When you open an English translation of the Bible to Romans 3.25, depending upon which version it is, you may encounter the word propitiation referring to Jesus. For instance, the King James Version reads:
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;
Other versions use the word expiation or the phrase atoning sacrifice or something similar. At first glance, these various translations may impress themselves on our mind as meaning more-or-less the same thing, however, when we dig in to study, we will find that they actually have very different, even opposing meanings. I encourage you to study with me and on your own, to see how the word choice of different translation committees (responsible for what ends up in various versions of the Bible) reflects on the character – or lack of character as we will see – of my Father and yours. Most importantly, I want to convey that how we perceive God on this topic can very much affect – either positively or negatively – our intimacy with Him.
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