Understanding God’s Grace: Propitiation

1 John 2:1‭-‬2 NKJV
My little children, these things I write 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 the whole world.

Propitiation sounds like a very complicated word but it has a very simple and revealing meaning. It simply means that Christ became our substitute and took on our obligation to appease the wrath of God and to make right our wrong.

God is Holy and righteous and thus He cannot entertain sin. Not only is He holy and righteous, He is also loving and just. These characteristics of God presented a dilemma because when man sinned then God had to step away from him and God had to judge the sin but at the same time God loves man.

Romans 6:23 NKJV
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 3:16 NKJV
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Man had to pay for his sins but the only payment was death and that is why Jesus He who was sinless became our propitiation and took our place to appease the wrath of God because of the sin of the world.
His death and resurrection took care of the debt of sin because He took on the full punishment that sin deserved.
What then is left for us to do is to accept the gift of salvation by faith in the COMPLETE work that Christ did on the cross when He said it is finished. There is nothing that we can do to add on to it or to remove from it, it is finished and complete, all we have to do is confess, accept and believe. Then the grace of God can enable us and teach us to become more like Him.
Reflective Questions
What does the grace of God through Jesus Christ mean to you?
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Have you embraced it in your life and if yes how has it changed you?
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Titus 2:11-14 Are you a good student allowing the grace of God to teach you or are you stubborn and headstrong always demanding your way?
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