The God Who Forgives

   For a few weeks I set out on a study of 1 John 2:2. “He (Jesus Christ the righteous one) is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” When I do a study like this, I pull out my Greek New Testament, my Greek grammar book and my ancient Greek to English dictionaries. This is not a bragging point; I see it as an honor and a privilege to have gone to Bible college and learned Bible translation skills. I like to share this ability from time to time in hopes that it will edify you, the reader. I hope and pray this article does just that. 

  The controversy around this verse can be how different Bible translations use different words to translate a Greek word to English. If I put English letters to the Greek letters so you could pronounce such a Greek word in English it would be pronounced “hilosmos.” In the NIV this word is translated “atonement” in the KJV it is translated “propitiation” and in the RSV “expiation.” In defining the word “propitiation,” the last place you want to look is Webster’s Dictionary because the definition does not even come close to the meaning John intended or the KJV translators. A lot could be said about the usage of this word by John and how to translate it but scholars agree that “expiation” is the closest English word to the meaning and the old King James English ...