Does Romans 3:25a actually say or suggest Jesus took the punishment for our sins? How about:
NLT
For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.
NIV
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,
NASB
whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation
ESV
whom God put forward as a propitiation
CSB
God presented him as the mercy seat
NKJV
whom God set forth
as a propitiation
Note that the word propitiation refers to the means of appeasement, or the means of reconciliation or the means of salvation. Jesus is the way and no one comes to the Father except through Him. So Jesus was not presented as a sacrifice for sin, but rather as the means of salvation. If God places an individual within Him, He is their propitiatory shelter. And how do you get to be placed within Him? Keep reading the verse!
Does Romans 3:25 say through pre-creation election, or through faith in His blood?