What's driving Paul's heart here is, there is a massive problem in heaven here.

God's righteous. There is a massive problem in heaven here.

God's righteousness is imperiled by the showing of mercy,

the passing over of sins done beforehand.

Why is God's mercy to sinners such a massive problem?

John Piper turns to Romans 3, 21 to 26, to explain the problem and provide Paul's answer to it.

The sermon was originally preached at Bethlehem Baptist Church on May 23rd, 1999.

I want to focus with you today on what C.E.B. Cranfield in his very good commentary on this text

calls the innermost meaning of the cross from verses 25 and 26.

So let's read it together, these two verses, and as I read it, I'll pause and make some comments just so that you will sense the force of these things in advance of the exposition.

So he's continuing on now from this,

verse 24, where there was the redemption that was in Christ Jesus,

and so the word whom at the beginning of

verse 25 is Christ Jesus whom God displayed publicly or your version might say God put forth as a propitiation or the NIV has

sacrifice of atonement. I want us to embrace that word propitiation and understand it.

It's an important word it means the removal of wrath a propitiation is an

act whereby at cost wrath is averted from somebody by being poured out on another. Look at the word, God put forth displayed publicly this Christ as a wrath absorbing sacrifice.

God did that. Is that clear? Jesus didn't just happen to die. God sent him to die as a propitiation in his blood.

The blood meaning it's going to drain out until he dies.

Like a lamb slaughtered on an altar. God did that. Isaiah 5310. It was the will of the Lord to bruise him he has put him to grief

wasn't ultimately the Romans wasn't ultimately the Romans, it wasn't ultimately the Jews, it was his father.

So don't miss that here.

...