A Language More Adequate

As part of my summer series I will soon be preaching on three great New Testament words related to salvation: Justification, Redemption and Propitiation. Justification is what God does for us on the basis of placing our sins on Jesus and judging them there. Because the requirement of God’s righteous law is satisfied in Christ’s sacrifice, God is free to declare us justified, or “not guilty” under the Law. Redemption is what Christ does for us by dying our place. We are redeemed (bought back) from our slavery to sin and set free to be in relationship with God. Propitiation is what Christ does in relationship to God. Jesus satisfies God’s demand for restitution for the broken relationship. God is completely satisfied with Christ’s sacrifice as payment in full and having been satisfied, we can now be reconciled, that is, made friends.

As I have been preparing I must admit a tendency to focus on the technicalities of these three very crucial words. I have defined them, illustrated them and will be urging the congregation to participate in them. What I have failed to consider, until recently, is that they are not simply esoteric theological terms. They are not doctrines made up to try to create a system by which people can be reconciled to God. They are words used to describe something that took place in time and space. And all by God’s initiative. (God justifies the sinner. Christ redeems the sinner. Christ propitiates God. The sinner has no part in these actions. Read Romans 3:21-31.)

C.S. Lewis credits J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson as being the human cause of his conversion to Christ by explaining to Lewis that these doctrines were not the heart of Christianity. They were, in fact, simply translations into words that which God had already expressed in “a language more adequate: namely the actual incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection” of Jesus. To put it another way, these words only have meaning because of what actually took place. They are not some philosopher or theologian’s attempt to describe a “legal fiction” that we can use to make ourselves right with God. These words only have meaning because of what Christ really did on a real cross to make it possible for people to be in relationship with God.