The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1879-02-05

8 are, deceived. (Matthew vii: 2l, %; xii
: lila, etc This is not the gospel whio
Christ commanded to be preached to a
men. It is not the gospel which the apostle
preached. Paul's proclamation of the goo
news, in the synagogue Of Antioch in Pisidia
was, Be it known unto you therefore, mel
aud brethren, that through this man i
/ preached unto you forgiveness of sins =
Here we have an unrestricted offer of for
gveness-full and free forgiyeness-to al
his hearers. But that is very differen
thing from announcing authoritatisely t
them (or to any one of them) tina. their ainl
were forgiven. The words of Christ TO tht
paralytc we're not simply an offer of pardon
but as David Brown says, in loco, san an
thOritativs proclamation Of the mans par
doned state as believer. ~ And also Trench,
"The absolving words are not optativs only
-. but declaratory; the mans sins
were forgiven" Any servant of Christ has
right to extend in his Masters name sin-
cere and coedial offer Of ,sGrgiveness to all
men, but leshim not ps q say when
that forgiveness has been truly and intelli-
gently accepted, or when the absolving sen.
tence has been pronounced. One of the
most sensible and timely things We have ever
seen from Mr.. Moody was waning given
to Christian workers in words to this effect;
"Bewsre of telling any man that he is CON
verted. Let God tell him that" Earnestly
would we utter the same caveat to all who
may sympashize with the views Of this tract.
1t is not difficult to see how such applica.
tions Of Scripture, as the one under conside-
ration, might, in sore hands, lead-and log
ically lead-to other aud worse results than
those We have indicated. Is Christ's word
to every unsaved sinner, "Son, be of good
cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee :" Then,
when He utters such sentence will He not
surely perform it? When He pronounces
absolution upon soul, that soul is surely
absolved, from all things and for all time.--
His word never returns to Him void. He
speaks, and it is done. He commands, and
it stands fast. If the sentence of forgiveness
is pronounced upon all, then all are forgiven.
What better premises could the UniversaliSt
desire, in order to reach his conclusion
Perhaps the author of this tract would de-
fend his use of the Scripture in question, on
the ground that, while the words of Jesus to
the paralytic are not addressed to men indis-
criminately, yet they are really addressed to
all who occupy the same attitude toward
Him that the paralytic did. No doubt this
is true. Jesus is the same, yesterday, to-
day, and forever" He has the same heart
in heaven that He had on the earth: the
same willingness to forgive and bless. And
the laws according to which He dispenses
His grace, are also unchanged. This is pre-
cious truth, and the writer may Gud it DE-
lightfully elaborated by Rev. Hugh Martin
in his " Christ's Presence in the Gospel His
tory. But it does not alter the complexion
of this case in the least; for the simple rea-
son that no man is qualified to judge of the
spiritual attitude and condition Of his fellow.
That servant of Christ bad no sure means
of deciding what was the spiritual attitude of
the young man to whom ne was talking
He might have said to him, " If you take
the same attitude of soul toward Christ; if,
like the paralytic, you lie before Him in coli.
fessed helpeesness, and raise the eye of faith
to Hin as the great Physician; then He
surely says to you, Thy sips be forgiven
thee" But this would have been very diff
ferent from giving hin the positive assur-
anco that Christ was, at that very moment,
saying taeSe words to him.
We have here good illustration of the
way in which extremes sometimes meet
Perhaps the "Gospel Tract Depository" and
the pages of The Truth would be among the
last places where We would expect to find
anything savoring of Romanism. But let US
see. If Protestant minister can take his
Bible, and, going through congregation Of
unbeliever8, assure A. or B. that Christ
surely addresses those abSolving words to
him ; in what essential respect does he differ
from the Romish priest, who, after hearing
confessions-the sincerity aud genuinene8G
of which, he has no means of verifying
authoritatively pronounce8 absolution in the
name of Christ and the Church
j. F. G.