Church Words- Week 3

Week 3 Text: Romans 3:21–31 Topics: Atonement, Propitiation, Imputed Righteousness Big Idea of the Message: We are right with God because of the death of Jesus. Application Point: Has the atonement created an attitude of grateful humility in you? If not, take some time this week to contemplate what God has done for you in Jesus’s death and resurrection.

Sermon Ideas and Talking Points:

InthenovelTheHungerGames,thenationofPanemhasaCapitolthatrules over twelve districts. Every year a lottery is held to choose two young tributes from each district to compete in a gladiator-style reality TV competition where they fight to the death. Katniss Everdeen’s worst nightmare comes true when her little sister Prim gets selected to be a tribute, so she volunteers to go in her place. Katniss’s selfless act of volunteering to take her sister’s place can serve as an illustration of the substitution of one person so another can go free (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games [New York: Scholastic Press, 2008]). (Of course, since Panem is an evil empire and Katniss an imperfect human, the analogy breaks down, but it does show us the power of a sacrificial act on behalf of another.)

Thewordwearelookingattodayhasacomplicatedhistory.IntheESVitis translated as “propitiation”; in other versions (such as the NIV) it is translated as “atonement.” The more common word used in church is probably atonement “The term atonement developed in the English language in the 16th century by the combination of ‘at onement,’ meaning to ‘set at one,’ or ‘to reconcile.’ It was used in the various English translations of the Bible, including the King James Version (1611), to convey the idea of reconciliation and expiation, and it has been a favourite way for Christians to speak about the saving significance attributed to the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Various theories of the meaning of the Atonement of Christ have arisen: satisfaction for the sins of the world; redemption from the devil or from the wrath of God; a saving example of true, suffering love; the prime illustration of divine mercy; a divine victory over the forces of evil” (Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, s.v. “Atonement,” July 20, 1998, https://www.britannica.com/topic/atonement-religion).

ThisiswhatPaulisspeakingofinRomans3:21–32.Inverses22–23,helaysout the case (which he has been building previously) that everyone is guilty of sin. It doesn’t matter what your spiritual pedigree is or which ethnic people group you belong to: there is no distinction in the eyes of God, because everyone has fallen short of God’s glory. And this knowledge is a revelation of God’s wrath against sin (Romans 1:18). But those who believe in Jesus are made right through a specific means laid out in verse 25: by the propitiation brought about through the blood of Jesus.

4. TheGreekwordtranslatedas“propitiation”ishilastērion(Strong’sGreek Concordance, s.v. “G2345, hilastērion,” https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2435&t=KJV). To propitiate typically means to calm someone who is angry. Within the Christian church there are some different interpretations of what exactly that word means in this context. One is to refer to the mercy seat that is found on the ark of the covenant. In the inner part of the temple, the golden lid of the ark had an area called the mercy seat where, on the Day of Atonement, the priest would sprinkle the blood from the sacrifices (Exodus 25:22; Leviticus 15:1–34), so Jesus is considered to be the mercy seat: the place where God meets with his people and forgives them. This view was held by Luther and Calvin. Another interpretation is that to propitiate means that by the blood of Jesus, the wrath of God is satisfied. As John Stott writes of this verse, here “Paul is describing God’s solution to the human predicament, which is not only sin but God’s wrath upon sin” (John Stott, The Message of Romans, The Bible Speaks Today [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994], 114). Throughout history, Christians have tried to understand the atonement through a variety of atonement theories. These theories need not be placed in opposition to one another but can best be used to complement one another. Mark Dever writes, “Why pit these theories against each other and discount, ignore, or diminish biblical language that describes the death of Christ? While a victor may have moral influence on those for whom he conquered, may he not also be a substitute? While Christ's example of self-giving love may also defeat our enemies, may he not, by the same act, propitiate God's wrath? Each of the theories conveys biblical truth about the atoning work of Christ” (Mark Dever, “Nothing But the Blood,” Christianity Today, May 1, 2006, https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/may/9.29.html?share=dC%2fkgtRwKv 5HD6ctux0Z%2fq3xSVz5dxNT&utm_medium=widgetsocial).

5. Godmakesatonement,asitsaysinverse25,bypassingoveroursins.SoGod sees the sins of humanity, sees the blood of Jesus, sees those who have faith in Jesus, and his presence is not bothered by our sinfulness because of the blood of Christ. There is a lot of language here that builds upon the foundation in the Old Testament of the temple sacrifice, the Passover, and the Day of Atonement. The consequence of this action should be humility (Romans 3:27–29). We cannot boast about anything we have done when it comes to our standing before God. We do not bring the sacrifice to God; we do not make the sacrifice to God; all we do is believe that Jesus’s sacrifice was sufficient. Propitiation, practically speaking, should create followers of Jesus who are grateful and humble.