A good place to start a word study is the dictionary. Even when one can properly use a word, the exact definition of the word may not be known to them. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, to propitiate is “to gain or regain the favor or goodwill of” someone. Propitiation is “the act of propitiating” or “something that propitiates.” For example, let’s say that you owe me five dollars. I tell you that you can either give me five dollars or buy my lunch and I will consider the debt to be paid. Both are propitiations, you have appeased me by giving me what you owe. How does this play out in Christianity? The English word propitiation is found only in four verses: Romans 3:25, Hebrews 2:17, 1 John 2:2, and 1 John 4:10.
In Romans 3:25, the Apostle Paul writes, “God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.” In context, we can see that verses 25 and 26 are explaining how God’s righteousness is passed on to all believers. The “Him” referred to is Jesus the Christ, and it is “by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (verse 24) that God can “declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus” (verse 26).
The Greek word that we translate as propitiation in this verse is “hilastērion” and is also used in Hebrews 9:5 and twelve times in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (known as the Septuagint, or LXX for short) to refer to the “mercy-seat” that was to be the lid of the Ark of the Covenant. In Leviticus 16:13-14, Aaron is instructed to burn incense that will cover the mercy seat, or die, and then sprinkle some bull’s blood on the east side of the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat. Based on this, propitiation definitely has to do with appeasing God in some way, shape or form, and that improperly doing so would result in death. If we go back to Romans 3:25, we see God passing over sins, and we add in Romans 6:23 where Paul writes, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” then we see that the propitiation that Christ acted out does the same thing that the sprinkling of blood on the mercy-seat did in the old covenant.
There are a couple more uses of “hilastērion” in the LXX, one at Ezekiel 43:14 and Amos 9:1. However, they are talking about ledges (Ezekiel) and capstones on pillars (Amos), and so I do not know how they play into propitiation. I will have to do more research on these verses for this subject.
The writer to the Hebrews in 2:17 says, “Therefore, He had to be like His brothers in every way, so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” In context, we see that Jesus was flesh and blood, just like we are, and the reason for this is so that we can know that He does understand, because He was tested and suffered just like us. Not only that, but “through His death He might destroy the one holding the power of death” (verse 14). Since He was like us in every way to make propitiation for our sins, it makes sense that His trials, suffering and death are all a part of that act of propitiating. The Greek word here is “hilaskesthai,” which is obviously from the same root word in our Romans verse, but here is “to make propitiation” as opposed to “be a propitiation.” This particular form of the word is not used in the LXX.
The Apostle John writes, “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:2), and “Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Both of these verses show that Jesus was a propitiation for us, more specifically for our sins. We also see that it is a free gift for the whole world, given out of love. Since the Bible talks about damnation for some and salvation for others, it would seem that we have to accept it in order for the propitiation to be applied to our account, so to speak. The Greek word used here is “hilasmos,” which is still the same root word, and is used once in the LXX at Psalm 130:4. It translates the Hebrew word for “forgiveness,” and that makes sense with propitiation meaning to gain or regain favor. Forgiveness has to be involved in regaining favor.
What can we conclude from all of this? Firstly, something that no one who is a Christian would dispute, is that Jesus was our propitiation. It is through Him, and Him alone, that we regain our favor with God which we had lost due to our sins. Some may prefer the term “reconcile” over “regain favor,” but it is the same concept. Secondly, and I believe this would also not be disagreeable to anyone, this act of propitiating was done out of the love of God for us. Thirdly, and this one I believe has been and will continue to be hotly debated, this propitiation is a satisfying of God’s wrath against our sins. This is seen in the connection between what Christ did, and what the priests were to do to the mercy-seat in the Old Testament. Both were bloody, and both had to be done properly. Otherwise, the wages of sin would still apply, and that is death.
