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Dr. Sproul was a Reformist/Calvinist, and this doctrinal perspective infects his explanation of propitiation. He provides the correct definition, only to immediately revert to his Calvinism.
Dr. Sproul was a Reformist/Calvinist, and this doctrinal perspective infects his explanation of propitiation. He provides the correct definition, only to immediately revert to his Calvinism.
Perplexing.
So the reader understands, Reformists/Calvinists believe in Penal Substitutionary Atonement, which is the unbiblical idea that the Father punished Jesus in our place, turning the wrath of God away from us.
Lastly, Dr. Sproul quotes but a single Scripture, one that does not support his pernicious doctrine. We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.
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… whom God set forth as a propitiation, by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His rightousness (sic) (Rom. 3:25a).
In yesterday’s study, we saw that Jesus paid the price to redeem us from our sin. Today Paul shows us how high that price was.
God set Jesus forth as a “propitiation, by His blood,” Paul says. In his commentary on this verse, Dr. James M. Boice notes that the word propitiation is little used and little understood today. “ ‘Propitiation’ … signifies what the worshiper does when he or she presents a sacrifice to a deity,” he writes. “It is an ‘atoning sacrifice,’ an act by which the wrath of the offended deity is appeased or turned aside.” (This is biblically quite correct, but Dr. Sproul, quoting Boice in the next paragraph, will abandon the propitiating nature of sacrificial blood in favor of substitution.)
… whom God set forth as a propitiation, by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His rightousness (sic) (Rom. 3:25a).
In yesterday’s study, we saw that Jesus paid the price to redeem us from our sin. Today Paul shows us how high that price was.
God set Jesus forth as a “propitiation, by His blood,” Paul says. In his commentary on this verse, Dr. James M. Boice notes that the word propitiation is little used and little understood today. “ ‘Propitiation’ … signifies what the worshiper does when he or she presents a sacrifice to a deity,” he writes. “It is an ‘atoning sacrifice,’ an act by which the wrath of the offended deity is appeased or turned aside.” (This is biblically quite correct, but Dr. Sproul, quoting Boice in the next paragraph, will abandon the propitiating nature of sacrificial blood in favor of substitution.)
We must remember, however, that there is nothing we could offer to God to appease Him. We are unable to propitiate the wrath of the one we have offended.
But there is one who can and has—the offended one Himself. At the Cross, God acted to turn aside His own wrath against the sins of the human race! And His propitiatory sacrifice, of course, was Jesus Christ, who was God incarnate. He gave what all such sacrifices are required to give—His life. This is what Paul means in his reference to Jesus’ blood. Boice writes: “The important thing is to remember that the shedding of Christ’s blood has to do with Christ’s death, and that the death of Christ in Scripture is always and everywhere set forth as substitutionary. ("Always and everywhere?" Well, how about naming a few of these instances?
In fact, the idea of substitution regarding sacrifice NEVER appears in the Bible. The spilled blood from the sacrifice itself is sufficient to turn away the wrath of God.)
It is by His death that you and I can be saved.” Simply put, Christ was sent by the Father to die in order to appease the divine wrath against the sins of God’s people. (Quite correct. He did so by spilling His blood. But for some reason Dr. Sproul slips in a qualifier, that this appeasement was for "God's people." This is a manifestation of his Calvinism, which teaches "limited atonement," that Jesus' atonement only was enough for the saved.
Yet he references this verse below:
1Jn. 2:2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
So was the atonement only for "God's people," or was it for the whole world?)
This appeasement of God by God made a powerful statement about the righteousness of God. It showed clearly that God would not excuse the guilty—though He would let an innocent substitute bear the penalty of the guilty one. (Jesus did not substitute, and did not bear the penalty of sin. Jesus as the Lamb of God died as the one sacrifice. The blood He spilled was sufficient. There was no need to punish Him since the blood itself propitiated.)
Furthermore, when at last it came, Jesus’ death on behalf of sinful human beings demonstrated that God had not been simply passing over the sins of His people who lived before the Incarnation. It revealed that the Old Testament sacrifices truly had pointed ahead to a perfect sacrifice. God’s righteous opposition to all sin was mightily displayed when the sky grew dark on Good Friday.
In the midst of this discussion, Paul reminds us once again that the benefits of this atoning sacrifice are ours by faith, by believing that Jesus truly did take the penalty for sin that we deserved. (Jesus did not take the penalty of sin. He carried our sin like a burden, lifting it up and nailing it to the cross:
In the midst of this discussion, Paul reminds us once again that the benefits of this atoning sacrifice are ours by faith, by believing that Jesus truly did take the penalty for sin that we deserved. (Jesus did not take the penalty of sin. He carried our sin like a burden, lifting it up and nailing it to the cross:
Col. 2:14 having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
1Pe. 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness...
"Bore" is the Greek word anēnenken: bring up to the goal (end point), i.e. carrying something through its sequence to reach its needed consummation (note the prefix, ana).
Dr. Sproul completely misunderstands Jesus' work on the cross. Astonishing.)
When we believe that Jesus died in our place, (Jesus did not die in our place. We died with him:
Col. 3:3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Ro. 6:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
These are basic concepts. Why doesn't an eminent Bible teacher understand them?)
we are believing the Gospel, “the power of God to salvation” (Rom. 1:16).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The next time you receive the Lord’s Supper at your church, consider the cup. Jesus said its contents are to remind us of His blood, by which He meant His death. He died so that you might live. Take time to thank Him today for paying a hideous price as the sacrifice by which God’s wrath against your sin was turned away. (If the sacrifice truly appeased God's wrath, why does Dr. Sproul think that the appeased wrath was turned toward Jesus? It makes no sense. If the blood did not propitiate, then what was its purpose?
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The next time you receive the Lord’s Supper at your church, consider the cup. Jesus said its contents are to remind us of His blood, by which He meant His death. He died so that you might live. Take time to thank Him today for paying a hideous price as the sacrifice by which God’s wrath against your sin was turned away. (If the sacrifice truly appeased God's wrath, why does Dr. Sproul think that the appeased wrath was turned toward Jesus? It makes no sense. If the blood did not propitiate, then what was its purpose?
Did Jesus actually turn away the wrath of the Father if He was subsequently punished by the Father?)
For Further Study
1 Thessalonians 1:10 1Th. 1:10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
For Further Study
(Dr. Sproul lists some Bible references. We will actually quote the Bible verses for the readers' benefit.)
Romans 5:9 Ro. 5:9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
1 Thessalonians 1:10 1Th. 1:10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Hebrews 2:17 He. 2:17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
1 John 2:2 1Jn. 2:2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
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