Romans 3:25

25. Set forth Exhibited to the world.

Propitiation The Greek word is generally considered to be an adjective signifying propitiatory; that is, appeasing, removing wrath. The noun supposed to be understood is either cover, or sacrifice. In the holy of holies of the temple was the ark of the covenant, overshadowed by the cherubim. Once a year, on the great day of atonement, the high priest entered and sprinkled the blood of the victim upon the cover of the ark as a propitiation of the divine wrath for the sins of the people. The lid of the ark was thence called the propitiatory-cover, or mercyseat; and sometimes in the Greek of the Septuagint the propritiatory, the very Greek word here used. Hence many commentators understand Jesus here to be called, by a very strong figure, the mercyseat. Yet a less harsh view is that which supplies the word sacrifice, and thus makes Jesus the divine propitiatory victim. Alford, indeed, affirms the word to be not an adjective but a noun, literally signifying a propitiatory or appeasing sacrifice. That view of the atonement which assumes that it was only a method of removing our enmity to God, not God’s wrath against us, besides its absurdity of assuming against abundant Scripture testimonies, that God has no wrath or opposition against sin, finds an answerable refutation in this word.

His blood The visible symbol of death. Faith in his blood or death is reliance upon the sufficiency of his death for the pardon of our sin, and upon its efficiency for our salvation.

Declare Make clear.

Righteousness Rectoral or governmental justice. Pure, absolute justice, as revealed to us by our intuitive sense, could never be done by the substitution of a sufferer in the place of the criminal. The same sense of absolute justice that requires that there should be a sufferer at all, requires that the sufferer should be no other than the guilty actor of the crime. If Damon died in Pythias’ stead, the justice thereby satisfied was not absolute intuitive justice, but rectoral justice, the justice that requires that law and government shall be sustained.

Remission Not so much forgiveness as withholding of penalty.

Sins that are past Sins committed before the death of Christ. That atoning death reflected back its efficacy upon previous ages and generations. That is, God, in view of that foreknown atonement, withheld penalty until the sacrifice, and then fully pardoned it.

Forbearance God forebore for ages in view of the propitiation.