The World's Propitiation #2a

Welcome to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hello, I'm Bill Wright. Thanks for joining us as we continue teaching God's people God's Word. Don begins a new message today, so without further delay, let's join him right now in the Truth Pulpit. In 1 John chapter 2, we've spent many weeks on two verses here, and today is our final treatment of this significant passage that teaches us how the wrath of God against sin is turned away in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And knowing what lies ahead, I can't imagine a passage that is going to make you fall more deeply in love with Christ than the things that we're going to discuss today. It is a blessing for us to have God's Word. It's a blessing for us to be in this passage today, and the truth that is signified here, God intends to be for our blessing and for our sanctification.

And so we will look at it together with joy and gratitude in our hearts. Let me read the two verses to just set the context. This will be the last time that we look at these verses. John says in chapter 2 verse 1, My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. Now by way of topical matter and by way of very structure of the center, at the very center of this crucial passage is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is he that is the advocate with the Father on behalf of believers. It is he that is the righteous one. It is he who is the propitiation for our sins. As we look at this passage, we are seeing the Holy Spirit put the Lord Jesus Christ front and center on display in a glorious and magnificent way, and seeing how this Lord Jesus Christ not only has acted on our behalf as believers, but is continuing to intercede for us as our advocate, and then it spills over to the world as well.

He is a wonderful, wonderful Savior. The truths in this passage are so precious to believers that it is a shame that some of the things in this text have become a matter of contentious theological battles over the years. Instead of resulting in contention, this should result in the highest form of praise for our Lord Jesus Christ, and I trust that that's what's going to be in your heart as you walk out this morning.

We have a wonderful time in front of us today. Now today's message is the second of two messages on this passage, specifically on verse 2. Last time we explained what this verse doesn't mean. That's kind of a funny sermon to explain what something doesn't mean, but we needed to do that, and I can only review it ever so quickly here this morning.

If you missed that message, a lot of the questions that you might have today will probably be cleared up if you get that CD and listen to it. But this verse in verse 2 does not mean, as it speaks about how Christ is the propitiation for those of the whole world, this verse does not mean that Christ died to achieve actual salvation for all men. It does not teach universal salvation for all men, meaning that every man ends up in heaven.

That's not true. Jesus himself said that the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are comparatively few who find it, and we looked at that last week. Now secondly, this verse we saw last week does not mean that Christ died to merely achieve potential salvation for all men. We rejected that, and we reject that emphatically, even recognizing that there are good Christian men who hold to that view, I should say. These two verses are talking about Christ's actual work and the results that he has actually achieved on behalf of believers. And so this is an actual thing that he has done here, not simply something potential that makes it possible for men to be saved, as if Jesus died for a mass of indistinguishable humanity, and then it was incumbent upon us to exercise faith out of our own ability in order to partake of that.

No, we reject that view, and we talked about that extensively last week. What this passage does mean, verse 2, and its surrounding context, what this passage does mean is this. It's talking about the reality that the Lord Jesus Christ came down out of heaven as the Father sent him, he came down out of heaven with a goal of going to Calvary to do this. Christ died to achieve and accomplish actual salvation for some men, even though not all men would be saved. He died to achieve actual salvation for some men, but not all men who ever lived. It is actual salvation because the results are certain. When Christ died, it guaranteed that the people that God chose before the foundation of the world would actually be saved, not one would be lost. All that God chose before the foundation of the world would end up in glory without one missing in the end. Charles Spurgeon said this, he said, Christ so died that he infallibly secured the salvation of those who through Christ's death not only may be saved, but are saved, must be saved, and cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved.

That's a great quotation. That's what we mean when we say Christ died to achieve actual salvation. He made it certain that those that God had chosen before the foundation of the world would actually be saved and would all end up in heaven. Their place reserved in heaven before the foundation of the world would be fulfilled.

Every name played at the banquet of life would have its person sitting at the table. The Bible teaches in grand scope that before the foundation of the world, God chose some people who would live throughout the earth and across the span of centuries and eventually they would belong to Him. But before they could be united to Him, their sins had to be forgiven. What the Bible teaches is that Jesus Christ, our lovely Lord and Savior, actually purchased forgiveness for those whom God had chosen.

He literally put Himself in our place on the cross, took our sins in His body, and then God poured out the full fury of His wrath on the person of Jesus Christ that should have been on your head and on mine. He took the full fury of that wrath and paid the debt of our sin in full. We will never suffer judgment, those of us that are Christians. We will never suffer God's judgment. We will never face His wrath.

We will never pay for sin because Jesus has already done that on our behalf, fully accomplished. He said on the cross, it is finished. And as I said last time, when He said it is finished, He meant that it is done. It is over. The results are guaranteed. It's not, I've done my part, now you go do yours.

No. Christ was purchasing an actual salvation on behalf of everyone that God has chosen. And today's text helps us see the breadth of the gracious work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. Three points in today's message to help you follow along.

A couple of questions and then an exclamation at the end. First question of the three points is this. Who is the world in 1 John 2, 2? Who is the world in 1 John 2, 2?

Look at verse 2 with me again and we'll keep it fresh in our minds as we go along. Having already said that Christ is our advocate with the Father, when we sin, we can go to the Father trusting in full forgiveness because Christ is there in heaven on our behalf. In verse 2, John goes on and says, He Himself is the propitiation for our sins. He is that which turns away the wrath of God from us. He is that sacrifice that satisfied the justice of God on our behalf. And He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

What does that mean? Who is John thinking about when he says that Christ is the propitiation for the whole world? Well let me give you a summary answer to make it clear where we're going.

Sometimes it helps to know the outcome before you get there so that you can follow the train of thought here. What John is saying here is that Christ is not only the propitiation for Jewish believers, He is also the propitiation for Gentile believers, non-Jews that is, who are scattered throughout the earth and who will ultimately believe in Christ as well. Christ is not only the propitiation for Jewish believers, He is also the propitiation for Gentiles. Now follow along with me as I explain why that is the case for this verse. The Apostle John wrote this letter. Now that might seem to be a self-evident truth, but it is a significant point of information as we consider this passage in front of us this morning. It's important because the Bible teaches us that the Apostle John's ministry was focused on the Jews.

His ministry was focused on the Jews. If you look back at the book of Galatians, I'd like you to turn back there with me for just a moment. This will help you see the overall biblical context for this passage. Back in Galatians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul is talking about his interaction with the original apostles. And without going into the full background of it, in verse 7 he says, On the contrary, seeing that I, meaning the Apostle Paul, had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, to Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the circumcised, referring to the Jews, verse 8, for he who effectually worked for Peter and his apostleship to the circumcised effectively worked for me also to the Gentiles. Notice the emphasis, recognized in the Jews and the Gentiles.

This is a serious point here. And recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. We, in this passage, meaning Paul and Barnabas, would go to the Gentiles while they, referring specifically and clearly to James, Peter, and John, would go to the Jews.

Now keep that in mind as you read the second chapter of 1 John. With a focus on the Jews, who were his primary responsibility, John says Christ is our propitiation. He's referring to Jewish believers who truly come to Christ. They've recognized Christ as the Messiah, they've embraced him personally, and he says Christ is our propitiation as he says that. Then as he goes on in verse 2, you can turn back to 1 John 2 now if you kept your finger there, he says, not for ours only, not for those of us that come from a Jewish background, but also for those of the whole world. He's expanding their notion and their understanding of the greatness of the work of Christ in salvation and he is telling them that the intentions of God in the atonement, Christ's intentions as he hung on the cross, were broader than our circle of Jewish believers. He came for Gentiles also.

And in that sense, he is the propitiation for the whole world. There's the Jews and there are the non-Jews. Christ came to save people from all of them. James Montgomery Boyce said this, he said, the contrast would therefore be between those Jews for whom Christ died and those Gentiles for whom Christ died, both of whom now make up or eventually will make up the church. Now, an important passage in John chapter 11 will help clarify this for you as well. We're only beginning to introduce this understanding of the text. John chapter 11 and keep your finger in chapter 2 of 1 John as you go there as well. John chapter 11 beginning in verse 47. John 11 beginning in verse 47. As the Jewish leaders were conspiring to kill Christ, look at what it says in verses 47 and following. It says, therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council and were saying, what are we doing?

For this man is performing many signs. Speaking of Jesus, of course. If we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. So he was, Jesus was a political threat to the established order and they are concerned about how it will affect their leadership position among the Jews.

Notice verse 49 now. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people and that the whole nation not perish. What Caiaphas meant there was a political statement. He says it will be expedient and it will do good for all of the Jews if we simply kill Christ and spare us the Roman reprisals that will come if he continues to grow in popularity.

If they executed Jesus, the nation would be spared. But he was speaking wickedly. Caiaphas was speaking wickedly and out of the own wicked intentions of his own heart to talk about killing an innocent man. But the Holy Spirit was directing his words so that they had a theological meaning beyond what he intended as he plotted the death of Christ. Look at verse 51. He says, now John the apostle who also who's a common author of the gospel and of the letter of 1st John, gives us this commentary on Caiaphas' words. He says, now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation and not for the nation only, but in order that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. Now, Jesus was going to die for the nation and not for the Jewish nation only, but also to gather together the children of God scattered abroad.

Now think with me and follow me here for a moment, beloved. Notice the parallels between those two verses in John 11 and what we have been studying in 1st John chapter 2 verse 2. In John 11, it says that Jesus died for the nation.

In 1st John 2, it says Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. John 11, not for the nation only. 1st John 2, not for ours only. John 11, but also. 1st John 2, but also. John 11, the children of God scattered abroad. 1st John 2, the whole world. There are parallels running throughout those passages and the same apostle wrote both passages under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit. In light of everything that we've seen last week and this week and in these passages, that gives us additional reason to believe that when he uses the term the whole world in 1st John 2, he is signifying people of all kinds in all places will benefit from Christ's work without saying that every man without exception will ultimately be saved. And that is the sense in which we understand this passage. Now, this view that as John is writing here in 1st John 2, too, and he talks about the whole world, he's expanding from a Jewish focus to a Gentile focus.

Beloved, follow me on this. This view fits with the repeated New Testament emphasis that God brought Gentiles into the church. While the Old Testament focus had primarily been on the nation of Israel, in the New Testament we see the focus of redemption expanding beyond them to Gentiles. So that God's salvation now openly embraces Gentiles who otherwise would have been excluded because they were not part of the covenant people of God. Now, we can take a deep breath here.

Follow me. We, meaning you and I today, we take what I just said for granted. We take for granted that Gentiles are included in the church. Most of us are Gentiles. There are probably a few people of Jewish background that are in the room today, but not many. And so we simply take it for granted because there are 2,000 years of history of God working in the Christian church bringing Gentiles to himself.

But our job is to put ourselves back into the first century as we try to understand this passage. And when we do that, we realize that this matter of Gentiles was a huge issue at the time. And the Bible makes mention of this repeatedly, especially early in the book of Acts as the Holy Spirit moved the church to start to reach out to Gentiles beyond their Jewish community. Look at the book of Acts chapter 10. I want to show you a couple of things out of Acts and then one thing out of the book of Ephesians to help you see that this is not an isolated matter that we're talking about here, but this is something of intense biblical importance. Acts chapter 10 beginning in verse 44. Peter was preaching to the Gentiles. In verse 43, he said of him, meaning of Christ, all the prophets bear witness that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins. Now look at verse 44. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.

Watch this. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed because they were amazed. This was huge. They were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. They were used to thinking about being God's special nation to the exclusion of others. Here in this transitional time in the book of Acts, they're seeing the Holy Spirit expand the message of forgiveness to the Gentiles as well and they were amazed.

This was huge. Now look at what happens in verse chapter 11 verse 1. Some of the Jews that weren't there didn't like this. They were concerned that Peter was slipping. In chapter 11 verse 1, it says that now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the Word of God.

You see what a big issue this was. And when Peter came to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised took issue with him saying, you went to uncircumcised men and ate with them. And then in the rest of chapter 11, Peter gives his report on what or up to verse 18 anyway, he gives his report and his justification about what happened. And look at verse 15. He says, as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he did upon us at the beginning. And I remember the Word of the Lord, how he used to say, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if God gave to them the same gift as he gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way? And look at the effect on verse 18 and what they said. These Jews who had been critical of him going to the Gentiles, they said when they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God saying, well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also.

There's that word also again. God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life. They had to take this in.

They had to drink this in. It's no longer about us Jews only anymore. God's done this for the Gentiles.

He spread this out. And if you, one more passage here, turn over to the letters of Paul in the book of Ephesians. Peter and John having been dealing with the Jews, Paul in his ministry to the Gentiles is going to look at it from the Gentiles perspective. In chapter 2 verse 11, after talking about the great work of God in salvation in verses 4 through 10 of Ephesians 2, Ephesians 2 chapter 11 as you turn there. He says, therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision, which is performed in the flesh by human hands, remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Putting ourselves in the first century context, we see that this matter of the inclusion of the Gentiles was a matter of great profound importance. We read about it and understand it from the scriptures.

We can't fully appreciate how big an issue it was to Jewish believers at the time of the New Testament. And so, with that background in mind from the different things that we've looked at so far this morning, we ask the question to whom does the world refer? We saw last time it couldn't possibly mean all men without exception.

So then how do we understand it? John is saying this. He's saying that the propitiation of Christ extends beyond Jews who believe in Christ to all those throughout the geographic regions of the world who believe in Him as well, Gentiles from every tongue and nation throughout all the earth. Saying that without saying that all men are recipients of the propitiation of Christ in the same way as Jewish believers are. What he's saying is God's salvation is a certain blessing for some men throughout the world. He will certainly save men throughout the world without saying that He's going to save all of them. And beloved, when theologians talk about concepts like limited atonement or particular redemption, that is the idea that they have in mind. Not that Christ's value or merit was somehow limited because the merit of Christ is unlimited. He is infinitely worthy as the Son of God. Rather, what they are saying is that there was a particular group of people that God intended to bestow salvation on and Christ died to infallibly secure their salvation.

Not only Jews, not only Jewish believers, but ultimately Gentiles from every tribe and nation throughout all the world. Well, my friend, thank you for joining us for yet another podcast from The Truth Pulpit. And we wanted to let you know that in addition to these audio resources that you are enjoying, that there are also written resources from my ministry. The Lord has given us opportunity to put some of the things that I've taught over the years in print.

And I have one book in particular that I would want to call your attention to. It's the most popular book that I've published so far called Trusting God in Trying Times. It's a book born out of deep personal sorrow and is brought into context, you might say, through the Word of God. How to trust God when you are going through the deepest valleys and the most sorrowful things in life. How do you trust God through those times when you can't see your way forward?

I've been there, my friend. And the book Trusting God in Trying Times speaks to that spiritual experience in the life of the believer. You can find all of my books at thetruthpulpit.com. That's thetruthpulpit.com. Just click on the link there.

You'll find links to different books and you will find that they take you to an easy place to purchase them for your reading enjoyment. So thank you once again for joining us on The Truth Pulpit. We'll see you next time as we continue to study God's Word together. It's Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Thank you so much for listening to The Truth Pulpit. Join us next time for more as we continue teaching God's people God's Word.