DR. TQRREY M . J OHNSON Says:
“ The American Messianic Fellow ship has a most illustrious record of achievement for God. Surely with the blessing of God, this great mis sion can look forward to increasing victories in the coming years.
Doctrinal pointers by Gerald B. Stanton, Th.D. Prof, of Systematic Theology, Talbot Theological Seminary P r o p it ia t io n (Beginning a series on Great Words of the Gospel.)
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ssuming that those who understand salvation the best will appreciate it the most, we commence this month a new doctrinal series dealing with the great words of the gospel. Whereas the message of salvation through the substitutionary death of Christ is so very simple that a child may believe and be saved, there are nevertheless many profound depths to the “ redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Salvation consists of far more than the forgiveness of sin. Indeed, one who would appreciate to the full the gospel of Christ or teach with ac curacy the good news of salvation will consider it an absolute essential to understand terms such as justify, grace, redemption, propitiation, faith, remission, righteousness and so forth. Nor are these mere theological con cepts drawn from some ponderous the ological text, for all of the terms just mentioned are found throughout the New Testament; indeed, they are all present in just two verses, Romans 3:24,25. It is most doubtful if one can begin to understand or appreciate this cardinal Pauline passage without knowing thoroughly the meaning of the terms involved. Let us commence our study with one of these: The Doctrine of Propitiation The meaning of propitiation is to appease or to satisfy. The best syno nym for this difficult-sounding New Testament term is satisfaction. When Christ is spoken of as “ the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:2; 4:10), He is being revealed as the sacrifice which completely satisfies the de mands of God’s justice against the sinner. Propitiation speaks of salva tion from the viewpoint of God and involves His offended holiness. It means that the Father is infinitely satisfied with the death of Christ as the adequate solution to the sin prob lem. The penalty of sin is death; Christ dies for the sinner; the sinner
believes and is saved; the holiness of the Father is satisfied as sin is laid on a sinless substitute and forgiven on that just basis. The necessity for propitiation is twofold. It stems from1(1) the right eousness of God (Psa. 119:137; 145:17; Rom. 3:25,26) and (2) the deep sin of the race (Rom. 3:9-23; 5:12). Sin is an offense to God because it is con trary to His very nature. In His right eousness He cannot condone sin, nor can He forgive it merely as an act of divine leniency. Righteousness de mands that sin’s penalty be paid in full by the sinner himself, or by an other who will freely take his place. Because of the death of Christ, the Father can now be both just and the justifier of him who believes in His Son. If God did not need to be propiti ated there was no need for the sacri ficial death of Christ and the Scrip tures must then be regarded as an error. The very fact that Christ did die for sinners is adequate proof that satisfaction must be made, for the Father would not needlessly send His only Son to suffer and die the shame ful death of the cross. We might summarize the doctrine in this way: (1) God is the object of propitiation. His justice needs to be satisfied before the sinner can be acceptable in His sight. (2) Christ is the provision for this pronitiation. His death is that which satisfies the Fath er’s offended holiness. The central idea here is that of substitution: one taking the place of another. Christ died “ the just for the uniust” that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18). (3) The results of propitiation. God is justified in forgiving the sin and in bestowing righteousness and grace upon sinners. Then, when God is pro pitiated, there is no withholding of any blessing that can be lavished upon His own (Rom. 8:32). END.
m eA ia u ir !MESSIANIC FELLOWSHIP tFormerly Chicago Hebrew Mission) Milton B. Lindberg, Gen. Dir. or Archie A. MacKinney, Supt. 7448 N. DAMEN CHICAGO 45, ILL.
CEYLON and INDIA GENERAL MISSION Our ministry in India includes— CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS As the Lord provides, we lengthen our cords and strengthen our stakes. Address, the Secretary-Treasurer 542 South Dearborn St., Chicago 5, Illinois
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