Featured Free Grace Theology without Penal Substitutionary Atonement, and Free Grace Theology with it.

After reading some of a commentary on Romans by Zane Hodges, I began to have more confidence in the Free Grace Position, but I did not know that GES, which teaches Free Grace Theology, if I am correct, (I may be wrong), does not believe in Penal Substitutionary Atonement. First, I don't want to misrepresent them. I would love to believe and learn more of their teaching, why I bought a number of their books. But after looking a certain article they wrote, I found something, (which I may have misinterpreted), stating that our problem was unbelief, and that Penal Substitutionary Atonement was not accomplished on the cross.

I have long believed that Christ's suffered in our place the full penalty for our sins, and my main concern was Free Grace vs Lordship, Calvinism vs Non-Calvinism. I never believed Arminiasm, nor even considered it.

So now, the real problem has to do with two things.

1) Whether they really don't believe in Penal Substitutionary Atonement. If they do, can someone please correct me?

2) What the precising meaning of the phrase "Propitiation through faith in his blood" means. Since I only read the KJV, I have a serious problem interpreting this phrase the way it is written in the KJV. Zane Hodges renders "a mercyseat in his blood to be received by faith." But I think the KJV has it right.

My question on this point then is, what is the precise meaning of propitiation? Mercyseat, reconciliation, atoning sacrifice? And why does it simply say, "through faith in his blood" instead of something meaning "an propitiation effective through faith in his blood"? Is this a form on metonymy?

Or is it Zeugma, in which it is an atonement, a reconciliation through faith in his blood.

I really don't understand. Please help me with this.

First, the KJV Bible dictionary doesn't get the meaning of repent right, which in many cases means "to change one's mind", so I don't know why I would trust its definition of any other word. Second, I'm not an expert on Greek. I just know a little about verb tenses, nearly nothing about its phonetics, and can look up the meaning of words in a Strong's Concordance.

Also, it would be nice if there were a Greek New Testament with English spelling and phonetics, accompanied by lessons on Greek so that I could fully read the Greek. I have a book on Greek, but I find the most difficult thing to learn to be the Greek Alphabet, which I have repeatedly learned in part, then forgotten, for lack of use.

 

I never knew that propitiation meant reconciliation, or that atonement meant the same thing. I thought it meant it referred to penal substitution. That's why I didn't understand this verse. But we do find in Hebrews the concept of penal substitutionary atonement, correct? I have a hard time finding it in Romans.

 

Can you please elaborate? I'm not sure exactly what you mean.

What does "for" mean in the phrase "Christ died for our sins"

 

So God just poured out his anger on Christ for our sins, but he didn't bear the punishment for our sins?

I don't know where I got the idea I had from.

 

What does it mean that "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him"? I really don't understand that verse.

Once I took it literally, so basically I blasphemed. I didn't do it on purpose. That's what the verse seems to say.

 

I may have misinterpreted the article I read, so it may not deny Penal Substitution, or it may. I really didn't understand it. But I read another article from faithalone.org that talks about Christ being the mercyseat.

 

I just found an article from faithalone/GES saying they consider penal substitution a fundamental free grace doctrine. So I made a mistake.

But I don't think you have to be aware of that to be saved. I think that's what GES says.