“God put forward Jesus [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 IOW – God allowed sin to go unpunished before Jesus came and died on the cross. Jesus’ death on the cross retroactively paid for the sins of those before. Did the sacrifices the Jews did in the Old Testament only allow them to be in the presence of God while He inhabited the tabernacle (cover their sin but not remove it)? Gonna have to dig in there.
QTVOTD: Living right is not enough…
“There is no one righteous, not even one.” Romans 3:10b IOW – Self-explanatory, but the real juice here is that observing the commandments (the Law) in itself is not good enough to be righteous in God’s sight. We all have sinned and fallen short. Only accepting God’s free gift of His Son will bathe you in righteousness, credited to you through our Lord Jesus Christ.
QTVOTD: CINO?
“For he is not a [real] Jew who is only one outwardly and publicly, nor is [true] circumcision something external and physical. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and [true] circumcision is of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal [matter]. His praise is not from men but from God.” Romans 2:28-29. IOW – Don’t be a CINO (Christian In Name Only). Live your a Christian walk on the inside first. Let your spirit change your soul, your soul change your mind, and your body will follow. Then you will show everyone who that inner follower of Christ is.