The Pardon of Sin

THE forgiveness of sin is set forth in the Bible as the act of God in his mercy toward man. It lies at the foundation of our hope of eternal life. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Rom. 3:22. All need pardon. This pardon is offered freely in the gospel of Christ. The humblest and most exalted are offered pardon on the same conditions. In this respect all mankind are equal in the sight of God. He extends the offer to each, and the conditions are the same to all. His infinite wisdom, grace, and love, are all concerned in the pardon of sin. It is not a small matter to forgive transgression and to remove guilt from the conscience. God alone can do this. The rich cannot buy pardon with gold, and the poor are never hindered from obtaining it by reason of their poverty. It is the free gift of God. The gospel is preached that the offer of pardon may be made known to all mankind. God even beseeches sinners to accept the pardon of their sins. He has, without any request on the part of man, and without any assistance from him, opened for man the fountain of salvation in the blood of Christ. This fountain is free to all. There is no hindrance except in the sinner. God invites him to come, and to do it to-day. Whoever fails to be pardoned and cleansed, fails because he loves sin better than he loves the favor of God.

But let us not deceive ourselves. There are some difficulties in the way of obtaining pardon, though they are all found in the evil disposition of man. Thus God will not pardon self-righteous people. The case of the Pharisee and the publican shows this very clearly Luke 18:9-14. The publican obtained pardon because he felt the need of it. The Pharisee did not even desire pardon for he was already righteous in his own estimation.

God will not pardon people who do not repent. Why should he? If they do not acknowledge the need of pardon it would be derogatory to the government of God to confer pardon. Men must acknowledge their guilt before God can pardon that guilt. But they cannot acknowledge their guilt till they have been instructed on the subject out of the word of God. The gospel offers pardon to those who have sinned against God. But this is not the first message that God addresses to sinners. Many are self-righteous and wish no pardon. A still larger number feel that they are sinners against God, but they have no very definite idea of what sin really is. Yet before God forgives sin, men should understand the nature and extent of their transgression against him.

What is sin? "Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. How do we know what sin is? "By the law is the knowledge of sin." Rom. 3:20. Does the work of the law in convincing men that they are sinners precede the work of the gospel in pardoning sin? It is thus unless we can believe that God pardons men of their sins and then shows them afterward why they needed to be pardoned. But the experience of Paul is given to show the manner in which God acts in forgiving sin. Before Paul received the pardon of his sins it was necessary that his self-righteousness should be changed to a sense of guilt, and that he should see that he was justly condemned as a sinner. How was this accomplished? He says: "I had not known sin but by the law; for I had not known lust except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Rom. 7:7.

We know then that the law precedes the gospel in the work of conversion. Paul's first lesson was to teach him that he was not righteous but sinful, and that he was under the just condemnation of the law of God. He was made to see that the law is holy, spiritual, just and good. Rom. 7:12, 14. And as he compared himself with that holy law, he saw that he was carnal, sold under sin. Rom. 7:14. When he had learned this lesson he was not far from the kingdom of God. He saw himself a sinner justly condemned by the holy law of God. He felt the need of pardon and he sought it with brokenness of heart. Then Christ was presented before him as the great sacrifice for sin. He saw that though the law of God justly demanded the death of the sinner, Christ had died in the place of the sinner, and thus he could be pardoned without dishonoring the law of God. It was then his privilege, as a penitent sinner, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the pardon of his sins. When he has done this there is no more condemnation, for God forgives his sins and he is at peace with him.

It is a great evil to invite sinners to believe without first teaching them the necessity of repentance. But often men that are self-righteous are invited to believe that Christ saves them now. And men that are dishonest are invited in the same manner. But what is said to them about change of conduct? What about the dishonest gain in their hands? Nothing. Are they humbled by a sense of their wickedness? Do they see that the law of God was just in their condemnation? By no means. They lay all the blame upon the law of God. They have nothing to do, as they think, but to believe that Christ saves them. Have they been pardoned? No, for they have never repented. What they call pardon is but license to commit sin if they only profess to believe in Christ.

Those that are pardoned by the gospel, must first see and acknowledge that they have been justly condemned by the law of God. Such persons will make commandment-keeping Christians. Matt. 5:19; James 2:10-12; Rev. 14:12; 22:14; 1 John 3:4-6. They may not perfectly understand the law of God, but they will obey as far as they understand. The Spirit of God writes his law in the hearts of such Christians. Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10. And those who have the law of God in their hearts, can never speak against it with their lips, Matt. 12:34, 35. They understand that the law of God, which they have broken, is so sacred that the gospel can offer them pardon only in view of the fact that Christ has died in their place, and they never for a moment suppose that the gospel gives them permission to break the commandments of God.