Who is the 'whom' in Romans 3:25 that God set forth to be a propitiation?
The 'whom' in Romans 3:25 is Christ Jesus, the One named in verse 24. God set Him forth to be a propitiation—the place of sacrifice, offering, mercy, and grace. This was accomplished through faith in His blood, the divine blood of God Himself, as the price of redemption.
Les explains that the 'whom' points back to Christ Jesus in verse 24. God is the One who set Him forth as the propitiation, the place of sacrifice, offering, mercy, and grace. But this is appropriated through faith in His blood; if we do not believe in the shed blood of Christ and its power for atonement, we are lost. Christ's blood originated with God Himself and was divine blood, making it the purchased price for our redemption. Les emphasizes there will be no one in heaven unless redeemed by faith in the blood of Christ, and this declares God's righteousness for the remission of past sins.
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;
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: