8. Declare His righteousness
Romans 3:25 God has set forth [Christ Jesus] to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past.
God promises to declare His righteousness for the forgiveness of sins. The declaration of righteousness and the forgiveness are not the same thing but they are parts of the same thing. Though each is different than the other both come together. The righteousness of God cannot dwell where sin lives. The sin must be forgiven before the righteousness can come. Forgiveness is not everything without something positive taking its place. Both righteousness and forgiveness come together at the same time when the Gospel is believed. When sins are declared forgiven righteousness is declared; when God declares His righteousness the forgiveness of sins is effective as well.
Righteousness and forgiveness is received in real power through faith in His blood, that is, believing that the innocent Jesus, the God-man, died for me (blood was shed). This bloody death of Jesus is set forth by God as propitiation; propitiation is a pleasing that satisfies, or an appeasing of wrath. God is satisfied with the vicarious (place-taking) sacrifice of His Son on whom my sins were laid; by faith God is pleased with me since I am one with Christ. The righteous wrath of God over against my sin is appeased because my sins are forgiven and they are no longer on me. Because God is pleased with Christ Jesus, God can, God must, and God does declare me righteous and forgiven. The old is past; the new has come. The negative is gone; the positive is present.
If I should look at the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ only through my human eyes as merely a factual event of history, I would have nothing but some knowledge of human history. But by the convincing power of the Holy Spirit this same historical event is a Gospel Message that makes the event a propitiation through faith in his blood; when I see and hear by faith, God declares His righteousness for the forgiveness of sin: Voila! I am right with God! This is a life-changing promise.