25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." ~ Romans 3:25-26
Today, we continue our study of Romans 3 where the Apostle Paul has transitioned from finding all of mankind guilty before a holy God to placing the spotlight on the only remedy for our sin problem. The day the Lord Jesus went up to the cross of Calvary, He put sinful self-love on trial, and, once and for all, He won the battle. He did this in order to create the opportunity for anyone willing enough to believe in His finished work on that cross to gain a personal relationship with God.
In v.25 of today's passage we read, "God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished."
The word "presented" literally means to place before or to set to be looked at. It means to expose to public view. This unique word has a second meaning which is to set before one's self to purpose or to determine. The way this word is used here answers the oft asked questions: "Has everyone been given a fair chance to believe?" In addition to creation and man's conscience, God sent the Lord Jesus to the cross revealing to man not only man's utter wickedness, but also, to reveal to man God's marvelous remedy to man's wickedness.
The phrase "as a sacrifice of atonement" is one word in the Greek language. It is only used twice in the New Testament and it means the Lord Jesus Christ "satisfied God's justice in order to make believing man recipients of God's love." That one Greek word describes the only means by which man could be forgiven by God. It means that the Son of God paid the debt of death that man owed to God the Father. He did this, so that we could be granted a personal relationship with God the Father for ourselves. This is eternal life!
This word "hilasterion" was pictured long ago in the Old Testament inside the Tabernacle. It was pictured by "the mercy seat" in the Holy of Holies. The lid on the top of "the Ark of the Covenant" was called the mercy seat. It was there that the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled. It was that shed blood applied on that mercy seat that covered all of the people's sin. The Lord Jesus Christ is our mercy seat. This is how once imprisoned people go free. When the Lord Jesus shed His blood on the cross, He satisfied the just demands of God's holy law.
He took upon Himself our sin and the subsequent punishment, and God gave us His perfection. This happened when He said from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" At that moment He was separated from all love, all beauty, all truth, all warmth, all acceptance, all that is good, so that you and I could bask in all of that and more for eternity.
The last five words of v.25, "to be received by faith," brings into view the role that you and I play in this narrative. The role that you and I play is to receive the free gift. It is a difficult thing to do since the ability to receive must be steeped in humility. In this case receiving is believing, believing that the Lord Jesus satisfied God's righteous demands on our behalf when He died on the cross of Calvary.
The last sentence of v.25 reads, "He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished."
God punished His Son so that His righteousness would be upheld and His forbearance would be highlighted. This is important because it is this message that grants us the ability to know that we are forgiven and we can live as a freed people. The believer in Christ has been freed from the penalty of our past, present and future sins. One day, we will be freed from the power and presence of sin.
In v.26 of today's passage we read, "... he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."
The death of Christ says God is righteous. It also says mankind's sin had to be punished, otherwise the truth would have been compromised. And, if the truth were compromised all hell on earth would break out. And, hell would win. The Lord Jesus not only had to die for us, He had to die for the perpetuation of the truth. It was at the cross of Christ that God's justice and His mercy met. The penalty for our death and eternal separation from God was paid; something we could not do for ourselves.
Think of it: It is a truly amazing thing that the holy God Himself became the very sacrifice to His own justice. God died to satisfy His own righteous demands. He had to first satisfy Himself before He could be free to satisfy any human need. He stood in the way of His own saving work and had to be satisfied. And, He loved us so much that He went to that length to satisfy His own nature to be freed to satisfy forever the everlasting need of all who would ever be willing enough to believe this amazingly true story.
