Propitiation: Christ Making Peace With God

The English word propitiation comes from a group of Greek words that are used in the New Testament eight times. The noun in Greek is used two times in 1 John and is the word “hilasmos,” which means “satisfaction,” but can be translated generically as “atoning sacrifice” as the NIV translates it. 1 John 2:2 states, He Himself is the propitiation for our sins and 1 John 4:10 states, In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross satisfied the demands of God’s holiness for the punishment of sin. Good works could never satisfy God, it had to be a perfect sacrifice and Jesus was that perfect sacrifice to turn away the just anger of God (Titus 3:5).

This was part of Christ work on the cross to remedy our sin. When Adam fell in the Garden, our communion with God was disrupted. There was a massive wedge that came between us and God. Nothing could ever remove that wedge except Christ’s death on the cross. The verb form of the Greek word is “hilaskomai,” again meaning “to satisfy” or “to appease.” Hebrews 2:17, In all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Jesus is the High Priest who makes peace between us and God by His own sacrifice (Colossians 1:20). He makes propitiation and God accepts the offering of Himself on our behalf and thus His wrath is turned away.

Another word in the family of words is “hilaserion,” which is just a slight variation and it is found in Romans 3:24-25, 24 Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness. This is one of the most theological passages in the entire Bible. Focusing on propitiation, the way to understand this is that God had stored up His anger and wrath against sin since the beginning of the world (Romans 1:18; 2:5). When Jesus was placed in the cross, He became the object of the Father’s intense hatred of sin and vengeance against sin (Isaiah 53:4-5). At the cross the fury of all that stored up wrath was unleashed against His own Son (Matthew 27:46). Therefore, His wrath would not be poured out on us who believe (Romans 5:9). When we truly believe in Jesus and His work on the cross, God’s righteous demands against sin are wonderfully satisfied to the fullest extent. Every barrier has been removed by His blood and now there is no more condemnation (Romans 8:1). Now we can have true and lasting peace with God though our Lord Jesus Christ. Without this aspect of the atonement, God could not show mercy to us because the claims of justice would not have been met. God would still be angry at sin. Let us sincerely thank the Lord for all that He has done for us and live for Him.