Propitiation (Part 1)

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. Mike Abendroth is my name. And for many of you, you�ve listened over the years, I think we�re entering into year ��Año seis, por favor. Six years. So we�re on Monday through Friday, no longer on WVNE locally here, we�ve been replaced by James McDonald.

For those of you that don�t know what �heno� is, my grandmother would answer the phone �heno. And we said, �Grandma, why do you answer the phone �heno And she said, �Well, I don�t. I answer the phone �heno.

So when you spot something theologically that�s off-kilter, you might say, �Hello. Remember how people used to say that? �Hello. Like, �Wake up. But in honor of Nona Ann Anderson, S-O-N, we will say �heno.

All right. So we have hats that say �heno. Bumper stickers that say �heno. And other things like that. Well, topics, what do we talk about on No Compromise Radio? Actually, I have a whole list of things that I could discuss, and if you�re regularly teaching the Bible and studying, and I say this with all seriousness, you always have things to talk about.

I mean, when I first got saved, I think, �How do these pastors, how does John MacArthur have something to say every week? I mean, who can come up with this stuff every single week And then I realized when you study the scriptures and you begin to grasp a little bit of the depth and the width of the counsel of God in His Word, well, there�s a lot of exploring to do and just a gold mine of truths to gather, garner, collect.

So I always have show topics to talk about. I try not to talk about too many current events for several reasons. I�m not an expert in current events, number one, and number two, by the time I record the show and it actually plays, it�s no longer current.

It still might be eventful, but it�s no longer current. I work full-time as a pastor for Bethlehem Bible Church, and so two hours a week I just try to sit down in the studio and record, actually 50 minutes times two, so an hour and 40 minutes actual recording time, and I don�t want to record things that take me work to study.

So when people say, �Well, can you talk about such and such I pretty much talk about things that I know, at least some degree. I have some degree of knowledge. And so these days I was studying penalty substitution, and I thought, you know, I�d like to talk about that a little bit.

In Montana. I�d never have been to Montana. Here�s my story from Montana. I haven�t lost my wallet for 30 years. You know where this is going. You know where this is going. And I, you know, as the kind of person I guess I probably would have been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive behavior where, you know, I�d lock my locker at school and junior high and then have to go back to it, check, �Did I really lock it

Maybe I just had a bad memory. I mean, I didn�t have to hit the side of the locker 14 times, tap my toe 20, and then check it. But anyway, just those kind of things, you know, do I have my wallet, phone, and keys?

So before I walk out of any room, any restaurant, any drawbridge, I always check those three things. So I�m in Montana. And so I flew from Boston to San Jose, spent the night in San Jose and the day, and then the next morning or two mornings later, I flew to Montana.

And there were crazy people on my connecting flight like Fred and Cameron, but we�ll talk about that another time. Grace to you people. And anyway, I get to the hotel, super tired, maybe an hour sleep that night.

And at least the hotel was by the casino. I didn�t know they had casinos up there. I never ventured into one, but I get to my room, I open up the door or attempt to. It doesn�t open up. I�ve got to go back to the front desk in there.

This is the longest walk I�ve ever had to go to from hotel room to front desk. Not complaining. I was glad for the room. I said, �You know, the key needs to be cut again, you know, programmed again. It won�t work.

And I reached down to try to find my wallet and it was gone. I said, �Can you please watch my bags while I quick go backtrack my steps I lost my wallet. And so before I kind of ran off down these long halls, I thought, �I�m so smoked.

How am I going to fly home And the guy behind the counter said, �Is this it And so anyway, I think I had $30 cash in there. The cash was still in there. And nothing was missing. I mean, if it would have been in Massachusetts or California or someplace else, I mean, it would have been taken.

Everything. The only thing that was missing was my license to carry. Oh, they don�t need those in Montana. So in Montana, I was talking about penalty substitution in Revelation chapter 5 and why it�s attacked.

And I talked about that a little bit last week here at the home church, Bethlehem Bible Church. And I thought, �How can I think rightly about Jesus paying the penalty in my place, on my behalf, upholding the justice of God and His law, assuaging God�s wrath that was due us as Jesus, because the Father and the Son and the Spirit loved us, took our place as penalty

He took the death penalty for us. Of course, Jesus was victorious over cosmic forces on the cross. Of course, Jesus was an example of love on the cross. Of course, God upheld His law on the cross. The other theories of the atonement, there�s truth to them, but at the center, at the apex, a veritable linchpin of the doctrine of substitution or the doctrine of the atonement is penal substitution, right?

Penalty substitution. Now, how can I think through that topic? What can help me? What doctrine can help me understand that? And it is the doctrine of propitiation. So today and next time, and who knows how long we�ll do this, we�re going to discuss the doctrine of propitiation.

Propitiation, propitiation, God�s anger is assuaged, placated, satisfied. And so we�re all going to talk about that doctrine here. Sound good? Well, it sounds good. But what�s going to happen is the liberals, like Harry Emerson Fosdick, are going to say this is a doctrine that needs to be jettisoned because God is evolving.

I mean, can you think about it? Just imagine for a moment. Not only is the world a product of evolution, so God too is evolving. So Fosdick writes in his book called A Guide to Understanding the Bible.

It was probably a bestseller. I read his biography, quite fascinating. He talks about how God is evolving. So you start off with God, pretty devilish, primitive man, devilish God. You�ve got a God, Noah�s God, I mean angry, destroying the earth with a flood, vindictive, bloodthirsty.

And you move a little bit forward and things aren�t getting too much better. Maybe God�s getting a little bit better, but Abraham�s God, you know, he loves sacrifices, animal sacrifices. It was right up that God�s alley.

Moses, maybe we�re making baby steps in the right direction. But you�ve got Sinai, don�t you? Volcano-like fire coming down, spewing forth from Sinai. I mean, can�t we get a better conception of God than that?

Well, David�s God, some pretty good thoughts about God. It seems like we�re going in the right trajectory. But aren�t there just kind of a few imprecatory Psalms in there, judgment on people and nations?

And by the time of the prophets, Harry Fosdick said, quote, �God was really making improvement. He now hated unrighteousness and spoke out against crimes committed by man. And when Jesus came along, well, Jesus gave men a beautiful concept of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.

Well, until Jesus started talking about hell and such. Well, Jesus is gone. At least now we can think of thoughts about God that are worthy of his name. Respectable. Emily, is it Emily Barnes for the etiquette?

Is she the etiquette lady? I don�t know. Donald Ray Barnhouse, doesn�t he have an etiquette book? Fosdick�s point, he knew what the Bible taught about the wages of sin is death. He knew what the Bible taught without the shedding of blood there is what?

No remission of sin. When you think of Leviticus, who came up with the sacrificial system? Who came up with the lamb in place of the people? Who came up with Passover? Who came up with Yom Kippur? Leviticus 1, verse 1, �The Lord Yahweh called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, �Speak to the people of Israel and say to them.

And then off comes the offerings. These are all sacrifices. �Lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering. We�re talking about the priest. �It shall be accepted to him to make atonement for him.

Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord and Aaron�s sons. The priest shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar. Flay the burnt offering, cut it into pieces, arrange the pieces.

This is all God�s idea. This is God�s universe. And by the way, you would not be able to figure out all this without special revelation. God requires death for sin. Why? Why? Because it�s that grievous against a holy God.

Stephen Chalke comes along recently and he talks about the violent pre-Christian thinking behind the popular theory of penal substitution and re-atonement. He doesn�t like that. He thinks it�s biblically wrong, pastorally �deficient� and even dangerous, end quote, page 35 of his book.

I mean, can�t we go back to just let�s get away from judicial courthouse scenes, condemnation, justification. We don�t want that. Maybe we need a mother�s womb scene or maybe nurseries. That�s a good way to think about God.

Or I don�t know, greenhouses someplace, something like that. So when we talk about substitution and re-atonement, if you understand propitiation, I think you�re going to get the atonement pretty simply.

I don�t think you�re going to look for something else to let you slide by. By the way, my name is Mike Ebendroth, No Compromise Radio. Biblical we try to be, provocative we try to be, in that order. I hope if you benefit from the ministry, you might write us and tell us that or maybe you�ve got a Bible question, info at nocompromiseradio .com.

And probably the best thing you could do, we don�t ask for money at the show, but we do ask that if you�ve benefited from the show, why don�t you tell your friends? Maybe they�ll give. I just sit here in my study and just talk to myself and laugh.

Once in a while, I have the dog, the No Compromise mascot, Jetty, she�s nowhere to be found today. She�s in the garage at home barking probably. The neighbors like that. That wouldn�t be the neighborhood without Jetty barking.

So propitiation. When you get propitiation, I think you will understand the atonement because propitiation deals with Jesus, the cross, the holiness of God, sinfulness of man, substitution, the atonement, the love of God, the justice of God, and many more.

So propitiation is a very important word. So if I had to ask you the question, what does it mean? What would you say? What does propitiation say? If I ask you the question, how many times does propitiation occur in the New Testament?

Well, some translations want to soften propitiation to expiation. They want nothing to do with God�s wrath assuaged, propitiation. They want just letting go of sin and expiation. So it just depends on your Bible, your English translation.

But how about the word group for propitiation, h-i-l-a-s-k, and then there�s different endings. But that word group, there are three words in that word group, found six places in the Hilask word group, h-i-l-a-s-k, then the endings are different.

That Greek word group, transliteration Hilask, there are actually six passages, Luke 18, Romans 3, Hebrews 2, Hebrews 9, 1 John 2, and 1 John 4. And so on this show and the next, and maybe the next and the next and the next, we�re going to look at those passages.

Because if you get propitiation, you will be thankful, you will be praising the Lord that you, although deserving sin, consequences, that is hell, you got heaven because Jesus propitiated the wrath of God for you.

And you will realize that you are a debtor to God�s mercies and you will understand the atonement better. I mean, it starts off, I guess, with Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so. But how does he love me?

You know, let me count the ways, and propitiation is right up there. Propitiation is technically a Latin word, it comes from the Latin word at least, to means to appease. And it also could mean gracious.

And so you appease someone who is above you or a deity. Maybe the Greek word, he�ll ask, as we were talking about, sometimes it�s translated atonement, sometimes it�s translated satisfaction. I like it best when it�s just translated propitiation.

Maybe mercy seat will do, as God assuages the son, assuages the father�s wrath. It�s an appeasement of wrath. Now, let�s think about propitiation before we look at the passages in particular. In paganism, and this word is used in paganism, the person is understanding, based on circumstances most likely, that the God, small g, is angry with them.

And so they want to appease the wrath of this God because of the crops, because of fertility, they�re not having children like they should in the womb, and they give the God something. They give the God worship, they give the God food, they give the God grain, they give the God virgins, they give the God babies, like in Molech, and they try to placate the anger of God.

And I would say, along with J .I. Packer, it�s probably simple bribery. Hey, you�re mad at us, here�s something to take the edge off. But when it comes to propitiation, God is the one propitiating. God is the one active.

God is the one doing this. It�s not the other way around. Let me just read the �Knowing God� quote, J .I. Packer, because it�s excellent. In paganism, man propitiates his gods, and religion becomes a form of commercialism and indeed of bribery.

In Christianity, however, God propitiates his wrath by his own action. He set forth Jesus Christ to be the propitiation of our sins. And so we need to be guarded from the get-go, from the very beginning.

Watch out, because if you�re not careful, propitiation will lead you to this erroneous thought. God�s mad at us, Jesus, the Father that is. The Son loves us. The Son appeases the angry Father, and now the Father�s okay with us.

You don�t want to go there. You don�t want to somehow split up the Trinity, do you? God the Father is gracious. God the Son is gracious. God the Father loves. God the Son loves. God the Father loves us before Jesus died for us.

He doesn�t love us because Jesus died for us. He died for us because God is a loving God, and we need to keep both the Son and the Father thinking, you know, we have to think about them the same way, same essence and nature and will.

God�s love is the reason behind propitiation. He isn�t sentimental. He isn�t erroneous in his thinking. Listen to what John Murray says of this topic. The doctrine of propitiation is precisely this, that God loved the objects of His wrath so much that He gave His own Son to the end that He by His blood should make provision for the removal of this wrath.

So when it comes to propitiation, God is the one who makes propitiation. So I saw some Twitter feed. Their name was at he propitiated me. Unless me means the Father, then they might want to change their handle.

Luke 18. We�re just going to take these in chronological order. Luke 18 is the first of six in the word group for helask, and that is for propitiation. And let�s just look at Luke 18. It�s found in verse 13, but we might as well get the whole context of this parable when Jesus is teaching about prayer.

When you have an opportunity to pray and you want to approach God, what�s the attitude of your approach? What does God require for those who would come to His throne of mercy? Verse 9. He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.

Some were holier than thou. That�s exactly the attitude that was going on, and they trusted in themselves. They didn�t trust in God. They trusted in who they were. And how do you trust in yourself? Well, you say that you�re compliant totally and fully with the law of God.

I can trust in myself because all that God has required, I have done. Now some won�t be that bold today. They�ll trust in sacraments or something else. Verse 10. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

So they go to a very common place of prayer. People would go to the temple for sacrifices, but they�d also go for devotional, worshipful, prayerful things as well. Luke 20, they offer long prayers for appearance� sake at the temple.

And so you�ve got someone like a Pharisee, and they are externally at least morally upright and morally righteous and morally the good guys. You want this kind of person who lives next to you. And they are known for keeping the law.

That�s what a Pharisee�s known for. They�re scholars. They�re Bible teachers. And then there�s this tax gatherer. He is despised. He is a criminal in the eyes of the people because he has betrayed the country.

He�s a Jew working for Rome. And he would not be allowed to give testimony in court. He could not hold a public office. He is low-life. And when you eat or drink with those kind of people, the Pharisees and scribes grumble, right?

Why do you eat with tax gatherers and sinners? This person is despicable in the eyes of the people, especially in the eyes of the leaders, i .e., the Pharisees. And so if you want a modern-day parable instead of a Pharisee and a tax collector, maybe it�s a policeman and a prostitute.

Maybe it�s an elder at a local church and a drug dealer. Maybe it�s a pastor and a terrorist. Maybe it�s a rabbi and a Hamas leader. Maybe it�s you and an abortion doctor. Something like that, okay? And the Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus, �God, I thank you that I�m not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. I don�t need to be forgiven. All the first person, singular, I, I, I, I�m just slapping myself on the back. I�m trusting in myself. I�ve got it going on.

I�ve got my own virtue. And I don�t really need to ask God for anything because I don�t lack anything. I don�t lack anything. Now, here�s the bad news. This guy�s just like Tolstoy. �This awoke in me the conviction that I am a remarkable man, both as regards capacity and eagerness to work.

I have not yet met a single man who is morally good as I. Wow. Making up your own rules, comparing yourself to others, and how are we going to get to propitiation? Well, we�re not. So, you�re going to have to tune in next time because you�re going to have to figure out how this cliffhanger ends in Luke 18.

My name is Mike Abendroth, info at NoCompromiseRadio .com.