Propitiation

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2)

By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9-10)

One of the words that has become a real problem for those wanting to understand the truth about God's justice and character shows up in these verses. In fact, these two verses are the only place this word shows up in the Bible unless you include the Greek Old Testament where it is translated 'atonement'.

The problem with the way this word is currently used commonly by most theologians and teachers is that it strongly implies that God is, or at least was, in desperate need of appeasement for the offense that our sins caused inside of Him. This appeasement model of salvation is pervasive throughout most of Christianity and also shows up in nearly every other major world religion. However, as I have been learning over recent years this contradicts the clear teachings of Jesus Himself who said unequivocally that there is no difference between Him and the Father.

This clear statement of Jesus presents a powerful argument against the appeasement model which raises all sorts of questions about the real meaning and purpose of the cross of Christ along with how to explain this word propitiation that John uses here. John, more than any of the other disciples, seemed to grasp the true mission and spirit of Jesus and sought to convey that more clearly than any other Bible writer. That is why it seems so incongruent for John to suddenly insert into a letter filled with some of the clearest statements about the purity of God's agape love such a word that many would imply reinforces something different than pure love, unless one is willing to compromise the purity of the definition of agape love.

It is extremely important to approach this study with an open mind and heart and to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to discern the truth about Jesus in light of what He Himself taught about God rather than relying on our preconceived notions tainted by centuries of dark assumptions about God. What does this word actually mean and what did John have in mind when He made these statements about Jesus? It is important that this confusion be cleared in our thinking if we are to have confidence in the day of judgment as John asserts we need in 1 John 4:17.

As usual, I start with Strong's definition of the Greek word behind the term used and find this:

hilasmos - atonement, i.e. (concretely) an expiator: –propitiation (Strong's)

Atonement is another word that carries quite a bit of baggage with it similar to propitiation. However there is actually more clarity in this word if its roots are carefully unpacked. This word comes from two English words one of which is very old and obsolete. The obsolete word was 'one' which back in those days was used as a verb. A usage of this word could have been, “I am going to go over to my neighbor and one them with me.” This word 'one' literally meant to resolve differences, to reconcile, to restore peace and harmony between two individuals who had tension or offenses between them. Thus, the current word atonement literally means to bring into harmony two parties that were not in harmony before. This is exactly what Paul spoke of when he talked about our need to reconcile with God.

I looked up the word expiate from Strong's definition on the internet and found this definition:

expiate - to atone for; make amends or reparation for: to expiate one's crimes. (Dictionary.com)

This reflects the common usage of these terms which is no surprise, for that is exactly what dictionaries claim to do, to explain the most common meanings that currently are assumed for words that we use today. But just because the majority of people assume a word means something in no way should be taken to mean that our current understanding of a word is what God intended it to mean thousands of years ago in a different language. I always have to question the real meaning of any word that interferes with the singular truth about what God is like that Jesus came to reveal to the universe.

This is what John has to say in his first letter:

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. (1 John 1:5; 4:8, 18)

From John's perspective, light and love are synonymous. Because of this there can be nothing in God that in any way resembles or employs the dark ways of His accuser. God does not participate in violence; He does not take offense, for offenses themselves are sin and in God is no sin. Therefore, God has no need to let go of any offense over sin because He has never taken offense to start with.

Most of the problems we have with legal-sounding terms in the New Testament is because many of those words were not actually translated from Greek but were borrowed from Latin versions of the Bible. And Latin is literally the language of law, so it is no surprise that using Latin to convey ideas that did not originate in that language is going to skew our perceptions of what the original author may have been trying to say. Let me go a bit farther in my search for the true meaning of this word propitiation to discover significant clues as to what John was really trying to say here. Following is a definition I found online that exposes the earlier meaning of this Latin word.

propitiation

late 14c., from L.L. propitiationem (nom. propitiatio) "an atonement," from L. propitiare "render favorable," from propitius "favorable, gracious, kind," from pro- "forward" + petere "go to" (see petition). Earliest recorded form of the word is propitiatorium "the mercy

seat, place of atonement" (c.1200), translating Gk. hilasterion.

propitiation. Dictionary.com. Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/propitiation (accessed: August 21, 2012).

When this definition, the mercy seat, is applied to explain the word propitiation, a whole new door is opened up to understand what John was really trying to say about the mission and purpose of Jesus' death. A good understanding of the Old Testament sanctuary and its services is very helpful to know what this is talking about, for the symbols embedded in that system reveal enormous truths about the whole plan of salvation that are often misunderstood. But even more important is that we examine the sanctuary system from the perspective of first immersing ourselves in the teachings and life of Jesus and what He said about His Father so that the symbols and protocol carried out in the sanctuary services that were shadows of Jesus and His ministry for us with God can be more clearly perceived.

Without going into great detail at this point, the Mercy Seat was the central place on the most sacred piece of furniture in the whole sanctuary, located in the Most Holy Place where the most intense revelation of God's presence was manifested. It was on top of the Ark of the Covenant which had underneath its lid (the Mercy Seat) the (1) 10 Commandment Law on the tables of stone, (2) the Rod of Aaron that had budded miraculously and (3) a jar of Manna preserved from the time when God had provided food every day for the Children of Israel when they were wandering around in the desert for forty years.

Once a year on the most important and solemn day in the whole Jewish calendar called the Day of Atonement, the high priest after going through a routine of thorough ritual and physical cleansing took blood from a sacrifice representing the sins of all the people from the whole year into the Most Holy place. There in the intense presence of the Almighty God the priest sprinkled this blood of Atonement on the Mercy Seat to represent the cleansing of the sins of all God's people who had likewise gone through a number of days of ritual cleansing and heart searching to putting away of all sin and ill feelings from their own hearts. This was to bring about at-one-ment between God and His people.

This whole process was representative of humanity's desperate need to be restored back into trust and harmony with the Holy God from which we have been estranged so that we can be reconnected fully to the Source of life from which we have been largely alienated since Adam sinned in Eden. This Mercy Seat demonstration in the sanctuary service was to reveal to us one of the most important elements of Jesus' ministry for humanity. But unless we understand Jesus' relationship to the Father and believe Jesus' own words that the Father feels no different about us than Jesus does, we will be susceptible to false insinuations about God that will confuse us at best and will generate fear in our hearts instead of the necessary trust and love that John speaks so urgently about in his letters.

If we substitute the phrase mercy seat in place of the word propitiation in these verses, it starts to become easier to see what John was trying to say about the purpose and motives that prompted Jesus to lay down His life on the cross. In no way was Jesus seeking to appease an angry, offended Deity in heaven like the pagans believed about their gods. Rather, Jesus was seeking to appease an angry, offended humanity that was filled with resentment, bitterness and hostility toward a God they had been led to believe had threatened to use violence against them and whom they blamed for all the pain and suffering taking place in this world.

The blood of an atonement offering sprinkled on the Mercy Seat represented the blood of Jesus splattered over the ground and all over the cross and even over the streets of Jerusalem when angry sinners had finally gotten their hands on the God they hated so deeply as they vented their rage against Him in every way they could to intensify His suffering. Yet to the amazement of all who were thinking at all by the time it was over, it was noticed that throughout all of that ordeal they had never been able to entice or induce even one hint of resentment, bitterness or desire for revenge on the part of Jesus. (see 1 Peter 2:21-24)

The cross of Christ is the clearest demonstration of the non-violence of God. The cross of Christ reveals that nothing we can ever do to hurt God can in any way diminish His passionate love for us in the slightest. The cross of Christ and the spirit He demonstrated toward all of His enemies clearly reveals that God never takes offense but rather has always viewed all of us with nothing but pure compassion, love and forgiveness even while we were His enemies.