…God set forth [Jesus Christ] 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… (Rom 3:25, NKJV)
There are two major areas of confusion concerning this verse.
First, many translations of Rom 3:25 read, “through faith in His blood.” Those include the KJV, NIV, HCSB, LEB, and Darby.
However, in no other passage does Paul or any NT writer speak of faith in Christ’s blood. The words “by [or in] His blood” modify hilasterion, “propitiation” or “mercy seat.” That fits the OT pattern, as we will consider in a moment.
Romans 3:25 should be translated “whom God set forth as a propitiation [or mercy seat] by His blood, through faith…” That is the translation of the NKJV, NASB, ESV, and NET Bible. Hodges translates it in this way: “whom God has set forth as a Mercy Seat, through faith, by means of His blood, to serve as proof of His righteousness…” (Romans, p. 99).
Cranfield agrees, saying that “in His blood” modifies hilasterion, not faith: “It was by means of the shedding of His blood that, according to the divine purpose, Christ was to be hilasterion” (Romans, Vol. 1, p. 210).
Biblically, our faith is in Christ, not specifically in His blood.
Second, many pastors and some theologians and commentators teach that the expression “that God had passed over the sins previously committed” means that when we believe in Christ, God passes over our sins up to that point.
After acknowledging that many understand “the sins previously committed” to refer to OT believers, Barnes writes, “It evidently refers to the past lives of the individuals who are justified, and not to the sins of former times” (Notes on the New Testament: Romans, p. 89).
Morris thinks both are true,
Luther holds that the reference is to “the sins that we have done in the past”; others hold that we should see it rather as a description of the sins of people in the days before Christ. The language could refer to either, and it scarcely seems profitable to try to differentiate. What Paul says is true of both (Romans, p. 183).
Lenski, like most commentators, thinks Paul was referring to sins committed before the cross. He writes, “God passed over the sins of these Old Testament believers” (Romans, p. 261). A. T. Robertson says God passed over “the sins before the coming of Christ” (Word Pictures, s.v. Rom 3:25).
Meyer says, “The pre-Christian sins are not those of individuals prior to their conversion (Mehring and earlier expositors), but the sum of the sins of the world before Christ” (Romans, Vol. 1, p. 178).
Paul’s point is that God passed over the sins committed before Christ died on the cross. The blood of Christ was applied to everyone who has ever lived, including those who lived and died before the cross.
The reason OT people could be born again by faith in the coming Messiah is that God counted the blood of Christ as having already made them savable. The reason NT people can be born again by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is that the blood of Christ has also made us savable (cf. John 1:29).
Keep grace in focus as you read and meditate on God’s Word.
