Knowing God

This chapter opens Part 3 of the book, which traces out the dimensions of the Christian gospel and applies them to the life and experience of Christians. Chapter 18 examines the biblical idea of propitiation, which was also a feature of ancient pagan religion—the idea that a god’s anger could be mollified (or their favor curried) by offering a sacrifice of an animal or person that resulted in that sacrifice’s death and the outpouring of its blood. The Bible uses this imagery to describe the way that justice satisfies the wrath of God, specifically applying it to the ministry and purpose of Jesus Christ. Packer points out that the biblical usage of the Greek root that underlies “propitiation” and can alternately be translated as “expiation” (doing away with sins, but without reference to divine wrath) is in almost every case better understood as propitiation. The Bible makes specific reference to the way that the sacrifice of Jesus satisfies the demands of justice in the context of God’s wrath against sin.

As Packer did in his chapter on God’s wrath, he also does here, seeking to ensure that readers understand the idea according to its biblical dimensions rather than their own presuppositions.