II. THE NATURE OF GOD

A.   The Holiness of God

The Bible teaches us that God is holy (Isaiah 6:3), which means He is separate in His eternal being—that is all His eternal attributes and His manifold divine perfections. On the separateness or otherness of God, RC Sproul says, “When the Bible calls God holy, it means primarily that God is transcendentally separate. He is so far above and beyond us that He seems almost totally foreign to us. To be holy is to be ‘other,’ to be different in a special way.”[1] So, the otherness of God is in all that God is. For instance, God is intrinsically transcendentally morally right (Deuteronomy 32:4). When the Bible declares the divine perfections of God with regard to His ways it says, “for all His ways are just” (Deuteronomy 32:4, KJV). “The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them” (Hosea 14:9). The song of the Lamb and of Moses in Revelation 15:3 acknowledges the ways of the Lord in this way, “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty Just and true are your ways, King of the nations.”  That sets God’s ways apart, as God said in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.””

The holiness of God calls for sin to be dealt with

The very fact that God’s ways are true points to the fact that falsehood is not something embraced in those ways. The very fact that God is morally right points to the truth that immorality is not embraced by God. Because God is Just and right, He has to judge sin. The holiness of God calls for sin to be dealt with.

The holiness of God controls our understanding of God’s forgiveness

Therefore, the holiness of God controls our understanding of God’s forgiveness and justice. If God is to forgive people who have sinned against him, He would do it in way that upholds all of His attributes and His eternal divine perfections. In other words, He will put His holiness on display in that way of forgiving sinners. This is the idea that we are going to build in this paper. Let us look at what sin does with regard to the glory of God and see why God should act justly towards it.

B.    The glory of God and sin

What do we mean by the glory of God? John Piper defines the glory of God as “the radiance of his holiness, the radiance of his manifold, infinitely worthy and valuable perfections.”^[2] And when God reveals Himself, the Scripture shows that He holds His creation accountable of that revelation and it would be sin for men to trample down that revelation and make it as if it is nothing.

What does sin do with regard to the glory of God? Sin devalues the glory of God. It does not change it—that is to alter who God is, but it makes His glory as if it is not something worthy of adoration, honor and praise etc. We learn that God has revealed Himself through creation, and mankind is without excuse, for God has revealed His eternal power and His invisible eternal being through creation.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse (Romans 1:18-20).

However, with such great revelation, man has done the following according to Paul: a) he has not glorified God even when known or give Him thanks (Romans 1:21) b) he has changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image (Romans 1:22-23) c) he has changed the truth of God into a lie (Romans 1:25) d) he has not retained the knowledge of God in his mind (Romans 1:28). Because of such unrighteousness, God revealed His wrath from heaven condemning the human race. The whole picture that Paul gives us in Romans 1:18-32, is to see a condemned human race because of their sins.

Romans 2:17-27 shows us also that God revealed Himself through His word to the people of Israel. Making them to have both the general revelation and special revelation at their disposal. However, even with that, they have not glorified God but made His name blasphemed among the Gentiles or non-Jews, for they broke the law of God in their disobedience. For it is written of them, “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Romans 2:24, NIV).

This makes all men to have sinned against God and deserving of condemnation. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, NIV). The trampling down of God’s glory in people’s sin is the reason why God should act justly toward sin.

C.    What is impossible with God in this matter of sin

What is impossible with God with regard to how He deals with sin? The scripture teaches us that nothing is impossible with God. However, this testimony about God is said in a qualified manner. What is being said is—God is able to do all things that are in line with His divine being. Which means other things that are against with His holy nature, He cannot do. For instance, God cannot, not be God and be God at the same time, for He is God from everlasting to everlasting. He cannot lie, for from Him is truth forever more. God cannot sin, for He is righteous and all His ways are just and true.

So, concerning how He deals with sin, the Bible says, “He does not leave the guilty utterly unpunished (Exodus 34:7, LEB).” Therefore, it is impossible for God to be unjust. With that said, it would be wrong for God to just forgive us without punishing sin. He would be the unjust judge of the universe if He does that. With this we see that the upholding of the glory of God is the primary issue in this matter to do with our salvation. John Piper says, “Do we realize that the accomplishment of our salvation does not rest on our value, but on the value of God’s glory. The vindication of God’s glory is the ground of our salvation (Romans 3:25-26), and the exaltation of God’s glory is the goal of our salvation.”[3] Let us then answer this question: How can God be just, then, and be the forgiving God at the same time?

III. THE JUSTICE OF GOD AND FORGIVENESS

How can God be just and be the forgiving God at the same time? This is a dilemma that we have to deal with in order to have a solid conclusion for our topic. It is true that we are taught that God is a forgiving God, “forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:7, LEB). At the same time “He does not leave the guilty utterly unpunished (Exodus 34:7, LEB).”

A.   The Justice of God and Forgiveness revealed in the Old Testament Animal sacrifices

How can these two truths be reconciled? Or how do they meet? God in the Old Testament introduced the concept of sacrifices, which in essence held these two truths together, though, in symbolism, for the reality was to come through Jesus Christ our Lord. The author of Hebrews tells us that “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22, NIV). So, with that, we see the shading of blood is pointing to the need of someone dying in order for one to be forgiven by God. The necessity of death in this picture points to the necessity of the satisfaction of the justice of God in order to forgive us of our sins. This is how these two truths meet—they meet in a person who dies in our place. Now that we know that God’s glory needs to be upheld through a person who dies, who then can fulfil that for our salvation? This takes us to the importance of the person of Jesus in salvation. To understand the person of Christ in salvation let us look at the two premises upon which the justice of God can be satisfied without question.

B.    Two premises upon which the justice of God can be satisfied without questions:

The reason why we are looking at this is to show why the idea mentioned above of someone dying in our place is the only way we can be saved or forgiven.

Premise 1: Humans, the premise without hope for salvation

The Bible teaches us that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, NIV). And in another place, it says, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23, NIV). So, with this we know that all people deserve to face death as their reward for their sins. Now, God is just to sentence all mankind with that sentence of death. He would not be wrong if He were to destroy all men from the face of the earth because of their sins.

The Bible does not only teach that man is fallen but also that he is incapable of making himself holy before God. “Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin? (Proverbs 20:9, NIV).”” “Can the Ethiopianchange his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil (Jeremiah 13:23).”  Isaiah also says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6, NIV).” So, nothing from within himself can make a way for him to God or can clean his sins so that he may be pleasing to God.

When we look at this premise, we see that there is no hope of life for mankind because all men are the same: sinful, hell-deserving and wrath-deserving people. It is necessary; therefore, that we have someone sinless to die in our place if we are to be forgiven. This takes us to premise 2.

Premise 2: Christ, the only premise which gives us forgiveness

If God destroyed Adam and Eve the day they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God forbade them, we would not be here. So, God is the only reasonable explanation we have for the existence of mankind today. With that said, we come to learn that it is for a purpose that we are here and that purpose is seen in God’s Son, Jesus Christ—that is we should find forgiveness, life, grace etc. in Him.

a)     The person of Christ in salvation

The deity of Jesus. The plan of redemption shows that the Savior is God. “I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior (Isaiah 43:11, NIV).” God proclaimed that long time ago so that when the Savior comes, we know that He is God. When Jesus was born, the angel said to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christthe Lord (Luke 2:10, NIV).” In Matthew 1:23, Jesus is called “Immanuel, which means God with us.” It is clear from the testimony of scripture that Jesus is God the Savior. Just as the Scripture tells us that we have one Savior, we are to see the God of the Old Testament as the same one who has appeared as Jesus Christ the Lord. We have no two saviors one of the Old Testament and one of the New Testament but one Savior Jesus Christ. During His earthly ministry, our LordJesus forgave the sins of people (Mark 2:7). He was doing what only God can do, proving that He was God.

The sinlessness of Christ. The uniqueness of Jesus is significant when it comes to the person who qualifies to be our Savior. God in His plan of redemption requires that the one takes the sins of the people be sinless. Only Jesus meets this qualification. While He was still on earth, He asked this question: “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? (John 8:46, NIV). Though Jews spoke of Jesus as demon possessed, and the pharisees in John 9:24 spoke of Jesus being a sinner, the testimony of Jesus Himself shows that He was sinless because He was telling the truth and always did what was pleasing to God the Father (John 8:29). The Scripture also bears witness to His sinlessness. The author of Hebrews says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. (Hebrews 4:15-16, NIV). Having the person of Christ established, we now know that only Christ, the God-man can die for us in order to be forgiven. Let us then look at what happened to Him at the cross in order to complete our salvation.

b)    The upholding of the justice of God in Christ and the forgiveness of God offered to sinners

 During His earthly ministry, Jesus forgave sin and also taught that it was necessary that He dies for the sins of the world. Actually, Jesus instituted the Lord’s supper to proclaim His death: “He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin”” (Matthew 26:27-28, cf. 1 Corinthians 11:26, NIV). That implies that the sins that Jesus forgave, their charge was counted on him, requiring that He pays for them thus making His death a necessity if He was to save those who come to him in need of mercy, forgiveness and life etc.

How is the justice of God satisfied in Christ? There is an idea of removing the wrath of God fixed upon sinners when it come to the satisfaction of the justice of God. And propitiation is the key subject that unlocks the mystery of God’s ways of justice and forgiveness. This doctrine of propitiation teaches us of what happened to Christ when He died on the cross in order to save us or satisfy God’s justice. And we find this doctrine in Romans 3:25-26. It has been the work of the Apostle Paul to help us understand the work of Christ: what really happened to Him on the cross (He removed the wrath of God through death), and what He really achieved for us (our salvation) and what He achieved for God (He upheld the glory of God). With that said, let us look at the doctrine of propitiation in Romans 3:25-26.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; ²⁴ Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: ²⁵ Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; ²⁶ To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus (Romans 3:23-26).

What is propitiation? “ἱλαστήριον (hilasteerion) (original idea, propitiation of an angry god), (a) a sin offering, by which the wrath of the deity shall be appeased, a means of propitiation,; (b) the covering of the ark, which was sprinkled with the atoning blood on the Day of Rom. 3:25Atonement (Hebr. Kappôreth), Heb. 9:5.”^[4] 

What happened to Christ for our salvation: He absorbed the wrath of God on the cross to satisfy the holy justice of God

The view of propitiation in our discussion when we follow our definition is that of “a sin offering, by which the wrath of the deity shall be appeased, a means of propitiation, Romans 3:25.” This concept is here to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of what was meant by the death of animal sacrifices for the sins of the people. It brings the full reality of what was being symbolized. We learn in Romans 1:18-32 that God’s wrath is upon all men. In Romans 3:25-26, Paul gives a solution as to how that wrath is removed from a sinner. He says, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood (vv.23-25).” So, God set Christ forth to be a propitiation—that is the means through which His wrath is removed, and this happened on the cross, for the phrase “in his blood” signifies His death. All that Christ accomplished is then given to a sinner by faith. F.F. Bruce comments on Romans 3:26, “In the self-offering of Christ, God’s righteousness is vindicated and the believing sinner justified. For Christ occupies a unique position as God’s representative with man and man’s representative with God. As Man’s representative He absorbs the judgement incurred by human sin; as the representative of God, He bestows God’s pardoning grace on men and women. The words recall Isaiah 45:21 (a righteous God and Savior) and Zechariah 9:9, lxx (righteous and saving).”[5]

What Christ achieved for God: upheld God’s righteousness in full

The reason why God set forth Christ as a propitiation or a means through which God will have His wrath removed toward us was “to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of Him which believeth in Jesus (v.26).” So, the punishing of Jesus for the sins of the world vindicates the righteousness of God which in His forbearance is put to question. What does it mean to be “just” and justifier?”Now, this is the court language, the one who is made just is an offender and the justifier is the judge who declares the offender as being right or not guilty before the court. It is a legal declaration.

Now, there is a problem to be solved in order for God to justify sinners. Proverbs says, “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, the two of them are both abominations of Yahweh (Proverbs 17:16).” “How can God, then, not be an abomination to Himself by justifying us?”[6] It is necessary that the offender is set free or declared not guilty on the merit of another’s righteousness. Now, none of us is righteous to do that for another. That is the reason why God sent Jesus to take the full punishment that we do deserve on Himself in order to uphold the justice of God. Through that God is just towards sin. So, the righteousness of Christ is given to us by faith. This work of God in Christ is what makes God not an abomination to Himself when He justifies us, and it is necessary that it happens this way otherwise they would not be forgiveness. John MacArthur says, “The cross was the ultimate vindication of God’s justice and righteousness. The most unfathomable of all spiritual mysteries is that of the holy and just God providing redemption for sinful men and in that gracious act, not violating any attribute of His nature, but bringing supreme glory to Himself.”[7]

Now,here is the issue: the justice of God in Christ teaches us that not a single sin, that we have committed has gone unnoticed by the living God or can go unnoticed before God. Moses says, “Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance (Psalm 90:8).” In Isaiah we read, “the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).” For this reason, the sacrifice of Christ is of eternal value for all generations. The next generation has hope of salvation because Christ’s death covered for their sins too. What a wonderful savior we have!

What Christ achieved through his death for us: our salvation having All spiritual blessings including forgiveness of sin

So, the vindication of the glory of God done in Christ is the reason why God can forgive our sins without Him being unjust. John Piper put it better this way, “Christ died to vindicate the righteousness of God, so that He could declare the guilty to be without being Himself unrighteous.”[8]  Through that, Christ has achieved for us forgiveness, peace with God, justification, all eternal spiritual blessings that God promised in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14).

c)     The difference between biblical propitiation and common pagan practiced propitiation here in Africa

Common pagan practiced propitiation: Now, “a sin offering, by which the wrath of the deity shall be appeased,” is something that here in Africa I can relate to. It is mostly seen when there is something strange, for instance, there is no rain, some people would say, “the ancestor spirits are offended that is the reason why we do not have rain.” Someone would go wherever they have designated as place where an offering in order to appease the spirit can be given.

Biblical propitiation: It is very amazing that when we look at the teaching of the scripture with regard to propitiation, we see that God Himself, the one we offended in our sins is the one who offers His Son as a means through which His wrath is removed toward us. We do not offer anything to God in order to have His wrath removed from us as pagan practices do. So, God’s ways are higher than the ways of demons and man.