Passing Over the Sins Previously Committed

Dr. Couch, what is going on in Romans 3:25 where Paul speaks of God "passing over the sins previously committed"? ANSWER:  When I translated Romans entirely some years ago I caught what was happening in the verse. And then found recently it was also fully explained by Kenneth Wuest in his Word Studies. "Passed over" is the Greek word "paresis" and it is used in the NT only here. The meaning is "to let go, release," in the sense of "letting go unpunished/overlooking." Balz & Schneider say "in the juridical aspect, it concerns the forgiveness of all sins of the believing OT sinner that occurred before Christ" went to the cross.    In other words, God did not condemn those in the OT for their sins. He was waiting for the death of Christ, in order to apply His death to them for their salvation. Christ's work on the cross goes back say, to Abraham, and to other believers in the OT, and it goes forward to us. All OT saints, and us as well, are saved on the basis of Christ's work.    Wuest puts it this way: "It was the passing by of sin before the Cross. It looked forward to the satisfaction of the broken law at the Cross. It makes no difference with God whether He saves sinners before or after the Cross. The Cross is an eternal fact in the reckoning of God. God's righteousness is maintained!"    The final line in the verse further confirms this. "God passed over the sins which had been previously done!" Paul uses a Perfect Tense in Greek. "The sins which had been done in the past with the results coming up to the present, up to the work of the cross right now!" In a certain sense, God was waiting for the death of His Son in order to finish the work of salvation, based on His work at the Cross! This is a wonderful idea and it tells us how the OT saints were saved!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch