The word translated "freely" is the Greek "DOREAN", which means "free, for nothing, gratis, without just cause". Which means to you and me that "we are justified without just cause through nothing we did".

     "Propitiation" is the Greek "HILASTERION", found in the Septuagint (Jewish Greek translation of the Hebrew texts) to refer to atonement or reconciliation. Wescott states, "The Scriptural conception of this word is not that of appeasing one who is angry with a personal feeling against the offender, but of altering the character of that which, from without, occasions a necessary alienation, and interposes and inevitable obstacle to fellowship."

     "Hilasterion" is used in the Septuagint in Leviticus 16.14 to refer to the golden cover on the Ark of the Covenant. In the Ark, just below the cover, were the Ten Commandments which Israel violated. When the sacrificial blood was sprinkled on this cover it ceased to be a place of judgment and became a place of mercy. The blood came between the violated Law and the violators, the people. "The same is true of the blood of Christ."

     Here we also see the Greek work "APHESIS" used for "remission". This word would be translated as "to put off or put away".

     Those first six words of verse 24, "Being justified freely by his grace", shout out the nature of our Salvation in Christ. The text literally translated is "Being made or declared innocent freely by His free Gift".

     Those who teach that you, as a frail human, have to follow some set pattern of righteousness in order to retain your salvation are woefully misinformed about the nature of the Saving Grace. The Romans text is painfully clear, so clear that even the youngest child can understand it. "Christ did it all", He paid it all. "All that is left for us to do is to accept that wonderful free Gift of Eternal Life by accepting Him as our Savior."

     Christ was the "redemption" for our sins. "Redemption" is the Greek "APOLUTROSIS", meaning "To redeem or buy back by paying the purchase or requested price". We were all totally lost and without hope when Christ came on the scene. His sacrifice purchased us from the slavery of sin, and placed us into spiritual bondage with Christ.

1 Corinthians 7:22-23 "For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men."

2 Peter 2:1 "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."

Galatians 3:13 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree"

Galatians 4:4-5 "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."

     "So we who were dead in sins were redeemed from under the curse of the Law, out of the slave market of sin, and purchased to be the slaves of Christ, the Lord's Freedmen." We were purchased into freedom from the world that we might serve our Lord. This is the essence or heart of redemption.

     The word "propitiation" comes from the Greek "HILASTERION", and literally means "that which covers or stands between, that which covers up." To fully understand the Biblical concept of propitiation we need to look at the Old Testament sacrifices, back to the Ark of the Covenant.

Leviticus 16:14-22 "And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness."

     In the rite of sacrifice we see that the High Priest represents the people and the Ark of the Covenant (containing the Ten Commandments) represented the offended righteousness of God. When the High Priest sprinkled the blood on the golden cover of the Ark he "covered the sins of the people", making a propitiation for the people of Israel. Weuss states:

     "In the Ark, below this cover, were the tablets of stone which upon were written the Ten Commandments which Israel had violated. Before the Ark stood the High Priest representing the people. When the sacrificial blood is sprinkled on the cover, it ceases to be a place of judgment and becomes a place of mercy. The blood comes between the violated Law and the violators, the people."

     Since the blood comes between the two who are at enmity with one another there is peace without condemnation while the propitiation is in effect. "This is propitiation, the covering of sins via the blood. That propitiation satisfies God's judgment for the Law which we broke."

     Alluding back to the previous verse, Paul notes that the forbearance or long-suffering of God put Christ's Blood forth as the "propitiation" for our sins. Because His Blood stands between us and our sins we are "just", that is, declared righteous by God. It is not our works that saves us, but His Blood on the Ark of the Covenant, His Blood between us and the broken Law.

     The word "boasting" in verse 27 is the Greek "KAUCHESIS" which literally means "glorifying". Neither the Jew nor the Gentile have any reason to assume they are righteous on their own, their righteousness is literally "nothing to brag about". This false self righteousness is empty, shown ineffectual both by the Law of God which we all naturally broke as well as by the perfect Law of Salvation by faith in Christ. A man can only be made "innocent in the eyes of God" by accepting the free Gift so graciously provided under Grace.

     There were those in Paul's day, "just as in ours", who believe that the Grace of God through Christ negates the Law. Some even rose up in the Church (the Gnostic sect) that believed ergo, since Christ paid for our sins, we are therefore free to sin with a guiltless conscience. Paul quickly dispels this idea as heresy. "The Law was never meant to bring a person to salvation, but to help us put our own abilities as regards righteousness in the Divine perspective." The Law:

1. Taught that man could never be good enough to work his way to Heaven, or even into God's good graces, and

2. Provided a system of government by which man could live in an orderly and civil fashion.

     Though few Americans know it, "the basis of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights was the Old Testament Law." In fact, all ideas of morality, even those found in the mind of the most base atheist, were found and ratified by God's Law. The Law has a definite place, but that place will never be to save souls from damnation. When Grace was offered through the medium of Christ's sacrifice the Law was placed in its proper perspective. It was firmly "established by the Cross".

     The Jews had the erroneous idea that Abraham was saved by his own works. Yet if you read the context of Scripture, Abraham did no works that earned him salvation.

Genesis 15:5-6 "And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness."

     "Belief and Grace saved Abraham just as it saves the believer today." What did Abraham believe? He believed that God was faithful, he believed that God both could and would save him. He knew that God was righteous, and believed that what He promised He would fulfill. Faith in God's provisions saves, Faith in the risen Christ. This is what saves, not our works.

Note: When the employer gives the workers their pay, this is not a favor but a legal obligation that the employer is bound to observe. The employee, in turn, is not legally obligated to thank the employer - he earned this. If the sinner earns salvation then God would be indebted to give him salvation, and man would not be obligated to thank or even acknowledge God for it.

Wuess says of these verses:

     "If the sinner earned salvation by good works, God would be indebted to man and obligated to give that salvation, or just wage, to him. It would not be a free Gift, or a favor which God would do for man."

     If salvation is the just reward or wage for the sinner working his way toward Heaven, then God would have no glory in the act of saving man. Man in such an instance would be the one with the right to glory. "This point wasn't understood by the legalists of Paul's day, nor is it understood by the self righteous of our day." If I say that man must earn his salvation in part, even to the point of sustaining it, then to that degree man earns the glory for it's maintenance. In such a scenario man will be able to enter Heaven self justified and, standing before the Throne, tell God, "Look, I made it on my own after all". This notion of maintaining your salvation by your feeble works is a mockery to that Great Plan of Grace that our Father established in eternity past.

     The word "imputeth" is the Greek "LOGIZOMAI", which means "To place in one's account, to accredit one with, to place on deposit". The word "iniquities" is the Greek "ANOMIA", "Contempt for and violation of the Law".

     The person who does not have their Law-breaking credited to their spiritual bank account is spiritually prosperous, blessed by the Lord. In English Law the accused of sin is placed in a cordoned off area by himself called "The Dock". The prisoner can only leave the Dock when the State fails to prove its case and that man is declared innocent, or when that man is found guilty and is sentenced for his crimes.

     Spiritually we were all in "The Dock" before the Throne of God, and the State was certain to prove its case. We were guilty as charged, and our only hope that God would be merciful. He was merciful! God "does not" credit sin to the believer's account because Christ came into the Dock for us, pushed us out, and while in the Dock accepted that "Guilty as Charged" verdict on our behalf. He left the Dock, suffered and died under sin, and bore our penalty. "He was made sin for us". Because all punishment has been satisfied the Dock stands empty now. We will not be tried again, for His payment was eternal.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

     If Christ had never stepped in the Dock for us and took our verdict (and subsequent punishment) we would still be held accountable for our Law breaking. Yet He did, and that sweet peace that we now have is the peace of freedom from sin and the bitter nagging guilt of failure. Spiritually we who have accepted Christ as Savior are the adopted children of God, spiritually pure in God's sight.

     The modern day parallel to circumcision (a Jewish rite ceremony of commitment to God) is the sacrament of Water Baptism. Neither circumcision nor Water Baptism saved man, but both were actions that visually witnessed the sincerity of the believer's faith in God.

I Peter 3:21 "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:"

     If baptism doesn't really save, but is "the answer of a good conscience toward God", then it was the preceding act of faith in Christ (God) that wrought the salvation and the baptism the outward expression of that salvation. Abraham believed in God long before he was circumcised. The act of belief gave Abraham our father salvation, and he witnessed to that salvation by being obedient unto circumcision.

     Many Israelites in Paul's day (just as in our day) observed the rite of circumcision without the preceding act of belief. Paul emphasizes that Abraham was saved while uncircumcised (How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision), and that salvation was certain, whereas many who merely observed the rite without belief were (and are) yet dead in their sins.

     "No Law, nor rite, nor man-made sacrament will save. Pay attention my friend! Joining the Church won't save you, neither will a public profession of faith, nor will obedience to the sacraments of the Table and Baptism."

     Abraham was only "reckoned", ("LOGIZOMAI" = imputed righteousness) when he believed. We often miss the true Grace of God as we go to our big lavish Church buildings and witness the pastors and priests speak eloquence while orchestrating the sacraments.

     Many come to our Churches faithfully year after year believing, that by faithfully attending, they will enter Heaven on their death. They take Communion in all sincerity, many were Baptized as children in their home Church. Yet in the midst of all the activity and bustle of the Church they neglected one thing: to accept Christ as Savior. They are as the Jew, cut about with circumcision yet still lost for lack of faith. This is a terrible reality plaguing our Church today, the religious chameleon without salvation. As the Scripture says,

     The word "father", "PATER", is a reference to Abraham. Abraham was our spiritual father, an everlasting example for all believers of all times. The Jews were fond of calling Abraham "Father", and considered the Gentiles to be outside of such honor. Yet Paul makes it clear that Abraham is the spiritual Father (pattern if you prefer) of all who believe be they Jew or Gentile. "...father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised...".

     Abraham's saving faith came while he was, in effect, yet a Gentile (uncircumcised), and he stands as a testament to God's saving promise for all nations.

     Abraham's righteousness was not that man-made self effacing self righteousness that so many in our day like to parade in the streets. Abraham's righteousness was "the righteousness of faith", a righteousness available only by trusting in God's provision. Through this faith Abraham was given the Abrahamic covenant, the promise of a Messiah who would insure his salvation while washing away all of his sins. "Oh the glory of God's precious Gift of salvation!"

     Paul uses the perfect argument to defend the free Gift of salvation by faith in Christ. "For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect".

     "Abraham was saved before he was circumcised, before the Law ever came into effect under the Prophet Moses." Faith in the promise of God wrought salvation, not the Law. If the Law, which was only intended to show man his helplessness ("the law worketh wrath") had the ability to save, and man had no ability to stay true to that same Law, then man's failure would void the promise of God. Abraham, who never knew the Law, would be damned if the Law was his medium toward salvation. Paul's point: "God is certain in His promises, and would never void that which He promised by bringing in another method." Nor would God be so cruel! To promise salvation by faith and then later add in "But you must keep this Law".

     So many believers ( sadly ) believe in a cruel and inhumane Father and prove this belief by their actions. So many believers tell sinners while witnessing "Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, by faith, and you will receive eternal life". Then, after the new believer accepts this gracious Gift, the misguided believer begins attaching amendments to the original promise. "To retain your salvation you must do this and this, and avoid this and that". Can you not see, my beloved brethren, that attaching amendments to the Promise is exactly what Paul chides the Jews for doing? Can you not see that by making man's feeble efforts a part of the salvation package cheapens the Gift, and in reality voids the Promise? What do you fear? Do you fear that by failing to attach amendments to the Promise that this new believer will act in a way that embarrasses you? Do you feel that the Spirit is not really able to bring a change about in this new believer? Do you feel that God is unable to discipline, as a Father disciplines His children, if this believer strays? What do we fear that we must add to the Salvation Promise? We perpetrate an injustice on our Father's Word and on our brother in Christ.

     On the night that I accepted Christ as my Savior I began a union with God that was eternal and unchangeable. In the 29 years since, many times I've walked on a muddy road when the King's Highway was just one step away. I have fallen, angrily, into sin. I have gotten angry with my Father for (so I thought) allowing the failure. I have been pompous, rude, overbearing, and self righteous. And yet, in no matter which state I found myself, I continued a daily dialogue with my Father. I knew He was always there waiting for me to pull my feet out of the mire, which I did through the power of His Spirit. I'm a believer, and I have been changed. If it's not the same in your life then I truly feel sorry for you, for you haven't met the Master that I have. Perhaps it's time you did. ( "Click Here" to read "How Do I Get To Heaven?" )

     "...Faith is made void". The phrase "is made void" literally in the Greek text is "has been voided and is in a present state of invalidation" (Wuess). If righteousness by the Law is God's standard then His previous promise was invalidated in the past and is worthless even to this day. If the Law fulfilled the Covenant Promises then the Covenant itself is a utterly useless waste of time. Find something else to do.

     But this is not the case, and you very well know it. Faith rather than Law created the salvation relationship that gives us hope of eternal life. As Faith was the only viable seed of our salvation, it is the plant that we must cling to. "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed". The Law made uncertain and brought the wrath of God on man for his failures. The Law was an alternative that only a madman would accept over Faith in the Promise.

     The Promise was "sure to all the seed", that is, salvation by faith in Christ is available to all regardless of nationality. Remember, Abraham was "the father of us all". It's no wonder that Paul was stoned and mocked by the self righteous Pharisees and Sadducees of his era. Imagine, God's love extends to "all men", not just the Jews! How about you, do you accept this as truth? Or do you feel that God's love only extends to the good people to whom you attend Church with? There was racism in Paul's day just as there's racism in our day. I pray to the Father that it does not permeate our Church.

^[19] And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: ^[20] He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;"

     Look to your spiritual father, Abraham, as an example of saving and living Faith. He believed because God said. I do not advocate an ignorant faith, and neither did Abraham. He believed because he heard God promise it. I believe because I see it promised in God's Word.

     Belief doesn't rely on the outward, on the scientific, on the acceptable. Belief is faith that God can surely do what He says, that God is indeed faithful. Consider Abraham. "He considered not his own body now dead". Abraham was sexually dead, totally impotent, and without viable sperm for reproduction. Don't be shocked, God created the human body and understands its workings. Abraham didn't look at his wrinkled dead body and mock God. He didn't refuse to believe because "he was about an hundred years old", well past what his good friends would call "natural childbearing age". He didn't internally vocalize God as foolish because of "the deadness of Sara's womb". Even if Abraham was sexually active (which he wasn't) Sarah herself was unable to reproduce, completely without ovum. Abraham didn't look at the impossible odds, but dwelt on the fact that God was his Creator. As Creator God could cause time to run forward or backward. As God He could create something out of nothing, as Creator He could bring the dead back to life. He didn't stop and ask God to show him scientific proof for what He Promised.

Hebrews 6:13-18 "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:"

     Knowing that God cannot lie, and knowing that God was able, Abraham in faith accepted the promise, and in so accepting was saved. An old saying that I hear frequently in "God is in the details". This is not true. Often the details are introduced by Satan in order to confuse us, to draw us away from saying I believe. Satan and the world stand to the side saying, "But what about this, what about that? Can you show me scientific proof?". The man of faith isn't afraid to say:

James 1:5-7 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord."

     The believer, like Abraham, must ask in faith without considering the obstacles that seem insurmountable. The man who wavers, looking for proofs beyond God's Promise, will have no promise of blessing from God. By his own faithlessness he robs himself.

     With these five closing verses Paul speaks a volume of Biblical doctrine. Abraham was "fully persuaded" that God could do what He promised. We have the visible proof that the Father will do what He says. When Christ was crucified and in the tomb, the naysayers all said, "Well, it's over. The ride is finished. The Messiah is dead.". The naysayers always look for the scientific proof, look at the outside, the evident. Yet three days later Christ was resurrected from the dead by the awesome power of God:

Acts 1:1-3 "The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:"

     To insure that all understood the resurrection was true, not a hoax, Jesus taught before many witnesses for forty days before ascending to the Father. By resurrecting Christ the Father gave a visible sign of approval for the finished work of the Cross. To believe in Christ's efficacious sacrifice is to believe "on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead", the Father. To believe in the efficacy of what Christ did is to believe that God utterly keeps His promises. To add to the Plan of Salvation is to disbelieve what the Father did, to doubt the completeness of His Plan.

     On another note, many of the naysayers have suggested that Christ really wasn't dead in the first place. They claim that He survived the Cross and, after three days, just showed up to simulate or pretend that He resurrected all along. The Apostles, all eyewitnesses to the Crucifixion, were convinced of His death. But even more important, the historical narratives give proof that He was indeed dead immediately after He uttered "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit." (Luke 23.46).

John 19:33-35 "But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe."

     The dual "blood and water" that flowed out of Jesus' side was proof to all who witnessed the crucifixion that Jesus was dead. It's a medical fact that the blood cells in man's bloodstream are much heavier than the water that is also present. When you die your heart no longer keeps the bloodstream circulating so the blood cells start separating from the "plasma" or water of the body. Jesus was fully dead by any medical standard. Yet even if this "blood and water" proof is insufficient to convince you that our Lord was dead consider this:

John 19:39-40 "And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury."

     The Jews, of course, didn't use our modern methods for embalming dead bodies. They actually adopted the practice of "mummifying" the body by swathing it in strong herbs potions and then binding it tightly. The body was first thoroughly washed. Next the body was wrapped with strips of linen cloth approximately 1 foot in width. To insure that the wrapping stayed in place the Jews made a paste of aromatic spices and used this much like cement or glue to hold the cloth in place. The mixture of adhesive that was used on Jesus weighed "about an hundred pound"(s). If our Lord wasn't dead before He was now! The shock of having this potent spice mixture pressed into His wounds would have certainly killed Him. To finish the wrapping the Jews cemented a heavy linen napkin over the face of the deceased. Again, if Jesus wasn't dead, He would have surely suffocated by the time the wrapping was complete. Our Lord was dead. Yet the story was not over, much as the Pharisees wanted it to be:

1 Corinthians 15:4-8 "And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time."

     The eyewitness account firmly establishes that Jesus not only died, but was resurrected to life by the Father. To say that one person imagined the resurrection is plausible. To say that over five hundred people imagined the resurrection is impossible, a mass hypnosis on such a scale cannot be achieved.

     The death of Christ without the resurrection is useless, yet the death followed by the resurrection is everything. Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. But did God the Father accept that which He did? "Absolutely, for the resurrection affirmed that the sacrifice was viable and worthy." Have you ever noticed that when the heathen attack Christianity they always attack one of two doctrinal positions.

1. They attack Christianity by claiming the Scriptures are less than the Word of God. These heretics believe that God's Word must be added to in order to be complete. They want to add another Scripture, another Text, another Bible.

2. They attack Christianity by attacking the person and work of Jesus Christ. They claim He was only a good man, a mere prophet on the order of Mohammed or Brigham Young. They claim He was only man. Others claim that the resurrection was a great hoax perpetrated on the New Testament Church.

     Yet we who believe can stand with our heads lifted high for our cry is " I Believe ". I believe the Scriptures to be the complete and accurate Word of God, the only written text that we will ever have or need. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and, in this resurrection, gave us the Father's promise of our justification by faith.

     Though none believe, though many fall into error, I am not ashamed to say I believe. Are you?