ACC ~ Romans 3 v25

AN EXPIATION BY CHRIST’S BLOOD. Origen:

Although the holy apostle teaches many wonderful things about our Lord Jesus Christ which are said mysteriously about him, in this passage he has given special prominence to something which, I think, is not readily found in other parts of Scripture. For having just said that Christ gave himself as a redemption for the entire human race so that he might ransom those who were held captive by sin … now he adds something even more sublime, saying that God put him forward “as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” This means that by the sacrifice of Christ’s body God has made expiation on behalf of men and by this has shown his righteousness, in that he forgave their previous sins, which they had committed in the service of the worst possible tyrants. God endured this and allowed these things to happen. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

NULLIFYING THE SENTENCE. AMBROSIASTER: Paul says this, because in Christ God put forward, i.e., appointed, himself as a future expiation for the human race if they believed. This expiation was by his blood. We have been set free by his death so that God might reveal him and condemn death by his passion. This was in order to make his promise clear, by which he set us free from sin as he had promised before. And when he fulfilled this promise he showed himself to be righteous.

God knew the purpose of his lovingkindness, by which he determined to come to the rescue of sinners, both those living on earth and those who were held bound in hell. He waited a very long time for both. He nullified the sentence by which it seemed just that everyone should be condemned in order to show us that long ago he had decided to liberate the human race, as he promised through Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.” And in case it might be thought that this promise was for the Jews only, he said through Isaiah: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

For although the promise was made to the Jews, God knew in advance that the ungodly Jews would reject his gift. Therefore he promised that he would allow the Gentiles to share in his grace. In view of this the ungodly negligence of the Jews was thwarted. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

SANCTIFYING ONE’S SOUL. GREGORY OF NYSSA: Christ, being an “expiation by his blood,” teaches each one thinking of this to become himself a propitiation, sanctifying his soul by the mortification of his members. ON PERFECTION.

DECLARING GOD’S RICHES. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul calls the redemption an expiation to show that, if the Old Testament type had such power, much more did its New Testament counterpart have it. … What does it mean “to show God’s righteousness”? It is like declaring his riches not only for him to be rich himself but also to make others rich. … Do not doubt, for righteousness is not of works but of faith. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 7.

FOR ALL WHO BELIEVE. PELAGIUS: God has set forth Christ in public so that anyone who wants to be redeemed may draw near to him. Christ performs the work of expiation for all who believe that they need to be set free by his blood. Christ died for our former sins in order to reverse God’s judgment, by which he had finally determined to punish us for them. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

BOTH PRIEST AND LAMB. THEODORET OF CYR: The mercy seat was gold-plated and placed on top of the ark. On each side was the figure of a cherub.When the high priest approached it, the holy kindness of God was revealed.

The apostle teaches us that Christ is the true mercy seat, of which the one in the Old Testament was but a type. The name applies to Christ in his humanity, not in his divinity. For as God Christ responded to the expiation made at the mercy seat. It is as man that he receives this label, just as elsewhere he is called a sheep, a lamb, sin and a curse.

Furthermore, the ancient mercy seat was bloodless because it was inanimate. It could only receive the drops of blood pouring from the sacrificial victims. But the Lord Christ is both God and the mercy seat, both the priest and the lamb, and he performed the work of our salvation by his blood, demanding only faith from us. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

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