I think the real issue here is that of PROPITIATION: Christ diverting the active wrath of God upon sinners.
Propitiation can best be defined as pacifying wrath by taking care of the penalty for the offence that caused the wrath. Most Christians are sadly ignorant of the subject as most modern Bible translations such as Zondervan’s New International Version, Tyndale’s New Living Tranlation, the Revised Standard and the New English Version mix “Propitiation” with other words such “sacrifice”, “atonement” or “substitution”. Not that these terms are wholly irrelevant; they fail to capture the essence of what propitiation specifically is.
Propitiation rightly presumes that God is not only angry at sin. but that he actually holds people responsible for their sinfulness.
At this point, some may protest by saying “That’s not true! ‘God hates the sin but loves the sinner!’” Truth be told however, the concept of “hate the sin, love the sinner” comes not from the pages of inspired scripture, but rather the 1929 autobiography of Hindu pacifist Mahatma Ghandi which in turn is a twisting of St Augustine’s “Cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum”, which translates roughly as "With love for mankind and hatred of sins."
Regardless of the quote’s origin however, take the time to think it through logically.
When 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Who or what ends up in the Lake of Fire: the action itself or the person responsible for it?
Unless there exists on God's part a genuine anger towards sin, then the concepts of patience, longsuffering, mercy and forgiveness towards mankind are all robbed of their meaning and relevance. Jesus as our Propitiation therefore, would not make any sense.
Still, others will say: “Doesn’t God love me for who I am? Aren’t we to come before him ‘just as you are?’”
Actually, No.
While it is true that apart from grace there is nothing we can do to earn or merit God’s favor on our part, this does not mean that God turns a blind eye to our sins as well as the effects it has on ourselves, our neighbor and our environment. If anything, God’s love towards the sinner is centered not upon unconditional acceptance, but rather transformation that leads to adoption:
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30
Yes, God is Love. And the range of such love is beyond human comprehension to say the least. But even so, such far-reaching love is not promiscuous. Promiscuity throws love around without boundary nor discretion. God’s love on the other hand purposefully seeks to redeem and change individuals. Rather than loving us “just as we are”, he loves us with the desire that he will make us as he wants us to be, then by his sovereignty working through the power of the Holy Spirit, regenerates us to be the new creation that will respond to such love by faith.
When Jesus called people to respond to his preaching, he did so by declaring “Repent or likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). But if one still ones wants to to cling on the myth of unmerited acceptance, one has to ask the inevitable question: “If God already accepts me just as I am, why do I need to repent? Why do I need to be born again? Why do I need to change?”
