Romans 3:25

A
B
C

Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.

Romans 3:25 (NKJV)

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood, t o be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.

Romans 3:25 (NIV)

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.

Romans 3:25 (KJV)

For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past.

Romans 3:25 (NLT)

Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Romans 3:25 (ESV)

Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed.

Romans 3:25 (NASB)

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Whom God displayed publicly [before the eyes of all] as a [life-giving] sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation (propitiation) by His blood [to be received] through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness [which demands punishment for sin], because in His forbearance [His deliberate restraint] He passed over the sins previously committed [before the crucifixion of Christ].

Romans 3:25 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Whom God put forward [before the eyes of all] as a mercy seat and propitiation by His blood [the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received] through faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over and ignored former sins without punishment.

Romans 3:25 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public, t o set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured.

Romans 3:25 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

New Covenant Meaning

Hilasterion: Christ as the Mercy Seat

The Greek hilasterion carries two senses that are both present in Romans 3:25. It means propitiation (a sacrifice that satisfies God's righteous response to sin) and it is also the specific word used in the Greek Old Testament for the mercy seat, the golden cover of the ark of the covenant where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:15, Hebrews 9:5). Christ is both: He is the place where God's holiness and human sin meet, and He is the sacrifice that satisfies what that meeting requires. God "set forth" Christ as this, the verb proetheto meaning to display publicly, to put forward in full view.

God Is Both the Provider and the Recipient of the Propitiation

One of the theologically remarkable features of Romans 3:25 is that God is the one who set forth the propitiation. He both required it and provided it. In pagan religion, humans offered sacrifices to appease a reluctant or angry deity. In the gospel, God provides His own Son as the propitiation to satisfy His own righteousness. The love and the justice are not in tension: God's love provided exactly what His justice required. He did not overlook sin, which would have compromised His righteousness. He addressed it fully at His own cost, which demonstrated both His righteousness and His love simultaneously.

The purpose clause "to demonstrate His righteousness" is significant. God passed over the sins committed before the cross in forbearance, which raises a question: how could He do that righteously? How could the just Judge let Old Testament sins go without punishment? Romans 3:25-26 answers: the cross was the retroactive demonstration that God's forbearance was not moral compromise. Christ's blood covered the sins of every Old Testament believer who had approached God in faith. Abraham was justified by faith (4:3) because Christ would ultimately bear his sins. The cross validated the forbearance of the entire Old Testament era. God was always righteous; the cross proved it.

Application for Your Life

The Propitiation Is Received Through Faith, Not Earned

Paul specifies that the propitiation is received "through faith" (dia pisteos). The public display of Christ as the mercy seat is available to all. But it is received through faith, through the act of trusting that what God has put forward in Christ is sufficient and is for you. This is not passive: faith is an active orientation of the whole person toward what God has declared true. But it is not earning: faith is the receptive hand, not the qualifying performance.

The Cross Demonstrates That God Is Both Just and the Justifier

Verse 26 continues the thought: God is "just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." In human jurisprudence, justifying a guilty party would be an act of injustice. But God can justify the ungodly (4:5) without compromising His justice because the propitiation of Christ has fully addressed what justice required. The cross is the place where justice and mercy meet. God does not bend the rules to forgive. He satisfies the rules through the propitiation of His Son and then freely justifies those who receive it by faith.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, I thank You that You did not overlook sin and You did not punish me for it. You set forth Christ as the hilasterion, the mercy seat and propitiation, and You received the satisfaction of Your own justice through His blood. What love and what righteousness. You are both just and the one who justifies me. I receive by faith what You have publicly displayed: Christ, given for my sins. I stand at the mercy seat, covered by His blood. My sins have been addressed, not overlooked. Addressed by the One who loved me enough to provide at His own cost what His own righteousness required. I receive that today. In Jesus' name. Amen.