Romans 3:23-27 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

I am going to skip many lessons in order to tie together for you God’s provision for sin in Genesis 3 and His eternal view to show His answer for justice for all mankind. Propitiation is not just a substitute, it is God’s acceptable substitute, once again through faith, in the sacrifice provided by God. The use of Paul’s phrasing “sins that are past” means God has dealt with sin at the Cross of Christ, putting an end to the penalty for sin from His point of view. (POV)

Many will scream at me for this, but people do not go to hell for their sins. God has dealt with sin once and for all. People will go to hell for not accepting God’s free will offering of the sacrifice of His Son on that Cross. It matters not what sin or sins have been committed, how many, how horrendous, how few, or even if you are self-righteous in your goodness without Christ.

You are either covered by the blood of Christ or you are not. If you are covered, all God sees is His Son’s sacrifice. If not all sees is your guilt in His death. It is just that plain and simple.