The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-03-16

~BLess the Lord, o my souL and forget not all
| His benefits: 1cbO for0ivetb all thine fniQui
| ties; toh0 heGEeth all thy diseases. "-PsGlnl
! CHI. 2. s.
When later the Savior returned to
Capernaum there was crush to see
and hear Him, and to bring the sick
for His healing words and touch. The
miracles which our Lord perform ed
were specially with a view of getting
the ear of the people for His message
the gospel of the kingdom-the
good news of the privilege of becom-
ing sons of God and joint heirs with
which would bless Israel and all ma
tions with light, knowledge, and up
lift from sin and death.
1t was while He was thus preaching
that some earnest ones brought to
Him palsied man for healing. I'm
able to come into the house or its
court because of the throng, they re-
moved some of the thing stones of
the roof, and lowered the sick man
into the presence of the preaching Sa-
vior Such implicit faith, manifested
by such heroic effort, could not fail
to be appreciated by the Redeemer.
But the unexpected happened. In
stead of healing the man of his dis
ease, Jesus exclaimed, Thy sins are
forgiven three Under Gods ar
rangement with the Jews. under their
special law covenant, original sin was
typically atoned for by the typical
to account for their transgressions of
the law. Hence, amongst the Jews,
serious sickness implied serious sins.
We are not to forget that such spe-
ciaI dealings were with the jews only
that they never applied to Gentiles
nor to Christians. God has no such
covenant with the church, nor with
the world in general today. Hence, the
righteous are often sick, and the sin
ners healthy.
Authority to Forgive Sins.
There are certain great, basic prin-
ciples relating to Gods dealings with
humanity which should be recognized
Jehovah's government is based, not
upon mercy, but upon Justice; as we
read, Justice is the foundation of Thy
Throne" In one sense of the word
Divine Justice never forgiveS and new
er can do so, as we will explain. We
read, 'tAl1 His work is perfect" Man
was thus created perfect in the image
and likeness of the Creator, and there
fore needed no provision for mercy SO
long as he was in relation with his
God.
When temptation came, man fell
from Divine favor and life into dis
favor and under the death sentence.
But another feature of the Divine
character, Love. was brought into ex-
ercise for mans relief. But Divine
Love or Mercy could not override or
interfere with Divine Justice. In other
words, God could not forgive a sinner
whom He had sentenced TO death.
What He could and did do, was to
provide in due time for mans redemp-
ton. All of Divine Mercy, therefore,
flows through the channel of redemp-
ton.
The Philosophy of Forgiveness of Sins.
Applying this principle to our Sa-
vior and His teachings, we ask, how
could He forgive sins when Divine JUS
tice could not forgive sins, nor set
aside the penalty of sin? The answer
is Jesus was the representative of
Divine Mercy, and was at that time
amongst men for the purpose of CIV
ing His life as a sacrifice on mans ac-
count, and therefore to Him belonged
the distinctive honor of forgiving sins.
However, His surrender of His all
did not give Him the authority to for
give sins. Tt was the heavenly Fathers
acceptance of His conSecration-His
sacrifice, that counted. Gods accept
ance of Jesus sacrifice was manifested
in His importation of the Holy Spirit,
which lighted upon Jesus like a dove,
as was testified by John the Baptist,
and also testified by Divine power
which thereafter operated in and
through Jesus for the healing of dis
eases.
The text for this study comes from
the Psalms and is most interesting.
The Prophet David may have appro-
priated the words to himself as a Jew