He could not die often, because he was literally man, and it would have been inconsistent to violate in his case the universal law. There must have been something more than mortal in him, who in his one death could bear away the sins of many. No being of inferior make could do for man what, in that brief but dreadful darkness, he has done once for all, and forever. Therefore, we have not, like them, the perpetual conscience of sins. There is no necessity to ask repeatedly for forgiveness for the sins that have been once confessed and forgiven.
Space forbids our lingering longer.
In our next chapter we may show how completely the purpose of God has been realized in Jesus, and, therefore, that there is no necessity for a repetition of his sacrificial work. The will or purpose of God for man's redemption asks for nothing more than that which is given it in the life and death of our Saviour. Nothing more is required for the glory of God, for the accomplishment of the divine counsels, or for the perfect deliverance and sanctification of those who believe. This document is from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library at Calvin College. Last updated on May 27, 1999.