Lesson 5-Propitiation Series-Tuesday February 15, 2022-The Propitiatory Sacrifice and the Mercy Seat
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday February 15, 2022
Propitiation Series: The Propitiatory Sacrifice and the Mercy Seat
Lesson # 5
The apostle Paul teaches in Romans 3:25 that God the Father offered publicly His one and only Son Jesus Christ at the cross as a propitiatory gift for the entire human race.
Romans 3:25 whom God the Father offered publicly as a propitiatory gift through faith by means of His blood in order to demonstrate His righteousness because of the deliberate and temporary suspension of judgment of the sins, which have taken place in the past on the basis of the tolerance originating from the character and nature of God the Father. (Lecturer’ translation)
“As a propitiation” is the accusative neuter singular form of the adjective hilasterion, which means, “propitiatory gift.”
In classical Greek, “propitiation” refers to the act of appeasing the Greek gods by a sacrifice and was an effort to, as Wuest writes, “to buy off the anger of the gods and buy his love.”
Of course, this is not the case with the God of the Bible since His justice must be satisfied before He can do anything for us.
The LXX uses the word hilasterion 22 times for the Hebrew kapporeth, which functions as a technical term for the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant in both the LXX and NT.
The mercy seat was the golden lid of the Ark of the Covenant.
Now, in Romans 3:25, Paul’s use of the adjective hilasterion, “propitiation” recalls the “gift offering” in Leviticus chapter two and not the “burnt offering” in Leviticus chapter one.
The reason this is the case is that the word refers to the fact that Jesus Christ is the “propitiatory gift” from the Father whose spiritual and physical deaths satisfied the demands of His holiness, which required that human sin be judged.
There were five Levitical offerings authorized by the Mosaic Law (Lev. 1-6).
The “burnt offering” taught propitiation with emphasis on the work of Christ (Lev. 1) whereas the “gift offering” taught propitiation but this bloodless offering portrayed the perfect Person of Jesus Christ (Lev. 2).
The “peace offering” called for the shedding of blood and taught the doctrine of reconciliation (Lev. 3).
The “sin offering” taught the forgiveness of unknown sins, which John calls in 1 John 1:9, “all unrighteousness.”
The “trespass offering” taught the confession of known sins (See 1 John 1:9; Psalm 32:1-5).
Therefore, hilasterion, “propitiatory sacrifice” corresponds to the gift offering in Leviticus 2:1-16, which emphasizes the Person of Christ.
In Romans 3:25, Paul’s use of the adjective hilasterion also recalls the one of the seven feasts of Israel called “the Day of Atonement.”
Many expositors consider hilasterion as functioning in Romans 3:25 as a substantive rather than as an adjective, thus effecting their interpretation and translation of the word.
Thus, they translate hilasterion, “the place of propitiation” or “mercy seat” referring to the fact that Jesus Christ is the “place of propitiation” or the fulfillment of the “mercy seat” in the Old Testament.
They substantiate this interpretation and translation on the basis that the word is used in the Septuagint to translate kapporeth, which referred to the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant.
However, as Robertson pointed out, citing Deissmann and even Scofield suggested hilasterion should be translated as an adjective meaning “propitiatory gift,” or “the gift which procures propitiation.”
This indicates then that Jesus Christ is the “propitiatory gift” from the Father whose spiritual and physical deaths on the cross satisfied the demands of God’s holiness, which required that human sin be judged.
In Hebrews 9:5, the adjective hilasterion should be translated as a substantive since it is clearly referring to the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant in Old Testament Israel.
However, in Romans 3:25, the adjective should not be translated as a substantive but rather as an adjective since the verb protithemi in this same passage means, “to offer publicly,” thus indicating that God the Father gave His Son as a “propitiatory gift” to sinful humanity.
The adjective “propitiatory” means “serving or intended to propitiate.”
Therefore, Jesus Christ was a gift from God the Father to sinful humanity whose purpose was to serve humanity by propitiating the demands of God’s holiness that required that human sin be judged.
Therefore, we can conclude in Romans 3:25 that Paul is saying that God the Father offered His Son Jesus Christ publicly at the cross of Calvary as a propitiatory gift in the sense that His spiritual and physical deaths on the cross satisfied the demands of God’s holiness that required that human sin be judged.
The adjective hilasterion, “propitiatory gift” along with the words hilasmos and hilaskomai help to form the doctrine of propitiation and recall the Day of Atonement and the Burnt and Gift Offerings in the Leviticus 1 and 2.
Propitiation along with redemption and reconciliation form the “Finished Work” of Jesus Christ on the cross.
It is the Godward side of salvation whereby the voluntary substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ satisfied the righteous demands of a holy God that the sins of the entire world-past, present and future be judged.
“Propitiation” means that our Lord’s spiritual and physical death on the cross “satisfied” God’s holiness, which demanded that the sins of the entire human race be judged.
Remember Paul teaches in Romans 1:18-3:20 that God’s wrath or righteous indignation is against all people due to sin.
The wrath or righteous indignation of God needed to be satisfied and Christ and His spiritual death did just that.
Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths satisfied God’s righteous indignation against human sin.
The fact that Jesus Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths satisfied the demands of God’s holiness, which required that human sin be judged, permitted God to extend grace to the human race, enabling Him to offer to the entire human race the gift of salvation through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Once God’s righteous indignation towards human sin had been satisfied by our Lord’s spiritual and physical deaths on the cross, God was free to extend grace to the entire human race the offer of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
The fact that Jesus Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths propitiated the demands of God’s holiness, which required that sin be judged provided the following: (1) Basis for the unlimited atonement (1 John 2:2; 1 Tim. 2:5; 2 Pet. 3:9). (2) Basis for the forgiveness of sins (2 Cor. 5:19; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9:12-15). (3) Basis for the imputation of divine righteousness (Rom. 3:25-26). (4) Basis for justification (Rom. 3:28; 2 Cor. 5:21). (5) Basis for reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18; Eph. 2:14-16; Col. 1:20-21).