Soteriology: The Work of Christ : The True meaning of His Death.

Adapted from Theissen p.324-326

Since God is fundamentally Holy it is reasonable that He should be satisfied with the removal of the Outrage of sin. The Death of Christ Satisfies the Holiness of God. The Death of Christ has been shown to be  (1) VICARIOUS…

2. It is Satisfaction.

(1) It satisfies the Justice of God.

Man has sinned against God and has caused Him to grieve because of Broken law. God condemns man and exacts the due penalty for sin. He cannot free man until the demands of His Justice are fully Satisfied. The death of Christ fully satisfied these demands.


According to the law of double jeopardy in the case of state criminals, if the offender has suffered the penalty prescribed by the law, he is no longer liable to condemnation.” No further punishment can justly be demanded for that offence.”

This is what is called “the perfection of Christ’s satisfaction.’ His Death perfectly satisfies the demands of God’s Justice. Hodge II p.482

By the Term JUSTICE OF GOD we mean “ that form of Moral excellence which demands the righteous distribution of rewards and punishments which renders it certain, under the Government of God, that obedience will be rewarded and sin punished…………..

This is called Vindicatory Justice, because the vindicates and maintains the right. Hodge II 489.

Christ death was Penal Satisfaction.

“Here it is not a question of the degree of suffering, but depends upon the dignity of him by whom the satisfaction is rendered. Heb_7:26  For such an high priest (Jesus Christ) became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

The Benefits of penal satisfaction are conferred according to the terms or conditions of the Covenant in pursuance of which it is offered and accepted. “ Adapted from Hodge p.487

Rom 3:26  for the shewing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus.

That he might be just - This verse contains the substance of the gospel. The word “just” here does not mean benevolent, or merciful, though it may sometimes have that meaning; see the Mat_1:19 note, also Joh_17:25 note. But it refers to the fact that God had retained the integrity of his character as a moral governor; that he had shown a due regard to his Law, and to the penalty of the Law by his plan of salvation. Should he forgive sinners without an atonement, justice would be sacrificed and abandoned. The Law would cease to have any terrors for the guilty, and its penalty would be a nullity. In the plan of salvation, therefore, he has shown a regard to the Law by appointing his Son to be a substitute in the place of sinners; not to endure its precise penalty, for his sufferings were not eternal, nor were they attended with remorse of conscience, or by despair, which are the proper penalty of the Law; but he endured so much as to accomplish the same ends as if those who shall be saved by him had been doomed to eternal death.

That is, He showed that the Law could not be violated without introducing suffering; and that it could not be broken with impunity. He showed that he had so great a regard for it, that he would not pardon one sinner without an atonement. And thus he secured the proper honor to his character as a lover of his Law, a hater of sin, and a just God…. Barnes

(2) It satisfies the Law of God.

“The law demands more than Vindicatory Justice  (mentioned above)... our relation to the Law is twofold, federal and moral……. From this federal relation to the law we are, under the Gospel, DELIVERED. We are no longer bound to be free from all sin, and to render perfect obedience to the law, as a condition of Salvation…. This deliverance from the law is not effected by its abrogation, nor by the lowering of its demands, but by the Work of Christ. The Work of Christ was therefore of the nature of a Satisfaction to the demands of the Law.

By His obedience and sufferings, by His whole righteousness, active and passive He, as our representative and substitute, did and endured all that the Law demands. This who receive His righteousness by faith are saved and receive the renewing of their whole nature into the image of God. Hodge p.493

Gal_2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Gal_3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Php_3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Rom_10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

(3)  It involves  an Atonement.

ATO'NEMENT, n.

1. Agreement; concord; reconciliation, after enmity or controversy. Rom 5.

2. Expiation; satisfaction or reparation made by giving an equivalent for an injury, or by doing or suffering that which is received in satisfaction for an offense or injury; with for.

The Death of Christ was an Atonement and a Propitiation

See Lev 6:27 and 4:13-20. Here we see that atonement can only occur through the death of a Substitute. the substituted bullock or ram has in effect covered over the guilt of the real criminal and thus makes it invisible to the Eye of God who is HOLY. see Ps 51:9

Atonement: כּפר kâphar kaw-far'

A primitive root; to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel: - appease, make (an) atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, to pitch, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile (-liation).

Hebrew and Greek Words

ISBE SAYS “a-tōn´ment: Translates כּפר, kāphar; חטא, ḥāṭā'; רצה, rācāh, the last employed only of human relations (1Sa_29:4); translates the following Greek stems hilas-, simple and compounded with various prepositions; allag- in composition only, but with numerous prepositions and even two at a time, e.g. Mat_5:24; lip- rarely (Dan_9:24).

The root meanings of the Hebrew words, taking them in the order cited above, are, to “cover,” hence expiate, condone, cancel, placate; to “offer,” or “receive a sin offering,” hence, make atonement, appease, propitiate; “effect reconciliation,” i.e. by some conduct, or course of action. Of the Greek words the meanings, in order, are “to be,” or “cause to be, friendly”; “to render other,” hence to restore; “to leave” and with preposition to leave off, i.e. enmity, or evil, etc.; “to render holy,” “to set apart for”; hence, of the Deity, to appropriate or accept for Himself.

(4) It involves Propitiation

1. Terms and Meaning: ISBE in Esword. Propitiation

The word is Latin and brings into its English use the atmosphere of heathen rites for winning the favor, or averting the anger, of the gods. In the Old Testament it represents a number of Hebrew words - ten, including derivatives - which are sufficiently discussed under ATONEMENT (which see), of which propitiation is one aspect. It represents in Septuagint the Greek stems ἰλασκ-, hilask- (ἱλε-, hile-), and καταλλαγ-, katallag-, with derivatives; in the New Testament only the latter, and is rarely used. Propitiation needs to be studied in connection with reconciliation, which is used frequently in some of the most strategic sentences of the New Testament, especially in the newer versions In Heb_2:17, the English Revised Version and the American Standard Revised Version have both changed “reconciliation” of the King James Version to “propitiation,” to make it correspond with the Old Testament use in connection with the sacrifice on the DAY OF ATONEMENT (which see). Luk_18:13 (“God, be thou merciful (margin “be propitiated”) to me the sinner” (the American Standard Revised Version margin)); Heb_8:12 (quoted from the Septuagint); and Mat_16:22 (an idiomatic asseveration like English “mercy on us”) will help in getting at the usage in the New Testament. In Septuagint hilastḗrion is the term for the “mercy-seat” or “lid of the ark” of the covenant which was sprinkled with blood on the Day of Atonement. It is employed in exactly this sense in Heb_9:5, where later versions have in the margin “the propitiatory.”

Rom 3:24  being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;

Rom 3:25  whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness through the passing by of the sins that had taken place before, in the forbearance of God;

"Propitiation means the turning away of wrath by an offering. In relation to soteriology, propitiation means placating or satisfying the wrath of God by the atoning sacrifice of Christ." Charles C. Ryrie (1999-01-11). Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (Kindle Locations 5503-5504). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.

To be a propitiation - (Barnes Notes) ἱλαστήριον  hilastērion. This word occurs but in one other place in the New Testament. Heb_9:5, “and over it (the ark) the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat. It is used here to denote the lid or cover of the ark of the covenant. It was made of gold, and over it were the cherubim. In this sense it is often used by the Septuagint Exo_25:17, “And thou shalt make a propitiatory ἱλαστήριον  hilastērion of gold,” Exo. 18-20, 22; Exo_30:6; Exo_31:7; Exo_35:11; Exo_37:6-9; Exo_40:18; Lev_16:2, Lev_16:13.

The High Priest sprinkles the Blood on the MERCY SEAT

The Hebrew name for this was כפּרת  kaphoreth, from the verb כּפר  kaaphar, “to cover” or “to conceal.” It was from this place that God was represented as speaking to the children of Israel. Exo_25:22, “and I will speak to thee from above the Hilasterion, the propitiatory, the mercy-seat. Lev_16:2, “For I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat.” This seat, or cover, was covered with the smoke of the incense, when the high priest entered the most holy place, Lev_16:13.

And the blood of the bullock offered on the great day of atonement, was to be sprinkled “upon the mercy-seat,” and “before the mercy-seat,” “seven times,” Lev_16:14-15. This sprinkling or offering of blood was called making “an atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel,” etc. Lev_16:16. It was from this mercy-seat that God pronounced pardon, or expressed himself as reconciled to his people. The atonement was made, the blood was sprinkled, and the reconciliation thus effected. The name was thus given to that cover of the ark, because it was the place from which God declared himself reconciled to his people. Still the inquiry is, why is this name given to Jesus Christ? In what sense is he declared to be a propitiation? It is evident that it cannot be applied to him in any literal sense. Between the golden cover of the ark of the covenant and the Lord Jesus, the analogy must be very slight, if any such analogy can be perceived. We may observe, however,

(1) That the main idea, in regard to the cover of the ark called the mercy-seat, was that of God’s being reconciled to his people; and that this is the main idea in regard to the Lord Jesus whom “God hath set forth.”

(2) this reconciliation was effected then by the sprinkling of blood on the mercy-seat, Lev_16:15-16. The same is true of the Lord Jesus - by blood.

(3) in the former case it was by the blood of atonement; the offering of the bullock on the great day of atonement, that the reconciliation was effected, Lev_16:17-18. In the case of the Lord Jesus it was also by blood; by the blood of atonement. But it was by his own blood. This the apostle distinctly states in this verse.

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4) in the former case there was a sacrifice, or expiatory offering; and so it is in reconciliation by the Lord Jesus. In the former, the mercy-seat was the visible, declared place where God would express his reconciliation with his people. So in the latter, the offering of the Lord Jesus is the manifest and open way by which God will be reconciled to people.

(5) in the former, there was joined the idea of a sacrifice for sin, Lev. 16. So in the latter. And hence, the main idea of the apostle here is to convey the idea of a sacrifice for sin; or to set forth the Lord Jesus as such a sacrifice. Hence, the word “propitiation” in the original may express the idea of a propitiatory sacrifice, as well as the cover to the ark. The word is an adjective, and may be joined to the noun sacrifice, as well as to denote the mercy-seat of the ark. This meaning accords also with its classic meaning to denote a propitiatory offering, or an offering to produce reconciliation. Christ is thus represented, not as a mercy-seat, which would be unintelligible; but as the medium, the offering, the expiation, by which reconciliation is produced between God and man.

Through faith - Or by means of faith. The offering will be of no avail without faith. The offering has been made; but it will not be applied, except where there is faith. He has made an offering which may be efficacious in putting away sin; but it produces no reconciliation, no pardon, except where it is accepted by faith.

Propitiation v Expiation

Propitiation literally means to make favorable and specifically includes the idea of dealing with God’s wrath against sinners. Expiation literally means to make pious and implies either the removal or cleansing of sin.

The idea of propitiation includes that of expiation as its means; but the word "expiation" has no reference to quenching God’s righteous anger. The difference is that the object of expiation is sin, not God. One propitiates a person, and one expiates a problem. Theopedia. com

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