Sermon Tone Analysis
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Tone of specific sentences
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! WHAT DO WE MEAN BY /PROPITIATION/?
!
DOES IT ONLY COUNT IF WE ACCEPT IT?*[1]*
!!! I. INTRODUCTION
Have you ever heard an illustration like this?
A man is spending his last week on death row.
Suddenly the warden appears and shows him a piece of paper.
The paper is a full pardon signed by the Governor.
After the man looks it over, he says, “I don’t want it.”
He hands it back to the warden.
The illustration ends with the execution of the condemned man.
What’s wrong with this story?
Well, to begin with, there is no way a state would execute a pardoned man.
The prisoner would be ushered unceremoniously out of his cell—at least eventually, depending on legal technicalities.
Yet users of such an illustration think it is a good one.
If human beings reject the pardon Jesus Christ bought for them by His death on the cross, they will go to hell and pay for their sins.
Can this be true?
No, it cannot.
!!! II.
JESUS, OUR PROPITIATION
The illustration above cannot be correct.
The reason is that it denies the reality of the propitiation that the Lord Jesus Christ made on the cross.
An expected objection must be confronted.
Someone might argue this way: “The propitiation that Jesus made on the cross is real.
It is fully adequate for all men.
However, it is only effective if men believe it.”
This view leads to a new illustration.
A man deposits one billion dollars in the bank.
Any debtor can come and draw freely on the account.
It is sufficient to meet his needs.
If he doesn’t draw on it, the account does not pay for his debt.
/He /has to pay for it.
What’s wrong with /this /story?
The same thing as before.
It denies the reality of the propitiation that Jesus made on the cross.
Nothing has really been paid for.
Such illustrations fly into the face of the Word of God.
Listen to the words of the Apostle John in 1 John 2:2, referring to Jesus Christ:
/ “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, /
/and not for ours only but also/
/for the whole world.”/
The Greek word translated “propitiation” (/hilasmos/) means either “appeasement necessitated by sin” or “expiation.”[2]
The long-running debate centering on the difference between “appeasement” and “expiation” can be ignored.
It does not really make a difference to this discussion.
The word “appeasement,” or the softer term “satisfaction,” are each acceptable here.
The concept of propitiation refers to something that appeases, or satisfies, the righteous justice of God.
The word “satisfaction” is a pretty good equivalent.
But is there anything in 1 John 2:2 about Jesus Christ being /potentially/ the “satisfaction” for the sins of the world?
No, there is not.
The Apostle flatly states that Jesus /is the propitiation /for the sins of “the whole world.”
He /is /that.
Not that He /can /be, or /potentially /is, but He simply /is/.
Note, too, that this statement is exactly parallel to the truth that He is the propitiation for /our /sins.
In whatever sense He is the propitiation for /our /sins, He is also the propitiation for the sins of the whole world.
Very simply put, the propitiatory work of our Lord Jesus Christ is /universally /effective.
That is true whether anyone believes it or not.
On the cross, Jesus paid for every single sin that has ever been committed by any person who has ever lived on the face of the earth.
That is magnificent and overwhelming!
Of course, the same truth is stated by the Apostle Paul in 2 Cor 5:19
where he writes,
/“God was in Christ/
/ reconciling the world to Himself,/
/ not imputing their trespasses to them . .
.”/
At the cross, God imputed the/ /sins of the /entire world /to Jesus Christ and did /not /impute them to the/ /world./
/Paul also expresses this truth in 1 Tim 2:5-6:
/“For there is one God/
/and one Mediator between God and men,/
/the /*/Man Christ Jesus, who/*
*/gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time./*”
Again, in whatever sense He is a ransom for us, He is a ransom /for all/.
For the same reason, John the Baptist declared in John 1:29: “Behold!
The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
Unfortunately, many Christians do not understand the splendid universal sufficiency of the work of Christ on the cross.
They frequently misrepresent it when they evangelize the unconverted.
Fortunately, one does not have to have a perfect understanding of the cross to be saved.
If that were the case, probably no one would be saved.
!!! III.
PROPITIATION AND FINAL JUDGMENT
At this point, someone will ask, “But how can God send anybody to hell if Jesus paid for all their sins on the cross?”
Good question.
In fact, so good that it is a shame that grace people haven’t tried very often to answer it clearly.
Reformed people, however, have faced this issue and have an answer of their own.
In their view, if Christ died for all of a man’s sins, then that man can’t be sent to hell.
Therefore, he must be among the elect.
This leads directly to the conclusion that Christ really died only for the elect.
This is the doctrine of limited atonement.
Christ did not die /effectively/ for the sins of all humanity.
The key word, of course, is /effectively/.
In some sense, a Reformed person might suggest, the cross may be viewed as sufficient for all, but effective only for the elect.
Obviously, the Reformed answer is inadequate for grace people.
But what should /our /answer be like?
Let me state it and then try to support it.
Here it is: *Since Christ effectively died for the sins of the entire world,* *nobody goes to hell for their sins.
They go to hell because they do not have eternal life.*
This suggested answer is confirmed by the biblical account of the final judgment found in Rev 20:11-15.
The first thing that strikes us about this account is that there is no mention of sin.
That is very important: /there is no mention of sin in Rev/ /20:11-15./
Of course, there /is /mention of men’s works.
Revelation 20:12 states,
/“And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books/
/were opened.
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