Charles Ellicott Commentary Romans 3:26

"for the showing, [I say], of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus." — Romans 3:26 (ASV)

The death of Christ had a twofold object or ultimate purpose:

1. It was to be, like the sacrifices of the old covenant, an offering propitiatory to God, and actualized in the believer through faith.
2. It was to demonstrate the righteousness of God by showing that sin would entail punishment, even though it might not be punished in the person of the sinner.

The apparent absence of any adequate retribution for the sins of past ages made it necessary that by one conspicuous instance it should be shown that this was in no sense due to an ignoring of the true nature of sin. The retributive justice of God was all the time unimpaired. The death of Christ served for its vindication, while at the same time a way to escape from its consequences was opened up through the justification of the believer.

Precisely in what sense the punishment of our sins fell upon Christ, and in what sense the justice of God was vindicated by its falling so, is another point which we are not able to determine. Nothing, we may be sure, can be involved which is in ultimate conflict with morality. At the same time, we see that under the ordinary government of God, the innocent suffer for the guilty, and there may be some sort of transference of this analogy into the transcendental sphere. Both the natural and the supernatural government of God are schemes “imperfectly comprehended.”

In any case, Christ was innocent, and Christ suffered. On any theory there is a connection between His death and human sin. What connection, is a question to which, perhaps, only a partial answer can be given. Some weighty remarks on this subject will be found in Butler’s Analogy of Religion, Part II, Romans 5.

[Verse 26] To declare.—The second object of the death of Christ was to remove the misconceptions that might be caused by the apparent condoning of sins committed in times before the Christian revelation. A special word is used to indicate that these sins were not wiped away and dismissed altogether, but rather “passed over” or “overlooked.” This was due to the forbearance of God, who, as it were, suspended the execution of His vengeance. Now the Apostle shows by the death of Christ that justice that had apparently slept was vindicated.

Thus God appeared in a double character: at once as just or righteous Himself, and as producing a state of righteousness in the believer. Under the Old Testament, God had been revealed as just; but the justice or righteousness of God was not met by any corresponding righteousness on the part of humanity, and therefore could only issue in condemnation. Under the New Testament, the justice of God remained the same, but it was met by a corresponding state of righteousness in the believer. This righteousness, however, was not inherent but superinduced by God Himself through the process of justification by faith. In this way, the great Messianic condition of righteousness was fulfilled.