Section 15
mentions God's law and God's glory. We have all broken the law, and we have all come short of the glory. Therefore, Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and come short of God's glory.
Why does Paul suddenly mention the glory of God? The answer involves the propitiation cover mentioned in verse 25. As Paul was writing this part of Romans, he probably had in mind the pic ture of the ark of the testimony, especially the propitiation cover. As we have already pointed out, underneath the cover was the law exposing the sinfulness of people and condemning them, and above the cover were the two cherubim rep resenting God's glory and observing every action of the people. The exposing and condemning law signified the requirements of God's righteousness according to the law, and the observing cheru bim signified the requirements of God's glory according to the expression of God. Unless these requirements were fulfilled and God was satis fied, there was no way for sinners to contact God and for God to communicate with them. Hal lelujah for the expiating blood! The expiating blood was sprinkled upon the propitiation cover, meeting the requirements of the righteous law and of God's glory.
Propitiation is not only an action; it is a place