What Does Jesus Being Set Forth as a Propitiation Mean?

Thinking about Romans 3:25.

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Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, (Romans 3:25)

After pointing out that Jesus paid your ransom to justify you - and it didn’t cost you anything, Paul explains that God “set forth Jesus as a propitiation.”

Now I don’t know about you, but propitiation isn’t a word I use every day.

So what does the word “propitiation” mean, and how has God set forth Jesus as a propitiation?

What does propitiation mean?

Paul most likely intended for his readers in Rome to understand that Christ was associated in some way with the mercy seat [Exodus 25:8-22; Leviticus 16:2, 15-22; Numbers 7:89; Hebrews 9:3-7]. What is most important about the comparison of Christ with the mercy seat is not the literal connection of the two, but rather the sacrificial associations that surround the mercy seat. - Pollard, Truth for Today Commentary, 125

So atonement for sin is connected to the mercy seat - which is connected to Jesus being “set forth as a propitiation.”

In his commentary on Romans, Tom Wacaster shared three points about propitiation (page 127).

• Propitiation carries the idea of appeasement of wrath (Romans 1:18; Ephesians 5:6; John 3:36).

• Propitiation also suggests the satisfaction of justice (Isaiah 55:11; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Isaiah 53:4-5).

• The RESULT of propitiation is reconciliation to God.

Reese and McGuiggan agree that propitiation is connected to satisfying the judicial wrath of God.

Propitiation conveys the idea of the removal of the liability to God’s wrath. - Reese, Romans, 135

The death of Christ enables God to set aside his judicial wrath against us without setting holiness aside or making light of his law. - McGuiggan, Romans, 129

Christ’s shedding His blood and dying on the cross demonstrated how terrible our sin really is and how God views our sin.

It’s only at the cross that the depth of sin’s depravity is made clear. God’s view of sin wasn’t understood at its deeper level until the cross. Our view of sin could not get to a deeper level until we saw GOD on the cross being abused by sin. - McGuiggan, Romans, 129

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So Jesus being the propitiation, includes several ideas.

• His sacrifice on the cross was how God could righteously and justly forgive sinners.

• His death on the cross appeased God’s wrath toward sin by satisfying His justice.

• His blood shed on the cross allows sinners to be reconciled to God (Romans 5:9).

Jesus being the propitiation for our sins, speaks to God’s justice and to God’s mercy. God did not bypass His justice to forgive us - Jesus died on the cross so that we could be justified by His blood.

Jesus being the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:1-2,) should fill us with hope - God has provided the sacrifice for our sins. He has satisfied His wrath and extends His grace and mercy to us.

In this “good news of Christ” (Romans 1:16-17), we find the power of God to save everyone who believes. The gospel call to “rise and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16) is extended to everyone.