Forgiveness and Cleansing.
By G. C. Tenney
The grace of God extended to sinners by the death of Christ includes both of these qualities of mercy. "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." As sinners we need pardon which procures for us the remission of the penalty attached to transgression. But if this were all that the grace of God could do for us in our sinfulness, it would not fit us for Heaven. We should still bear the stains of sin; our characters would be imperfect; a sense of our wrongs would ever rest upon us. The pardons granted to criminals by executive officers do not raise them above the reproach and shame which their crimes have brought upon them; but they go forth to their liberty with a tarnished name, and a consciousness of guilt which the pardon could not remove. In the blood of Christ we have pardon full and free, which saves us from the second death. We have also a cleansing from all unrighteousness, by which we are released from the reproach of sin. Our characters are restored to a perfect purity; we can stand in the sight of God in a righteousness which is complete, represented by robes pure and white. O wonderful love, which passeth knowledge! Boundless grace, and infinite merit! Let us not only look for escape from wrath, but let us live for that perfect purity which God will finally bestow upon the faithful.