Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 30 May 2010 & 16 June 2024
Thank God for all the rain we’ve had this spring after two years of drought! Everything – especially the grass – has been growing great guns! It reminds me of a story about a poor man who was given a very promising offer. You see, he was so poor that he had nothing to eat, so one day, in desperation, he started trying to eat some grass as he sat with his family by the side of the road. A big black limousine came cruising by, then screeched to a halt and backed up to where the poor man sat. The power window purred down, and a man in a fine suit leaned out and asked, “Why are you eating grass?”
“I don't have any money for food,” the poor man replied.
“Then, please come to my house!”
“But sir, I have a wife and four children...”
“Bring them along!” the rich man said.
So they all climbed into the back seat of the limo. Once underway, the poor fellow said, “Sir, you are too kind. Thank you for taking all of us in.”
The rich man replied, “No, you don't understand. The grass at my house is over three feet tall!”
You see, the rich man wasn’t really offering any kind of salvation at all for the poor family, only longer grass to try to eat at his house! That’s the predicament in which we often find ourselves when we grasp at human solutions that promise to save us. They turn out to be very disappointing, but that is not the way it is with the salvation offered by Jesus in the Bible. God’s salvartion turns out to be better and richer than we could dream of!
In the last sermon we looked at the Lord’s Prayer and considered God’s Providence and Protection in salvation. Continuing the theme of the full-bodied-ness of the salvation God offers in the Bible, I want to look more in-depth at the Propitiation aspect of His salvation, surveying the various words used in the Bible to describe salvation. Systematic theologians have cataloged these words describing the process of salvation and called it the ordo saludis, which is Latin for the “order of salvation.” While there is some logical order to it, my main point in going into this list of words is to show how great and multi-faceted is the salvation that is offered in Biblical Christianity - and also to show how much initiative God Himself has taken to save us, for it is His very nature to save.
The first two Biblical words in the logical order of God’s salvation are His:
Ephesians 1:4 “He [God the Father] chose/elected [εξελεξατο] us in Him [God the Son] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love:”
Note that this was done before we were born. “Before the foundation of the world,” God chose to save us. Therefore, the Bible calls those who are saved “the elect” [εκλεκτων] in Mark 13:20-27, Romans 8:33, Colossians 3:12, 1 Peter 2:9 & 5:13, and 2 John 1:1&13.
Paul points out in Romans 11:5-7 that if God chooses to save us, then salvation is a gift that we don’t earn: “…presently there is a remnant according to the election [εκλογὴν] of grace. But if it is by grace, it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no longer a free gift. What then? That which Israel seeks, it did not obtain; but the elect obtained it, and the rest were hardened.” (cf. Rom. 9:11 “…children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election [εκλογὴν] might stand, not of works, but of the One who calls [καλουντος]…”
So what should our response be to a God who takes the initiative to choose us and call us to salvation rather than leave us in our helpless condition? The apostle Peter tells us at the beginning of his second epistle: “…Therefore, brothers, give the more diligence to make your calling and election2 sure…” by practicing “self discipline,” “perseverance,” “godliness,” “kindness,” and “love.” (2 Pet. 1:5-10) Rather than sitting back passively in the knowledge that God chooses to save, we should diligently make sure we get it and strive to live as Christians. Are you going after this diligently?
The next words describing salvation that I want to look at in the Bible are closely-related in meaning:
Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary defines propitiation as “1. The act of appeasing wrath and conciliating the favor of an offended person; the act of making propitious. 2. In theology, the atonement or atoning sacrifice offered to God to assuage his wrath and render him propitious to sinners. Christ is the propitiation for the sins of men.” Webster then cites:
1 John 2:2 “He is the propitiation [‘ιλασμός - NIV: atoning sacrifice] for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world… 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Webster also cites:
Romans 3:24-25 We have been “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation [‘ιλαστήριον – NIV: sacrifice of atonement], through faith, in His blood…” (cf. Hebrews 2:17) (Did you know that English dictionaries used to quote the Bible??)
So, God’s salvation includes Jesus appeasing the wrath of God by taking our offenses upon Himself and dying for us, thus changing God’s attitude toward us to be kind instead.
“Expiation” is a related word which means pretty much the same thing as propitiation, except it has more of an emphasis on the offender offering a gift to make things right with the offended party.
Say two brothers were fighting over a paper airplane. One of them had made a little plane out of his church bulletin, and the other grabbed it and wadded it up and threw it in the garbage. Would the first brother have reason to be mad? Yes. So what could be done to expiate this wrong? What if the second brother were to give him one of those planes made out of balsa wood that has a propeller with a rubber band you can wind up so it takes off on its own and flies all around the room? If he were to give him this better toy plane, suddenly the paper airplane and all the grievances associated with it would be erased from the first brother’s mind, wouldn’t it? The wind-up plane would provide expiation for the wrong over the paper airplane.
Well, what if the wrong done was murder? In the O.T., only the death of a murderer could pay for his crime against God: Numbers 35:33 “Do not pollute the land in which you live with blood. It pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.” (cf. Deut. 32:43)
But God decreed the practice of animal sacrifice to pay for sin, although not even this could atone for some sins: In 1 Samuel 3:14 God says, “I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated with sacrifice nor offering for ever.”
Jesus’ offering of His life on the cross to God was the ultimate gift – or expiation – which wiped all thought of being offended over your sins out of God’s mind.
Atonement fits alongside Propitiation and Expiation, for Atonement focuses on bringing together as one two people who had been enemies, by “covering over” the problem so that it disappears.
The Hebrew word “kaphar” [כפר] shows up about 100 times in the O.T., particularly in Leviticus, describing the animal sacrifices to “cover over” people’s sins and reconcile them to God: Lev. 1:4 “He [the worshipper] he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sacrifice to be burned up, and it will be accepted for him, to make atonement on his behalf.… 4:31b ...and the priest will burn it on the altar for a sweet smell to Jehovah, so the priest will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven… 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood which makes atonement by reason of the life.”
This atonement by the sacrifice of animals was fulfilled by the sacrifice of Jesus’ life on the cross: Colossians 1:21-22 “And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His [that is, Jesus’] flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and un-reproveable before Him.”
What should our response be to such an amazing and selfless act of atonement? Continue on to the next verse “…[C]ontinue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard…” (Colossians 1:23). Our response should be to cling tightly to the good news that Jesus has appeased God’s wrath against us by dying for our sin – “continue in that faith”!
So our God has made arrangements ahead-of-time to save us through His Elective choosing and His Calling, and by His arrangement of Atonement by Jesus’ Propitiation and Expiation. The next group of words gets to our change of status in salvation:
Redemption is paying out one thing in order to get something else back. The Greek word “ex-agora” literally means “out of the marketplace.”
If I give you an iTunes gift card, and you want to exchange the credit on that card for songs, you go to the iTunes website and click “Redeem” in the quicklinks, then type in the number on your gift card, and, voilà!, you can download songs.
The other word which is translated from Greek into the English word “redemption” is “απο-λυτρω” which has to do with being released “from bondage.” When it comes to our salvation, Christ paid out His life blood to get us for Himself, thus redeeming us from sin. In this way Jesus got our legal guardianship transferred to Himself and adopted us as His children.
These words “redemption” and “adoption” paint a glorious picture of what God did to save us. Although the Old Testament provides a rich background on this, let’s just look at what the N.T. has to say for now:
In Romans 3:24, Paul states that redemption [απολυτρώσεως] is a gift from Jesus, for we are: “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”3
What did Jesus “redeem” us from? Galatians 3:13 explains: “Christ redeemed [εξηγόρασεν] us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed is every one who hangs on a tree...’ 4:5 that He might redeem [εξαγοράση] those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
Some folks have the mistaken impression that Jesus paid Satan to redeem us, but that is not true. Satan never bought us from God; we sinful humans merely joined Satan in rebellion. Jesus paid God the Father and redeemed us from “bondage to sin.”
In Christian salvation, redemption is Jesus paying the price of death to forgive our sins: Colossians 1:14 “in Him we have our redemption [απολύτρωσιν], the forgiveness of our sins...”
What did Jesus pay to get us back? “…you were redeemed [ελυτρώθητε - ESV: ransomed], not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb without spot, even the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19, cf. Ephesians 1:7 & Heb. 9:12).
Titus 2:14 “He gave Himself for us, that He might redeem [λυτρώσηται] us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good works.” (cf. Heb. 9:15)
God’s salvific act of redemption is more than just a transfer of ownership – more than the acquisition of mere property; it is also called “adoption.” The New Testament Greek word translated “adoption” is a compound of two words, one meaning “placement” and the other meaning “son.” God’s salvation includes not only releasing us from bondage to sin but also placing us in the special family relationship of being His own children! Ephesians 1:5 relates adoption to election or predestination: God “foreordained us unto adoption as sons [υἱοθεσίαν] through Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” (cf. Galatians 4:5)
What should our response be to a God who would give His life in order to get us back and adopt us into His family? We should “receive” this marvelous gift of redemption and adoption and delight in being brought close to God:
John 1:12 “And as many as received Him [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe on His name.”
Romans 8:15 “…you received the Spirit of adoption [υἱοθεσίας - NIV: sonship], by which we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” (cf. Rom. 8:23 & 9:4)
Have you received this gift and started delighting in calling God your “Father”?
In salvation, not only is there a payment for sin that changes our ownership and relationship to God, there is also a change that is created in our hearts to save us. That is what the next set of words describe as we look at more Biblical words that describe salvation:
The Bible speaks of certain changes that have to take place in us before we can respond in faith and receive the redemption of Christ and the adoption as children of God. This also is part of the operation of God to save us. He regenerates our hearts and minds through His Holy Spirit to make us spiritually alive and able to respond to Him, and He convicts us of our sins so that we will want to repent of them:
The promise of regeneration is given by the O.T. prophet Ezekiel (36:26-27) “I will also give you a new heart, and I will put in you a new spirit. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my ordinances and do them.”
Jesus explained it to Nicodemus in the New Testament like this: “…Except someone is born again [regenerated – γεννηθη ανωθεν], he cannot see the kingdom of God… Really and truly, I’m telling you, except someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God!” (John 3:3-5) The first birth (in water) is the natural birth you received from your mom when you were enveloped in a bag of water in her womb, but the birth of the Spirit is the new birth – being “born again” – which is part of God’s salvation.
1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy re-birthed us unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...”
It is that same Spirit who regenerates us who also “will convict [ἐλέγξει - KJV: reprove] the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” (John 16:8)
If you are ever horrified that you have sinned against God, that is not natural4; that is the work of the Holy Spirit in you, and it is part of God’s work of saving you that comes from being made alive spiritually, a regenerated person feels conviction over sin and wants to be saved from sin.
When that change of regeneration has been wrought in your heart, then you can respond with the next set of things described in the Bible as grounds of salvation:
When God calls us and the Holy Spirit makes us alive spiritually and convicts us of sin and makes us want to be saved, we respond to the call of God with two things: repentance and faith.
Repentance is changing your mind to quit living a life of rebellion against God,
and faith is trusting in Jesus to keep you safe.
Repentance and faith go together: you don’t have people saved who continue to love sin or who don’t believe in Jesus. Listen to how Jesus and the apostles put the two together in their teaching:
Mark 1:14-15 “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: Repent and believe [μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε] in the gospel.’” The Greek present tense of these commands to “repent and believe” indicate that this should be happening constantly in your life – it should be your continuing practice to keep on believing and keep on turning away from sin.
The Apostle Peter also called the Jews to, “Repent [μετανοήσατε] therefore, and turn again [επιστρέψατε- KJV & NKJ: be converted], that your sins may be blotted out…” (Acts 3:19a)
The Apostle John wrote, “Whoever believes [Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων] that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God…” (1 John 5:1)
The Apostle Paul also “…testified both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God and faith [μετάνοιαν καὶ πίστιν] toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:21)
Repentance and Faith are really all we do in the process of our salvation. We respond to God by forsaking our sin and trusting Him to save us. The questions remain:
“Do we really want to forsake our sin?
Do we really want to quit trying to save ourselves (and trying to save the world) and just let God step in and be our Savior?
To everyone who repents and believes, God promises a few more things that are synonyms for salvation in the Bible. The first is:
Justification has to do with being recognized as being in the right. The same Greek root word is used in the New Testament both for “righteousness” and “justification.” When I am justified, I am made “just-as-if-I’d” never sinned.
This gift of being made right with God is a free gift that comes from Jesus. Paul describes this at length in his letter to the Romans: 3:24 We are “justified [δικαιούμενοι] freely by His grace through the redemption [ἀπολυτρώσεως] that is in Christ Jesus... 4:25 who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification [δικαίωσιν]… 5:9 being now justified [δικαιωθέντες] by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”
1 Corinthians 6:11 “…you were washed, and you were sanctified [ἡγιάσθητε], and you were justified [ἐδικαιώθητε] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.” (cf. Titus 3:7)
Because righteousness and justification share the same root meaning of being “in the right,” it is easy to understand why some people think that being “right with God” comes from us doing righteous deeds. The Bible, however, says something quite different: Justification comes through faith:
Romans 5:1 “Being therefore justified by [what? Being righteous ourselves? No! Being justified by] faith [Δικαιωθέντες οῦν ἐκ πίστεως], we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Galatians 2:16 “…knowing that a man is not justified [δικαιοῦται] by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law: because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
This should overwhelm any hesitation to trust in Jesus for salvation. We should be beating down the door of faith to receive this marvelous blessing of justification!
What a blessing to have a God who doesn’t keep looking disapprovingly at us, wishing we would do one more thing to be really acceptable to Him. What a relief to know that God looks at us with complete acceptance and delight, just as He views His own Son!
Do you really believe that God thinks you’re o.k. because you are united to Jesus by faith? Believe it and “find rest for your soul” (Mt. 11:29)!
Sanctification comes from the Latin root sanctus which means “holy.” So all who are saved are also called “saints” (1 Cor. 1:2), because we have been set apart in a special relationship with God.
It’s like marriage, where a man chooses to marry a woman, and in doing so, sets her apart from all other women in a special relationship to himself. That’s what God does in salvation, He sanctifies us, setting His chosen people apart from the rest of the world in a special relationship – which is likened to marriage in Ephesians 5.
More than any other part of salvation, sanctification is the most easy to see as an ongoing process:
It starts at the beginning of time: When God decided to save us, we were set apart in God’s mind by His election, and our relationship with God became one of special favor even before we did anything in response. 2 Thessalonians 2:13b says “God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification [‘αγιασμω] of the Spirit and belief of the truth.”
Then in the first Century A.D., the redemption that Jesus purchased for us by His death on the cross set us apart as holy with a special relationship to Jesus as those paid-for and legally no longer under God’s curse. In fact, Hebrews 13:12 states it was the blood of Christ which brought about this holy status5: “Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered…”
Then when you became a believer, you were sanctified through faith, as Paul stated in Acts 26:18b “…receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith [ἡγιασμένοις πίστει] in me.”
But sanctification keeps on going from there. Reading the Bible further sets our minds apart as holy to God:
John 17:17 “Sanctify [ἁγίασον] them in truth, Your word is truth.” (cf. 1 Tim 4:5, Eph. 5:26)
Acts 20:32 “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified [ἡγιασμένοις].”
Sanctification involves progressively getting rid of sin:
This sanctification is done by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:16, 1 Pet. 1:2) yet it calls for our effort:
It also involves not doing things God says are wrong and doing things that God says are right: 2 Timothy 2:21 “…If a man purges himself from these [‘dishonorable things’ v.20, ‘youthful lusts’ v.22], he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified [ἡγιασμένον - NIV: set apart as holy, ESV: made holy], fitting for the master's use, prepared for every good work.”
Romans 6:19c “…now present your members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification [ἁγιασμόν – KJV, NIV, NKJV: holiness].” We are to serve righteousness with our bodies, and this grows us in sanctification holiness. (cf. 1 Thess. 4:3, 1 Jn. 3:3)
Hebrews 12:14 “Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification [ἁγιασμόν - KJV, NKJV: holiness, NIV: be holy] without which no one will see the Lord.”
Are you excited about being in a special relationship with God? Are you willing to build on that special relationship by growing in your sanctification through washing your mind with the Bible and obeying God’s standards of righteousness and rooting out more and more of the sin from your life?
There is one more word for salvation I want to cover, although I’m sure there are more. That word is:
At some point in the future, Jesus will return, and our sanctification process will be completed: “By the power of God, you are being guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time,” wrote the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:5.
Generally, we call that glorification: The Apostle Paul explained it this way: “And the God of peace Himself will sanctify [ἁγιάσαι] you wholly; and your spirit and soul and body will be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thess. 5:23, cf. Rom. 6:22)
Some of the other words for salvation like “Justification” and “Redemption” are also used in this future sense of the ultimate fulfillment of our salvation in the return of Christ and our being taken to heaven with Him (Luke 21:28, Eph. 4:30).
But generally these different parts of salvation are part of a process working toward that culmination of our glorification. This is laid out most explicitly in Romans 8:28 “And we know that to those who love God, He works all things together for good, even to those who are called [κλητοῖς] according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew [προέγνω], He also foreordained [προώρισε] to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn [πρωτότοκον] among many brethren, and whom He foreordained, those He also called [ἐκάλεσε], and whom He called, those He also justified [ἐδικαίωσε], and whom He justified, those He also glorified [ἐδόξασε].”
What will our glorified selves be like? Paul addresses this in 1 Corinthians 15:42 “The resurrection of the dead is also like this: sown in perishableness, raised in imperishableness; sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; sown a soulish body, raised a spiritual body.”
What should our response be to this future aspect of our salvation? Eager anticipation! Romans 8:19 tells us that all of creation “waits with eager expectation for the revealing of the sons of God.”
I look forward to the completion of my salvation. I look forward to heaven! I cannot lose hope in the here-and-now because I have a glorious future! I long for the return of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
In 16th Century Europe, Ulrich Zwingli, a pastor in Switzerland, summarized the values of the church reformation of his day with five slogans of exclusivity that we continue to uphold today. They were originally in Latin, which was the common language used by scholars across Europe: Sola Scriptura, Solo Christo, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Soli Deo Gloria. Solo/Soli/Sola means “only.” So in English it would go: “Only Scripture, Only Christ, Only by Grace, Only through Faith, and Only to God be glory.”
This was to combat beliefs that absolute truth could be found outside the Bible,
to combat the belief that someone besides Jesus Christ could be our savior,
to combat the belief that people could earn merit with God and make salvation something other than an entirely free and gracious gift,
and this slogan combated the idea that salvation came through meeting certain church requirements in addition to faith.
In Acts 4:12, Peter preached, “in none other [than Jesus Christ of Nazareth] is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved.” There it is in the Bible: Solo Cristo – Christ alone saves.
And in Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul preached, “It is by grace that you have been saved through faith – and that not of yourselves, it is from God – a gift, not from works, so that no one may boast.” (cf. 1 Timothy 1:15-16) – Only by Grace through Faith are we saved. Sola Gratia, Sola Fide.
If this is the case – if God alone saves us, and if His salvation is totally His work done as a free gift to us, then we cannot boast or take any credit for our salvation. Being saved doesn’t make believers any better than anybody else. All glory goes to God because He saved us, or in the Latin: Soli Deo Gloria!
I hope that meditating upon these aspects of the salvation which God has revealed to us in the Bible has left you marveling at His Election, Calling, Expiation, Propitiation, Atonement, Redemption, Adoption, Regeneration, Conviction, Conversion of your heart, granting of Faith, Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification.
Unlike my story at the beginning, where the poor family was picked up in the rich man’s limousine, this will not be a disappointing salvation! Reject those pitiful attempts at salvation that man offers!
If you have not received God’s salvation, I urge you to do so now by telling God you believe that Jesus died to save you from your sins. The Bible warns us in Hebrews 2:3b “…how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”
Most of you, however, are already in this new life. I urge you to make God’s praise glorious for such a great salvation and to declare “the wonders of His mighty love” to the ends of the earth!
1I am grateful to Dr. Denny Prutow, who taught the soteriology class I took at Sangre de Cristo Seminary. I’ve used notes from his class especially in this section.
2κλησιν καὶ εκλογὴν – NASB: calling and choosing
3cf. Luke 1:68, 1 Cor. 1:30
4Ephesians 2:1 tells us that we are naturally “dead in trespasses and sins,” so that we are not grieved over offending God, and we are not responsive to spiritual things.
5Also see cf. 1 Cor. 6:11 & Heb. 10:10-29.