In Paul’s great doctrinal letter to the Romans he declares that God has set forth Jesus Christ as full payment to satisfy the sin-debt of mankind, and that redemption is obtained only by faith in “His blood.” Jesus’ payment for all sins at Calvary was all-sufficient and entirely apart from “works” (cf. Rom 4:5, Titus 3:5), religious or otherwise (Rom. 3:21-26). In Colossians Paul tells us Jesus’ shed blood and death was for “ALL trespasses (sins).” Thus, His one offering of Himself was for sins of the past, sins the present, and future sins.

“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses (sins);” (Colossians 2:13)

But in the Romans 3:25 (below), Paul writes of the “remission” of sins, but here he is specifically writing with regard to “sins that are past.”

“(Jesus) Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (appeasement) through faith in his blood, to declare his (Jesus’) righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance (self-restraint) of God;” (Romans 3:25)

What exactly is Paul referring to by the phrase “sins that are past”?

Some have erroneously taught from Rom. 3:25 that when a sinner turns to God for salvation all his sins are forgiven, but only up to that moment and now that he’s saved he is henceforth responsible for himself. But this would mean that God saves men by His grace and forgives their sins… then only to turn them over again to cope with the Sin-nature still resident, which Paul calls “sin in the flesh”; saying also that “sin dwelleth in me…in my flesh” (Rom. 7:17b-18, 23) and “in my (body) members” (Rom. 7:23). Some preachers perpetuate this false idea, saying believers today need to ‘keep the Law,’ which Paul clearly repudiates in Rom. 6:14, saying “ye are not under the law.” If this were the case, the converted sinner with such limited forgiveness would be lost again the same day; after all, what Christian believer is wholly free from acts of sinning?

Actually, we need to recognize that Paul in Rom. 3:25 is looking back to “time past,” and declaring what we now know to be true… that Christ’s shed blood and the cross proclaim that faithful men such as Abel, Noah and Abraham, and also those like Moses, David and Daniel were actually saved by the redemption wrought by Christ’s sacrifice, even though Christ’s death was still yet future from their day.

So, Christ died, not only for the sins which we have committed today and will commit in the future, but also for the sins that were covered in “time past,” such as under the animal sacrifice system of “the Law.” The believers of “time past” simply believed and acted upon what God told them then, and God thus counted them righteous (cf. Gen. 15:6) on the basis of Christ’s coming payment “for the sins of the world.”

Recall that under the animal sacrifice system of the O.T., the sacrifice had only “covered” the sins of faithful ancient Israelites… those sins were not taken away or removed from their sin-debt account. The truth is, “it is not possible that the blood of (sacrificed) bulls and of goats should take away sins. (Heb. 10:4). The root of the Hebrew word translated “atonement” in the O.T. is “kaphar,” which has the idea of “covering,” not total removal. This word, “kaphar,” is also used to refer to how Noah’s ark was to be covered with pitch.

Some say “Oh, those Israelites looked ahead to the cross,” but this is not so. They knew nothing of the cross to come. The knowledge of the meaning of the cross was first revealed by the ascended Lord to Paul, “the Apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom 11:13), who then brought “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24) to all men.

We see the Romans 3:25 truth of sins past being fully paid for also set forth in Hebrews 9:15, which is obviously directed to the Hebrews who knew “the Law.” This verse says Christ’s death dealt with the sins committed under the “first testament (covenant),” under the Law’s provision that had covered their sins.

“And for this cause he (Jesus) is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of (His) death, for the redemption of the transgressions (sins) that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” (Hebrews 9:15)

Today we are blessed to live at a time when God’s all-sufficient plan of salvation has been fully revealed and that we can now look to the Lord Jesus Christ and exclaim with Paul;

“He loved me, and gave Himself for me!” (Gal. 2:20b).