As a result of our reconciliation to God, we are being saved in life (Rom. 5:10). When we are reconciled to God, have peace toward Him, enjoy Him, and boast in Him, we are being saved in His life. We are being saved from so many negative things and freed from besetting sins, from the world and its usurpation, from our temper, disposition, self, and natural being, and from being individualistic. This salvation in life also is an issue of our reconciliation to God.
The Greek word for propitiation means to conciliate two parties and make them one. Suppose you have a problem with another person. You have either offended him or else you owe him something. Because of this problem or debt, he has a demand upon you, and unless his demand is satisfied, the problem between you and him cannot be resolved, nor can reconciliation be achieved. Thus, there is the need for propitiation. The problem that kept us from God, that made it impossible for us to fellowship with Him, was our sins. Our sins kept us away from God’s presence and hindered God from coming to us. Therefore, we needed propitiation to appease God’s demands.
In 1 John 2:2 and 4:10 we are told that Christ, the Son of God, is Himself the propitiation concerning our sins. In both places the word propitiation in Greek is hilasmos, which means “that which propitiates,” that is, a propitiatory sacrifice. Romans 3:25 says that God set forth Christ Jesus as a propitiation-cover. The word translated “propitiation-cover” is another Greek word regarding propitiation, hilasterion, which means the place where propitiation was made. In the Septuagint, hilasterion is used in Exodus 25 and Leviticus 16 for the cover of the ark, the place where God granted mercy to man; hence, it is called the mercy seat (Exo. 25:17; Lev. 16:2). Furthermore, Hebrews 2:17 says that the Lord Jesus became the High Priest to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Here, “make propitiation for” in Greek is hilaskomai, the verbal form of the noun hilasmos, meaning the action of propitiation. The foregoing verses clearly tell us that the Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself to God as a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins. He Himself is also the place of propitiation where we are brought back to God and are reconciled to Him.
Propitiation deals with sins (1 John 2:2; 4:10); reconciliation deals with enmity (2 Cor. 5:19; Rom. 5:10) as well as sins. Therefore, reconciliation includes propitiation. Sinners need propitiation; enemies need reconciliation. Enmity is the greatest problem between man and God. The problem of man being an enemy of God and therefore needing reconciliation is even more serious than the problem of man having sins and therefore needing propitiation. When we were enemies of God, we needed not only propitiation but also reconciliation. Romans 5:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:19 show us that we were not only sinners but also enemies of God. Hence, we needed to be reconciled to God through Christ, through His death with the shedding of His blood, that we might have peace toward God, boast in God, and be saved in life.
Because of the fall, man is at enmity with God in his mind, disapproves of holding God in his knowledge, hates God, and blasphemes God; he is also a son of disobedience, a child of wrath, and an enemy of God. Therefore, man needs to have a thorough change toward God and be reconciled to Him. However, man does not have the thought of being reconciled to God. Rather, it is God who loves man, delights in man, and desires that man would be reconciled to Him, and who also accomplished a way of propitiation for man. God accomplished reconciliation in Christ, that is, through Christ, and through the death of Christ with the shedding of His blood, which accomplished redemption, that man may be reconciled to Him. God not only accomplished all the necessary steps of reconciliation through Christ, but He also has given to men the ministry of reconciling people to Him, so that they may become ambassadors of Christ, commissioned to represent Him and to beseech people to be reconciled to God. As a result of our reconciliation to God, we have peace with God and walk toward God on the way of peace; we boast, exult, and glory in God; and we are being saved in life, freed from sins, from the world, from our natural being, from being individualistic, and from other negative things. Reconciliation also includes propitiation. Propitiation deals with sins; reconciliation deals with enmity as well as sins. Formerly, we were not only sinners but also enemies of God. Hence, we needed propitiation and also reconciliation to God.