How can a holy God forgive sinners? See how Romans 3:25–26 answers: at the cross God satisfied his own justice, so he is just and the justifier.
Introduction: Justifying Sinners While Being Just
We come again to the heart of the gospel: Romans 3:21–26. In verses 21–22 Paul said God has revealed a righteousness apart from the law that is received through faith. In verses 23–24 he said all have sinned yet sinners are justified freely by grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Now Paul tells us how this can be true: the Just God justifying sinful humans without compromising his justice.
How can the God who is “Holy, Holy, Holy” declare guilty people righteous and still remain holy himself?
How can God forgive without being indifferent to the evil we’ve done?
How can God welcome you without winking at your sin?
Romans 3:25–26 answers those questions.
Illustration: Imagine a judge hearing a case involving real crime, real victims, and real damage. If the judge simply shrugs and says, “It doesn’t matter—let’s all move on,” that’s not mercy. That’s injustice.
We all know that instinctively. When evil is serious, we want justice. We want wrong to be answered. We want guilt to be dealt with.
This is the tension of the gospel: if God is truly righteous, he cannot merely pretend sin is no big deal. But if God is merciful, he intends to save sinners. So, what does God do? Paul says: God himself put forward his own Son. The cross is where God’s love and God’s justice meet without contradiction. As the hymn says:
Let us wonder, grace and justice
Join and point to mercy’s store
When through grace in Christ our trust is
Justice smiles and asks no more
Theme
Here’s Paul’s point: At the cross, God satisfied His own justice in Christ so that He could justly justify sinners who believe.
Summary: where we’re at in Romans and where we’re going in this passage
Let’s recap where we’re at. Romans 1:18–3:20 said the whole world stands guilty before God. Then 3:21–22 said God has revealed righteousness apart from the law, received by faith. 3:23–24 says all have sinned and yet are justified freely by grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
But now a question naturally arises: How can the Holy, Just, and Righteous Judge declare the guilty just and righteous without becoming unjust?
That’s what 3:25–26 answers. Paul takes us beneath the verdict of justification in your life and shows the foundation: the death of Christ as propitiation, the public display of God’s righteousness, and the great conclusion that God is both just and the justifier.
Relevance Bridge: What does this have to do with me? Everything! Because most people assume one of two wrong things about God.
Some think God is soft—he just forgives because he’s nice, as if sin doesn’t really matter.
Some think God is only severe—he’s too holy ever to receive people like us.
Romans 3:25–26 says both instincts are half-right; therefore both are wrong.
Sin really is that serious. God really is that holy. His wrath really is that real.
And his grace really is that deep. His love really is that costly.
This passage matters because you’ll never have peace with God until you know that your forgiveness is not a divine shortcut. Your salvation isn’t God lowering the bar. Your acceptance isn’t built on God pretending your sin didn’t happen. Your peace rests on the fact that Jesus bore what your sin deserved.
Transition: Let’s walk through Paul’s logic in three steps: the provision, the purpose, and the result.
The Provision: God Supplied the Sacrifice (v. 25a)
We pick up in verse 25, which says of “Christ Jesus,” whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood.
Note first who’s doing the action here: God put forward Messiah Jesus.
The cross wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t a tragedy of history spinning out of control. It wasn’t merely human cruelty. It was God’s saving action. God himself presented his Son. God himself provided what you could never procure by your works. Hear it again: whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.
What did God put forward or present Christ as? A propitiation by His blood. That’s a precious word. Propitiation means that Jesus, by his sacrificial death, bears and turns away the righteous wrath of God against our sin. In the preceding chapters, Paul spoke at length about God’s “wrath.” Now he explains how guilty people can move from wrath to grace: Christ stands in their place. Christ as the Son incarnate has turned aside God’s wrath.
Objection: This is just ancient religious guilt where humans tried to manipulate the angry gods by offering sacrifices. No; this is the gospel: God himself took the initiative to provide the very means to satisfy his own justice. That’s the wonder of it! God has done what only God can do! The offended Judge provided the substitute. The Holy God makes a way for the unholy to come home. God presented Christ as the propitiation and thereby revealed the source of his righteousness to us in Christ’s atoning death.
Children: If you’ve read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, you remember Edmund the traitor. The ‘Deep Magic’ said betrayal must be answered by death. But who died in his place? Aslan. That’s not the whole doctrine of the atonement—but it gets at something real: the guilty one goes free because another steps in and bears what justice required.
Application: Some of you need to hear this clearly: Jesus didn’t die merely to make forgiveness possible in the abstract. He died for your sin. He died under your judgment. He died in your place. Amen? This means your peace with God isn’t built by your tears, effort, improvement, or sincerity. It’s built on Christ’s blood.
Transition: At the cross, God satisfied His own justice in Christ so that He could justly justify sinners who believe. Paul doesn’t only tell us what God did. He tells us why he did it.
The Purpose: God Displayed His Righteousness (vv. 25b–26a)
Why did God put forward Christ as a propitiation by his blood? This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time…
That’s striking! When I ask you, “What does the cross show you about God?” what do you normally say? “God’s love.” It does say that, beloved. But hear me loud and clear: Paul says the cross alsoshows God’s righteousness.
That means the cross was God’s public declaration that he’s never treated evil lightly. He’s never looked at human wickedness and said, “It doesn’t matter.” He’s never swept sin under the carpet. He’s never looked the other way. The cross is where God openly proves that his forgiveness is righteousforgiveness.
Why does God need to show his righteousness? Because throughout the Old Testament he had passed over former sins. That means the cross doesn’t only save sinners now; it also vindicates God’s patience then. For centuries, God had shown forbearance (paresis). He had forgiven Abraham, David, and all his people before the coming of Christ. Did that mean he was soft on evil? Did that mean those sins didn’t need to be answered? No. Paul says the cross shows they were never ignored. They were awaiting their final punishment in Christ.
Forbearance doesn’t mean he ignored them; it means full and final satisfaction had not yet been rendered. Sins were covered, sacrifices were offered, mercy was shown, but the final payment awaited the cross.
In the Old Testament sins were covered, but in the cross they are paid in full.
Think of Passover. Judgment was real. Death was real. A substitute died. That sacrifice pointed forward. It was never the final answer in itself. It was a signpost. Now, at Calvary, God publicly shows that he’s never been careless about sin. He’s never brushed evil under the rug. He’s never compromised his righteousness for the sake of sentimentality. Former sins were left unpunished in the sense that their final punishment awaited Christ, so that God would be shown righteous in justifying believers.
This matters because in every sin, God is the most offended party. At the deepest level, sin isn’t merely failure, damage, or regret. It’s rebellion against God. David sinned against Bathsheba, against Uriah, against his family, against Israel—but at the deepest level he could still say, “Against You, You only, have I sinned.” Why? Because what makes sin truly sinful is that it is an offense against God himself. The most offended party in sin, is God.
Application: That means your biggest problem is not merely regret. It’s not embarrassment. It’s not that you “made mistakes.” Your biggest problem is that your sin rises before a Holy God.
This also means your greatest need isn’t better habits, more discipline, or a fresh start. Your greatest need is reconciliation with God on righteous terms.
Transition: At the cross, God satisfied His own justice in Christ so that He could justly justify sinners who believe. So, what is the result when God puts Christ forward in this way?
The Result: God Remains Just While Justifying Believers (v. 26b)
Paul then reaches the summit: God put forward Christ as a propitiation…to show God’s righteousness all for this end result: so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
This is one of the most majestic gospel lines in all of the Bible. God is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus!
God is just—he doesn’t deny his holiness, relax his justice, or excuse sin: he expressed justice at the cross.
God is the justifier—he declares righteous the sinners who have faith in Jesus.
That’s the glory of the cross. God saves without ceasing to be God. He forgives without becoming corrupt. He welcomes the guilty without calling evil good. At the cross, justice is done and mercy is given. That’s why this is the heart of the gospel. This is why our confidence before God is always the cross of Christ—and nothing but Christ. Amen?
So, when you ask, “How can God accept me?” the answer is not: because your repentance is impressive, because your faith is strong, because your life is better than it used to be, or because your religious résumé finally looks decent.
The answer is: God is just because Jesus died and God is justifier because your trust is in Christ.
I found this amazing hymn this week. Let me read it to you:
The perfect righteousness of God
is witnessed in the Savior's blood;
‘tis in the cross of Christ we trace
His righteousness, yet wondrous grace.
God could not pass the sinner by;
justice demands that he should die;
but in the cross of Christ we see
how God can save, yet righteous be.
The judgment fell on Jesus’ head;
‘twas in His blood sin's debt was paid;
stern Justice can demand no more,
and Mercy can dispense her store.
The sinner who believes is free,
can say, “The Savior died for me,”
can point to the atoning blood
and say, “This made my peace with God.”
Application:
Strivers: stop trying to offer God what God has already provided in Christ. You do not supplement propitiation with your performance.
Strugglers: stop concluding that your sin has out-muscled the cross. If Christ satisfied God’s justice, then your weak week does not overrule His sufficient blood.
Transition: At the cross, God satisfied His own justice in Christ so that He could justly justify sinners who believe. And Paul makes plain how this saving work becomes ours: faith inJesus. That means this gospel is not for one ethnicity, one moral class, one kind of background, or one especially religious type of person. It’s for all sinners without distinction who have faith in Jesus. The door is wide enough for anyone, and narrow enough that no one enters by works.
Gospel Bridge
If you’re not a Christian—or you’re not sure—this passage tells you something utterly necessary: God isn’t asking you to talk him into being merciful. He’s not waiting for you to become worthy. He’s not asking you to make up for your sins.
He’s telling you that he’s already put forward his Son.
He’s already provided the sacrifice.
He’s already shown what his justice requires and what his love has supplied.
Don’t come to God saying, “I’ll do better.” Come saying, “I need Jesus.”
Don’t come bargaining. Come believing.
And if you think, “But my sin is too serious,” Romans 3 says that’s exactly why propitiation is necessary. The cross is for people whose sin is serious. The gospel isn’t for the mostly-okay. It’s for the guilty.
If you trust Jesus Christ today, then the wrath your sins deserve has been borne by another. God will not meet you in Christ with condemnation, because he met Christ with judgment in your place.
Tell Him now: “Lord, I’ve sinned against you. I can’t satisfy your justice. I believe you shed your blood for me. Forgive me. Be my Savior.”
I urge you to come and speak with me after the service so we can pray together.
If you are a believer but are doubting: this text tells you why assurance is possible. God’s acceptance of you isn’t flimsy because it’s not based on your mood, your latest spiritual streak, or the intensity of your feelings. It rests on God’s own public act in the death of his Son. Your faith saves not because it’s great, but because its object is.
Conclusion: God’s Smile
At the cross, God satisfied His own justice in Christ so that He could justly justify sinners who believe. So:
Don’t think God ignores sin.
Don’t think God can’t save sinners.
Don’t think the cross is merely an example of love.
The cross is where God’s justice was satisfied in Christ and God’s grace is released to the guilty.
God smiles upon you because he frowned upon his Son in your place.
That’s propitiation.
That’s the heart of the gospel.
That’s why God can be just—and still justify you.