Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-01-28
(Original.]


REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
[original.]
PARDON AND FORGIVENESS.
One petition which every supplicant at a
throne of grace offers up is that God will
pardon or forgive his sins. The word par
don does not, so far as is remembered, occur
in the received version of the New Testa-
ment, and only twenty timesin the Old
Testament. In the New Testament the
word forgive is used as the SYNONYM of par
don. In the Hebrew Scriptures, there are
Bible rendered by the word pardon, but
each of these words is frequently rendered
by the word forgive. The Hebrew word
kaphar, which literally means to cover, is
rendered once III Chron. 80: 1S) pardon and
twice Psalms IS: 3S, and Jer. lS: 23) by for.
give. The Hebrew word nasa, the literal
meaning of which is to lift up, or to lift
away, is rendered four times, (Ex. %: 81
1 Samuel Is: IS, Job 7 81 and Micah 1913
by the English word pardon, and eleven
times by the word forgive. The Hebrew
word saiach, the primary meaning Of which
is to send away or to let 60, is rendered
twelve times by the word pardon and sew
enteen times by the word forgive. The
Greek words which arc translated forgive
are apoluo, charizomai and aphiemi. The
primary meaning of the first (apotuo) is to
loose or part one thing from another; of the
second, (charizoma) the primary meaning
is to say or do something agreeable to a per-
son, that is, to show him favor or kindness.
The primary meaning of the word dphlem'
is to send forth or to discharge. Apotto is
found in Luke :37, chdrizon1di is found nine
times in the New Testament, and aphiemi
is rendered, in the New Testament, forty
two times by the word forgive. 1t is the
exact synonym, so far as is possible, OF the
Hebrew word saIach. The primary import
of both is to send away, and when used in
connection with sin against God, the idea
is to send away sin from the sinner and thus
discharge from the penalty of sin, the indi-
vidual who has violated the law of God.
Pardon, as it is dispensed by human gov
ernments, has no existence in the govern
ment of God, and pardon as it is dispensed
by God can have no existence in any hu-
man government. God never pardons sim
ners as men pardon them, and men cannot
pardon sin as God pardons it. Pardon in
human governments is an admission that
human legislators are fallible, and that the
administration of human law, no matter
how good the law may be, is sadly defect
i've. Pardon as bestowed by God is an evil
dence that God is not only just, but also
merciful.
Pardon in the Scriptural sense of the word
is one of the two factors of justification-the
other being acceptance, and both pardon and
acceptance is single act of Gods free grace.
Under the covenant of works pardon had no
existence, neither could there ever have
been such thing as pardon had the condi-
ton of the covenant of works been, on the
part of man, complied. with. In other
words, pardon presupposes the existence of
sin. Where there is no sin there can be no
pardon, but sin may exist, in fact, really
does exist, when there is no pardon. Ac-
ceptance, the other factor of Justification,
may exist, and really does exist, when there
is no sin, and consequently no pardon is re-
quired. Acceptance in that case, however,
is not based upon the same foundation that
it is when accompanied with pardon.
The benefits which those who are saving
ly united to Jesus Christ enjoy in this life
are justification, adoption and sanctification.
In the order of nature, justification is first,
but in the order of time, justification and
adoption are simultaneous. Sanctifcation,
it begins with the new birth, is not
until the shore of the other world
is reached. Justification as already said,
ance. These are never separated. All
whom God pardons he accepts, and all that
he accepts he has pardoned. Although in
separately connected, pardon and acceptance
are different things. They are not based
upon the same foundation. Pardon is based
upon the sufferings of Jesus Christ, while
acceptance is based on his obedience to the
precepts of the law. Pardon is Gods free
ing the sinner from the condemnation
which is in the law. In this God makes
display of his sovereignty, but he does not
BY the pardon of sin, which
means the same thing as the forgiveness of
sin, the guilt of sin is removed. In other
words, the individual whose sins are par
loned is delivered from the guilt of sin,
hat is, he is not liable to be punished for
MS sins. This deliverance is effected by
sovereign act of God, but not by an arbitra-
y act. No law or regulation of God is in
he least violated or suspended in its right
eOuS operation. On the contrary, the law
If God is magnified.
The process, as we learn from the Scrip
ures, is this: Jesus Christ, the Goldman Sa
1iour, places himself under the law in the
and stead of thesinner and suffers
The penalties of the law incurred by the sim
Ter. The law proclaims that "The soul
hat sinneth shall die" In the stead of sim
hers and on account of sin Jesus Christ died.
He met the penal demands Of the law in
ull. He satisfied the penal claims of the
aw. This no finite being could do. The
demand was beyond the capabilities of any
inite being. AS Il surety Jesus Christ suf-
cred. He died not simply for the good of
sinners, but he died in the place of sinners.
TO change the language, Jesus died as
and as substitute he conquered
death. This satisfaction rendered by Jesus
Christ to the penal demands of the law of
God is the ground of pardon. 1t is by SOW
ereign act of grace impaired to the sinner
md by the sinner received by faith. The
aW and Justice of God demand that the
;oul that sinneth shall die. Jesus Christ
lied and thus met the requirements. of the
aw.
In addition to suffering the penalties of
he law, Jesus Christ also obeyed the pre-
:epts of the law. Thus by his obedience to
he precepts of the law he provided Il right
which being by God impaired to
he sinner and by the sinner accepted by
aith, God can in perfect consistency with
strict justice accept the believer.
Pardon, in the order of nature, precedes
Nothing can be done in the
way of acceptance until the guilt of sin, that
IS, until the liability to be punished for sin,
is removed. This done, the way is open for
the acceptance of the sinner. The pardon
Of sin does no more than take away the
guilt of sin. 1t does not remove the incli
nation to sin, neither does it change the ma
ture of sin so as to take away its offensive
ness in the sight of God. Pardon, together
with acceptance with which it is always
changes the sinners relation with
regard to the law. The pardoned sinner is
no longer under the law as a covenant of
works, and, consequently he is delivered,
forever, from its penalties. This must not
be interpreted to mean that the pardoned
sinner never violates Gods law or if he