By Neil Earle
If you were asked, "Where is the center of the Bible?" where would you go?
Some would turn to John 3:16, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" and, yes, that contains the kernel of much that is central. The rest of the verse says "whoever believes" and this has almost becomes the key article of the faith – our belief.
But is that where the center lies?
There are two errors Christians fall into. One is the subtle theory that salvation begins with us – things we must do, we must keep ordinances or "work up" faith. The other is that we do nothing at all – anti-nomianism (Greek = nomos = law). This in spite of clear NT commands to "strive," "make every effort," "press toward the mark."
This is why Romans 3:21-26 is so terribly important and some say central to the whole Christian faith. It is here we meet such terms as "justification," "redemption" and especially the word "propitiation" in the NKJV. But exactly what does it all mean? Paul is writing Romans to people who had conquered the world and imposed law and order on the nations. The Romans grooved on terms such as "justicia," "justice" and "law."
But there were many Jewish believers in Rome (2:17) and Paul knows they are familiar with terms such as "righteousness" and "propitiation." In fact the term "propitiation" comes straight out of the Old Testament – it literally referred to the Mercy Seat in the tabernacle/temple system where the High Priest sprinkled sacrificial blood on the seat covering the ark (Leviticus 16:15). That was to atone for the sins of the people.
In this wonderful passage, Romans 3:21-26) Paul combines both concepts – the Roman sense that God must be Just and cannot overlook iniquity and the Jewish sense of an atoning sacrifice.
Before we set out, however, note that the word used is "propitiation," not "expiation." Some translators and scholars today do not like the word "propitiate." It smacks too much of an offended deity who needs to be appeased like the Tom Hanks movie "Joe and the Volcano" whereby Joe agrees to be paid money to be thrown into the volcano because he has an incurable disease anyway. But most Christian students stick with "propitiation" both because of its tie to the OT mercy seat/atonement ceremony and because "expiation" seems too mechanical for the transaction described, as at the end of "Hamlet" where peace is restored to the land after the bodies are carted off.
Now, let's read.
Romans 3:21: "But now the righteousness of God apart from law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets." Paul knows the law is not the problem in getting right with God. It is just that a new principle has entered history in the presence of Jesus Christ – justification by faith (verse 22), but not just by faith. It has to be faith in His shed blood (verse 25). Grace hinges on the "redemption" that is in Christ Jesus. It depends more upon God, that is, than it does upon us. When we forget that we minimize the importance of the Ascension of Jesus to heaven to present His blood as an atonement for sins.
This is why Jesus is called "the propitiation" in Romans 3:25 and that action is spelled out more in Hebrews 9:11-12 – "by his blood through faith becomes the center of it all. God "demonstrates His righteousness." He has not compromised with sin, the penalty for sin fell upon His son. That sacrifice was worth more to God than all the sins we commit both past and at the present time. This makes God Just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Theologians call this the "dark mystery of atonement" but it satisfies both the requirements of the Law (this is how the law is established by faith (verse 31) and no longer holds sway over us as an instrument of our condemnation.
Let us summarize the points made in this central text:
The Law is not the problem. The Law gets in its own way (C.K. Barrett). Its function is to condemn and convict, but with the cross a new principle has entered history.
We don't stop with Grace as an abstract principle but penetrate to the Source of Grace – the Blood. It is more important to see God's side of this transaction than our own sometimes immature over-excitement about getting off the hook.
The Mercy Seat concept explains how the law witnessed to these powerful realities.
We need Faith because the key event happened 1900 years ago. We were not there yet the Sacrifice made covers all sins past, present and future. The Cross, the Atonement, the Propitiation is God's answer to the questions of sin, death and suffering. Death still reigns – consider New Orleans and Bird Flu – but it is counteracted by another principle – the Righteousness of God by Faith.
God is Just. This meant a lot to the Romans, but He is also the Justifier's message for the Jews who offered sacrifices for hundreds of years.
Where is God when people suffer? He has entered into our sufferings, participated with us in our sufferings even to death, and has given tokens of hope to all who suffer unjustly through the pattern of His vindication of Jesus Christ.
Someone asked Joseph Campbell once why all human cultures tell stories of Heroes who come to lead people to freedom or arrest chaos and then often sacrifice themselves in the struggle. "Because," Campbell answered, "those are the only stories worth telling." Yes.
These realities that lie at or near the center of the Christian life thus touch on what C.S. Lewis calls the hard stuff of life and offer powerful hope to all who struggle, not instantly, but over time.