Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Propitiation

"Propitiation in the context of salvation means that which appeases the wrath of God against sin. So the Lord Jesus Christ by His sacrifice on the cross appeases and turned aside God's holy and just wrath, the wrath that we should have bore." Bridges
What does this mean in application to us is that if Gods wrath for our sin was exhausted on Jesus at the cross , then there is none left toward you, Ro. 8:1 There is therefore no condemnation.
In Topladys hymn, From Whence the Fear and Unbelief, he writes, "Payment God CANNOT twice demand, First at my surety's hand and then again at mine. This is the good news It really does not matter how you "feel" at any given moment the reality is you no longer EVER have to fear Gods wrath on your life it's not necessarily how we view the death of Jesus on the Cross it's how God views it.

"It is not our contrition or sorrow for our sin, it is not our repentance, it is not even the passing of a certain number of hours during which we feel we are on some kind of probation that cleanses us. It is the blood of Christ, shed once for all on Calvary two thousand years ago but appropriated daily or even many times a day, that cleanses our consciences and gives us a new sense of peace with God." Bridges
It is arrogance or ignorance that we think that we can go before God pointing to some good work or meritorious work that we have preformed, good works are right but those works do not contribute in anyway towards your standing with God, the only work that God recognises is Christs work and death.

"This standing in Christ's righteousness is never affected to any degree by our good day bad day performance" Bridges
Gods anger and wrath toward sin was "Propitiated" spent on, exhausted on Jesus at the Cross so that for all those who have trusted in Christ as their only hope of salvation never have to fear Gods wrath again in their lives, His discipline YES but never His wrath. Our standing with God is secure, often tough to belive but true.

Quotes are from Jerry Bridges book, "Discipline of Grace"

3 comments:

Shannon said...

Great quotes, Uncle Mike. I just started reading Bridges and am really enjoying it...

Shannon said...

Hey Mike...
I'm so thankful for God's sovereignty. He prompted me to start "Discipline of Grace" a short time ago, right before I stepped into this mess with Vera on FB, which I've determined to stay out of from now on. She has some wrong ideas about both Calvinism and some basic doctrines of Christianity, and she's very hateful about it. Where is she finding these "Calvinists" who say "I can willingly sin all I want and God will forgive me."? Have you ever heard anyone say that? I have not. Calvin certainly never said that and I suspect that her itching ears (2 Tim. 4:3-5) are hearing what they want to hear. She also misudnerstands the process of sanctification and the daily struggle with sin. Bridges chapter 4 on "We Died to Sin" really helped clarify some things for me. I wish Vera would read it, but I'm sure she'd consider him one of those evil Calvinists condemned to hell. I really should thank her for spurring me on to study and clarify what I believe, but I don't want to get another earful of false doctrine from her that will just make me mad!
Love-Shan

Mike said...

Hey,
No I've never heard of Calvinists saying its OK to sin. I don't know where she gets that its more I think along the lines of the idea of dealing with continued existing sin in our lives. Discipline of Grace is one of those books that really helped me understand the sin nature experiencing the book after the first four chapters will take a life time, for me at least. Chapter 3 for me was the most important and eye opening.
Mike