your Bibles, if you would, to
1 John chapter 1. And we'll start in verse 5, and
then we'll be reading to chapter 2, verse 2. And our text will
be found in chapter 2, verse 2, but I want to read these verses
before us so that we get the context of the verse. The name of the message is Substitution,
Propitiation and Satisfaction. Substitution, Propitiation and
Satisfaction. John pens this to fellow believers. This then is the message which
we have heard of him. Remember John is an eyewitness
of the Lord Jesus Christ and declare unto you that he was
an eyewitness and he was an earwitness of the things of Christ. This
then is the message we have heard of Him and declare unto you that
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. He's absolutely
holy. If we say that we have fellowship
with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ, His
Son, cleanses us from all sin. What a statement. What a wonderful
statement for the blood-washed believer. The blood of Jesus
Christ, the Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, which the believer does, we confess our
sins before our God. He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If
we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word
is not in us. My little children, these things
write I unto you, that ye sin not, and if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And
he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world. Now last week we
considered the fact that we as born-again, blood-washed believers,
that we have an advocate. Just as verse 1 says in chapter
2 there. We have an advocate. The born-again,
blood-washed believer has an advocate, and his name is Jesus
Christ the Righteous. That's his name. He is God incarnate
in the flesh. We also took note that John used
the little word in verse 1 of chapter 2 when proclaiming to
believers that they have an advocate. He used the little word, we.
The little word we. Let us always remember that the
ground at the foot of the cross is level. It's level. We're all sinners. We're all
sinners. And here the Apostle John brings
that forth. He does not say you have an advocate. He doesn't say, you have a propitiation. No, he says, we have an advocate
and in our text tonight he says, and he is a propitiation for
our sins. He puts himself on the same ground as every other
believer. Every other believer. A sinner in desperate need of
Christ. A sinner but saved by the grace of God. And we know,
we who are the people of God know we are but sinners saved
by grace. And again, notice the same vein
of thought as verse one is bought out again tonight in our verse.
And he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world. Again, note the
little word are. And he's proclaiming Christ is
a propitiation for the saints, he's writing to them and himself. And he includes those who would
be called by God in the future. That's where we see, but also
for the sins of the whole world. Because he knows that God has
a people in every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. So let's
look at verse 2 again. And he, that being Christ, is
the propitiation for our, that's the believer, the believer in
Christ Jesus, who John's writing to, and including himself, for
our sins. And not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world. Now these words in verse 2 are
again tied into verse 1. They also speak of the ground
on which Christ's advocacy rests. And there's also an amplification of the righteousness
of the righteous one, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's to magnify
who he is. It's to magnify who he is. Let's
look at those two verses again. My little children, these things
write I unto you, that you sin not, and if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.
And He is the propitiation for our sins. Again, it's magnifying
who Christ is. He's the righteous one. And not
for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Now
this word propitiation here in the Greek means an appeasing.
Propitiation. The means of appeasing, propitiation,
atoning, sacrifice, sin offering, expiation. One who makes propitiation
or expiation. Have you ever considered what
salvation means? Have you ever considered what
the word salvation means? It means deliverance or rescue
in the scripture. Now one commentator bought forth
this about salvation in a worldly experience, not in a biblical
experience, but in a worldly form of salvation. If somebody's
rescued from certain defeat in battle, he experiences a salvation,
he's delivered, he's rescued. If somebody survives a life-threatening
illness, that person experiences salvation in the sense of he's
been delivered from that, because that's what that word means.
If somebody's plants are bought back from withering to her best
health, they're saved. Vicki and I bought a bunch of
plants last year and they were plants that no one wanted. They
were dying. We bought them home and she put some of that miracle
growth on them and man, one of the plants was the best plant
we had in the whole garden. It was just absolutely beautiful. But salvation, The biblical language for salvation
is really no different than our language. We save money and a
boxer will be in a match and he's saved by the bell, they
say, right? He's saved by the bell. Meaning he's saved from
losing the fight or being knocked out. And the commentator goes
on to say, in short, any experience of deliverance from a clear and
present danger can be spoken of as a form of salvation. Just
meaning in a sense of a deliverance or being rescued. Now in a biblical
salvation, no. We are saved and rescued, beloved,
from God's wrath. From God's wrath. Turn, if you
would, the first Thessalonians chapter one. We're saved from
God's wrath. We're saved also from God's law. We're saved from
God's justice and that justice has a rightful claim upon us.
We also know that we're saved from our sins, don't we? Because
the Lord Jesus Christ came to this world to what? Save his
people from their sins. We know that we are rescued and
delivered from our sins. But do you know that we're delivered
and rescued from the wrath of God? Not a drop of the wrath of God
will touch us. We who are God's people. Now
it will fall upon the unbeliever. But it will not fall upon God's
blood bought people. Look at this in 1st Thessalonians
1, we'll read verses 5 to 10. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power. So the word was effectual. And we know the word is only
made effectual by the Holy Spirit of God. but also on power and
the Holy Ghost, there it is, and in much assurance. As you
know what manner of man we were among you for your sake, and
you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received
the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost. so that
you were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the
word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also
in every place your faith to God were to spread abroad, so
that we need not to speak anything. For they themselves show us of
what manner of entering in we head unto you, and how ye turned
to God from idols to serve the living and true God. Now look
at verse 10. And to wait for His Son from
heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered
us, rescued us, beloved, saved us, from what? From the wrath
to come. And that's the just wrath of
God that will fall upon those outside of Christ. Now we don't
get what we deserve, do we? We receive grace, but that wrath
did fall upon someone. That wrath that was deserved
us fell upon someone. It fell upon Christ. The great
substitute. The great substitute. And he
will see tonight is our propitiation, and he is the one who has satisfied
God's law and justice. He's made satisfaction. Oh, my. Verse 10 there, He's
delivered us, Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come. Tie
that in with our verse tonight, let's go back to 1 John 2, verse
2 and tie that in, look at this, tie that in. And He is the propitiation
for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of
the whole world. Oh my, why did the Lord come
here again? to save his people from their
sins. How did he do that? By being made a propitiation
for us. Oh my. Beloved of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ has made atonement for the sins of his people. How? By the sacrifice of himself.
And the benefit of Christ's blood for the sinner is what? What's
the benefit of Christ's blood for the born again believer?
You know what it is? Full acceptance with God in and
through Christ. Full acceptance with God in and
through Christ. As I said on Sunday, the Gospel
preacher preaches glad tidings for sinners. Glad tidings for
sinners. And Christ not only propitiates,
but He offers Himself up as the propitiatory sacrifice. He's
the sacrifice too, beloved, for His people. the sacrifice and
he's the high priest he's both and he alone now and now I wanna
get this because the meaning of that of of propitiation is
to appease it's part of it is to appease to X expiate that
that's to appease and he has appeased the wrath of God in
our place love he's done that he's done that He's appeased
the wrath of God in the place of His people. And again, this
is good news. This is glad tidings for sinners. It is Christ and Christ alone
who has appeased God's strict justice. And we know God's justice
is strict, don't we? It must be satisfied. I've said
this many times, either in the substitute or in the sinner. It has to be satisfied. It must
be. It must be. And Christ and Christ
alone has appeased God's strict justice. And God's holiness too. Because God's holiness must be
upheld, eh? He can't have sin in His presence,
beloved. His holiness must be upheld too.
And God is so satisfied in the sacrifice of Christ, that in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ, He forgives the sins of all His
people. Of all His people. Therefore,
God, in doing that, can be just and the justifier of His people. Of the elect of God. Of all for
whom Christ died. Jew and Gentile. That's what
the world is talking about in that text. Jew and Gentile. Oh my. And He is the propitiation
for the sins of His people by appointment of God. By appointment
of God. God appointed for Him to be so. And praise God for the believer
in Christ. We can proclaim that we are absolutely complete in
Christ. He's everything. We're complete
in Him. We can proclaim that our entire
acceptance before God is in Christ and Christ alone, not by works
of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy,
he has saved us. And how has he saved us? In Christ,
who is our propitiation by what he's done, by what he's done. Oh, it's absolutely wonderful. And who is he? Jesus Christ,
the righteous. the perfect one, the sinless
one, the spotless one. And the believer says glory to
his name. Turn, if you would, to Romans chapter three, Romans
chapter three. We're going to look here. And
now in these verses that we're going to look at. We will see
one of the clearest declarations. One of the clearest declarations
of the gospel of God's grace right in these verses. One of the clearest declarations
of God's grace to sinners in Christ. Very clear. Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter
3. And right here in these verses
is stated how God saves sinners. How He has mercy upon sinners. How God's people are justified
freely by His grace. through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. And if you know this, if you've
had this revealed to you, it makes you rejoice. It makes you
rejoice. Because it is God who has revealed
this to us. Let's read verses 19 to 26, and
we'll look at each verse here. Romans 3, verse 19, Now we know
that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
may become guilty before God. So we see there guilty, and that's
guilty, guilty, guilty, isn't it? Guilty before God. And that
word guilty there in the Greek means under sentence. Under sentence. It means condemned. It means
liable. It means subject to persecution.
And note in the text that this is said of all flesh. Look at verse 20, therefore,
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight. So by the deeds of the law, there
be no flesh justified. And we know that's in God's sight.
For by the law is the knowledge of sin. Now the deeds of the
law here means works of religion or works which you can perform.
And don't ever forget that the word works means anything you
do in your mind or physical activity too. No one can be acceptable to God
by their own works. And think of this, not all are
praying. Although praying is a good thing,
isn't it? Not all our Bible reading. Although reading the Bible is
a good thing. But nothing we can do. Can make
us acceptable to God. Because we're sinners. We're
sinners. Oh my. No one can be justified
before God. By anything we do. But what does
the law do? Well, the law reveals our sinfulness, doesn't it? It
reveals our sinfulness. The law cannot save, we know
that. No one can be saved. That scripture very clearly talks
about, therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be
justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. So if a person can't be justified in God's sight,
they can't be saved, can they? By the works of the law. This shows man's desperate need
for a substitute. This shows man's desperate need
for a propitiation before God. One that will satisfy God. And the only substitute that
God will accept in the sinner's place, beloved, is the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Righteous One. He's the only one who God will
accept in the sinner's place. Look at verse 21. But now the
righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets. It says here, but now
the righteousness of God, the righteousness of God is one of
the most important expressions in the scriptures. It signifies
both the precept of the law and the penalty of the law. That
is, the holy law in every jot and tittle must be honored. Must
be honored. That's why Paul says, if you
put yourself under the law, then you're a debtor to the whole
law. You say, well, you got to do
this, then you got to do it all. And where there is the least
offense, God's justice must be satisfied. Must be. But this righteousness spoken
of here is the righteousness that God by His grace has provided
for and imputed to guilty sinners through His Son. Think upon this, you and I who
are born again, we who are the redeemed of the Lord, If there's
no imputation of Christ's obedience to the law for us, if there's
no imputation of his perfect righteousness, then none would
be saved. Praise God for Christ's imputed
righteousness and for his obedience being imputed to us too. Oh my
beloved. He was our substitute both in
his life and in his death. And we know this from verse 23,
which says, For all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. There's a verse over in Isaiah,
I'll just read it here, Isaiah 64, 6, it says, But we are all
as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy
rags, and we do fade away as a leaf. And our iniquities, like
the wind, have taken us away. But note in this verse here,
It says the righteousness is manifested, it's revealed. And
it's witnessed. It's witnessed by the word of
God. By the law and the prophets, it says here, because why they
testified of who Christ? They testified of Christ. So
rejoice, beloved of God, you who know this, you who have been
taught this by God, this is now manifested in the gospel. Why is the gospel the power of
God and the salvation because therein is the righteousness
of God revealed? It's absolutely wonderful absolutely
wonderful Christ fulfilled the law of God in the place of his
people and His perfect obedience to the law and his perfect righteousness
is given to us and And He has revealed this to His
people. In God's people, we say, Hallelujah, what a Savior, don't
we? What a Savior. What a Savior is Jesus Christ,
my Lord. Look at verse 22 in Romans 3.
Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference.
The perfect righteousness whereby we are sanctified, justified
and received in God's presence is holy and without blame. is
not imputed to us on account of any work of our own, but it's
received by faith. It's received by faith. Faith
is not a part of that righteousness, but it is through faith that
it's received. And oh my, look at verse 23 and
24. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. There's that level ground as
sinners, isn't it? So there's level ground at the
cross, but there's also level ground amongst all of humanity. We're all born dead in trespasses
and sins. Some may be a little more smarter. Some may have a little more money.
Some may have a better job than others, but we're all sinners.
We're all sinners. Whether people believe it or
not, that's what the scripture declares. We all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Now look what it is written
about God's people though in verse 24 being justified freely
by his grace Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus So we
see in verse 23 the thought that was being bought forth in verse
22 is continued that we're all guilty before God in our natural
state and that none can save themselves by their works and
whether it be of thought, word, or deed. And then note in verse
24, God's people are justified freely. You know what this speaks
of? Without a cause in us. We're justified by the grace
of God without any cause in us at all. My! That's wonderful! It's all by the grace of God.
I was speaking to a dear brother today, and he was saying, I don't
understand why God saved me. Why He saved me and passed by
all those others. And I said, brother, all we can
say is what Paul said. I've obtained mercy. And he said,
Amen. Amen. That's it, isn't it? I've obtained mercy. We have
been justified freely by the grace of God without any cause
in us at all. All according to God's free and
sovereign grace and mercy in Christ. Look at verse 25 now,
here's the tie in. With our verse tonight. whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God. So note here in verse
25, Jesus Christ, who is the Redeemer of His people, He is
the one whom God, note that it's God who set Him forth, whom God
has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood. This
is of God's planning, and this is executed by God. So think of that in light of
we who are saved. This is glorious. This is absolutely
glorious. To declare His righteousness
for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. It is God who has sent Christ to be a propitiation for
His people. Without a cause in us, say, but
all according to His grace and mercy. No wonder Paul said, I've
obtained mercy. No wonder he said that. Now the Greek word for propitiation
here is not the same Greek word that's used in our text, although
it has a similar meaning. But this Greek word is used here
and in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 5. So turn to Hebrews chapter
9 verse 5. And this word here for propitiation
in the Greek means atonement, atoning, sacrifice, propitiate,
propitiation. And this speaks of the mercy
seat of God. This speaks of the mercy seat
of God. Thus the word propitiation here signifies the mercy seat. And it's translated as this over
in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 5. Which says, And over it the cherubims
of glory shadowing the mercy seat. The same word that was
translated propitiation. Same word. Same Greek word. Of
which we cannot now speak particularly. Now the mercy seat, beloved,
was made of pure gold, wasn't it? It was made of pure gold. You know what that pictured?
That pictured the excellency of Christ. That's what that pictured. That pictured the excellency
of Christ, beloved. Because the mercy seat is a picture
of him. Oh my. And what did the mercy
seat cover, beloved? The law of God. It covered the
law of God. Which pictures Christ standing
between his people and the law of God. satisfying God's law
and justice and wrath in the place of his people. And we know
that on that mercy seat was sprinkled that blood, wasn't it? Oh my. So he's pictured in the mercy
seat, he's pictured in the propitiation, the sacrifice, and he's pictured
in the blood that was sprinkled upon that mercy seat, beloved.
He alone has made satisfaction God's law for us in our place. God's law is appeased. God's
justice is appeased. God's wrath is appeased for the
believer in Christ. In Christ. Christ is a covering to his people,
beloved. We are clothed in His perfect spotless righteousness. We are safe from the wrath of
God through Him, secured from the curse and condemnation of
the law that we justly deserve. Secure from all that. And all
that God demanded for our sins was poured out on Christ. The
sinless, perfect, spotless Lamb of God. Why the scripture says
he was the just one dying for the unjust. All the holy one
dying for the unholy. And look at this and remember
this too. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. He's our righteousness, isn't
he? He's our righteousness. Look at verse 25 again in Romans
chapter 3. whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation, that's a wonder in all by itself right there,
through faith in his blood, and without the shed in the blood
there's no remission of sins, is there? None at all. Oh, the
shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ cleanses every single
one of his sheep, a number that no man can number from all their
sins. Oh my. And note here to declare his
righteousness for the remissions of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. The sins that are passed, beloved
of God, this means that God pardoned the sins of believers under the
Old Testament. How? By the atonement of Christ.
They're saved the same way we are, beloved. Exactly the same
way. Exactly the same way. All those
sacrifices in the Old Testament could never, never, never take
away sin. But they pointed to the one.
who is sent by God to be a propitiation for the sins of his people. The
one sacrifice. As I'll look at later, the divine
propitiation. That's what he is. The divine
propitiation. The Lord Jesus Christ, the righteous
one. Whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation through his blood to declare his righteousness
for the remissions of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 13 it
says this It says this about the Old Testament Saints. They
all died in faith Well, who was that faith in beloved? We know
who that faith was in that faith was in Christ Hebrews 11 13 all
These all died in faith not having received the promises, but haven't
seen them afar off. They were looking to Christ beloved
They were looking to Christ and were persuaded of them and embraced
them. Oh, they had the same faith we
have, beloved. Look into Christ and confess
that they were strangers and pilgrims on this earth. What
do we confess? We're but passing through, aren't
we? We're strangers and pilgrims in this world, beloved. Oh, and
this was due to God's forbearance that He did not immediately destroy
them, that passed by all their sins until His law was honored
and His justice was satisfied by Christ Jesus, who was their
propitiation and who was their substitute just like He is ours.
See, all the elect of all the ages are saved the same way,
aren't they? In and through the Lord Jesus Christ. In and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then look at verse 26. To
declare, I say at this time, His righteousness. his righteousness,
that he might be just in the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness,
or to manifest it. Manifest that perfect righteousness
is provided by the Lord Jesus Christ for every believer. For
every believer. Beloved, we are not only innocent
before God in Christ, but we have the righteousness of God.
It's given to us. It's what the old timers and
the commentators say, an alien righteousness. It's not ours. It's Christ. And Christ is God. And he has given us his righteousness. Oh, it's amazing. It's absolutely
stunning. Wonder of wonder, God saves man
in such a way that his justice and truth are not compromised.
God saves men in such a way that His justice and truth are not
compromised or violated. Therefore, as the Scripture proclaims,
our God is a just God and a justifier of His people. Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Turn, if
you would, to Psalm 85. Oh, how is God's justice and
truth not compromised or violated? Because Christ died as our substitute.
Christ died as a substitute of His people. Look at this in Psalm
85, verses 9 to 11. Surely, and this is God's salvation,
surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land,
And this is said to be at the cross right here. Mercy and truth
are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. That happened at the cross. That
happened when Christ died as a sinner substitute. That happened
when he was our propitiation. Truth shall spring out of the
earth and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Oh my. If we are born again, we can
sing with the hymn writer, when Satan tempts me to despair and
tells me of the guilt within. Upward I look and see Him there,
who made an end of all my sins. Because the sinless Savior died,
my sinful soul is counted free. For God the just is satisfied
to look on Him and pardon me." Christ, as our propitiation beloved,
was beautifully shown in picture, in shadow in the Old Testament,
And that which was pictured and shadowed in the Old Testament
was accomplished in the new by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Note Christ, let's go back to
our text, is called the propitiation. Sin had made a breach between
God and man, and Christ in the room and place of His people.
Beloved, He has made peace by the blood of His cross for them.
Peace before God's holy law and justice for all of his elect,
all of his people, both Jew and Gentile. And this is what's being
brought forth in the latter part of this verse. And he is the
propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for
the sins of the whole world. And this speaks, beloved, this
speaks of all the elect of all the ages, both Jew and Gentile. both Jew and Gentile. Now here
are some blessings for us to consider, for us to take with
us and hopefully will be comfort to us through the week and maybe
even longer, Lord willing, for us to consider about the propitiation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the divine propitiation. Christ
is the divine propitiation. And this divine propitiation
is complete. The work's done. It's complete. Christ is the propitiation for
his people. The work is done in every part. Every part. We are complete. In him. And remember I told you,
I talked to my dear brother out west, who can read and write
Greek and all that, he said, Wayne, that word there used for
complete in Colossians, those people would know exactly what
that meant, because it was a common word they used to be, where you
could not put another drop in. Filled to the brim. Complete
in Christ. And in the typical sacrifices,
were two parts in each typical propitiation. The death of the
substitute and the presentation of the blood
before one of the altars of the mercy seat. The atonement was not complete
by the death alone, but it was necessary that the death should
be followed by the presentation of the blood. Now in the death of Christ who
is the divine propitiation, Both parts have been completed, as
He is the sacrifice which was offered once and only once. And
His blood has been sprinkled upon the altar and the mercy
seat, so that the work is complete, beloved. It's finished. It's finished. The blood was shed on Calvary.
And sprinkled or presented, when by His own blood He entered in
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for
us. Hebrews 9, 25 and 26. And let us never forget that
when Christ arose from the dead, it proclaimed, beloved, that
God was absolutely satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ.
Because we know the Scripture says He arose for what? Our justification. Oh, wonder of wonders! And another blessing to remember
is this divine propitiation is final. It is never to be repeated again. Where remission of these is,
there is no more offering for sin. God is so satisfied with the
sacrifice of Christ, that it is proclaimed of the redeemed
of the Lord by God, their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more. That's how satisfied God is with
the sacrifice of Christ. Their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. And the scriptures declare that
Christ by one offering, he has perfected forever them that are
sank. those who are in Christ, clothed in the perfect, spotless
righteousness of Christ. Still sinners while we're here
on this earth, eh? But God sees us in Christ, beloved.
What a Savior. What a Savior. Which brings us
to the last blessing for us to consider, which is the divine
propitiation is all sufficient. It is he and he alone who reconciles
the sinner back to God. It is only in Christ and Christ
alone that the believer has all our sins blotted out. We have full, complete forgiveness
of all our sins and full acceptance before God in Christ. He is the all-sufficient sacrifice. He is the all-sufficient Savior. He is the divine propitiation. He is the sinless, spotless Lamb
of God. And the born-again, blood-bought
believer says, That's my King. That's my Redeemer. That's my
Savior. He rescued me. He's delivered
me from all my sins. He's delivered me from the wrath
of God. He's delivered me from the justice
of God. He's delivered me from the law
of God. And we have full, complete acceptance
with God through Him. What peace, what rest then the
born again believer has? in knowing that Christ is the
all-sufficient divine propitiation for my sins. And every believer
can say that, can't they? And it's God Himself who has
provided Him for us. My! Is it any wonder Paul said,
I've obtained mercy? And we who believe say the same
thing, don't we? I've obtained mercy. I've obtained mercy in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And who was the one who was our
propitiation? God incarnate in the flesh. Jesus
Christ, the righteous. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
again for the wonders that we see in your scriptures, oh Lord,
how we who could not save ourselves, we who are your people, we know
we're just sinners. We know that we're all on the same level,
sinners. But we also know that we who
are your people, we who are born again, you who have saved us,
we're redeemed by thy precious blood. And we marvel in the fact
that you gave yourself for us. That you were a propitiation
before God for us. And we marvel that it's God who
sent you. All the wonders of salvation's
plan. All the wonders that brought
it down to man. Lord, we just marvel. Marvel at your mercy
and grace which is shown to us in Christ Jesus. Glory to your
name, Lord. It's in your name we pray. Amen.