BULLSEYE!
ACCURATE BIBLE KNOWLEDGE!

QUESTION: “WHAT IS A WAY TO UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF A DIFFICULT WORD IN THE BIBLE?”

ANSWER: “THE BIBLE HAS ITS OWN IN-BUILT DICTIONARY”.

Just study to show yourself approved unto God.

EXPLANATION:
And sometimes the popular meaning of a Bible word is not the correct meaning at all. I give you the following example:

THE WORD “PROPITIATION”
I mean, hands up “Who knows what the word “propitiation” means, and who has ever heard of this word before, and who in this day and age would ever use this word?” No-one!

BUT IT IS A BIBLE WORD.
It is a word that God has chosen and therefore has an exact meaning. Instead of trying to dumb it down with another word, let’s see what we can find in the context.

This word is mentioned three times in the Bible and the common understanding is that Christ’s sacrifice was the price that had to be paid to satisfy and angry God against sin. It is the payment that God demands, and is accepted by God, that appeases and placates his anger. He is completely satisfied with the payment he receives. It’s like an angry hungry dog till it gets fed.

However while Christ’s sacrifice did satisfy and angry God against sin, can we get that particular meaning from the three following verses? NO.

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; Romans 3:25

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2

 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10

But before we study the Bible and show ourselves approved unto God, let’s see if we can work something out by the simple parts of speech of the word.

The word can be broken up into four parts

 pro – piti - at – ion

1. The prefix “pro-” means to come before or in front of
2. The suffix “-ion” on the end of a word means an act of
3. The root of the word “piti” looks like? Correct! Pity!
4. Last we have “-at-”

So string these altogether and we get “An act of pity that comes before and being given at people”.

WHAT ARE PITIFUL PEOPLE?
In the Bible in the Old Testament they were called a pitiful people and pitiful people need what? Correct! Pity!

The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. Lamentations 4:10

This was prophecy of the women with babies when Jerusalem was under siege form Rome around 70 AD. Wanting food, they boiled their own babies.

Furthermore, this describes both Jew and Gentile alike, in that we are all pitiful.

“… Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood:”
(Romans 3:9-12,13-15)

WHO SHOWS PITY?
So God is the one that shows pity, has tender and loving compassion, and that is what he did with the cross. He took pity on the world by sending his Son into the world to save us as pitiful people. A further description of being pitiful is to show tender mercy, as the following scripture says

Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. James 5:11

CHRISTIANS ARE TO BE PITIFUL
Furthermore, as Christians, we are also instructed to have compassion on one another, be loving and courteous.

Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 1 Peter 3:8.

So you can see Dear Reader, in studying the word and reading around similar words in the Bible, we can come up with a pretty good idea as to what a word means.

PITY THAT COME BEFORE
In addition, the cross, as an act of pity that comes before, is got from the following verse with the word “sent”

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10

THE REAL MEANING OF PROPITIATION?
A loving, compassionate, tender, merciful God, having pity, and sending himself in the form of his Son, onto a cross, to die for a pitiful people.

CAN YOU FIND AN ANGRY GOD IN THIS CONTEXT? NO.

And how about that? No Greek needed!!!!

This website’s front page is:
www.AustralianBibleMinistries.com

  “ISN'T THE BIBLE  
  FULL OF ERRORS? 

 “CONTACT US”

 Australian Bible Ministries, PO Box 5058 Mt. Gravatt East 4122 Qld, Australia
www.AustralianBibleMinistries.com