I'm generally not a fan of big theology words. As someone with a heart for pastoral ministry, I yearn to make theology accessible and applicable and wonderful and glorious to the average person in the pew, and that often means ditching some overly high-falutin' doctrine words in favor of, frankly, fewer syllables.
But I hold a few exceptions to that general rule. There are a couple words whose weight of glory so outweighs the weight of their syllables that they are worth teaching and explaining and treasuring. The two words that most quickly come to mind in that category are "justification" and "propitiation." Both are Bible words, not theologian words. They are hard to pronounce, but are absolutely central to the all-satisfying glory of the Gospel.
Propitiation means "a sacrifice to satisfy wrath." Two of the main texts for this word are Romans 3:25 and 1 John 2:2--
"...Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith."
"He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."
There is an eternity of weighty, glorious meaning in this word, for all our redemption and salvation is wrapped up in its mystery. My exhortation to you is: become a student of this word! Spend your time and your mental energies in unpacking and exploring and applying all that this word holds for your soul. It will be time and energy well spent as you come to know more of the heart of our great Savior, Jesus Christ.
1 comment:
One reason I like the ESV is that it maintains the big words like propitiation, etc. "Bitesize Theology" by Peter Jeffery is a good book to have around - about 100 pages and explains all the major theological terms in a way that someone like me can understand :)
Great blog you have here brother !
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