Swingin' Headlines

This week I saw this article in the Dallas Morning News. Here is a blurb from the article. Click here to see the full article.

Cherry Pit swingers' club to sue Duncanville over ordinance

03:58 PM CST on Wednesday, December 12, 2007
By JAKE BATSELL / The Dallas Morning News

A Duncanville social club that has drawn fire for hosting swinger parties plans to file a lawsuit against the city this week, the club's attorney said late Saturday.
"It's about being able to enjoy a lifestyle that they're entitled to enjoy," said Ed Klein, who represents the Cherry Pit.
City officials approved an ordinance last month that carries a fine of up to $2,000 for operating and maintaining a sex club. The city contends such clubs pose a public nuisance.



I don’t know why I am surprised by stories like this. Scripture is clear that people will continue to pervert the blessings God has given us for their own selfish desires.

Here is what a “swinging club” does: a couple, husband and wife, go to this party where other couples come. Then the man puts his house keys in a bowl. Randomly, another woman draws out a key. Then that woman and the man who put the key in go and have sex. So, you have couples that swap out their spouse for the night to have sex with someone else’s spouse.

How degrading, immoral, and despicable. There was a time when this would have been a serious breaking of societies morals and ethics. It is a sad day that things like this are being celebrated.

It is not about freedom of expression, or consenting adults doing what they want to do. It is about sin, immorality and perversion. Sex is something beautiful that God has given us and is to be used the way He designed it: in the confines of a loving marriage relationship.

"“You shall not commit adultery." (Exodus 20:14, ESV)

"Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body." (1 Corinthians 6:18, ESV)

"And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin," (Matthew 6:27-28, ESV)

Schoolmaster Evangelism

I have been praying to the Lord for opportunities to share the gospel with others. And, wouldn’t you know it, He has actually answered that prayer.
The other part of that is I have to see and seize those opportunities. Not all opportunities are the same. Some I get to share the full gospel while other times it may just be a small portion due to the circumstances of the encounter. But, every little seed counts.

I have been trying to use the law as a part of my presentation of the gospel. Sin is a non-negotiable aspect of actually sharing the gospel. And the ten commandments are the best way to show people that they are sinners in need of a Savior.

I didn’t come up with this all by myself. I heard it from the Way of the Master ministries. This is an evangelistic ministry by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. I don’t agree with everything they say, but I do like their gospel presentation.

They actually didn’t come up with it either. It is from scripture. In Mark 10 a guy comes to Jesus’ and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” And as the conversation continues what Jesus uses is the law to show the guy his sinfulness and need for forgiveness.


" And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." (Mark 10:17-22, ESV)

I love that account. Most Christians today would jump out of their shoes if someone approached them and said, “What must I do to be saved?” It is never that easy. But, look at what Jesus did. He didn’t sign the guy up, or encourage him to get baptized, or ask him to fill out a card and say a prayer. He offended him by pointing him to the law. And the account ends with the guy walking away from Jesus.

Maybe Jesus needs to take a course in relationship evangelism? Maybe Jesus needed to be taught how to build a relationship with this guy and meet him at the local pub to build some lasting bridge into his life? Or not.

Jesus dealt with the primary issue in his life – his sin. And Jesus used the ten commandments to show the guy that he was a sinner.

I have tried to follow that model more often lately and find it surprisingly easy. It is easy to walk people through some of the ten commandments and let them see for themselves that they have fallen short of the glory of God.

I will ask them if they have ever lied, or stolen, or taken God’s name in vain. Most people are willing to acknowledge that they have done those things. If it is a male then I ask them if they have ever lusted after a woman, which Jesus says is adultery. I know that all guys have done that.

So, as I walk them through the commandments they have freely admitted to me and themselves that they are lawbreakers and sinners. If they are judged by those standards they are guilty and deserve the punishment for their own sin.
From there it is an easy step for them to see Jesus as Savior and not just some icing on the cake of their life. That is more likely to lead to genuine repentance and faith demonstrated in a life of fruitfulness to Christ.

Strange Fire

" Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord." (Leviticus 10:1-2, ESV)


Last week I preached on this chapter from Leviticus. These words of scripture continued to follow me around all week long.

Nadab and Abihu offered strange, unauthorized fire before the Lord. They falsly assumed that they could do things their own way. They rebelled against the clear commands of God and paid a price.

In my studies I came across a message by Rev. Henry Law. The title of his work is The Gospel in Leviticus. Let me leave you a quote to chew on from Rev. Law.

Reader, now view your censer; now say, what are its contents. Surely you hold some 'offering' in your hands. Surely some confidence keeps conscience still. What is it? God has sent forth His Son—the only way—the only truth—the only life—the only ransom-price—the one atonement, for all sin. Is He the rock, on which you rest? Is He the center of your hopes? Is He the one foundation of your trust? Is He your only argument for mercy? One sun illuminates the world. One ark delivered from the flood. One Joseph fed in times of famine. One brazen-serpent healed the poison's sting. One fire came down for tabernacle-use. One Savior saves the saved. One Christ is first and last to merit life. God sends, anoints, accepts, proclaims Him. If you plead Him in real faith, you cannot fail. To grasp another savior, is to grasp a straw.

Some Nadabs and Abihus come with streaming eyes. Sin has brought loss. Some worldly prospect has been crushed. Thus Esau weeps. Conscience sometimes is quick to see the misery of guilt. Saul's flowing tears own this. So, also, the Gospel's melody will often melt a heart. It falls, as tender dew upon a moistening soil. Feelings relax, as ice beneath the sun. In these relaxing moments, Satan whispers, 'there is merit here.' The mourning spirit fondly hopes, that 'mourning' can buy peace with God. The tearful eye sees virtue in its drops. Thus signs of penitence are offered, as a ransom-price. Doubtless, no heart loves Christ, which hates not self, and bitterly bewails its grievous state. Doubtless the arms of penitence twine tightly round the cross. But seas of grief cannot wash out soul-stains. Sorrow, when brought as pardon's price, is but strange fire. And all unauthorized fire calls vengeance down.


The class of formalists may not be overlooked. They crowd God's courts. Each attitude—each look—is studied reverence. Their lips drop holiest words. Their hands touch holiest symbols. Their souls seem rapt to heaven on devotion's wing. If services discharged—if rites observed—if outward show were Christ, their cup of safety would be full. But these are only means. In their right place, they are most salutary helps—but decked as saviors—they impose; mislead; destroy. To use them, as meek handmaids of the Lord, is piety's delight; to trust in them, as reconciliation's price, is superstition's blind conceit. Then they become strange fire. These worshipers reject the substance, and repose on signs. But ritual services have in themselves no saving power. Such planks span not the gaping gulf. Such ladders reach not to the throne of God. Their office is to lead to Christ; and witness of His love. They are the channels of His precious grace. But they wash out no sin; they satisfy no wrath; they stay no vengeance; they have no key of heaven; they snatch not from the grasp of Satan; they are no plea for pardon; they hold no title-deeds of glory's kingdom. Christ is Salvation—Christ alone. Such is the work, which God commissioned Him to work. He undertook it. And He gloriously achieved. The mighty truth is ever true, "I have finished the work, which You gave Me to do." They, then, who now present another sacrifice, like Nadab and Abihu sin—like Nadab and Abihu die.

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

" “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." (Matthew 7:15, ESV)

In this blog I am going to point out why a famous pastor is preaching a false gospel. This is not the first time I have done this. I have a friend of mine with whom I have had some interesting arguments about whether or not I should be “judgmental” like this. I think that I should.

First of all, despite most people’s misunderstandings, the Bible never tells us not to judge whether something is right or wrong. “Don’t be so judgmental. The Bible says ‘don’t judge’”, some people say. Standing in the place of God, and having a condemning attitude is wrong. But, we are to be wise, not foolish. We are to determine, discern and judge whether what someone’s says is true or false.

I am just as much a sinner as Joel Osteen. I do not think that I am truth or am superior to anyone else. I do know that I have a biblical responsibility to point out error and heresy in order to protect the people that the Lord has entrusted to me.

Therefore, here is a blog on the most public, famous heretic of our day: Joel Osteen.

Joel Osteen is the pastor of Lakewood Mega-Mega Church. They have about 42,000 people in church per weekend and millions more that watch on television. Last weekend he was interviewed on 60 Minutes by Byron Pitts.

To his credit, Osteen is a very sincere, genuine, kind-hearted, likable guy. I think he is sincere in his ministry and does some good. But, he preaches a false gospel. He is not leading people to the true gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is dangerous.

Here are some quotes from a 60 minutes interview(transcript here) he did last Sunday and an interview he did with Larry King in 2005 (transcript here).

Quote #1
"My message is a message of hope that God is a good God, and that no matter what we’ve done, where we’ve been, God has a great plan for our lives. And when we walk in his ways they can take us places we’ve never dreamed of," Osteen explains.

It should never be about “my message”. I am not preaching MY message. It is the message of God that He has written in the pages of Holy Scripture. This is a huge problem in many of the modern day pulpits. That have pre-empted the Word of God with their own message. The word of man is flawed and empty. The Word of God is living and active. It has true power to change lives for the kingdom of God. This is why I preach expositionally. This method allows the text to dictate the focus and order of the sermon. This is to attempt to kept the text central, not the preacher.


Quote #2

"Osteen preaches his own version of what is known as the "prosperity gospel" -- that God is a loving, forgiving God who will reward believers with health, wealth and happiness. It's the centerpiece of every sermon."

This is a correct identification by the producers of the show. Osteen is only presenting a half truth and it is dangerous. God is loving and forgiving. But it is not about me being healthy, wealthy and happy. It is about me being saved from my sin, saved from hell, saved from the punishment my sin deserves. That is the gospel, and should be the centerpiece of every sermon.

Quote #3
"You said 'I like to see myself as a life coach, a motivator to help them experience the life of God that God has for them. People don’t like to be beat down and told 'You’ve done wrong.' What do you mean?" Pitts asks. "Well, I think that most people already know what they’re doing wrong. And for me to get in here and just beat ‘em down and talk down to ‘em, I just don’t think that inspires anybody to rise higher. But I want to motivate. I wanna motivate every person to leave here to be a better father, a better husband, to break addictions to come up higher in their walk with the Lord," Osteen says. "I mean is that being a pastor or is that being Dr. Phil or Oprah?" Pitts asks.

Great observation by Pitts. Osteen is not being a biblical pastor, he is being a secular motivator wrapped in religious garb. The truth of the gospel is not about helping people rise higher, it is about Jesus Christ suffering for sin, rising from the dead, so we could be afforded the opportunity to made right with God.


Quote #4
Why doesn't it look more like a church? Pitts asked. Osteen stammered and paused with no good answer until the co-pastor, which is his wife, chimed in.

This was a great moment in the story. Their church doesn’t look anything like a church. I do not think that a church has to be filled with religious icons and have architecture like an ancient monastery. But, I do think that a church should look like a church. It should at least be different and distinguishable from the secular world around it.

Osteen was caught off guard by this observation and comment by Pitts. He had no reason why his church didn’t look like a church.


Quote #5
"To become a better you, you must be positive towards yourself, develop better relationships, embrace the place where you are. Not one mention of God in that. Not one mention of Jesus Christ in that," Pitts remarks. "That's just my message, said Osteen."

Wow!!! No commentary from me needed on that one.


Quote #6

On Larry King Live – aired June 20, 2005

KING: What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?

OSTEEN: You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know ...

KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They're wrong, aren't they?

OSTEEN: Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong. I believe here's what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God with judge a person's heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don't know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don't know. I've seen their sincerity. So I don't know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus.


This is a huge problem. The Bible could not be more clear on this issue. The only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ and Him alone. Those who reject the Jesus of scripture and what it teaches, have rejected the only way to heaven. You cannot love God and reject His Son.

To pretend to be a minister of the gospel and then not preach that gospel is the very definition of a false prophet.

Please don’t listen to Joel Osteen. Don’t buy his books, don’t propagate his false message. He is a false prophet.

Picketing For Life

Last Sunday afternoon I did something I have never done before. Yes, I missed the afternoon football games, but that is not what I am talking about. I attended a protest rally.

I was a participant in Life Chain. I am guessing that there were probably 250 people lined up along about 3 miles of sidewalk along Southlake Boulevard protesting the horror that is abortion. It was quite an impressive sight.

Why haven’t I done this before, and why did I do it this Sunday?
I am fiercely pro-life and anti-abortion because scripture is abundantly clear on the issue. I won’t give an exegetical paper supporting this position here at this time. Suffice it to say, life is a precious gift from God and the taking of innocent life is murder by any definition. That life in a woman’s womb is not a fetus, it is a person created in the image of God. And, we have a biblical mandate to stand up for and protect the innocent.

I am always cautious about being involved in outside organizations. This is true even if those organizations are supportive of things that I am. I don’t want to be too political or align myself with groups that could bring reproach on the name of Christ or the ministry to which I have been called. Some pro-lifers can fall into the category of bringing reproach on Christ.

After research, I felt that Life Chain was an organization that I could participate with. Besides, doing nothing is not an option. I feel that I have a clear mandate from scripture to protect the fatherless and innocent. I have not been pro-active enough in the past and need to find ways to stand up more against the murder of babies.

Here is how the event was constructed. First of all, it is a Christian witness. It was also silent and we were encouraged to spend the time praying. Each participant was spaced along the sidewalk about 20 feet apart. So, there was no chit-chat while we were holding signs saying “Abortion is Murder”.

The signs we held were already made. Nobody could make there own. They were pre-approved signs. They said, “Abortion hurts women”, “Abortion is murder”, “Adoption the Loving Option”, and “Jesus forgives and heals”. I felt like these were sufficient to convey the message that abortion is wrong but by seeking Christ someone could find forgiveness.

What did we accomplish? That is a hard question to answer. My prayer is that if one person saw our signs that was considering abortion and reconsidered to give birth to that child – that is a victory. If one person who had an abortion was convicted of that sin and begins to seek forgiveness in Christ – that is a victory. Did that happen? Only God knows.





Modern Day Holocaust – Abortion Statistics
In the US

2002 there were approximately 1,300,000 abortions

Since the atrocity of Roe V. Wade in 1973 there have been over 42 million babies murdered by abortion.

93% of abortions occur for social reasons

Slanderous Work For God?

In O. Chambers book My Utmost For His Highest I found this sentence, “We slander God by our very eagerness to work for Him without knowing Him.”

I came across this quote in a devotional reading and spent some time really thinking about what it was saying. The truth of the quote was striking. The Pharisees were eager to work for God, but not to know Him. A group comes to Jesus and says to Him, “Look how much we have done for you, in your name.” And Jesus tells them, “Depart from me I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Slander is a misrepresentation which defames another’s reputation or name. When I am eager to work for God, but am not knowing God I am misrepresenting Him. I am telling the world that my effort is more important than my God. And the truth is that my effort is meaningless drivel without His help and power. That is putting the spotlight on me and not on Him. That is defaming His name.

I can’t tell you how many times in my life I have been busy doing the “work” of God and have not taken the time to actually be with God. I am fooling myself and defaming the Lord by pretending that my effort can make any difference anyway. And, what I have found is that my effort leaves me exhausted and fruitless. It’s like paddling upstream; lots of effort but little progress.

The converse of that scenario is just as troubling. Doing nothing for God doesn’t reveal my spirituality, but my laziness. Those who know God most, seem to always be doing the most for God. But it is not an empty religious exercise, it is a God-powered effort that advances His glory and kingdom. That is what I want to be about in my life.

My prayer, which is where this all should start, is that the Lord will work in me so that I might know Him and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do all that He calls me to do.

Bring Me Near

I have just started preaching through the book of Leviticus and have found it a true blessing in my own life. I have been studying it for a couple of months already and the depth's of its riches continue to unveil themselves.

Studying and preaching Leviticus is no easy task. I am probably messing it up some, but the challenge is rewarding.

It has caused me to think on many topics. I have found myself pondering on the elements of the tabernacle, the relevance of scripture, and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ.

When I first got saved a couple of Christian friends had an influence on my life. One area that Eric and Jason influence me was music. They listened to Christian music and I began to enjoy it as well. The hot group at the time was a Christian rock group called "Petra". I still like them. They did an album of praise songs. And there was one that I thought about while studying Leviticus.

The songs lyrics say this:

Take me past the outer courts

Into your holy place

Past the brazen altar

Lord, I want to see Your face.

Take me by the crowds of people

I hunger and thirst for Your righteousness

And it's only found one place.

Take me in to the Holy of holies

Take me in by the blood of the Lamb

Take me in to the Holy of holies

Take the coal, cleanse my lips

Here I am.

The tabernacle is a visual reminder of our sin, our separation from God, and His grace to bridge that separation. But the only way for them to get close to God was through blood. And even then, only the high priest could enter the holy of holies.

I wonder if a regular Hebrew guy ever desired to go into the Holy of holies to be in the presence of God? Did it frustrate them that there was not a way for them to draw nearer to God?

That is why Jesus came. His blood was a perfect blood. The blood of a goat was insufficient, but the blood of the Lamb of God was fully sufficient. It was so sufficient that I don't have to stop at the outer court, and I don't have to pause by the brazen altar. His blood offers me access to the Holy of holies.

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your blood. Draw me even nearer. May I never be complacent but always seek Your face.

Ephesians 2:13

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

An Accounting Confession

The conviction of God is something that hurts good. His Word is piercing and yet brings healing to the soul.
Here is a quote I read that fits that description. I am thankful that I am even in the service of the King, and shouldn't be keeping my account.

This quote is from Dr. Martin-Lloyd Jones:

Do not keep a record or an account of your work? Give up being book-keepers. In the Christian life we must desire nothing but His glory, nothing but to please Him. So do not keep your eye on the clock, but keep it on Him and His work. Do not keep on recording your work and labour, keep your eye on Him and His glory, on His love and His honour and the extension of His kingdom. . . . Have no concern as to how many hours you have given to the work, nor how much you have done. In effect leave the bookkeeping to Him and to His grace. . . . There is no need to waste time keeping the accounts, He is keeping them. And what wonderful accounts they are. May I say it with reverence, there is nothing I know of that is so romantic as God's method of accountancy. Be prepared for surprises in this Kingdom. . . .

Let me make a personal confession. This kind of thing has often happened to me in my ministry. Sometimes God has been gracious on a Sunday and I have been conscious of exceptional liberty, and I have been foolish enough to listen to the devil when he says, 'Now, then, you wait until next Sunday, it is going to be marvellous, there will be even larger congregations'. And I go into the pulpit the next Sunday and I see a smaller congregation. But then on another occasion I stand in the pulpit labouring, . . . preaching badly and utterly weak, and the devil has come and said: 'There will be nobody there at all next Sunday'. But, thank God, I have found on the following Sunday a larger congregation. . . . You never know. I enter the pulpit in weakness and I end with power. I enter with self-confidence and I am made to feel a fool. It is God's accountancy. . . . He is always giving us surprises. . . .

We should not only recognize that it is all of grace, but rejoice in the fact that it is so. . . . The secret of the happy Christian life is to realize that it is all of grace and to rejoice in that fact. . . . Was not this [Jesus'] own way? . . . He did not look at Himself, He did not consider Himself and His own interests only; He made Himself of no reputation, He laid aside the insignia of His eternal glory. . . . He humbled Himself, He forgot Himself, and He went through and endured and did all He did, looking only to the glory of God. Nothing else mattered to Him but that the Father should be glorified and that men and women should come to the Father. That is the secret. Not watching the clock, not assessing the amount of work, not keeping a record in a book, but forgetting everything except the glory of God, the privilege of being called to work for Him at all, the privilege of being a Christian, remembering only the grace that has ever looked upon us and removed us from darkness to light.

It is grace at the beginning, grace at the end. So that when you and I come to lie upon our deathbeds, the one thing that should comfort and help and strengthen us there is the thing that helped us at the beginning. Not what we have been, not what we have done, but the grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. The Christian life starts with grace, and it must continue with grace, it ends with grace. Grace, wondrous grace.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures, (Eerdmans, 1965) p. 130-32.

Worship: That's The Way, Uh Uh, I Like It

Have you ever had one of those moments? A moment that you are not sure is embarrassing, humorous, or instructive? Maybe all of the above.

We had one of those Sundays at church the other day.

Here is the run down. We have no worship leader and the pianist called in sick. That means that the music portion of the worship service that had been planned all week was out the window.

That’s o.k. we’ll just go to plan B. I have some worship songs that our pianist recorded for just such a predicament. All we have to do is plug in my laptop, arrange the songs and it is like having a virtual pianist.
So, I scramble around to get that arranged, fix the power point lyrics, and get the sound system hooked up. This took place just in the nick of time.

It took a while, but eventually we got things in place by overcoming a few small computer glitches along the way. Should go smooth from here….not.

We get ready to begin the service and the songs won’t play. I don’t know what happened but the files would not open and play the way they had just minutes before. All that played was the “Microsoft” start up tune. “What a friend we have in Microsoft…”
Oh boy, here we go.

So, lets greet one another and see if we can’t fix the problem. I run to the back where the equipment is being run by two of my faithful youth. It clearly was not their fault, it was some technical issue.

We get it fixed and the next portion goes a little better. The music does well and we get through it all right.

But that’s not all. After a small break in the flow of the service it is time for the next song. The only problem is that the next song starts at about 4 times normal speed. It sounded like the Chipmunks music. The guys tried about 3 times before it fixed itself and went back to normal. Somehow we recover.

Could it get any worse? Oh yes.

We have one last song before the sermon. This is a song that I intentionally included to help us focus and prepare for the message. The song is titled, “Jesus draw me close”.

The music starts and instead of the beautiful piano arrangement we hear the beginning chords of the 1970’s disco dance tune “That’s The Way, Uh Uh, I Like It”. Picture that for a moment. I will pause so you can laugh, or cry.

You might be wondering, how did that get into a worship service? Well, the piano music was being played from the media player on my laptop. I have a fairly large and eclectic music collection on my laptop. I have some Chris Tomlin, Keith Green, Christmas music, Elvis, Beach Boys, Disney songs, classical, and some 1970’s dance tunes. Yes, that is right. The girls and I like to boogie to some dance tunes every now and then. Don’t worry, we close the blinds real tight so no one can see.

So, somehow, and I still don’t know how, our piano music was interrupted with the beginning chords of some disco music and I wasn’t even wearing bell bottoms.

We had a guest preacher and the sermon was great. The rest of the service was uneventful, the damage had already been done. Although, the next time some inquires about what kind of music we have at our church I am not sure what I will tell them.

Is there a lesson here? I don’t know. I just know it will be a time of worship that I will never forget.

Propitiation: Satisfaction of Wrath

Hebrews 2:17
Therefore He(Jesus) had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

1 John 2:1-2
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

God’s wrath is real. It is the just response of a Holy God to man’s utter rebellion and sinfulness. The pages of the Bible are replete with this truth. It is found in both testaments and is foundational to fully understanding the cross of Jesus Christ.

So, what can we do? Nothing. Your goodness will never be enough to satisfy the wrath that our sins deserve. You cannot go to church enough, give away enough money to charity, be kind enough to cause God to overlook your rebellion. This is a huge problem. Is there a solution? Yes, and it is a huge solution.

The cross of Jesus Christ is the solution. Jesus is the propitiation for our sin. If you are familiar with this word then you will rejoice at the reminder of it’s meaning. If it is new to you then I encourage to learn, meditate and embrace this critical truth.

Propitiation is the satisfaction of wrath. And it occurred in Jesus Christ. God could not be just and let sin go unpunished. So, the Bible teaches us that Jesus took the punishment and wrath that our sins deserved.

Romans 3:23-26
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Some have misunderstood this doctrine of wrath and satisfaction. It is not a bribe. Like many of the pagan religions whose gods are filled with anger and then bribed to divert that anger.

God’s anger is not capricious, it is deserved. And it is not diverted, it is satisfied. God’s righteous anger must find its full expression and complete satisfaction. Where? Not in our actions, but in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross!

The cross is absolutely amazing. It satisfies God’s just demands that call for all sin to be punished. God does not wipe our sins under the proverbial “rug”. He placed them fully on His own Son.

Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.(NIV)

The cross of Christ is not just expiation. The old RSV version translated the Greek word “hilasterion” as expiation instead of propitiation. Expiation is the removal of sin. Through the cross we can have our sins removed. This is a clear truth presented in scripture. But, the cross doesn’t just cleanse sin, it satisfies wrath as well.

Some liberal theologians over the years have had a problem with the concept of wrath. They don’t want a wrathful God so they say that the cross is only for expiation.

But Isaiah is crystal clear – Jesus suffered the punishment that we deserved. He satisfied the just wrath of a righteous God that was engendered by our sin.

This is not just a theological discussion. It is the core, the centerpiece, the truth that leads to life. We would be utterly hopeless if Jesus’ blood was not for the propitiation of our sins. We would have no opportunity for meaningful lasting life, peace with God, peace from God, true joy, or the promise of heaven.

That is extremely relevant! What an amazing God! How loving and kind! That Jesus would become my sin and take the punishment that I deserved is a truth that I will spend an eternity contemplating.
Thank You Jesus!


I have just scratched the surface in discussing the concept of propitiation. There have been volumes written on this subject by many people much more intelligent than myself.