodstained religion. From Genesis through to John’s Gospel there’s a trail of blood culminating in a blood stained cross. That is why the heart of New Testament teaching is built around the Savior’s declaration in John 14:6, “I am the way.” Christ is the only way for He and He alone poured out His blood for the sinner and intercepted the wrath of God on the sinner’s behalf. Peter takes this up in Acts 4:12 and proclaims, “Neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” There is no other name, for Heaven has given no other substitute and no other blood can appease an insulted God.
Christianity is a bloodstained religion. From Genesis through to John’s Gospel there’s a trail of blood culminating in a blood stained cross. That is why the heart of New Testament teaching is built around the Savior’s declaration in John 14:6, “I am the way.” Christ is the only way for He and He alone poured out His blood for the sinner and intercepted the wrath of God on the sinner’s behalf. Peter takes this up in Acts 4:12 and proclaims, “Neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” There is no other name, for Heaven has given no other substitute and no other blood can appease an insulted God.
“Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain
Could give the guilty conscience peace
Or wash away the stain.
But Christ, the heav’nly Lamb,
Takes all our sins away;
A sacrifice of nobler name
And richer blood than they.
My faith would lay her hand
On that dear head of Thine,
While, like a penitent, I stand,
And there confess my sin.”
On Jewish altars slain
Could give the guilty conscience peace
Or wash away the stain.
But Christ, the heav’nly Lamb,
Takes all our sins away;
A sacrifice of nobler name
And richer blood than they.
My faith would lay her hand
On that dear head of Thine,
While, like a penitent, I stand,
And there confess my sin.”
Isaac Watts
“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God (Rom. 3:25)——This is the most important verse in the Bible.”
Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones
Every ungodly person who comes to Christ by simple faith and trust is justified (acquitted, declared not guilty). All charges against him are dropped and the Father reckons him to have never sinned.——Christ has been punished instead of the sinner. We therefore are saved not merely by an act of God’s love but by His love working in concert and agreement with His unchangeable character of justice. If we now believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we will be saved.
God designated how He could be approached in the Holy of Holies and every other way of approach was an outrage. You didn’t just breeze in and talk flippantly to Him as so many think they can today. He was not then and is not today, “The man above” or ‘The man upstairs’. He is still the Holy God, the Sovereign Lord and Governor of the Universe.
The Tabernacle