Set Free from Sin and it's power, Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, Romans 6 ESV (UK) , Some thoughts on Atonement and Justification, The In-depth Series

Romans 6 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self[a] was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free[b] from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves,[c] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Redeemed, by the Blood of the Lamb,  Fanny J Crosby

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!

Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;

Redeemed through His infinite mercy,

His child and forever I am.

Refrain

Redeemed, redeemed,

Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;

Redeemed, redeemed,

His child and forever I am.

Redeemed, and so happy in Jesus,

No language my rapture can tell;

I know that the light of His presence

With me doth continually dwell.

I think of my blessèd Redeemer,

I think of Him all the day long:

I sing, for I cannot be silent;

His love is the theme of my song.

I know there’s a crown that is waiting,

In yonder bright mansion for me,

And soon, with the spirits made perfect,

At home with the Lord I shall be.

Reformation Study Bible

6:1–14 Paul’s insistence that the increase of sin is met by the increase of grace (5:20) leads to the question he now raises. So great was his emphasis on the freeness of God’s grace in the face of sin that his preaching had been accused of antinomian tendencies, or ignoring the ethical requirements of the law (3:8). Now he makes the point that to continue in sin would involve a contradiction of the Christian’s new identity in Christ. In view of this new identity (v. 11), Christians are to refuse to allow sin to usurp authority in their lives, and instead are to yield the whole of life to God (vv. 12, 13) in the assurance that since they are under grace, not law, as the means of their salvation, sin is no longer their master.

6:15–23 That the Christian is not under law but under grace might appear to provide license for moral carelessness. This Paul denies, since under the reign of grace Christians have become slaves of God. The freedom of grace is therefore freedom for obedience and service, not for license. 

Matthew Henry's Commentary

Verses 1-23

The apostle’s transition, which joins this discourse with the former, is observable: “What shall we say then? Rom. 6:1. What use shall we make of this sweet and comfortable doctrine? Shall we do evil that good may come, as some say we do? Rom. 3:8. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Shall we hence take encouragement to sin with so much the more boldness, because the more sin we commit the more will the grace of God be magnified in our pardon? Isa. this a use to be made of it?” No, it is an abuse, and the apostle startles at the thought of it (Rom. 6:2): “God forbid; far be it from us to think such a thought.” He entertains the objection as Christ did the devil’s blackest temptation (Matt. 4:10): Get thee hence, Satan. Those opinions that give any countenance to sin, or open a door to practical immoralities, how specious and plausible so ever they be rendered, by the pretension of advancing free grace, are to be rejected with the greatest abhorrence; for the truth as it is in Jesus is a truth according to godliness, Titus 1:1. The apostle is very full in pressing the necessity of holiness in this chapter, which may be reduced to two heads:—His exhortations to holiness, which show the nature of it; and his motives or arguments to enforce those exhortations, which show the necessity of it.

[2.] Our conformity to the resurrection of Christ obliges us to rise again to newness of life. This is the power of his resurrection which Paul was so desirous to know, Phil. 3:10. Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, that is, by the power of the Father. The power of God is his glory; it is glorious power, Col. 1:11. Now in baptism we are obliged to conform to that pattern, to be planted in the likeness of his resurrection (Rom. 6:5), to live with him, Rom. 6:8. See Col. 2:12. Conversion is the first resurrection from the death of sin to the life of righteousness; and this resurrection is conformable to Christ’s resurrection. This conformity of the saints to the resurrection of Christ seems to be intimated in the rising of so many of the bodies of the saints, which, though mentioned before by anticipation, is supposed to have been concomitant with Christ’s resurrection, Matt. 27:52. We have all risen with Christ. In two things we must conform to the resurrection of Christ:—First, He rose to die no more, Rom. 6:9. We read of many others that were raised from the dead, but they rose to die again.

 But, when Christ rose, he rose to die no more; therefore he left his grave-clothes behind him, whereas Lazarus, who was to die again, brought them out with him, as one that should have occasion to use them again: but over Christ death has no more dominion; he was dead indeed, but he is alive, and so alive that he lives for evermore, Rev. 1:18. Thus we must rise from the grave of sin never again to return to it, nor to have any more fellowship with the works of darkness, having quitted that grave, that land of darkness as darkness itself. Secondly, He rose to live unto God (Rom. 6:10), to live a heavenly life, to receive that glory which was set before him. Others that were raised from the dead returned to the same life in every respect which they had before lived; but so did not Christ: he rose again to leave the world. Now I am no more in the world, John 13:1; 17:11. He rose to live to God, that is, to intercede and rule, and all to the glory of the Father. Thus must we rise to live to God: this is what he calls newness of life (Rom. 6:4), to live from other principles, by other rules, with other aims, than we have done. A life devoted to God is a new life; before, self was the chief and highest end, but now God. To live indeed is to live to God, with our eyes ever towards him, making him the centre of all our actions.

The Bible Panorama

Romans 6

V 1–4: CONTINUE SINNING? Paul picks on the objections of some by asking if we are already justified, shall we sin more to show how great that justification is? He exclaims dogmatically, ‘Certainly not!’ Spiritually we were buried into Christ in His death. His resurrection life has become ours. If we are truly born again, we will want to walk in newness of life. Baptism echoes that meaning.

 V 5–7: CRUCIFIED SELF Just as we share in Christ’s resurrection, we share in His crucifixion. Our position, as those risen with Christ, is therefore that our ‘old man’ (our unsaved self) is crucified with Christ. I cannot claim the one without the other.

V 8–14: CALCULATED SEQUENCE We are to reckon ourselves to be ‘dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord’. That reckoning is based upon the knowledge that we are both crucified with Christ and also risen with Him in our status before God. God never asks us to make false calculations! This reckoning results in the sequence of logic and holiness that if we are dead to sin and alive to Christ we must not let sin reign in our bodies, but we must present our bodies as alive from the dead to be instruments of righteousness to God. We are no longer under the dominion of sin and death caused by the law, but we are under God’s grace.

 V 15–19: CONSECRATED SLAVES We are not now the slaves of the broken law, fearing judgement and death, but we present ourselves as slaves of ‘righteousness for holiness’ having been set free from one tyrannical master, and become the willing slaves of another Master who is gracious.

 V 20–23: CHRIST’S SALVATION Previously, we faced death and produced fruit of which we were ashamed. Now we have God’s gift of ‘eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ and, as joyfully consecrated slaves, seek to produce holy fruit for our loving Master who has saved us.

Dictionary of Bible Themes

6617 atonement, in NT

In dying for the sins of the world, Jesus Christ fulfilled and replaced the OT sacrificial system, so that all who believe in him are restored to fellowship with God. Christ is the true high priest, who finally liberates his people from the guilt of sin, by offering himself as the supreme sacrifice.

The atoning purpose of Jesus Christ’s death

Jesus Christ’s death on behalf of others Jn 10:11 See also Jn 10:14-18; 2Co 5:15; Heb 2:9; 1Jn 3:16

Jesus Christ’s atoning death for sin 1Co 15:3 See also Ro 4:25; Ro 8:3; Gal 1:4; 1Pe 3:18

The atoning significance of Jesus Christ’s death is expressed by references to his blood Ro 5:9; Rev 5:9 See also Eph 2:13; 1Pe 1:18-19; 1Jn 1:7; Rev 7:14

Jesus Christ’s atoning death is commemorated in the Lord’s Supper 1Co 11:23-25 See also Mt 26:26-28 pp Mk 14:22-24 pp Lk 22:19-20

Explanations of the atonement

Jesus Christ’s death as an atoning sacrifice Ro 3:25 See also 1Co 5:7; Eph 5:2; 1Jn 4:10; Rev 5:6

Jesus Christ’s atoning death as redemption Mk 10:45 pp Mt 20:28 See also Ac 20:28; Gal 3:13-14; Eph 1:7; Col 1:13-14

The atonement is effective because of Jesus Christ’s sinlessness

2Co 5:21 See also Heb 4:15; 1Pe 2:22-24; 1Jn 3:5

Jesus Christ’s death fulfils and replaces the Day of Atonement

Jesus Christ makes atonement as the new high priest Heb 7:26-28

Jesus Christ is the mediator of the new and better covenant Heb 8:6-7; Heb 9:15

Jesus Christ has made atonement in the true heavenly sanctuary Heb 8:1-2; Heb 9:24

Jesus Christ’s atoning blood brings effective cleansing Heb 9:12-14

Jesus Christ’s single sacrifice replaces the many required under the old covenant Heb 10:11-14

Access to the heavenly sanctuary is now open Heb 10:19-20

By dying with Christ, believers are released from this age into the life of the age to come

Ro 6:1-7 See also Ro 7:4-6; Gal 2:19-20; Gal 6:14; Eph 2:6-7; Col 2:11-13

God the Father and the atoning death of his Son

God’s sending of his Son to make atonement 1Jn 4:14 See also Jn 3:16; Ro 8:32; 2Co 5:18; Gal 4:4-5

God’s grace displayed in making atonement for the ungodly Eph 2:4-5 See also Ro 5:6-8; Eph 2:8-9; Tit 3:4-5

The worldwide scope of Jesus Christ’s atoning death

1Jn 2:2 See also Jn 1:29; 2Co 5:19; 1Ti 2:5

The appropriate response to the atonement

The response of repentance Ac 3:19 See also Ac 2:38; Ac 17:30; Ac 20:21

The response of faith Ac 10:43 See also Jn 3:14-15; Ac 16:31; Ro 3:22; Gal 2:16

The response of baptism Ac 22:16 See also Ac 2:38; 1Pe 3:21

The atoning purpose of Jesus Christ’s death

1.      Jesus Christ’s death on behalf of others

Romans 4:24-25 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

2.    Jesus Christ’s atoning death for sin

1 Peter 3:18 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

18 For Christ also suffered[a] once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

Explanations of the atonement

3.     Jesus Christ’s death as an atoning sacrifice

1 John 4:9-15 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

4.    Jesus Christ’s atoning death as redemption

Galatians 3:10-14English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”[a] 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit[b] through faith.

5.     The atonement is effective because of Jesus Christ’s sinlessness

2 Corinthians 5:21English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1 Peter 2:22-25English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

1 John 3:5English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.

Some thoughts on Atonement from Christian Answers,

By the atonement of Christ, we generally mean his work by which he expiated our sins. But, in the Bible, the word denotes the reconciliation itself, and not the means by which it is effected. When speaking of Christ’s saving work, the word “satisfaction,” the word used by the theologians of the Reformation, is to be preferred to the word “atonement.” Christ’s satisfaction is all he did in the room and in behalf of sinners to satisfy the demands of the law and justice of God. Christ’s work consisted of suffering and obedience, and these were vicarious, i.e., were not merely for our benefit, but were in our stead, as the suffering and obedience of our vicar, or substitute. Our guilt is expiated by the punishment which our vicar bore, and thus God is rendered propitious, i.e., it is now consistent with his justice to manifest his love to transgressors. Expiation has been made for sin, i.e., it is covered.

The means by which it is covered is vicarious satisfaction, and the result of its being covered is atonement or reconciliation. To make atonement is to do that by virtue of which alienation ceases and reconciliation is brought about. Christ’s mediatorial work and sufferings are the ground or efficient cause of reconciliation with God. They rectify the disturbed relations between God and man, taking away the obstacles interposed by sin to their fellowship and concord. The reconciliation is mutual, i.e., it is not only that of sinners toward God, but also and preeminently that of God toward sinners, effected by the sin-offering he himself provided, so that consistently with the other attributes of his character his love might flow forth in all its fullness of blessing to men.

The primary idea presented to us in different forms throughout the Scripture is that the death of Christ is a satisfaction of infinite worth rendered to the law and justice of God (q.v.), and accepted by him in room of the very penalty man had incurred.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Justification

a forensic term, opposed to condemnation. As regards its nature, it is the judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, i.e., as conformed to all its demands. In addition to the pardon (q.v.) of sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied in respect of the justified. It is the act of a judge and not of a sovereign. The law is not relaxed or set aside, but is declared to be fulfilled in the strictest sense; and so the person justified is declared to be entitled to all the advantages and rewards arising from perfect obedience to the law (Rom. 5:1-10).

It proceeds on the imputing or crediting to the believer by God himself of the perfect righteousness, active and passive, of his Representative and Surety, Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:3-9). Justification is not the forgiveness of a man without righteousness, but a declaration that he possesses a righteousness which perfectly and for ever satisfies the law, namely, Christ's righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 4:6-8).

The sole condition on which this righteousness is imputed or credited to the believer is faith in or on the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is called a "condition," not because it possesses any merit, but only because it is the instrument, the only instrument by which the soul appropriates or apprehends Christ and his righteousness (Rom. 1:17; 3:25, 26; 4:20, 22; Phil. 3:8-11; Gal. 2:16).

The act of faith which thus secures our justification secures also at the same time our sanctification (q.v.); and thus the doctrine of justification by faith does not lead to licentiousness (Rom. 6:2-7). Good works, while not the ground, are the certain consequence of justification (6:14; 7:6)

Encyclopedia of The Bible

JUSTIFICATION (δικαίωσις, G1470, justification; δικαιοῦν, to justify). In Christian theology justification is that act of God by which the sinner, who is responsible for his guilt and is under condemnation but believes in Christ, is pronounced just and righteous, or acquitted, by God the judge (Rom 3:28; 4:25; 5:16, 18; 8:28-34). In the Scriptures God justifies by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith.

4. Justification and the righteousness of God. In the broader concept of justification in both OT and NT, the idea of the righteousness of God (dikaiosyne theou) is closely related to God’s judicial act of salvation. At times the terms justification by faith and righteousness of God can be used interchangeably. Paul speaks of this righteousness in Romans 3:21, “Now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, namely the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” The revelation of God’s wrath in the first part of Romans (1:18) is answered by the revelation of God’s saving righteousness in Romans 3. The word for righteousness in Paul is dikaiosyne which is a derivative of dikaio, “to justify.”

The well-known phrase “righteousness of God” as Paul uses it in 1:17, however, is not an attribute of God but the activity of God in saving man. The term is found again and again in the OT where God’s salvation in Christ is “witnessed by the law and the prophets” (3:21). Especially in the Psalms and in Isaiah the term pictures God’s grace in rescuing and delivering His people from sin and the oppressor. Psalm 98:2 (KJV), for example, has this message: “The Lord hath made known his salvation; his righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the heathen.” In Isaiah 56:1, the words occur: “Thus says the Lord: Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come and my deliverance be revealed.” Paul teaches that this righteous activity of God, this saving act of God, is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. God saves men through the atonement of Christ and His merit earned on the cross is appropriated by faith. To have this righteousness is to be justified. The teaching is clear in Romans 3:22-26, esp. in the passage “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ,” and in the words “Whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” All human righteousness and justification are excluded. God’s righteousness revealed in the Gospel is that act of grace by which He cancels the condemnation of His wrath upon man. It is not the attribute of God’s divine justice or holiness, but that righteousness which is the justification of man in Christ, by which He bestows salvation upon man, for Christ’s sake, through faith. Therefore, it is also faith-righteousness since it is God’s righteousness. Faith receives the righteous saving act of God and renounces and looks away from self to find its all-in-all in Christ.

5. Justification and the atonement of Christ. If God’s righteousness is the saving act of God in Christ for man’s salvation, then justification is closely related to our Lord’s atonement. In fact, Christ’s atonement is the grounds for justification. Christ’s person and activity is the justification or reconciliation with God and the basis of all individual justification. It is the only basis upon which God can and does justify the sinner (Rom 3:24; 8:1; 2 Cor 5:18-21). The atonement of Christ answers the question: “How can a just God acquit a sinner; yes, one who remains sinful even after he is justified?” Justification does not mean God “overlooks sin” or acts as if man were not a sinner. The sentimental view which conceives of God as a gracious old “grandfather” who winks at the sins of His “children,” denies the integrity of the true God and destroys any concept of justification. God’s justice and holiness demand payment for sin, and this penalty Christ paid in the atonement on the cross. Thus in justification God devised a plan whereby both His attributes of justice and His love manifested in grace for salvation of sinners are given full meaning.

By making Christ a substitute for man, God preserves His own justice and the same time achieves salvation for the sinner (Rom 3:26). It is un-Biblical, therefore, to speculate whether God could or does forgive without Christ. Sinful men “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forth as an expiation by His blood.”

God is involved in the justification-atonement syndrome in three ways: (1) He is the Initiator, who first loved man. (2) He is the Instrument or Means, who gave Himself in the incarnate Christ as the once-for-all sacrifice for man’s sin. (3) He is also the Object of His saving work, who satisfied His wrath and justice over sin through Christ’s all-atoning sacrifice. At one and the same time God satisfies Himself and forgives the sinner. Therefore, only in Christ does God justify the sinner by imputing Christ’s perfect righteousness to the sinner who has none of his own (2 Cor 5:21). The Scriptures teach plainly that the wrath of God is visited upon by sinful man or else the Son of God must die for them. Either man dies or Christ dies. But God “shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).

Redeemed by the blood of the  Lamb

Read more of the In-depth Series

Saints Set Free, A look at the Believer's Justification & Sanctification, Romans 8 NASB. The In-depth Series

Justification, Imputed Righteousness, Romans 5 NLT, The In-depth Series

The Atonement. The In-depth Series

 

Justification by Faith, Our Righteousness is found in Christ, a look at Imputed Righteousness, Romans 4 ESV (UK), The In-depth Series

Jesus paid it all , all to Him I owe The Believer's Justification & Propitiation, Romans 3 NASB, The In-depth Series

 

He is Risen, Christ is Risen, The Believer's Salvation, 1 Corinthians 15 NASB. The In-depth Series

 

The Revelation of Salvation, 1 Peter 1 NASB. The In-depth Series

Jesus paid it all , all to Him I owe The Believer's Justification & Propitiation, Romans 3 NASB, The In-depth Series

Romans 3 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

All the World Guilty

3 Then what [a]advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What then? If some [b]did not believe, their [c]unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? 4 May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,

“That You may be justified in Your words,

And prevail when You [d]are judged.”

5 But if our unrighteousness [e]demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) 6 May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? [f]Their condemnation is just.

9 What then? [g]Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10 as it is written,

“There is none righteous, not even one;

11 There is none who understands,

There is none who seeks for God;

12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;

There is none who does good,

There is not even one.”

13 “Their throat is an open grave,

With their tongues they keep deceiving,”

“The poison of asps is under their lips”;

14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,

17 And the path of peace they have not known.”

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are [h]under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works [i]of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for [j]through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.



Calvary Covers it all, Hillsongs

Justification by Faith

21 But now apart [k]from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those [l]who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all [m]have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a [n]propitiation [o]in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, [p]because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who [q]has faith in Jesus.

27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 [r]For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works [s]of the Law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed God who will justify the [t]circumcised [u]by faith and the [v]uncircumcised through faith is one.

31 Do we then nullify [w]the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

NIV Application Commentary

The Righteousness of God by Faith (3:21–22a)

In verses 21–22a, Paul reveals the very heart of the good news: God’s righteousness is available to all who put their faith in Jesus Christ. This righteousness is the same as Paul already announced in 1:17. It is better translated “the righteousness of God.” Paul refers to a definite “righteousness”: the process by which God acts to put people in right relationship with himself. The “but now” that opens the paragraph contrasts the situation in the time period before Christ, which Paul has described in the previous chapters, with the situation that now exists after his coming (see also 1 Cor. 15:20; Eph. 2:13; Col. 1:22). In other words, Christ’s coming announces a decisive shift in salvation history.

God’s plan of salvation unfolds in stages—a “history”—and the coming of Jesus the Messiah inaugurates a new stage in that plan. Paul elaborates this idea in the two contrasting phrases “apart from law” and “to which the Law and the Prophets testify.” Some interpreters think Paul is saying that God has made known a new kind of righteousness—one that is “apart from law,” that is, a righteousness not based on the law (the niv translation suggests this interpretation). But it fits Paul’s focus on salvation history better to take the phrase with the verb “make known”; note the nab rendering, that “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.” “Law,” then, as usually in Paul, refers to the Mosaic law.

Paul beautifully captures in just a few words the continuity and discontinuity in God’s plan of salvation. The discontinuity? God reveals his righteousness in Christ “apart from” the law of Moses. Like the “old wineskins” of Jesus’ parable (Mark 2:22), the Mosaic covenant simply cannot contain the “new wine” of the gospel. The continuity? The entire Old Testament (“the Law and the Prophets”) testifies to this new work of God in Christ. The cross is no afterthought, no “Plan B”; it has been God’s intention from the beginning to reveal his saving righteousness by sending his Son as a sacrifice for us.

At the beginning of verse 22, Paul reiterates another point already made in 1:17: This righteousness of God is available only “through faith.” Now, however, Paul is more explicit: God’s righteousness “comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” The translation “faith in Jesus Christ” appears in almost all modern translations. But another translation is possible and is being supported by a growing number of scholars: “faith of Jesus Christ.” The debated construction is a genitive: pisteos Iesou Christou. The niv takes this genitive to be “objective”; that is, “Jesus Christ” is the object of the noun “faith.” But it can equally well be a “subjective” genitive, with Jesus Christ being the subject of “faith” (note the identical construction in 4:16, pisteos Abraam, which means “the faith Abraham exercised”).

This alternative is particularly attractive here because it removes what otherwise seems to be a needless repetition: “faith in Jesus Christ” and “to all who believe.” Paul would then be making clear that our salvation comes about both because of Christ’s “faith” or “faithfulness” to the task God gave him to do as well as from our faith in him. This idea is theologically acceptable, and Paul does use the noun pistis to refer to God’s faithfulness in 3:3.

Other considerations, however, lead me to keep the usual translation here, “faith in Jesus Christ.” In the present context Paul consistently uses pistis to denote the response of believers to God (see, e.g., 3:25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31; also throughout ch. 4). Moreover, Paul’s failure ever to make Jesus the subject of the verb pisteuo (believe, entrust) makes it difficult to think that Iesou Christou is a subjective genitive. Adding “to all who believe” is not needless repetition, because Paul continues to be especially concerned to show that God’s work in Christ is for everyone. His righteousness is “activated” only for those who believe, but it is also for all those who believe.

The Backdrop of Universal Sinfulness (3:22b–23)

Why does God’s righteousness need to be available for “all who believe”? Because “all have sinned.” Paul here inserts a brief reminder of his teaching in 1:18–3:20, which we need to understand to appreciate the universal dimensions of the gospel. As Paul has argued, there is no basic “difference” or “distinction” (diastole; see also 10:12) between people, especially between Jew and Gentile. All are under sin’s power, and all “fall short of the glory of God.”

God’s glory (doxa) in the Bible is, first of all, his own awesome presence. But the Bible teaches that God’s people are destined to share in that glory; thus doxa also describes the eternal destiny of believers (see esp. Rom. 8:18; Phil. 3:21; 2 Thess. 2:14). Jewish texts speak of Adam’s having lost the “glory” of being like God at the time of the Fall, and all human beings since him share that fate. But what the first Adam lost, the second Adam, Christ, will restore.

Matthew Henry's Commentary

Verses 19-31

2. But now how is this for God’s glory?

(1.) It is for the glory of his grace (Rom. 3:24): Justified freely by his grace—dorean te autou chariti. It is by his grace, not by the grace wrought in us as the papists say, confounding justification and sanctification, but by the gracious favour of God to us, without any merit in us so much as foreseen. And, to make it the more emphatic, he says it is freely by his grace, to show that it must be understood of grace in the most proper and genuine sense. It is said that Joseph found grace in the sight of his master (Gen. 39:4), but there was a reason; he saw that what he did prospered. There was something in Joseph to invite that grace; but the grace of God communicated to us comes freely, freely; it is free grace, mere mercy; nothing in us to deserve such favours: no, it is all through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. It comes freely to us, but Christ bought it, and paid dearly for it, which yet is so ordered as not to derogate from the honour of free grace. Christ’s purchase is no bar to the freeness of God’s grace; for grace provided and accepted this vicarious satisfaction.

(2.) It is for the glory of his justice and righteousness (Rom. 3:25, 26): Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, etc. Note, [1.] Jesus Christ is the great propitiation, or propitiatory sacrifice, typified by the hilasterion, or mercy-seat, under the law. He is our throne of grace, in and through whom atonement is made for sin, and our persons and performances are accepted of God, 1 John 2:2. He is all in all in our reconciliation, not only the maker, but the matter of it—our priest, our sacrifice, our altar, our all. God was in Christ as in his mercy-seat, reconciling the world unto himself. [2.] God hath set him forth to be so. God, the party offended, makes the first overtures towards a reconciliation, appoints the days-man; proetheto—fore-ordained him to this, in the counsels of his love from eternity, appointed, anointed him to it, qualified him for it, and has exhibited him to a guilty world as their propitiation. See Matt. 3:17; 17:5. [3.] That by faith in his blood we become interested in this propitiation. Christ is the propitiation; there is the healing plaster provided. Faith is the applying of this plaster to the wounded soul. And this faith in the business of justification hath a special regard to the blood of Christ, as that which made the atonement; for such was the divine appointment that without blood there should be no remission, and no blood but his would do it effectually. Here may be an allusion to the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifices under the law, as Exod. 24:8. Faith is the bunch of hyssop, and the blood of Christ is the blood of sprinkling. [4.] That all who by faith are interested in this propitiation have the remission of their sins that are past. It was for this that Christ was set forth to be a propitiation, in order to remission, to which the reprieves of his patience and forbearance were a very encouraging preface. Through the forbearance of God. Divine patience has kept us out of hell, that we might have space to repent, and get to heaven. Some refer the sins that are past to the sins of the Old-Testament saints, which were pardoned for the sake of the atonement which Christ in the fulness of time was to make, which looked backward as well as forward. Past through the forbearance of God. It is owing to the divine forbearance that we were not taken in the very act of sin. Several Greek copies make en te anoche tou Theou—through the forbearance of God, to begin Rom. 3:26; and they denote two precious fruits of Christ’s merit and God’s grace:—Remission: dia ten paresin—for the remission; and reprieves: the forbearance of God. It is owing to the master’s goodness and the dresser’s mediation that barren trees are let alone in the vineyard; and in both God’s righteousness is declared, in that without a mediator and a propitiation he would not only not pardon, but not so much as forbear, not spare a moment; it is owning to Christ that there is ever a sinner on this side hell. [5.] That God does in all this declare his righteousness. This he insists upon with a great deal of emphasis: To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness. It is repeated, as that which has in it something surprising. He declares his righteousness, First, In the propitiation itself. Never was there such a demonstration of the justice and holiness of God as there was in the death of Christ. It appears that he hates sin, when nothing less than the blood of Christ would satisfy for it. Finding sin, though but imputed, upon his own Son, he did not spare him, because he had made himself sin for us, 2 Cor. 5:21. The iniquities of us all being laid upon him, though he was the Son of his love, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, Isa. 53:10. Secondly, In the pardon upon that propitiation; so it follows, by way of explication: That he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth. Mercy and truth are so met together, righteousness and peace have so kissed each other, that it is now become not only an act of grace and mercy, but an act of righteousness, in God, to pardon the sins of penitent believers, having accepted the satisfaction that Christ by dying made to his justice for them. It would not comport with his justice to demand the debt of the principal when the surety has paid it and he has accepted that payment in full satisfaction. See 1 John 1:9. He is just, that is, faithful to his word.

Asbury Bible Commentary

A. Righteousness Through Faith (3:21-26)

Against the background of sin and judgment, another aspect of God's righteousness is revealed. As in the OT, the righteousness of God provides salvation for human beings.

But now (v. 21) marks both temporal and logical contrasts with the preceding section. Before this time, God's righteousness in providing salvation was not yet manifested. It was revealed only as the wrath of God. Yet the wrath of God is not entirely in the past. There still will be a future wrath of God (5:9). Therefore, the contrast is not merely temporal. It is logical as well.

Through his provision of salvation, God grants to men and women the good standing of right relationship with him. This relationship is not earned by them through the works of the law of the OT. Yet the OT testifies to it. It is a free gift of God. All who believe can receive it through faith in Jesus Christ.

This provision of salvation is necessary because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (v. 23). In v. 23 Paul summarizes 1:18-3:20. In 1:18-3:20 Paul indicates that men and women refuse to acknowledge and glorify God. The Jews' lack of obedience to the law is a manifestation of this negative attitude toward God.

Fundamentally, sin is not relating to God properly. The relationship between God and human beings is estranged. As a result, they fall short of the glory God intended for them to have—the glory Adam had before his fall (Barrett, 74). This includes the good standing of right relationship with God, which issues in intimate fellowship with him. When that relationship was destroyed, God made a provision through Jesus Christ so that he could graciously grant to them the good standing of right relationship with him. The granting of this relationship is called justification. In this section Paul uses two concepts to explain the provision God made in Jesus Christ.

The first concept is redemption (v. 24), which is release of a captive by payment of a price or ransom (Clarke, on v. 24). The redemption came by Christ Jesus. He came to give his life as a ransom for many (Mt 20:28). The recipient of the ransom price is not a part of this concept. God redeemed Israel from Egypt (Ex 15:13). However, God never paid any ransom to the Egyptians. The expression merely indicates that it cost God something to bring Israel out of Egypt. Probably this is the meaning of God's redeeming Israel with an outstretched arm (Ex 6:6). Likewise, Paul merely indicates that it cost God a great deal, the life of his own Son, to provide this salvation. What we are freed from is treated later in Romans.

The second concept is sacrifice of atonement (v. 25). This is a translation of the Greek word hilastērion. The NIV footnote indicates two possible interpretations: “as the one who would turn aside his wrath” or “taking away sin.” NASB translates it as “propitiation,” and RSV as “expiation.” A person who is angry or offended is propitiated, i.e., appeased. Propitiation may refer to the gift given to appease or to the act of appeasing the angry or offended person. Sin and guilt that weigh upon the conscience of an offender are expiated, i.e., removed or wiped away. Expiation refers to the means or the act of removing the sin and guilt.

The Bible Panorama

Romans 3

V 1–8: ADVANTAGED? This chapter asks a lot of questions. First, if acceptance with God is a circumcision of the heart, and not an outward circumcision, what advantage does a Jew have in being a member of the circumcision? Paul confirms the great privileges of being a physical Jew. Of course, he knows this as a Jew himself. They have the Scriptures as the ‘oracles of God’. The sinful unbelief of some of the Jews does not negate God’s faithfulness in giving them these privileges. The very sinfulness of the Jews demonstrates the wonder of those Scriptures and the righteous and holy standards of God by which they are judged. That is not to say that Jews must sin more to make God’s standards of holiness appear greater. God loves holiness and will judge the world for being unholy.

 V 9–20: BETTER? Paul asks if Jews are better than Gentiles, and concludes, ‘Not at all.’ Everyone is unrighteous, self-seeking not God-seeking, practising evil in word and deed, and living without the conscious fear of God. As the whole world is guilty, then there is no one in the world who can be justified by anything he or she does.

 V 21–26: CHRIST Only Jesus Christ can justify a sinner, be he Gentile or Jew. Given that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’, it is the righteousness of God, put to our account when we put our faith in Christ, that is seen by God as ours and justifies us because we have no righteousness of our own. Not only that, but Christ shed His blood as a ‘propitiation’. That means that, when Christ died on the cross for our sins, our wicked rebellion that offended our holy God was punished by His wrath falling on Christ in our place. Thus cleansed by His precious blood and with His righteousness put to our account, we find that, as we put our faith in Him, we are justified by Him who is both just and the Justifier.

 V 27–31: DIFFERENCE? The six questions put in this short section basically ask a more fundamental question: what difference does this make? It excludes boasting because we are justified by faith, not by our own deeds. He is the God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews because all can come to Him by faith. God’s law is not annulled by faith in Christ, but rather it is fulfilled, because His just sacrifice fulfils the law for us. We have a desire to walk in that law through Christ, not in order to be justified, but to obey Him.

Dictionary of Bible Themes

6677 justification, necessity of

Sinful, law-breaking humanity needs a means of justification because of its failure to keep God’s law and live up to God’s requirements.

Justification in human relationships

The acquittal of the innocent Dt 25:1 See also Pr 17:15; Isa 43:9,26; Ro 8:33

Justification of oneself Job 32:2 See also Lk 10:29; Lk 16:15; Lk 18:9-14

The need for justification

The reality of God’s righteousness Ps 11:7 See also Ps 33:5; Ps 35:28; Jer 23:6; Mt 6:33; Jn 17:25; Ro 1:17; Ro 3:22

The reality of God’s justice Ps 9:8 See also Job 36:3; Ps 11:7; Ps 33:5; Isa 5:16; Jer 9:24; Lk 18:7; Rev 19:11

The reality of God’s judgment Ge 18:25 See also Jdg 11:27; Ps 51:4; Mic 6:2; Mt 12:36; Ro 2:16

The reality of God’s law Jas 4:12 See also Ex 20:2-17 pp Dt 5:6-21; Ps 19:7; Isa 33:22; Ro 7:12,16; Ro 8:3-4; 1Ti 1:8

Human guilt shows the need for justification

Ps 143:2 See also Ro 3:23; 1Jn 1:8,10

People are unable to justify themselves, even through the law

Isa 64:6; Ro 3:20-21; Gal 2:15-16 See also Am 4:4; Mt 5:20; Lk 10:29; Lk 16:15; Lk 18:9-14; Ro 1:17; Ro 3:20; Gal 2:21; Gal 3:2-3; Gal 2:11 Paul opposes Peter’s position on circumcision; Gal 5:4; Php 3:4-8

6678 justification, and Jesus Christ’s work

On account of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the demands of the law of God are met, and believers are granted the status of being righteous in the sight of God.

Justification is grounded in the death of Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ’s death shields believers from God’s wrath Ro 5:9 See also Ro 3:24; Ro 4:25; Ro 5:18; 1Pe 2:24

Jesus Christ’s death fulfils the demands of the law of God Ro 8:3-4 See also Ro 3:25-26; Gal 3:13; 1Jn 2:2

Justification is grounded in the resurrection of Jesus Christ

Ro 4:25; Ro 10:9-10 See also Ac 2:22-39; Ac 4:10-12; Ac 17:30-31; 1Pe 3:18-21

Justification means believers are reckoned as righteous through the death of Jesus Christ

Ro 5:19; 1Co 1:30; 2Co 5:21 See also 1Co 6:9-11; Php 3:8-9 The term “imputation” is used to refer to the process by which God treats believers as being righteous in his sight on account of Jesus Christ’s death.

Justification is received by faith

Ro 1:17 pp Gal 3:11 See also Hab 2:4; Ro 5:1; Eph 2:8

The example of Abraham Ge 15:6 See also Ro 4:1-5,9-22; Gal 3:6-9,16-18

The example of David Ro 4:6-8; Ps 32:1-2

Apostolic teaching on the need of faith for justification Ac 13:39 See also Ro 3:22,25,27-30; Ro 4:5; Ro 5:1; Ro 9:30-32; Ro 10:10; 1Co 6:11; Gal 2:16; Gal 3:8,14; Eph 2:8

Justification is a gift of God’s grace

Ro 3:24 See also Ro 5:15-17; Ro 8:33; Tit 3:7

Not by works or the law Gal 3:11 See also Ro 3:20; Ro 4:5; Gal 2:16,21; Gal 3:2-5,24; Gal 5:4-6; Eph 2:8-9

Dictionary of Bible Themes

6712 propitiation

The satisfaction of the righteous demands of God in relation to human sin and its punishment through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ upon the cross, by which the penalty of sin is cancelled and the anger of God averted. [The NIV is distinctive at this point, in that it generally translates this term by “atonement” and related words.].

The need for propitiation: God’s anger against sin

Ps 7:11; Ro 2:5 See also Ex 32:11-14; Nu 32:8-15; Dt 6:14-15; 2Ki 23:26; Ps 78:38; Isa 30:27-31; Da 9:16-19; Hos 11:8-9; Mt 25:41-46; Jn 3:36; Ro 1:18; Eph 5:6

The provision of propitiation: Jesus Christ the atoning sacrifice

The promise in the OT Isa 53:5-6 See also Isa 53:10-12

The fulfilment in the NT Ro 3:21-26 See also Ro 5:9-10; Col 1:21-22; Heb 2:17; Heb 9:11-14; 1Jn 2:2

The motivation for propitiation: God’s love

1Jn 4:10 See also Ps 85:2-3; Ps 103:8-12; Mic 7:18-19; Ro 5:6-8; 2Co 5:19

  

Easton’s Bible Dictionary

Justification

a forensic term, opposed to condemnation. As regards its nature, it is the judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, i.e., as conformed to all its demands. In addition to the pardon (q.v.) of sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied in respect of the justified. It is the act of a judge and not of a sovereign. The law is not relaxed or set aside, but is declared to be fulfilled in the strictest sense; and so the person justified is declared to be entitled to all the advantages and rewards arising from perfect obedience to the law (Rom. 5:1-10).

It proceeds on the imputing or crediting to the believer by God himself of the perfect righteousness, active and passive, of his Representative and Surety, Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:3-9). Justification is not the forgiveness of a man without righteousness, but a declaration that he possesses a righteousness which perfectly and for ever satisfies the law, namely, Christ's righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 4:6-8).

The sole condition on which this righteousness is imputed or credited to the believer is faith in or on the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is called a "condition," not because it possesses any merit, but only because it is the instrument, the only instrument by which the soul appropriates or apprehends Christ and his righteousness (Rom. 1:17; 3:25, 26; 4:20, 22; Phil. 3:8-11; Gal. 2:16).

The act of faith which thus secures our justification secures also at the same time our sanctification (q.v.); and thus the doctrine of justification by faith does not lead to licentiousness (Rom. 6:2-7). Good works, while not the ground, are the certain consequence of justification (6:14; 7:6).

Encyclopedia of The Bible

JUSTIFICATION (δικαίωσις, G1470, justification; δικαιοῦν, to justify). In Christian theology justification is that act of God by which the sinner, who is responsible for his guilt and is under condemnation but believes in Christ, is pronounced just and righteous, or acquitted, by God the judge (Rom 3:28; 4:25; 5:16, 18; 8:28-34). In the Scriptures God justifies by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith.

14. Summary of doctrine of justification. The following items or aspects may be considered a summary of the doctrine of justification as taught in the Holy Scriptures: (1) Justification is an act of God. In both the OT and NT, God is the initiator and actor in the Covenant and man’s salvation. It is a once-for-all act which is already accomplished in Christ (Rom 5:16-18). (2) Justification is a forensic act of God. God declares the sinner or the ungodly righteous in His sight (5:8). (3) Justification is based upon the atonement of Christ. God justifies a sinner for Christ’s sake. Without the substitutionary atonement of Christ God could not forgive the sinner all his sins without being unjust (3:24). (4) Justification is objective or universal. In the Gospel God offers the forgiveness of sins gained by Christ to the whole world (John 3:16). Personal or subjective justification is impossible without universal justification. (5) Justification is remission or forgiveness of sins. Justification is the same as forgiveness of sins. God does not count man’s sins against him but forgives them and sets him free (Rom 4:7, 8). (6) Justification is remission of punishment. The justified believer is declared free from the demands of the law and all condemnation resulting from sin against the law (3:25; 6:7).

It is more than pardon of sin, but a declaration by God. The sinner, though guilty, is relieved of the consequences of his guilt and sin.

(7) Justification is reconciliation of the sinner to God. Justification by faith restores the sinner to personal relationship with God as Father. Mere acquittal or remission of sin would be tantamount to discharging a criminal from the court room in alienation. Justification implies that God looks upon a sinner as if he had not sinned since he is again His child (Luke 15:1ff.; Gal 3:6; 2 Cor 5:19, 20). (8) Justification is imputation of God’s righteousness. Since the sinner has no righteousness of his own by which to be justified in God’s spiritual court, the salvation which Christ wrought through His life and works is imputed to the Christian as his own righteousness (Rom 3:25, 26; 2 Cor 5:19, 20). (9) Justification excludes salvation by works. Scripture not only teaches that man is justified without works, but also denounces any introduction of works into God’s justification (Rom 10:2, 3; Gal 3:10-14; 5:4). (10) Justification presupposes God’s universal grace. By grace God justified man and not because of the influence of man on God (Eph 1:1-4). God loves and therefore justifies all men alike (John 3:16). (11) Justification is by faith. The fact that justification is “by faith alone” does not exclude God’s grace, Christ’s work, or the means of grace (Word and Sacrament). Being justified by grace, for Christ’s sake, through the Gospel, is being justified by faith alone to the exclusion of works. Faith alone is the instrument of receiving justification so that works are excluded (Rom 3:28; Eph 2:8-10). (12) Justification is bestowed through the means of grace. Although God justifies man, He offers His justification through the Word of the Gospel and the sacraments. Justification is pronounced in the Word of the Gospel (Rom 10:5-12). (13) Just ification is followed by good works and a life of faith. Although the presence of good works is not the condition to receive justification, justification through the Gospel by faith offers the power of the Holy Spirit in men’s lives so that they lead a life of good works (James 2:14, 15; Rom 6:1-6). (14) Justification is central to all Christian teaching. The teachings of God; the person and work of Christ, sin, anthropology, Word and Sacrament, law and Gospel, are all involved in the doctrine of justification. In this broad sense, “justification by faith” is theological shorthand for the various terms and concepts of Scripture to describe the entire action of God for man’s salvation. See Atonement.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Propitiation

that by which God is rendered propitious, i.e., by which it becomes consistent with his character and government to pardon and bless the sinner. The propitiation does not procure his love or make him loving; it only renders it consistent for him to execise his love towards sinners.

In Rom. 3:25 and Heb. 9:5 (A.V., "mercy-seat") the Greek word _hilasterion_ is used. It is the word employed by the LXX. translators in Ex. 25:17 and elsewhere as the equivalent for the Hebrew _kapporeth_, which means "covering," and is used of the lid of the ark of the covenant (Ex. 25:21; 30:6). This Greek word (hilasterion) came to denote not only the mercy-seat or lid of the ark, but also propitation or reconciliation by blood. On the great day of atonement the high priest carried the blood of the sacrifice he offered for all the people within the veil and sprinkled with it the "mercy-seat," and so made propitiation.

In 1 John 2:2; 4:10, Christ is called the "propitiation for our sins." Here a different Greek word is used (hilasmos). Christ is "the propitiation," because by his becoming our substitute and assuming our obligations he expiated our guilt, covered it, by the vicarious punishment which he endured. (Comp. Heb. 2:17, where the expression "make reconciliation" of the A.V. is more correctly in the R.V. "make propitiation.")

Encyclopedia of The Bible

PROPITIATION (ἱλασμός, G2662, propitiation; καταλλαγή, G2903, reconciliation). The word “propitiation” is closely related to the word “expiation.” The difference in meaning may be summarized as follows: a person who is angry or offended is propitiated, i.e., appeased; whereas sin and guilt, which weigh upon the conscience of the offender are expiated, i.e., removed or wiped away. A significant debate in current Biblical and theological studies concerns the question of whether or not the Bible ever speaks of God being propitiated. Because of this difference of opinion, the same passages of Scripture are sometimes tr. with the word “propitiation” that are rendered in other VSS by “expiation” (see Rom 3:25; 1 John 2:2; 4:10, where the KJV has “propitiation” and the RSV has “expiation”). In like manner, the same passages cited in an article on propitiation are in another article cited to illumine the idea of expiation. Behind this striking lack of concensus is a fundamental theological issue; namely how shall one conceive of the wrath of God?

In this context of God’s personal activity, hilaskomai and its derivatives, when used in the NT to interpret the work of Christ, should be understood in the sense of propitiation of the divine wrath. Perhaps the most important passage in this regard is Romans 3:25 (KJV). Paul is saying that God has set forth Christ as a “mercy seat” for sinners. He employs the same Gr. word, hilasterion, that is used in the LXX to designate the cover on the Ark that was the “place of propitiation” in the Day of Atonement ritual. Since, however, in this passage, Paul is not discussing the details of the sacrificial system, and since it is somewhat complicated to think of Christ as both the sacrifice and the place where the sacrifice was offered, many scholars prefer to understand the passage to say, Whom God set forth to be a “propitiatory sacrifice,” or a “propitiation,” through faith in His blood. In any case, the general meaning is that those who are out of favor are restored to favor, because of a change of mind, not in those who by faith plead the blood, but in the One to whom it is offered.

With this interpretation agrees the affirmation in Hebrews 2:17, where it is said that Christ had to share in our human nature, “in order that he might make propitiation with reference to the sins of the people” (orig. tr.). There being no direct reference in this passage to the divine wrath, it would be possible to argue that the verb means “to expiate,” taking its meaning from its object, “the sins of the people.” In the larger context of the epistle as a whole, Christ is the High Priest “in things pertaining to God,” which gives the passage a Godward rather than a manward reference.

John wrote, “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:1, 2 KJV). 1 John 4:10 declares that God “loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (KJV). Here the case for “expiation” is less plausible than in Hebrews 2:17, for Christ is called an “advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1). Now if God is so related to the sinner that the latter needs an “advocate,” this implies that Christ does more than purge guilt; He stands between the sinner and God, which suggests propitiation. Furthermore, John alluded both to Christ’s blood and to the fact that He is the “righteous one,” which is reminiscent of the confluence of ideas (1:7; cf. Rom 3:25).

Note should be taken of the important truth that this propitiation in Christ does not originate, as in heathen worship, with the one who brings the sacrifice. Rather it is God Himself, motivated by love, who provides the propitiation as a free gift. In this teaching are preserved both the severity of the divine reaction against sin, and the depths of the divine love for the sinner.

Read more of the In-depth Series

Saints Set Free, A look at the Believer's Justification & Sanctification, Romans 8 NASB. The In-depth Series

Justification, Imputed Righteousness, Romans 5 NLT, The In-depth Series

The Atonement. The In-depth Series

 

Justification by Faith, Our Righteousness is found in Christ, a look at Imputed Righteousness, Romans 4 ESV (UK), The In-depth Series

 

Set Free from Sin and it's power, Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, Romans 6 ESV (UK) , Some thoughts on Atonement and Justification, The In-depth Series

He is Risen, Christ is Risen, The Believer's Salvation, 1 Corinthians 15 NASB. The In-depth Series

 

The Revelation of Salvation, 1 Peter 1 NASB. The In-depth Series

Yours by His Grace, for the sake of His Church & Kingdom

Be Blessed & Encouraged Today

Blair Humphreys,

Southport,  Merseyside, England