Great Doctrines of Salvation, Propitiation
Luke 18:13 · Mike Doyle · Aug 20, 2006
Great Doctrines of Salvation, No. 08
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/48262359464950

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Today's topic is propitiation, which is you'll notice that I'm not Courtney and I not being on the same page that I asked, you know, a little review on my questions like he did last week. So I don't think we need to go through all of that. So the first question I ask is, what does the word propitiation mean? It's, by the way, one of my favorite words. It means to be satisfied. What's the difference then between reconciliation and propitiation? Isn't propitiation a reason that something is satisfied? A reason that something is satisfied, okay. Reconciliation is man-made. Propitiation is God's will. Yeah, that's the best way to look at it.

Marchbank says that repentance presents a change of mind which the sinner has about himself and about God when the Spirit convicts him. And conversion pictures the change of direction which comes when the believing sinner turns towards God. Reconciliation shows us the change which is wrought in the heart, our hearts, by which the heart who once feared now has peace and the heart that once was bent on sinning loves and desires to do the will of God. But all of that up until this point, if you take a look at repentance, conversion, regeneration, redemption, they're all things that pertain to us.

Propitiation, in the strict sense, has to do with what the cross of Christ affected on God's side of the ledger. And I think that one of the One of the really difficult things, I shouldn't put it that way, one of the hard things maybe, for us to learn, is what's God's viewpoint about me and why does he have it? You have to admit that early on it's all about me, I'm saved, I'm whatever, but what about God and what about his side? And if there's a change affected from his perspective, again, it comes back to, well, how does it benefit me? So propitiation really has to do with the work of Christ on the cross that had to do with satisfying God. Now, why did God need to be satisfied? Okay. So what's the big deal?

I mean, Adam sins, you sin, I sin. I mean, why doesn't God just say, oh, never mind. You're pretty good guys. I love you. Man was separated. Think about it from God's side. He can't look at evil? What did you say? He's the offended one. Oh, gee. You know, we would say, oh, that's too bad. You know, from our arrogance.

But it's important, I think, to understand that an offended God, because he's righteous and he's holy, cannot let the offense go, just let it go. Do you see that? So no matter how much God loves us, And no matter how much he desires to shed his grace and his mercy on us, he can't do it unless he's been propitiated. Unless he's been satisfied about the offense. Okay? Now, I know this isn't in your notes, but... Could you bring the covenant between the father and the son into that also? You absolutely could. You absolutely could.

And that's good, because that's kind of where I was going. Why? Why does God need to be satisfied? Because He's God, and because it's His character, He's been offended. So once you determine that God has to be, from His side of the ledger, be satisfied about your sins and the sins of the world, then how are you going to pull it off? How are you going to do it? You've got to have the right players in place, and you've got to have the right event, don't you? So who's the player?

Christ. Why Him? Son of God. Okay, what does that mean? What does it mean to be... He's the only perfect one that can be sent to pull it off. Okay. Keep expanding on that a minute, because I think that's a really important point. Because He's a creator. He's a creator? Why, well maybe ask it this way, why couldn't you propitiate God about your own sins? Born in Adam. Born in Adam. We were created.

Yeah, you're hitting on it. The deal is that for a holy, righteous God to be satisfied about the sin issue, He can only be propitiated by someone who's like Him. Do you see that? I've used the example, if you come over to my house and my dog bites you in the ankle, you don't sue my dog. You sue me. Why? Because we're on the same level, so to speak. You can't sue the dog. He's beneath us. You can't propitiate your sins because you're beneath God.

You see that? So it takes God to satisfy God about the sin issue. Hence, the Lord Jesus Christ. And, not only that, it takes a man. See? So, it's the double character of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what event has to happen in order to accomplish this? Oops, it's over there. What event? God says, OK, well, I've got to be satisfied and my son has agreed to do it. OK.

Why that? I mean, why couldn't it have been something else? You know, the Lord Jesus had to do 40 years of hard labor and then that was it. What's that? No, that's good. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission. Who set the rules? God set the rules, and the rules pertain specifically to his character and who he is. Sin separates man from God. Sin separates any creature that engages in it from a holy God. So what does the Lord Jesus have to do? He has to go to where the separated ones are through death in order to bring them back. You see that? In doing that, Because of the quality of the one who died, it satisfies the sin issue. You see that? This is only from God's side, not your side. Because man disobeyed Him. Right. Right.

Well, in Romans 5.12 says that you sinned in Adam. You know, there's that biblical principle that a lot of us think in the back of our mind, boy, you know, if I was Adam, I wouldn't have done that. Yeah, you would. And yeah, you did. Yeah, because that's the principle. Okay. We wouldn't have been as hard on ourselves. That's right.

God's character with a holy and righteous God can't have sin. He makes up these rules or these rules as much as... I think rules are the right term. These conditions that have to be satisfied. If it was left up to us, we wouldn't do it that way. That's exactly right. It's hard for us to understand that. Why did he... Why did he have to give up his son? Why did he have to go through what? Why did he do all that? But that's his character and his roots. That's right. And that's what makes him unique, I think. All of the quote-unquote religions of the world are all based on man's thoughts about what he needs to do to appease a God who's angry. I've mentioned this before, but years ago down at the Denver Museum was the Aztec display. I don't know if some of you, I'm sure, saw it. Well, the Aztecs were in Mexico, right?

How come they had sacrifices in their culture? And not only that, human blood sacrifices. Did they get the memo from Jerusalem? How did they know? I think it's built into every creature, because we're all sons of Adam, that we show up knowing somehow that God is not happy. And we've got to do something to appease Him. How did we get to the letting of blood, the taking of a life, to satisfy God? It's because His principles permeate throughout His entire creation. So, was it God that was alienated from man or was it the other way around? What do you think? How many think it was God that was alienated from man? Cowards. Okay, so you would say that it was man who was alienated from God, right?

And so God doesn't have this change of sentiment about anything, right? He remains constant and the same, so He doesn't need to change who He is in order to propitiate Himself, because He is what He is. But He does have an issue, and the issue is, how does He meet the righteous demand of His holiness?

Do you understand that? He hasn't been changed, but you've offended him by your sin, or Adam has, and Lucifer has, and the sin has come into his creation, and he's offended by that. He hasn't changed anything, but he's got to deal with it, because his righteousness has certain demands. Do you see that? So who said you can't look upon sin? Is there a change then in God based on the work of Christ?

That's the tricky question. How many think, yeah, there is? No, there's no change. He's the same. So what happens? We have a teaching to mediate through Christ. So we change. Think about this. It's interesting that God's glory, which is the sum total of his intrinsic attributes, we like to divide them up and give them names. And if we do that, he's holy and he's righteous. Nobody has any problem with that. But he's also loving, and he's gracious, and he's all these other things.

Well, if you can't reconcile man to himself, without his righteousness being satisfied? Why can't he reconcile man to himself without his righteousness being satisfied or without him being propitiated? Why can't he just do that? Do you understand the question?

In other words, he's loving and the basic and central character of God's person is love, is it not? That's what he's about. But he cannot express that love towards sinners unless his righteousness and his holiness have been satisfied. So does that mean that his righteousness and his holiness are a greater part of his character than love is?

Why does it have to be that way? You hear that? Say it louder. If you take one brick out of perfection, the whole thing will fall apart. If you take one brick out of perfection, the whole thing falls apart. The interesting thing about God is that His holiness and His righteousness must be propitiated in order for Him to express His love.

Now, so you could say, well, so what? So what? When the Lord Jesus dies on the cross, the veil is rent from where? Bottom to the top? Top to the bottom. Why is that important based on propitiation? It gave God, because he was now satisfied, he could come out of his confinement and he could express his love towards man, right? Now, he's coming out to the same old dog sinners that were there before the veil was rent, right? So what's the difference? Man hadn't changed one iota, but here he comes. What's the difference?

He's been satisfied about the offense. So even though you're an offender, He is satisfied about that now. To me, that is an incredibly, that's one reason why I love this word, because it shows me that God is approachable no matter who you are, no matter what your circumstances are. Because He's already been satisfied. You see that? Steve? So, it's kind of like applying money on what you buy. God's nature and character has not changed, but because of the work of Christ, His decision about us has been changed. perfectly satisfied in condemning everybody. What did he say in the garden? If you sin, you die. In dying, you will surely die.

Okay. And when non-believers leave this planet, attached to their sin nature, and at some time in the future there's a great white throne judgment, they're going to go off into eternity still connected to their sin nature and still in their sins that have already been satisfied. Do you see that? But they're still, I mean, it's hard for me to be honest with you, in my mind I think, now wait a minute.

If he's satisfied about the sins and all of these people who don't come to Christ by faith What's he going to do with them? Are they just going to be kind of like a toothache for all eternity? Everything else is fine except for them? And Satan and all of his minions locked in this place called Hell? The Lake of Fire? Does he just park them somewhere and forget about them?

No. He's satisfied about all of that. The problem is that they won't by faith, enter into his satisfaction. That may be a way to say it. Do you understand what I'm saying? So, although he's satisfied, you don't get to... the offending party doesn't get to enter into his satisfaction without faith and believing him. Does that make sense? I think the key thing here is, in this course, is the miracle of God changing. We have changed. We are new creatures in the flesh. I mean, we are seen in Christ now. We are new creatures in Christ. Those who don't receive Christ or get the free gift, they're still sinners. We've been removed and placed in Christ.

So there are two categories. But that's a great point, Courtney. The fact that, that's why the identification that we spend so much time on is so critical for us in terms of our spiritual maturity and our ability to rest. Because God didn't leave you, you know, we've mentioned before. Is there such a creature as a safe center? How many think there is? Boy, chickens. Because don't we sometimes refer to things by what they were?

Yes we do. So if we say that someone is a saved sinner, couldn't we mean that they were once a sinner and now they are saved? We could say that. They were once a sinner, but now, rather than saying they're saved, now you would say they're a new creature in Christ. Old things have passed away. Behold, everything has become new. Positionally, God looks at you and me as though we have never sinned. You agree with that? Steve? Basically, sinners are not welcome here. I'm not going there, because I know what you're talking about. I've seen the sign.

When you talk about position, and you understand identification, and who you are positionally, by being a new creature in Christ, you are no longer positionally, and from God's perspective, a sinner. step out of your position into your condition and abide in Adam and function inconsistent with who God says you are and you sin consistently. Yeah, you can certainly do that. But who you are, your identity, is no longer as a sinner from God's perspective. Why? Because he's been propitiated. Well, he just wasn't satisfied. What he did was he got rid of those persons who believe on his son are no longer connected with the offending race. Make sense? So when you leave this planet and go home to be with the Lord, you show up with none of what you were.

You see that? You are totally who your new identity, you're a new person, a new creature, with the spirit of God dwelling in your spirit, you're entirely new. And so, even though we're stuck in the old body in a sin nature that's still yacking at us, and in a fallen world under the law and under the dominion of Satan, God does not look at us that way anymore.

And that's why our inclusion in the death, burial, and resurrection with Christ is so critical for us to understand what propitiation really is. Because what he did was, not only in the death of his son was he satisfied about the penalty, but he took the offending party out of the way.

You and me. That's propitiation. The truth of the matter is we are accepted because we are no longer viewed as that center. So I understand what the sign on the building is trying to accomplish, but what we did, they're trying to say that the center, there's hope. So how would that be better stated? Because we're all at one point, we're that center. Boy, that could be a 15 minute discussion. That's okay. It seems like the sign is reaching out to non-believers anyway. Yeah, it is. It's reaching out to non-believers. Would you agree? Yeah. And probably believers that don't understand their position. You know, both.

What's the body of Christ for? What's the church for? It's a place for the saints to be edified, right? Is it a place for all the lost to show up so we can schmooze them into Christ? No, it's not. It's a place for believers to meet. It doesn't mean they're excluded, but primarily the body of Christ is designed for the edification of itself. Contemporary Christianity has taken the tact that what the church really exists for is recruiting. That's what it's there for. Not that the body of Christ doesn't present that, but primarily it's for the believer. So, in that sense, the sign, I think, misses the mark. In the sense that the way most people view the church today, the sign is totally appropriate. Totally appropriate. Say that again.

Does God have to choose people to believe? How can a depraved, sinful person believe? Okay. Maybe a question before that is, does God hold the lost man responsible? Before you came to Christ, were you responsible? To do what? So, here we are, sinners, right? And we have no possibility of producing anything other than sins, right? Because we don't have any... sins come from a nature, right?

So, like it or not, the Spirit of God intervened in your life, didn't He? And He worked in you to present some basic issues to you. One, He presented however you understood it, but he presented your lack of relationship with God, that you didn't have one, that you were in trouble, that you were a sinner, you were condemned, however you want to say it. That realization was something the Spirit of God revealed to you, right? Otherwise you wouldn't know it. Would you have known it other than that? Here's what you can know without the Spirit of God.

You can know that there is a God and that He's holy and that He expects you to honor Him as God and to be thankful. And every man knows that because of the creation and because they have a conscience. That's in every man. And God expects you to honor Him as God and to be thankful.

And if you don't do that, if you study Romans 1, the consequences are swift and dark. You have to admit that, I mean, I didn't believe on Christ when I was 35 years old, you know. Most people would say, well, you made your decision a long time ago and things are so dark for you, you got no chance.

But the Spirit of God in His graciousness and His mercy showed me what my lack of position before God. And then He showed me, presented to me that there was this person, a Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ who, being a Catholic, I knew the name, understood the event, but didn't understand that faith, my personal faith, in that person and in that event, God would guarantee salvation for me for all eternity. So what happened?

Did I make a decision? Did I exercise my will to believe in the person and work of the Lord Jesus from my position in Adam? Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Because if I say that I didn't, then I have to adopt the Calvinist viewpoint that says I've been regenerated in order to believe. No, no. I believed from my position in Adam. I don't think you can. You can't be regenerated. It's absolutely, I don't know it at the time.

From my perspective, you know, as the Spirit's working on me, I'm making these decisions, I think it's all me. I find out later that it was the Spirit of God who wooed me, you know, brought me to a point where I'm exercising my corrupt will, and exercising faith in the person and work of Christ, and I think I'm doing it all. I'm not conscious of the Spirit of God's working in me. So I make a decision to believe, and God holds me responsible for that decision. What's the cool thing about once I make that decision?

What happens to my old man? An E. Right? The last act of the old man is to believe in Christ. Isn't that cool? That's the very last thing he does, positionally. What about those who die in unbelief? You know, I don't know the answer to that. John 15 says that the Spirit of God convicts the world of sin.

Right? Why? What are the three verses? Because the first one is because they don't believe on me, the Lord Jesus said. So you have to assume that because through the Lord Jesus, His pronouncement that the Spirit of God comes and convicts the world of sin because they don't believe in Christ, He's not going to show up later and say, oh, I missed a few.

I didn't get the message to those nine guys over there. By their will, they set it right. You know, in my own mind, the way that I have resolved that issue is this, that at the Great White Throne Judgment, as the lost come before Christ, He will be manifested there in all of His glory, so it's going to be pretty bright. They're going to need the Ray-Bans, you know. And we'll be there with Him, manifesting His glory, and they're going to look Him in the face, and they're going to say to Him, you know, it's a good thing you didn't choose me, because I don't want you now, I didn't want you then, where's the door to hell? There's not going to be one soul that's going to regret what's going on there.

It's hard for us to understand that the sin nature hates God so much that when they see Him face to face in all His glory, that will be the peak of their rejection of Him. We can't understand that because we love Him and He loves us and we appreciate can't appreciate enough what he's done to save us and what he has done to conform us to his image. Our minds can't grasp the intensity of the hatred towards God of the sin nature but all of the unwrapping will be done at that time and all the restraints will be off and there will be no deception. The sin nature will be exposed for what it really is. And their attitude, I'm convinced, their attitude will not be remorseful. They will prefer the Lake of Fire to having to stay in the presence of the Holy God. That would be worse for them.

I mean, that's a terrible thought, but I think that's the way it is. What are you smiling about? Well, I'm just having a hard time finding that description. Yeah, that's my opinion. Yeah, it's my opinion. But, you know, having spent a little time with my own sin nature, I kind of know that there isn't anything about God it appreciates or goes for, you know.

And I really think that if we... Like we talked about at first, if we were given the druthers about spiritual growth in our life, then we wouldn't want to go there to the cross. We'd want to do better in where we are. We'd want God to fix us up. We really would. Because we don't want to...

I mean, this death thing is a scary proposition. I think the first chapter of Romans kind of backs up what you're saying. Well, in Galatians 5, when it talks about the contrast of fruit of the spirit against the works of the flesh, well, you start to take into consideration what's producing those works in man. There's nothing redeemable about the character that produces those kinds of things.

But I did, and there's no question I'm expanding it. So if propitiation is being a sacrifice and also a place, what does he mean by that? Hellasmos is a word for expiator, to make satisfaction for. 1 John 2.2 says that, and he himself is the propitiation of our sins, and not for our sins, but also for the whole world. He's a propitiation for our sins. The other word, holosterion, atoning victim, the lid of the ark, or the mercy seat.

Romans 3.25, whom God set forth a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness because of his forbearance. God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. How can you say that Christ is not only the propitiator, but he is the mercy seat too?

How do those go together? Why is... I'm a realtor, I love places. It's all about location. How can you say that it's not just an event, but it's a place? Why? In the Old Testament, on the Day of Atonement, there was a place. It was the seat, the Holy of Holies, in the Ark of the Covenant. The seat on the top was called the seat of Atonement, or the place of Atonement, and the blood was sprinkled around there. Now, how can Christ not only be the propitiator, but also the place? That's close. What do you think? What did the Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant represent to the nation of Israel? Why was it such the fulcrum point? That's right. That's the key.

Where God met man and man met God was a place. So, where do we meet God? Christ. He's also a place. He's the one who is the mercy seeker. See? He's the one, that's where we go, and that's where God comes. That's where we meet. Does that make sense? Also, like you said, there's a man sitting at the right hand of the Father. That's exactly right. And where he sits right now is really important. It's really important. That's where we are. So it's not only a person, but it's a place. Ephesians talks about being seated in the heavenlies. Well, where are you? You got your own chair? No. You're in Christ and on that throne with Him. In Him. So He is the location also.

What's the propitiation in the Old Testament? Answer, yeah, because we just talked about it. The mercy seat is the place of covering. That's the place in which the animal blood provided a just ground which God could pass over the sins until Christ should come and shed his own blood.

No, it had, yeah, it was the place of meeting, though, and that's why they carried that ark with them. They took the place with them. Because they knew that without the place... Well, it's like contemporary Judaism. They don't have a place. And the Jewish people I talk to are serious about their religion. I always ask them the place question. On the Day of Atonement, when you go and confess your sins, you don't have a place to do it. Oh, we went to the synagogue. Well, that's not the right place. There's only one place. And that's, you know, in the holies, in the synagogue in Jerusalem. Now, this is one of my favorite questions.

Does human repentance and sorrow soften God's heart? How come? Does it render God propitious? In other words, if you're really sorry, and you've got these alligator tears, God is more propitious towards you than he would be towards the guy who's sort of cool about it. You say, no, how come? Why not? From God's side, how come? Never was. It doesn't matter. That's right.

Why does God forgive your sins? Because you're really sorry? Why not? Because that isn't the ground on which He forgives you. The ground on which He forgives you is only the work of His Son on the cross. That's the only reason. Maybe it makes you feel good that you're sorry, but God doesn't forgive you on that basis. I think that's a really important point. leads us to understand, have a greater understanding of what God's grace is all about.

And so, the sin nature is so deceptive that it somehow can convince you that it can have an effect on the way God deals with you. You know what I'm saying? You can get God to react. So if he's been propitiated, the sin nature would always, in the believer, would think, I'm going to get God to act differently towards me than He does towards another believer, either by my sorrow or by my anger or by my something.

God does things based on who He is and the things that satisfy Him, which is the work of His Son, only. Now that doesn't mean He's heartless, unemotional, because the Lord Jesus Christ is a great high priest after the order of Melchizedek. He can identify with us because in all ways He was tempted and tested, like we are, without sin. We can go to the throne of grace and we can find mercy in the time of need, all of those kinds of things.

But underneath all of that, the reason God deals with us and our sins propitiously is solely based on the work of his Son, nothing else. Did Christ have to become a man in order to propitiate for the sins? Why? See, you don't get by with yes or no around here.

The key verse is Hebrews 2.17 and 18. Let's take a look at it.

So now, as a matter of fact, our Thursday night class, we're just starting into a discussion about Melchizedek and the priesthood. Again, part of the way God set up the principles is the fact that man always had a representative. Adam was the representative man, and when he sinned and fell, we all fell, right? But then there was this new man, representative man, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is a priest. And a priest's function is to represent man before God in the things of God. One of the requirements of being a priest is you've got to be a man. You've got to be like those whom you represent.

There's never been an angel priest. There's never been any of the Greek gods. None of those creatures. You have to be a man. And you have to be able to carry out your job as a priest. Well, this verse clearly states that in all things he had to be made like his brethren. So he was a total perfect human being just like you and me. And why? So that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in what kind of things? The things pertaining to God. To make propitiation for the sins of the people. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 says that when he had made satisfaction for the sins, he sat down in the heavenlies. It's interesting if you study the temple and the temple sacrifices and all of the furniture, what piece of furniture don't you find in the temple? Never find a chair there. Why not? Work never got done.

Guys had to be busy 24-7, right? Those priests worked a lot. They worked hard. They had to be a lot of them. The shifts were every two hours. They never sat down. So when Hebrews 1.3 says that when he had made satisfaction for the sins, he sat down, that's a really important point. The job's done. You don't sit down until the job's done. So he represents the people in the work, and he's the priest, right? So, here we have For in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted or tested.

There isn't anything about his priesthood that you can't go to him about. Nothing. Including your sins. Including your weakness, especially your weakness. So, the really important issue about propitiation from our side of the ledger is that the propitiator is like us. He's approachable.

Luke 18.13 My question was, was it proper for a believer to pray this prayer? What do you think? Somebody who's there, I culled it down. Do not look at me and my sinfulness, but look upon the propitious sacrifice. And you're right. It's not a proper prayer for us to pray because we're no longer sinners.

In 1 John 2.2, what does 1 John 2.2 say? Anybody.

Now, when 1 John 1.9 says that you're to confess your sins, right? The word confession means what? It means to say the same thing.

So what does God say about you? I've been satisfied about your sins because my son took care of them. Does that mean you don't talk to them about them? No. But what it means is that you have spiritual intelligence enough to understand who you are and to understand you've been functioning inconsistent with who you are. Have you committed sins? No question about them. Are they forgiven?

Notice in 1 John 1.9 there's no place in there that says you have to ask for forgiveness. How come? They're already forgiven. So your sinfulness as a Christian doesn't mean Christ has to come and repeat the work. Why not? Because he's paid for the sins of the whole world. So what's the detrimental effect that your sins have? What do they do? Yeah. The issue is fellowship.

Because the man in Luke 18.14 is talking about his sinfulness and he's saying look on the propitious sacrifice and don't look on me for the covering of my sins.

Where in 1 John 2.2 what we do is we're thanking him for work that's already been done. Do you see the difference there? You don't, do you?

The man in Luke 18.13 has gone before God with his sacrifice and said, don't look at me and my sinfulness, but look upon the propitious sacrifice. A believer would not say to God or from his position, don't look at me and my sinfulness. A believer would acknowledge that he has committed sins, but he wouldn't ask God to look at him or not look at me and my sinfulness. The whole equation has changed because now the believer would go before God and say, thank you for the work that's already been done. The focus is on him, not me.

Now, in your own understanding, because God has been propitiated, do you believe you can approach God and are you welcome? What do you think? Even though you've sinned. So what's the basis on which you go? The blood of Christ, right? Can you go anytime? Now subjectively, can you go anytime? In other words, have you not ever had a day as a believer where, boy, things are pretty gray and I've got to clean up my act before I go to God? No?

Well, you guys are ahead of me. So God is approachable because of the work of Christ and he's been totally propitiated. There's nothing you can't go to him about immediately. Immediately. Say that again. We have a position in Christ before God. And the idea of spiritual growth is to have our condition line up with our position. In other words, that we would subjectively and experientially be abiding in our position, beholding the glory of the Lord Jesus.

Philippians 3.10, that I may know him.

When the believer sins, That fellowship is broken because he's abiding in the crucified old man who doesn't have fellowship. He goes from light to dark instantly. The restoration to that fellowship has to do with the judgment of the believer through the operation of the Spirit about what has been going on and a reaffirmation of what his position is. The Spirit of God's desire is to be continually and expandingly revealing Christ to the believer and increasing that fellowship on it all the time. The other work he does do is convicting the believer of his sinfulness and restoring him to fellowship so that the conformity process can get on.

Did that answer it? Oh, you know, that's a great question. Could I be, like in Galatians 6, if any man is overtaken in a fault, here he is, he's cruising, he's overtaken. Let you who are spiritual restore such a one. Can I be overtaken and not really kind of know? I think so. I think so.

But that doesn't discount the work of the Spirit of God to restore you to fellowship, either through the Word, through His work, or through another believer to restore you. Oh yeah, there's no question about that. Yeah, because if the Spirit of God doesn't reveal to you the issue, you don't know. How do you know? If you're in the Word, you may... you know, the Word of God will reveal it to you, but it's the Spirit through the Word that does the work. And that's one of the great assets, if not the greatest asset the believer has, is the Spirit of God to keep us in fellowship.

Never. That's right. That's right. And there's never a time that the Spirit says, okay, Wayne, I've had enough of your nonsense, and so I'm going to leave you there for a while, just so you can learn your lesson. No. He's all about restoring you, because the conformity is by beholding. It's not by suffering. Second bell go off? It's close.

Dear Father, how we thank you for your word that tells us you are totally and completely satisfied about the sin issue and that you are approachable. We can come to you and rest knowing that you have been absolutely propitiated. Father, how thankful we are and how appreciative we are of your dear son and we pray in his name. Amen.