I.　The propitiation place—Rom. 3:24-26:

A.　The meaning of propitiation—1 John 2:2; Heb. 2:17; Rom. 3:25:

1.　To appease the situation between us and God and to reconcile us to God by satisfying His righteous demands.

2.　To solve the problem between us and God—our sins—which kept us away from God's presence and hindered God from coming to us.

B.　The need of propitiation—Luke 18:13:

1.　Propitiation involves two parties, one of which has wronged the other, has become indebted to the other, and must act to satisfy the demands of the other.

2.　As sinners, we needed propitiation to appease our situation with God and to satisfy His demands.

3.　The tax collector in Luke 18:13 is an illustration of the need of propitiation.

C.　The sacrifice of propitiation—1 John 2:2; 4:10:

1.　In 1 John 2:2 and 4:10 the Greek word for propitiation is hilasmos, which means "that which propitiates," that is, a propitiatory sacrifice.

2.　Christ Himself is the propitiation for our sins; He offered Himself to God as a sacrifice for our sins, not only for our redemption but also for satisfying God's demand—Heb. 9:28.

D.　The action of propitiation—Heb. 2:17:

1.　The Greek word translated "make propitiation" is hilaskomai, the verbal form of the noun hilasmos.

2.　Hilaskomai means "to propitiate," that is, "to appease," to reconcile one by satisfying the other's demand.

3.　The Lord Jesus made propitiation for our sins, thereby satisfying the demand of God's righteousness and appeasing the relationship between God and us, that God may be peacefully gracious to us.

E.　The place of propitiation—Rom. 3:25:

1.　The Greek word translated "propitiation place" is hilasterion, which denotes the place where propitiation was made.

2.　In Hebrews 9:5 hilasterion is used for the lid of the ark, the place where God met with His people.

3.　In Romans 3:25 hilasterion is used to show that the lid of the ark signifies Christ as the propitiation place set forth by God.

II.　Justification by faith—Rom. 3:28, 30; 4:1-25:

A.　The righteousness of God is what God is with respect to justice and righteousness—1:17; 3:21-22, 25-26:

1.　Because we are fallen, God must deal with us according to His righteousness; as the righteous God, He cannot forgive sinful people without meeting the demands of His righteousness.

2.　Our experience of Christ rests upon the foundation of God's righteous-ness—Psa. 89:14.

B.　Justification is God's action in approving us according to His standard of righteousness—Rom. 4:25; 5:16, 18:

1.　On Christ as our propitiation place, we and God justify each other, enjoying a mutual justification.

2.　As those who have been justified by God, we have Christ as our righteousness—1 Cor. 1:30.

C.　Redemption is the basis of justification—Rom. 3:24:

1.　Redeem means to purchase back something which was ours but which has become lost.

2.　Although we were lost and had many problems with God regarding His righteousness, holiness, and glory, God paid the price for us, repossessing us at a tremendous cost—Eph. 1:7; Gal. 3:13; 1 Pet. 1:18.

3.　When redemption is applied to us, we are justified.

D.　In justification the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law through the faith of Jesus Christ—Rom. 1:17; 3:21-22:

1.　Through the faith of Jesus Christ indicates that genuine believing is to believe in the Lord Jesus by His faith.

2.　Because we believe in Jesus Christ through His faith, the righteousness of God is revealed to us.

E.　The proof of God's justification is the resurrection of Christ—4:25:

1.　The redeeming death of Christ as the ground for God to justify us has been fully accepted by God, and Christ has been resurrected from the dead as a proof of this.

2.　Now that Christ has died and has been raised from among the dead, it is impossible for God to change His mind about forgiving us; He is bound by His righteousness to forgive us.

F.　We are justified by faith in the God who gives life to the dead and calls the things not being as being—v. 17.

G.　God's justification is for the fulfillment of His purpose—to have the Body, which is the kingdom, to express Him and to exercise His dominion on earth—v. 13; 12:5; 14:17.