ROMANS 3:25-26A
…whom God set forth as a propitiation, by
His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness
(Rom. 3:25a).
God set Jesus forth as a "propitiation, by His
blood," Paul says. In his commentary on this verse, Dr. James M. Boice
notes that the word propitiation is little used and understood today. "Propitiation…signifies what
the worshiper does when he or she presents a sacrifice to a deity," he
writes. "It is an 'atoning
sacrifice,' an act by which the wrath of the offended deity is appeased or
turned aside." We must remember, however, that there is nothing we
could offer to God to appease Him. We are unable to propitiate the wrath of the
one we have offended. But there is one who can and has – the offended one. But
there is one who can and has – the offended one Himself. At the Cross, God
acted to turn aside His own wrath against the sins of the human race! And His
propitiatory sacrifice, of course, was Jesus Christ, who was God incarnate. He
gave what all such sacrifices are required to give – His life.
This is what
Paul means in his reference to Jesus’ blood. Boice writes: "The
important thing is to remember that the shedding of Christ’s blood has to do
with Christ’s death, and that the death of Christ in Scripture is always and
everywhere set forth as substitutionary. It is by His death that you and I can
be saved." Simply put, Christ was sent by the Father to die in order
to appease the divine wrath against the sins of God’s people.
This appeasement of God by God made a powerful
statement about the righteousness of God. It showed clearly that God would not
excuse the guilty – though He would let an innocent substitute bear the penalty
of the guilty one. Furthermore, when at last it came; Jesus’ death on behalf of
sinful human beings demonstrated that God had not been simply passing over the
sins of His people who lived before the Incarnation. It revealed that the Old
Testament sacrifices truly had pointed ahead to a perfect sacrifice. God’s
righteous opposition to all sin was mightily displayed when the sky grew dark
on Good Friday.
In the midst of this discussion, Paul reminds us once
again that the benefits of this atoning sacrifice are ours by faith, by
believing that Jesus truly did take the penalty for sin that we deserved. When
we believe that Jesus died in our place, we are believing the Gospel, "the power of God to salvation"
(Rom. 1:16).
In
Christ,
Janet Irene
Thomas
Playwright/Screen
Writer/Director
Published
Author/Gospel Lyricist &Producer
FOUNDER/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts
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