What Is Propitiation?

“Propitiation” is one of the most important theological words that can help us understand what Jesus accomplished on the cross. So, what does it mean? Today, Burk Parsons explains this term to enrich our appreciation for Christ’s atonement.

NATHAN W. BINGHAM: Joining us this week is the editor of Tabletalk magazine. He's also a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow, Dr. Burk Parsons. Dr. Parsons, can you help us understand what propitiation is?

DR. BURK PARSONS: Propitiation is one of the most important theological words, as you know, Nathan. It is a word that we only come across several times in the New Testament, but the concept of propitiation is throughout the entire Bible. And it goes back to the language that surrounds the whole burnt offerings and the expiation of sins that God, Yahweh, the Lord, removed from His people, Israel. And so, expiation and propitiation are related. They're not the same, but they're related. And it's important that we consider just briefly what expiation means.

Expiation very simply means "the removal of sin and the guilt that comes with that sin." So, it is God's taking away or the removal of our sin because of the perfect life and sacrificial, atoning, substitutionary death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And it's important that we consider that when we talk about the expiation of sin and when we talk about the propitiation of sin, we're not only speaking about the death of Christ but about the entire ministry and life of Christ. Because Jesus didn't just come to die; He came to live a perfect righteous, law-keeping life, fulfilling all the demands of God's law, so that when He died, that His death could be a substitutionary, sacrificial atonement for His people. And you and I both understand, Nathan, that the atonement of Christ didn't just make salvation possible; it actually applied and accomplished salvation for God's people. And so, expiation is God's removal of our sin and the guilt that accompanies our sin, culminating in the death of Christ on the cross.

Now, propitiation is a word that we don't use very often anymore in our common vernacular, but it's a very, very important word. As I said, it is really one of the most important theological words that we learn. And it's one that we should teach our children. We come across it first in the translation before me in Romans 3, where Paul writes: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins" (vv. 23-26). And then in Hebrews 2:17 we read, "Therefore he had to be made""that is, Jesus Christ had to be made""like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." And then we come across this word propitiation in 1 John 2, and here it is where people really raise their eyebrows and question what the word means. John writes that, Jesus Christ, "he is the propitiation for our sins" (v. 2). Now that much we know. Paul's taught us that; the author of Hebrews has taught us that; John 4 says the same thing, that He is the propitiation for our sins. But then John goes on to say this: "and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."

Now, in defining the term propitiation, we have to define it, of course, according to the biblical text and what the biblical text teaches us about this word and how it's applied. And so, the word propitiation simply put means "satisfaction." It means that Christ, in His perfect life and atoning, substitutionary death, that He satisfied the wrath of God against our sin and against us. It wasn't that He simply satisfied or assuaged God's wrath against sin; He assuaged God's wrath against us. You know, people want to say, "Well, God loves the sinner, but He hates the sin." Well, I understand what people mean by that, but we have to understand it's not just sin that God sends to hell; He sends people to hell.

And so, Christ in His substitutionary death, satisfied, assuaged the wrath of God. Now that's a very, very powerful concept. We read in the Westminster Confession of Faith in the chapter on Christ the Mediator, where it talks about how Christ through His blood and through His death satisfied the justice of God, satisfied the righteousness of God. Because we know that God has a perfect standard for righteousness. And because of our sin, we're at enmity with God. Because of our sin, we are in opposition to God. Because of our sin, we are running from God, hiding from God, and in our natural state of sin, we would kill God if we got the chance, and that's precisely what we did. But God, in His mercy and His love, provided a means through Christ of assuaging and satisfying His wrath.

And so, when we come to 1 John 2 and John writes, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the [sins of the] whole world," well, what does that mean? Because 1 John says that He is the propitiation for our sins. We understand that. Christ has satisfied God's wrath against us and our sins. Well, then what does it mean that He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world? Has Christ satisfied the wrath of God against the sins of all people, everywhere, in all of history, without exception? Well, that's where we have to understand John's use of the word world. Not only here in 1 John but throughout all of his writings. And that word and the way in which he uses it in many contexts, and particularly in this one, has a very particular interpretation. And if we don't hold to this interpretation, then we would be left with universal salvation of everyone throughout all of history, without exception. But that's not what the Bible teaches. And that's not what John teaches.

When John uses the word world here and many other places in his epistles, in his writings, he uses that word, not to suggest everyone, everywhere, in all time, without exception, but rather the whole world without distinction. That is to say, all peoples, the whole world, every tribe, tongue, and nation, not just Israel, but gentiles, that God in His love is upon the whole world. It's not just upon Israel; it is upon the gentiles. His love is for the world. And so, Christ has propitiated not only for our sins who are presently His, who are currently His people in His flock, but just as Jesus said in the gospel of John that He has other sheep who are not part of His fold that He is bringing into His fold. So, He has many people who are being born all around us, even today, that by God's grace, who are in every tribe, tongue, and nation, that He is bringing into His church, into the fold of God, for whom Christ has died, for whom Christ has satisfied the wrath of God against them. Because God has His people. God has His elect from all over the world.

In the end, Nathan, what we must understand is that because God is holy, He requires propitiation for His wrath against us for our sin against Him. And because God is love, He propitiated His wrath against us in Jesus Christ who took our sin and nailed it to the cross.