# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_2016_S80
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help
those who are being tempted” (2:17–18).
Saying that Jesus made propitiation means that Jesus
took all our sins. They were all heaped on Him, the
full lot. On the cross, Jesus absorbed the full blast of
God’s wrath for all sins; He took it all for us. It’s all
gone. That’s what propitiation means. The wrath of
God was all poured out on Jesus. There’s none left for
us.
Therefore, John pleads with us, “My little children,
I am writing these things to you so that you may not
sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).
As our advocate, Jesus speaks for us: “Yes, Father, this
one is a sinner, like all the rest, but . . .” Then Jesus
steps between us. Who does the Father see now?
Only Jesus, in our place. And the Father’s verdict?
Not guilty, but righteous, washed clean in the blood.
John continues: Jesus “is the propitiation for our
sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the
whole world.” Jesus is the place of atonement, the
mercy seat. He is the one sin-bearer, so that now, as
the Scripture says, we are all “justified by his grace as

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U P O N T H I S R O C K K • Sermon

a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood,
to be received by faith” (Rom. 3:24–25).
When we confess, we say what God says. We are sinners, yes! But we also confess Jesus, for in Jesus God
is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When we assure
each other, “Your sin is forgiven you, for Jesus’ sake,”
there is nothing more certain in all the universe, for
we are simply saying what God says.
In just a minute, we will hear once more the absolution. When we say, “amen,” it is the sign we believe,
as the catechism tells us, “This is as valid and certain, in heaven also, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt
with us Himself.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Saying What God Says”