The Sacrifice
THE SACRIFICE
ROMANS 3:25b-27
Paul comes to the heart of the gospel as he explains the meaning of Christ’s death.
Let’s go back to the beginning of 3:25 from the previous study. Some versions have “expiation,” other versions have “propitiation”, which derives from a verb which most commonly means to “expiate” a sin, that is, by some act of ritual or sacrifice, by some payment or satisfaction given, to annul the guilt incurred by the commission of a sin. In the Old Testament the formalities by which the priesthood or the people were cleansed from defilement are described as “making propitiation” or “making atonement.”
In the present passage Christ is set forth as the means by which moral guilt may be annulled, and that is obviously an act which God alone could determine and perform. This is why some versions avoid the term “propitiation.” The word suggests the placating of an angry God, and although God’s implacable opposition to evil in all its forms may properly be described as “wrath,” that is not the whole theological picture. Paul here means that God “puts forward” the means by which the guilt of sin may be removed and he does this through Christ.
It was “by his blood” because Christ had to die to make such atonement possible, the last, complete and all-satisfying sacrifice. Again the Old Testament is drawn into union with the New Testament. And yet again, how could such sacrifice be effective in its operation unless those for whom it was made regarded it as such and received it? Faith is that act of receiving and commitment by which God’s means of grace is laid hold of in gratitude and appropriated into the life. Where grace meets faith, there is redemption.
We have passed through three word pictures:
To those trained in the imagery of the Old Testament, each metaphor was vivid and complete.
In this way, God can redeem without loss of righteousness (3:25-26), without betrayal of principle, without ceasing to be himself. He is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9, KJV). God remains God, without lessening his holiness in the slightest. The judge is not unjust; the emancipator pays the full price; the sacrifice is complete.