Note on Propitiation

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 16
To remove all doubt as to the truth of propitiation, it should be distinctly stated that while it is true that God did not need to be reconciled to us (2 Corinthians 5:18,1918And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18‑19)), and that while He in His grace and love provided all that was necessary in the propitiation to meet His holy claims on the sinner (Romans 3:2525Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (Romans 3:25), 1 John 4:1010Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)), yet that He absolutely required the propitiation as the alone ground on which He could righteously meet and justify the sinner. (Romans 35: 1) Moreover, while God has Himself provided the propitiation, He meets the sinner in His perfect and blessed grace in Christ’s upon the ground of his being guilty so as to need it, so that his conscience should be exercised according to God’s estimate of his state.
When it is sometimes said that God did not need to be propitiated, it should be understood as meaning that He did not need to be moved or disposed to act in grace toward us; for, indeed, He “commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)) The truth is, God could not, consistently with all that He is, receive and justify the sinner until propitiation had been made; for it was that alone which met His claims upon guilty men, and this propitiation was made only by the blood of Christ. To ignore or deny this would be to undermine, as far as man could do it, the very foundations of God’s holy throne.
The Editor