Our sins are forgiven, not punished. Jesus' death on the cross was not payment. If Jesus was punished for our sins then forgiveness is unnecessary.
The NIV translation is throwing you off the meaning. Paul didn't say that "God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement."
Let's get verse 23 and 24 under our belt first.
Romans 3:23-24
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
The idea that the cross paid for our sins contradicts Paul's clear assertion that we are being justified as a gift by His grace. A gift is not wages. If Jesus was punished for our sins, then we are right to claim that for ourselves.
Romans 3:23-24
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
Suppose I owed the bank a thousand dollars. And suppose Jesus paid my debt for me? Does this mean that the bank forgave my debt? No. It means that my debt was paid by someone other than me, and my bank balance is reset to zero.
That is not how the Scriptures teach about God's grace. Rather, God is justly free to forgiven sins because payment was made for all sins by the death of Christ Jesus.
Romans 3:23-24
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus
Paul isn't saying that Jesus paid our debt.
Galatians 3:13 (WEB) Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” [Deuteronomy 21:23]
Galatians 4:4-5 (WEB) 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, 5 that he might
redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption as children.
1 Peter 1:18-19 (WEB) 18 knowing that you were
redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, 19 but
with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot,
the blood of Christ
Redeem [
exagorazó]
Usage: I buy out, buy away from, ransom; mid: I purchase out, buy, redeem, choose.
He is saying that Jesus volunteered to allow himself to become a demonstration of justice as we see in the following verse.
Romans 3:25
Jesus Christ, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
Propitiation 2435 hilastḗrion (a substantival adjective, derived from
2433 /hiláskomai, "to propitiate") – the
place of propitiation; the lid of the golden ark (the
mercy-seat) where the
blood of a vicarious lamb appeased God's wrath on sin. See also
2434 (
hilasmós).
Usage: (a) a
sin offering, by which the
wrath of the deity shall be appeased; a means of propitiation, (b) the covering of the ark, which was sprinkled with the atoning blood on the Day of Atonement.
Romans 3:25 This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance [beforehand] of God He passed over the sins previously committed
Before Christ's shedding of blood for us, God left the sins go unpunished because God was looking forward to the payment for those past sins by the sacrifice of His Son.
Certainly, here is the revised text:
Because God had previously overlooked sins, some might think that God is morally lenient. Therefore, the Father and the Son agreed that Jesus would die on the cross to publicly demonstrate God's righteousness. Since Jesus obediently followed the Father, even to the point of death, this pleased God and satisfied His wrath. Jesus' public display of righteousness became the propitiation through His blood for those who have faith.
Exactly!
Christ's death please God because God's justice was satisfied by
the shedding of his blood.
Romans 3:25 (NIV) 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of
atonement,
through the {{{
shedding of his blood}}} —
to be received by faith.
Galatians 3:13 (WEB) Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” [Deuteronomy 21:23]
1 Peter 1:18-19 (WEB) 18 knowing that you were
redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, 19 but
with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot,
the blood of Christ
Those who want to live, need to seek Jesus' forgiveness.
Forgiveness is only possible because the justice of God was satisfied by the sacrifice of His Son - the shedding of his blood.
Romans 3:23-26 (NIV)
23 for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and
all are
justified freely by his grace through
the redemption [
payment] that came by Christ Jesus.
25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of
atonement,
through the {{{
shedding of his blood}}} —
to be received by faith.
He did this to
demonstrate his righteousness, because
in his forbearance he had left the sins committed
beforehand unpunished —
26 he did it to
demonstrate his righteousness at the
present time, so as to
be just and the one
who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Galatians 3:13 (WEB) Christ
redeemed [
payment made] us from the curse of the law,
having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” [Deuteronomy 21:23]
1 Peter 1:18-19 (WEB) 18 knowing that you were
redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, 19 but
with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot,
the blood of Christ