In Romans 3:21, Paul tells us that the righteousness of God, not His personal righteousness, but the righteousness, or justification, that He imputes to man, comes by faith rather than by the law.  The law that he is speaking of is the law of Moses.  Paul was constantly writing against the false teachings of the Judaizers who were trying to bind the law on the Gentiles.  Justification cannot be found under the law of Moses because the provision for sins under that law, that is, the blood of bulls and goats, was insufficient (Hebrews 10:1-4).  However, Jesus ushered in a new law, the law of the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2).

This new covenant of Christ involves a different kind of blood.  Instead of relying on the blood of animals, it relies on the blood of Jesus.  Concerning His blood, Jesus said, “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).   Now this takes us back to Romans 3.  After emphasizing that we are redeemed by Jesus Christ, as a gift from God, Paul tells us what makes this redemption possible.

Romans 3:25 (ESV)
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.

We should be thankful every day for the blood of Jesus.  After all, it is by that blood that we are redeemed.  Peter’s teachings  were in harmony with Paul’s.

1 Peter 1:18-19 (KJV)
¹⁸ Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; ¹⁹ But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

It was the shedding of our Lord’s blood that made Him the propitiation for our sins.  The word propitiation refers to a sin-offering, which Jesus became when He offered Himself on Calvary’s cross.

Hebrews 9:14 (KJV)
¹⁴ How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Without the shedding of our Lord’s blood we could not serve God acceptably because of our sins.  Thankfully, those sins were washed away when we obeyed the gospel of Christ.  Aren’t you glad that Jesus was willing to become the propitiation for our sins?   It took giving up heaven for Him to do so.  It took His willingness, not only to die on the cross, but to first take on a human body, without which there could be no offering.  The Hebrews writer tells us that it was the offering of this body that made our sanctification possible (Hebrews 10:10).

What made Jesus willing to take on a flesh and blood body, only to be tortured in it and die on a cross?  It was simply the love and mercy of God.  It is no wonder the word propitiation is used.  While it refers to a sin-offering, or an atoning victim (Strong), the Greek word is equivalent to the Hebrew word for “mercy seat.”  In a very real sense, Jesus is our Mercy Seat.  In the Old Testament, the mercy seat covered the ark of the covenant.  Inside the ark was the law that testified against the sins of the people.  So, figuratively speaking, the mercy seat covered those sins, and when the high priest sprinkled blood upon it, those sins were covered (Leviticus 16:15).  This is what Jesus has done for us.  He has covered our sins by pouring out His blood for us and becoming the propitiation, not just for our sins, but the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).  Thank God for Jesus!

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.