FORGIVING LOVE AND CLEANSING POWER.
By W. S. Sadler
“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. The great mercy of the infinite love of God is ever willing to forgive the sinner his past debt of sin, while the infinite power of His love cleanses from the disposition to sin. Christ’s work is not only to save the sinner from past sins, but also to deliver him from present sin,—from the sinning habit. Christ not only bears the sins already committed, but He stands ready and willing to save us from committing sin; for it is written: “Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21. It is one thing to be free from the guilt of past transgressions, and another thing to have power to resist present temptations. If we are faithful in confessing our sins, God will be faithful in forgiving them. And He does more: He cleanses “us from all unrighteousness.” Dear reader, is this the kind of forgiveness you have laid hold of? Is your forgiveness of sin with or without cleansing? Have you accepted the Master’s forgiveness, purchased at such infinite cost, only to commit again the same sins before the going down of the sun? Have you been pardoned only to use your liberty to transgress again? We must seek not only to free ourselves from the burden of the guilt of past sins, but also to be delivered from the disposition to sin. If I were an extravagant person, always running in debt, and an elder brother should follow me around paying up my debts, through his generosity I would always be free from debt; but neither his generosity nor my freedom from debt would help me one iota in overcoming my sinful habit of getting into debt. If my brother would help me permanently, he must not only continue to pay up my debts, but he must discover some plan whereby I can be saved from the notion of getting into debt. It is not our sins—that is, our past sins—that will keep us out of heaven, for they are all under the blood of Christ. He bears them in His body; by the virtue of His sacrifice they are all forgiven. It is this disposition to sin that will keep us out of heaven. If Christ should come to-day, it is not enough that He find us having repented of our sins, and having received forgiveness up to date; He6must find in the candidate for translation a soul both forgiven of sin and cleansed from the disposition to sin. The sinner must not only be free from sin upon entering heaven, but he must also be free from the liability of ever desiring to sin after he gets to heaven. Brother, sister, when we have discovered sin in our lives, shall we not go at once for forgiveness?—Yes, most certainly; but in asking for the forgiveness which the Lord so willingly grants, let us seek not only His loving pardon for the sin committed, but also His cleansing power. Let us by faith claim that forgiveness that has associated with it power to “cleanse from all unrighteousness.” God’s forgiveness of any sin carries along with it enough of the divine power to save us from repeatedly committing that sin. However, this power is not arbitrarily exercised in behalf of the forgiven soul; we ourselves must intelligently co-operate with His saving grace. Confession, then, brings full and free forgiveness for all our debt of sin; for it is written: “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.” 1 Peter 2:24. “If there be first a willing mind [in other words, a disposition to be free from sin], it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.” 2 Cor. 8:12. Then may we experience the cleansing work of Christ. “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7. We are forgiven by the sacrifice of His death; we are cleansed by the present impartation of His life. He forgives us by bearing our sins in His death; He cleanses us by His own blood, and “the blood is the life.” Let us not only seek the Father’s face to obtain forgiveness of past sins, but as well let us seek for “that mind which was in Christ Jesus,” and pray as did David: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” The margin reads “a constant spirit.” Ps. 51:10. Let us earnestly seek God for a spirit that will enable us constantly to live above sin, instead of constantly being overcome with evil. Then can we praise and thank God for His forgiving love and cleansing power. W. S. SADLER.