Verse of the Day: John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

This verse, written by the Apostle John, sums up Christianity. Just as Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to God (Genesis 22), God gave up his son as a propitiation, or sacrifice of atonement, so that any man (or woman) could seek forgiveness for sin(s), merely by asking. 

Who do we believe in to get everlasting life? Jesus, God's only begotten son--meaning a son who was not created, but actually came from God.

What is everlasting life? It is the continuance of our existence, for all eternity. This implies that those that do not believe in Christ will not continue on forever. Rather, when they are cast into the lake of eternal fire (Revelation Chapter 20) they suffer a second, permanent death. 

Word of the Day: Propitiation

From the late 14th Century, the word propitiation means an atonement, and is derived from propitiate, a 1580s word taken from the Latin propitiatus, the past tense of propitiare--to appease.

The word appears in Romans Chapter 3:

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

25 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;

Christ's death was a propitiation for the sins of mankind--an atonement, offered to God in much the same way that previously lamb's blood was offered. 

Prior to the crucifixion, to atone for one's sins, a blood sacrifice was made to God, the sinner apologizing not just by word, but by action, as discussed in Leviticus 17:11

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

Christ's death on the cross allows us to seek forgiveness from God for sinning without making a sacrifice--Christ already was the sacrifice.

Romans 3 illiustrates that we are not born forgiven for sins not yet committed. Rather, Christ's sacrifice allows us merely to ask for forgiveness when we sin, without waiting to make any propitiation.