REVISITING THE
BELIEVER'S POSITIONAL RICHES IN CHRIST
Part IV: Applying
The Truth That Believers Are Related To God Through Propitiation
I.
Introduction
A.
Many
false religions put man under pressure to try to appease God in some way
in order to gain salvation.
B.
However,
even some Christians fear that though they are saved, some dreadful pre-salvation sin they have
committed or an awful post-salvation
sin they have done may cause God to refuse to accept or bless them or even
allow them to enter heaven at the end of their lives on earth.
C.
One of
the riches of God's grace for the believer (as listed by Lewis Sperry Chafer in
his Systematic Theology, vol. III, "Soteriology," p. 237-238)
is the fact that believers in Christ are related to God through
"propitiation," a truth we examine in this lesson with its edifying
application that addresses these very concerns (as follows):
II.
Applying The Truth That Believers Are Related To
God Through Propitiation.
A.
To
appreciate the doctrine of propitiation, we view the whole doctrine's application (as follows):
1.
At the first
level, the doctrine of propitiation affects the WORLD:
a.
The
substitutionary death of Christ for all sinners in the world so fully appeased the WRATH of a holy
God against sinners that Christ is the "Propitiation" for the sins of
"the whole WORLD," 1 John 2:2.
b.
This
truth bears immeasurable value for the unsaved (as follows):
i.
God's
wrath against the sins of lost men has been so fully expended by the cross of
Christ that God is "propitious" toward them all, fully willing to
relate to them without any anger due to their sins.
ii.
This was
seen in God's tearing the veil in the holiest of holies of the temple from top
to bottom at Christ's death, depicting God's earnest desire to fellowship with
the lost world, Matthew 27:50-51.
iii.
The lost
thus need only to trust alone in Christ alone to be saved, Ephesians 2:8-9;
John 3:16.
2.
At the second
level, the doctrine of propitiation affects the BELIEVER:
a.
Being
the "Propitiation" for the believer's sins in His death on the
cross, Christ opened the door of available blessing in each believer's
relationship with God in every circumstance, regardless of his history:
i.
As the
believer's "Propitiation," Christ in His death removed every cause
for God to be angry at the believer based on any pre-salvation sin(s) he may
have committed, 1 John 2:2 with 1 John 4:10.
ii.
As the
believer's "Propitiation," Christ in His death made possible
continual victory in the believer's capacity to fellowship with God in the
Christian life and beyond into eternity:
1)
Each
believer on earth still has his pre-salvation sin nature, so he has sinned, 1 John
1:8, 10.
2)
Indeed,
a believer can live a life of sin to the point where God punishes him by
causing him to die a physically premature death, 1 John 5:16; 1 Corinthians
11:29-30.
3)
However,
since Christ is the believer's "Propitiation," if a believer
confesses his sin by prayer to God in Jesus' name (John 14:13-14), God is faithful
and just based on Christ's work on the cross to forgive that believer and to
cleanse him from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9; 2:1-2.
4)
God does
not want believers to use confession as a charm to avoid His discipline so they
can continue to live a life of sin, for He wants them not to sin. However, if they do sin, they have an Advocate with the Father in Christ, their
"Propitiation" for sin, 1 John 2:1; Zechariah 3:1-7.
5)
Even if God
punishes a believer with premature physical death because of his sin, Christ is
his "Propitiation," so the Father takes that believer's soul to
heaven, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15.
B.
Thus, Christ
as our "Propitiation" equips (1) the lost to be saved by faith apart
from works and (2) believers who were saved through faith to stay saved and be
able to fellowship with God by means of God's grace.
Lesson: (1) God's
wrath against all man's sins in history was so satiated by Christ's death, the lost
need only trust in Christ apart from works to be saved. (2) The saved are (a) unconditionally free of
God's eternal wrath, (b) free of any anger God might have had toward
pre-salvation sins and (c) they will be forgiven for confessing any sin committed
as believers. (d) Even if a believer
dies in God's discipline, he goes to heaven by Christ's propitiation!
Application:
(1) All efforts to appease God's wrath for pre-salvation sins are pointless,
for Christ appeased God's wrath for that on the cross! (2) Thus, (a) lost men must simply trust in
Christ to be saved and (b) believers must confess post-salvation sins to retain
intimate spiritual fellowship with the Lord.
(c) May we realize that even if a believer sins to the point that God
disciplines him to die a pre-mature physical death, he still enters heaven due
to the propitiation of Christ for him on the cross. (d) May we live righteous lives by depending
on the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16), but IF we sin, may we be confident we can
return to fellowship with God by applying 1 John 1:9.