The Bible uses some ‘words’ that are not so common to us today. Each of these are Kings James Bible words, used in order to convey their precise and significant meanings for us today. Just as a carpenter, electrician, plumbing tradesman or computer software writer is familiar with the language of their trades we as believers need to become familiar with the terms the Bible uses to express to us the riches of the Cross of Christ toward us who believe.

The word “remission” is used in Rom. 3:25 referring to “the passing over of a debt due.” This leads into the word “forbearance.”

²⁵ [Christ] Whom God hath set forth to Be a PROPITIATION [payment for sins] through faith in his blood, to declare His Righteousness for the Remission of Sins That Are Past, through the FORBEARANCE of God; Romans 3:25 (KJV)

What Romans 3:25 is saying is that God sent Jesus Christ forth to the Cross to be the “satisfying sacrificial payment” (a “propitiation”) for our sins. There are two applications of this truth.

It is by the ‘propitiation’ of Jesus Christ death of the Cross as the sacrificial payment for sin that God now is able to “declare” The Old Testament Saints ‘righteous.’ Notice the phrase “sins that are past,” these are not the sins of the believers during today’s Gentile age of “the dispensation of the grace of God.” Rather, here in Romans 3:25 we see how that the Cross-work of Jesus Christ applies to those who believed God before Jesus ever came into the world. Now that He has come and made that debt satisfying payment for all of mankind’s sins, God can now “declare” those Old Testament believers … ‘righteous.’

Before Christ shed His blood and died, God had instructed the Children of Israel to make an animal sacrifice for their sins. But as we learn from the book of Romans and Hebrews, “the blood of bulls and goats” could never take away sins.

⁴ For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Hebrews 10:4 (KJV)

¹³ For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 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? Heb. 9:13-14

Thus, Romans 3:25 (above) now informs us that from the time of Adam until Jesus Christ, God was passing over the sins of Old Testament believer’s sins. Yes, even Adam must have made animal sacrifices unto the Lord as he had seen how that God must have slain an innocent animal, shedding its blood, to cover the sins of Eve and himself. We may deduce this from the fact that in Adam’s 1^st son, Able, was killed by his brother Cain after Able made an animal sacrifice unto God. Able no doubt had learned from his father. Adam likely related the story of how that God did this and promised a savior who would crush the head of the Serpent (Gen 3:15) who had deceived them, bringing ‘sin’ into the world (Rom. 5:12).

So, God was ‘passing over’ the Old Testament believer’s sins… patiently waiting for the time when His Son Jesus Christ would come to actually pay-off the sin-debt of all humanity. After He has done this God could “declare” those Old Testament believers … ‘righteous.’

This is similar to when we buy a car on credit, making payments… but it is not really paid off until we come to then end of the payments that we have ‘payment in full.’

Thus, here in Part 1 we’ve taken note of the phrase “sins that are past” in verse 25 as applies to the Old Testament believers. In Part 2 we will address the phrase “at this time” of verse 26 (above) and how that Satan was instrumental in the working of the Mystery.