Forgiveness of Sin by G. B. T.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 13, 1916

Forgiveness of Sin

By G. B. T.

THE Lord sets himself forth in his Word as one “forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” He delights in mercy. He assures the Israel of God that they shall not be forgotten. “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins.” Isa. 44:22. Notice, the Lord says, “I have blotted out . . . thy transgressions.” Have you given your heart to him? Have you asked him to forgive your sins? If so, he says it is done. Thank the Lord for this.

Again he says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. Faithful to forgive! When?—Why, when you ask him. He does not postpone forgiveness for a month, a week, a day, or an hour. Forgiveness comes when you ask. Have you truly asked? Then you are forgiven. Accept this by faith, and thank God.

But you say, “I do not feel as if my sins were forgiven.” Here is where many make a mistake. Your feelings are not the test. You are not to know your sins are forgiven by the way you feel. Your assurance of forgiveness rests on God’s immutable word, not on your changeable feelings. Blessed foundation this!

Again you say, “I have confessed the same sin over and over many times.” Well, what did you do that for? That is the result of unbelief. One true, heartfelt confession to God is all you need. When you confess, the Lord forgives and forgets. This brings peace into the heart.

The Lord has assured us of the forgiveness of sin in the strongest language possible. He seems to have exhausted the resources of human language and the stores of natural imagery, in order to convey to sinners the glorious gospel truth of forgiveness of all sin. Let us notice a few of these priceless promises:—

“Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19. This is a strong figure. Hurl, if you please, a stone into the depths of the unfathomed sea. It is gone from sight; it is beyond recovery or discovery. Mark the symbol used. It is not in the shallowness of some brook, or even a river, whose bed may change, and that which it hides be uncovered and brought to light in some time of drought. Not this, but the surging sea, the bottom of which no eye has seen. Tremendous assurance this to a burdened soul, struggling beneath a load of sin.

Again we read, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” Ps. 103:12. How far is the east from the west? Who can tell? Look west from the top of a lofty mountain some dark night and see the stars in the grand and unfathomable depths of space. Look east into the unmeasured abyss there, and tell us, if you can, how far the east is from the west. How far should you be able to go into these eternal regions before the end would be reached?

The mariner navigating the globe, sailing west, never finds it. West is always a point beyond. No line of measurement has yet been found to reach it. No observation of the heavens has fixed this point. And it is this figure the Lord uses to assure us of the complete separation of sin from the heart.

Here is another statement: “Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.” Isa. 38:17. Where are the sins you have confessed and forsaken? Do you carry them? O, no; Jesus says, They are behind my back. Jesus does not see them; neither can we. Look at Jesus. There he stands between you and your sins. Truly he has “interposed himself.” Heb. 6:17, margin. He who gave himself for our sins, who paid the debt that we might be free, stands between us and our sins as a pledge of forgiveness. The question of the forgiveness of sins is indeed not a question of feeling, but of faith.

One promise more: “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Heb. 8:12. Blessed forgetfulness! a priceless boon this to the sinner! “The ancients dreamed of Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, into which the soul would plunge at death. There is but one such stream — the fountain that cleanses us, blots out our sins from memory. God can forget. Blessed assurance to the sin-ridden, conscience-stung soul!”

“What more can he say than to you he hath said, Who unto the Saviour for refuge have fled?”

G. B. T.