Propitiation (words have meanings)

[JonC]

Some seem to think that the words "propitiate" and "propitiation" are words unique to the Bible and treat these words as meaning a wide array of religious philosophy.

The word "propitiation" is an English word derived from the Latin ‘favorable, or gracious’ .

The word "propitiate" means to reconcile (as in reconciling a relationship) from one party to another.

Here is an example:

"The committee tried to propitiate the mob by announcing it was saddened by the conduct"


In the Bible the word translated propitiation (that which propitiares) is used three times pointing to Jesus as their propitiation for our sins. The word can also be translated as "expiation".

The difference between propiation and expiation is propiation focuses on reconciling mankind to God while expiation focuses on Christ taking away sins. Some prefer "atoning sacrifice" as it includes both but is less specific (it is more "word for word", not attempting to narrow the meaning.


In the Bible this means that it is in Christ that we are reconciled to God.


In the Bible the word we translate as "propiate" appears once. The context is Christiabs having Christ as our High Priest who propitiates for us when we sin.

 

[JonC]

I mentioned this because some have defined propitiation as "Jesus appeasing God by experiencing His wrath for our sins". That is not interpreting the verse. It is not even defining the word (the word is a noun).

With Christ propitiating on pur behalf, the context is Christ as a Mediator advocating for Christians.

 

[JonC]

An issue that @JesusFan beings up is God's wrath against the wicked. The wicked store up wrath for themselves for the day of wrath.

So he asks (regarding the saved) "where does that wrath go?".

If anger or wrath is propitiated it goes nowhere (it is propitiated...it ceases to exist).

Calvinism assumes God's wrath is expressed, never propitiated.

This is an issue with Calvin's atonement theory.

If Jesus experienced God's punishment our sins then He is not the propitiation for our sins (He would be the substitute for us, not not the propitiation).

The propitiation for sins or a crime is something that the one being propitiated desires, never something that is viewed negatively.

God desires obedience.
Jesus was obedient to the death on a cross.

That type of thing.


Say I offended you and you are angry with me. I apologize and give you a gift card to your favorite restaurant. The gift card is a propitiation.

If you are angry about the gift card then your anger is not propitiated.

Propitiation itself eliminates the wrath. That is what the word means.

It reconciles two parties once at odds.

 

[Paleouss]

The difference between propiation and expiation is propiation focuses on reconciling mankind to God while expiation focuses on Christ taking away sins. Some prefer "atoning sacrifice" as it includes both but is less specific (it is more "word for word", not attempting to narrow the meaning.

Greetings to you JonC. Peace and hope to you in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Just my musings about this debate. This word propitiation has been difficult for many, I am no exception. At one time I even looked at it as being like the word "satisfaction". I think your analysis above works well within the perimeters of the Strong's G2433, G2434, G2435.

In defense of my brothers that hold to the strict letter of the Penal Sub. Theory. The question about wrath seems to me to be a reasonable one. Their conclusion, or the Penal Sub. conclusion about where the wrath goes, reasonably follows. But reasonably following doesn't mean it's right.

Clearly the Bible tells us that "the law brings about wrath" (Rom 4:15) and those who do not believe the Son, they are "storing up wrath" (Rom 2:5 ESV) and "the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:36). But we as believers we have been "justified by His blood" (Rom 5:9) and He "delivers us from the wrath to come" (1The 1:10, Rom 5:9).

So it seems like a reasonable question to ask, where does the wrath go? The reason I think it is reasonable is because, of the multiple accomplishments of Christ on the cross, one of those accomplishments had something to do with the law. For we have been "delivered from the law" (Rom 7:6) because He "nailed it to the cross" (Col 2:14). Since "wrath", which is the punishment phase of the law, has something to do with the law and it says we are storing it up then how was it taken away....or where did the wrath go?

So Christ does something in regards to the law. But what is that? (we have discussed this before).

Musing and sticking to the wrath issue only regarding the law. Jesus is "indeed Christ, our Passover [who] was sacrificed for us" (1Cor 5:7, brackets mine). If Jesus is our "Passover" then it would seem to follow that the passover is the OT word picture story explaining what happens to God's wrath regarding His people. That is, by His blood God's wrath 'passes over' us.

So where does the Bible indicate God's wrath goes...according to the Bible, it passes over us. This "passes over" doesn't mean it is directed into another in our stead but simply that it "passes over". The justifying and sanctifying affects of the blood is a sufficient atoning sacrifice to satisfy the law (permanently).

Keep seeking God's truth as if it were hidden treasure (Prov 2)