Passed over (3929) (paresis from parÃemi = let pass by, let go, to relax <> pará = aside + hÃemi = send) means intentionally not regard or be concerned about certain events. Overlooking for the time being. Deliberate disregard. Friberg writes that paresis means... passing over, letting go, overlooking (for the time being); of sins letting go unpunished; used of God's way of dealing with sins committed during Old Testament times and only symbolically atoned for by sacrifices until Christ should come and offer up Himself as the adequate sacrifice; distinguished from aphesis (word study) (release, pardon), which is a doing away with sins through an adequate atonement. (Friberg, T., Friberg, B., & Miller, N. F. Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. Baker Academic) Bypassing here does not mean remission of sins. Paresis was temporary. God passed over the sins of the people because of their animal sacrifices, this overlooking resulting in a temporary suspension of His wrath. Paresis is closed related but distinct from aphesis (word study) (apo = from + hiemi = send) which means remission, the forgiveness of sins or taking them away, and is more than paresis, which means bypassing or skirting their sins. God did not forgive or take away the sins of Old Testament saints finally until Jesus died on the cross. The blood of the animal sacrifices of all the OT sacrifices only covered them temporarily. God did not exact a full penalty for sin until Jesus died. Thomas Constable - Passed over (NASB) or “left...unfinished” (NIV) is not the same as “forgave.” Two different though related Greek words describe these two ideas, paresis and aphesis (word study) respectively. God did not forgive the sins of Old Testament saints finally until Jesus died on the cross. The blood of the animal sacrifices of Judaism only covered them temporarily. God did not exact a full penalty for sin until Jesus died. It is as though the Old Testament believers who offered the sacrifices for the expiation of sin that the Mosaic Law required paid for those sins with a credit card. God accepted those sacrifices as a temporary payment. However the bill came due later, and Jesus Christ paid that off entirely. (Tom Constable's Expository Notes) God had forbore and passed over their sins not out of weakness or sentimentality but because He planned to provide the final sacrifice in the future, at the Cross. Wuest - There are two words closely allied in meaning, aphesis and paresis. The former means literally “to put off” or “put away” and is used in such places as Matthew 26:28; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:22, and is translated correctly “remission.” Paresis, used only here in the New Testament, means “passing over, letting pass,” and should be translated “pretermission.” Trench defines and explains the usage of the word in this context, “the pretermission or passing by of sins for the present, leaving it open in the future either entirely to remit, or else adequately punish them, as may seem good to Him who has the power and right to do the one or the other.” It was this passing by of sin before the Cross in the sense that God saved believing sinners without having their sins paid for, thus bestowing mercy without having justice satisfied, which would make God appear as if He condoned sin, that had to be set right in the thinking of the human race. The matter was always right in God’s eyes, for He looked forward to the satisfaction of the broken law at the Cross. It makes no difference with God whether He saves sinners before or after the Cross. The Cross is an eternal fact in the reckoning of God. Of course, the Cross had to come, for a righteous God could not pass by sin, but must require that sin be paid for. His justice must be satisfied and His government maintained. (Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Studies in the Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament) The root verb parÃemi is used in the Apocryphal book Sir 23:2 which reads... Who will set scourges over my thoughts, and the discipline of wisdom over mine heart? that they spare me not for mine ignorances, and it pass not by (parÃemi) my sins (from the KJA - Apocrypha) God has passed over sins during the former times in His divine forbearance until the perfect substitutionary sacrifice should be offered by His Son Jesus Christ. His passing over sin is seen in various times and places with the most dramatic illustration of this passing over of man’s sins is seen in the annual Day of Atonement (Click note), when punishment for the sins of the nation Israel was delayed yet another year. Guzik explains that... God, in His forbearance, had passed over the sins of those Old Testament saints who trusted in the coming Messiah. At the cross, those sins were no longer passed over, they were paid for. The idea is that through the animal sacrifice of the Old Testament, those who looked in faith to the coming Messiah had their sins "covered" by a sort of an "IOU" or promissory note (cp Acts 17:30). That temporary covering was redeemed for full payment at the cross. The work of Jesus on the cross freed God from the charge that He passed over sin committed before the cross lightly. They were passed over for a time, but they were finally paid for. Matthew Henry commenting on "passing over" sins writes that "It is owing to the master’s goodness and the dresser’s mediation that barren trees are let alone in the vineyard; and in both God’s righteousness is declared, in that without a mediator and a propitiation He would not only not pardon, but not so much as forbear, not spare a moment. It is owning to Christ that there is ever a sinner on this side hell." Horatio Bonar wrote the following hymn... Not what my hands have done Can save my guilty soul; Not what my toiling flesh has borne Can make my spirit whole. Not what I feel or do Can give me peace with God; Not all my prayers and sighs and tears Can bear my awful load. Thy grace alone, O God, To me can pardon speak; Thy power alone, O Son of God, Can this sore bondage break. No other work save thine, No other blood will do; No strength save that which is divine Can bear me safely through. THE SINS PREVIOUSLY COMMITTED: ton progegonoton (RAPNPG) hamartematon: Sin (265) (hamartema from hamartano = to sin) is a deed of disobedience to a divine law, a mistake, miss, error, transgression, sin. It describes that which one has done in violating the will and law of God. Nouns that end in "-ma" signify that they are the result of a certain action, in this case the act of disobedience to divine law. Vincent explains that hamartema (sin) "is the separate and particular deed of disobedience, while hamartia (266) includes sin in the abstract — sin regarded as sinfulness." Gingrich - In the ages before the cross, God, upon the basis of animal sacrifices (shadow sacrifices), covered believers’ sins and did not execute judgment upon them. Was not God unjust in passing over these sins and not judging them? No, these sins were uncovered and borne away in the death of Christ, Hebrews 9:15 (note). Christ’s death cleared God of any charge of injustice. All the sins of all past ages (and of all future ages) were punished in Christ’s death. (Gingrich, R. E.. The Book of Romans) "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/romans_325-26.htm#passed