Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1881-02-02
How God FOrgives Sin.

Mr. Editor Il greatly enjoyed the perusal
OF brief article in the Moral and Relg-
ious " column of your paper of January 10th.
TWAS excellent on account of the gospel truth
itcontained and the spirit of love it breathes
and must give strength and consolation to
the heart of every Christian who ponders
well its sentiments How beautifully and
iouchingly it presents the love and mercy Of
the heavenly Father | approve of every
word OF that article, and have only to sug-
gest the thought or the inquiry, whether
the divine Forgiveness of Sin consists in
the remission or deliverance from Just and
deserved punishment for past sins. The
texts cited by the writer of this good article
say nothing of forgiving punishment-only
OF overlooking and remembering not the
sins of the penitent and obedient against
them. There is no such phrase or express
sion in the holy Scriptures as remission Of
punishment, or the forgiveness or pardon of
punishment. The point wish to have con-
sidered is this When the sinney sincerely
repents Of his sins, ceases to sin and be-
comes entirely obedient to the divine law,
does he deserve any more punishment for
his past sins ? Or does the sinner deserve
any more punishment for his sins, after he
has ceased to sin and become pure and
holy ? 1t is written, " The wages of sin is
death but the gift of God is eternal life,'
Romans vi 49, Suppose we take this view
| of the subject, viz. that sin produces moral
or spiritual death, as the proper penalty Of
the law, and every sinner remains in this
state of death until he repents of his sins
ceases to sin, aud becomes obedient to the
law. He has now suffered the penalty of the
law as long as he has continued to sin, and
that is all that he deserves; the end of JUS
tice is answered by his repentance and
obedience. Is it rational to believe that a
sinner, having repented of his sins and be.
come holy, still deserves endless punishment
for his past sins When the prodigal son
Of the parable had received the consequences
Of his wrong-doing during all his long ab-
sence from home, and had returned to his
fathers house, penitent and obedient did he
still deserve further punishment for his past
sins The kindly manner in which the
prodigal was received by his father and
welcomed home shows conclusively that the
father forgave him, or overlooked all his
transgressions, remembered them not against
him, but loved him freely and kindly as if
he had never sinned. 1t was not a debt of
punishment that was forgiven or remitted
to him, but his sins. He owed his father a
| debt of obedience which he could never pay.
All this was forgiven. We are required to
| forgive those who wrong and injure us when
they reform and seek our forgiveness, even
as God in Christ or through Christ for
gives us, Ephesians iv 32. We cannot re-
NIT to our fellows just and deserved punish
ment when they repent, but we can over
look the wrongs or injuries they may have
done us, and thus re-establish state of cor
dial friendship between us and them. But
neither God nor men can forgive the sins of
others until they sincerely repent Of them
and come to obedience. How happifying
and comforting to the good soul is the con-
sciousness of the divine forgiveness of its
sins. None, however, but reformed souls
can possibly possess this happy conscious
ness. We cannot experience the divine for
giveness while in impenitence and sin. Re-
pentance must precede forgiveness.