Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2025

Department

Theology

Keywords

atonement, glory, mercy seat, redemption, resurrection, righteousness

Abstract

Scholarship on Romans 3.21–26 typically isolates the death of Jesus on the cross as the moment when Paul says the righteousness of God was disclosed, leading to the justification of all who believe the gospel. In this paper I argue that, although the death of Christ relates in important ways to Paul’s claims in the paragraph, this reading does not fully account for his metaphorical description of Christ as a ‘mercy seat’ (ἱλαστήριον), nor his assertion that those who believe are ‘justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus’. I show that Paul uses this language and imagery to characterize the risen Christ as the sacrificial abode of the glory of God (δόξα θεοῦ) that humanity forfeited through sin and idolatry. His larger claims in the paragraph concerning the revelation of God’s righteousness through faith are thus inclusive of Christ’s ongoing status as the risen Lord, and are not limited to the moment of his death.

Comments

Online access to article:

The Mercy Seat of the Risen Christ

Source Publication Title

Journal for the Study of the New Testament

Publisher

Sage journals

Volume

48

Issue

1

First Page

173

DOI

10.1177/0142064X241309937

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