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Hope
Unlimited
Chapter
14: A Brand New Family Tree
IT
IS CLEAR from the text which we have lately quoted that repentance
is bound up with the forgiveness of sins. In Acts 5:31 we read that
Jesus is "exalted to give repentance and forgiveness of
sins." These two blessings come from that sacred hand which
once was nailed to the tree, but is now raised to glory. Repentance
and forgiveness are riveted together by the eternal purpose of God.
What God hath joined together let no man put asunder.
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Repentance
= a heart broken by sin, that sorrows because of its sinful state and that
wants to turn away from sin. |
Repentance
must go with the cancellation of our debt, and you will see that it is so if you think
a little upon the matter. It cannot be that pardon of sin should be
given to a sinner who is not sorry about his sin; this would confirm him in his evil
ways, and would teach him to think little of evil. If the Lord were to
say, "You love sin, and live in it, and you are going on from
bad to worse, but, all the same, I forgive you," this would proclaim a horrible license for iniquity. The foundations of social
order would be removed, and moral anarchy would follow. I cannot
tell what innumerable mischiefs would certainly occur if you could
divide repentance and forgiveness, and pass by the sin while the
sinner remained as fond of his sin as ever. In the very nature of things,
if we believe in the holiness of God, it must be so, that if we
continue in our sin, and will not repent of it, we cannot be
forgiven, but must reap the consequence of our obstinacy. According
to the infinite goodness of God, we are promised that if we will
forsake our sins, confessing them, and will, by faith, accept the
unmerited favour that is provided in Christ Jesus, God is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
But, so long as God lives, there can be no promise of mercy to those
who continue in their evil ways, and refuse to acknowledge their
wrongdoing. Surely no rebel can expect the King to pardon his
treason while he remains in open revolt. No one can be so foolish as
to imagine that the Judge of all the earth will put away our sins if
we refuse to put them away ourselves.
Moreover,
it must be so for the completeness of divine mercy. That mercy which
could forgive the sin and yet let the sinner live in it would be
scant and superficial mercy. It would be unequal and deformed mercy,
lame upon one of its feet, and withered in one of its hands.
Which, in your opinion, is the greater privilege, cleansing from the guilt
of sin, or deliverance from the power of sin? I will not attempt to
weigh in the scales two mercies so surpassing. Neither of them could
have come to us apart from the precious blood of Jesus. But it seems
to me that to be delivered from the dominion of sin, to be made
holy, to reflect the likeness of God, must be reckoned the greater of the
two, if a comparison has to be drawn. To be forgiven is an
immeasurable favor. But if we
could be forgiven, and then could be permitted to love sin, to riot
in iniquity, and to wallow in lust, what would be the use of such a
forgiveness? Might it not turn out to be a poisoned sweet, which
would most effectually destroy us? To be washed, and yet to lie in
the mire; to be pronounced clean, and yet to have the leprosy white
on one's brow, would be the worst mockery of mercy. What is it to
bring the man out of his sepulcher if you leave him dead? Why lead
him into the light if he is still blind? We thank God, that He who
forgives our iniquities also heals our diseases. He who washes us
from the stains of the past also uplifts us from the foul ways of
the present, and keeps us from failing in the future. We must
joyfully accept both repentance and the forgiveness of our debt; they cannot be
separated. They are bound together and cannot be parceled out. To divide the work of grace would be to cut the
living child in halves, and those who would permit this have no
interest in in the child.
I
will ask you who are seeking the Lord, whether you would be
satisfied with one of these mercies alone? Would it content you, my
reader, if God would forgive you your sin and then allow you to be
as worldly and wicked as before? Oh, no! The awakened spirit is
more afraid of sin itself than of the penalty that results from it. The cry
of your heart is not, "Who shall deliver me from
punishment?" but, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death? Who shall enable me to live
above temptation, and to become holy?"
Since the unity of repentance with the forgiveness of our sin debt
is in harmony with God's will, and since it is necessary for the completeness of salvation,
and for the sake of holiness, let us not attempt to deny that this
unity exists.
Repentance
and forgiveness are joined together in the experience of all
believers. There never was a person yet who genuinely repented
of sin with believing repentance who was not forgiven; and on the
other hand, there never was a person forgiven who had not repented
of his sin. I do not hesitate to say that beneath the arches of
Heaven there never was, there is not, and there never will be, any
case of sin being washed away, unless at the same time the heart was
led to repentance and faith in Jesus. Hatred of sin and a sense of
pardon come together into the soul, and abide together while we
live.
These
two things act and react upon each other: the man who is forgiven,
therefore repents; and the man who repents is also most assuredly
forgiven. Remember first, that forgiveness leads to repentance. As
we sing in Hart's words:
Law
and terrors do but harden,
All the while they work alone;
But a sense of blood-bought pardon
Soon dissolves a heart of stone.
When
we are sure that we are forgiven, then we abhor iniquity; and I
suppose that when faith grows into full assurance, so that we are
certain beyond a doubt that the blood of Jesus has washed us whiter
than snow, it is then that repentance reaches to its greatest
height. Repentance grows as faith grows. Do not make any mistake
about it; repentance is not a thing of days and weeks, a temporary
penance to be over as fast as possible! No; it is the work of a
lifetime, like faith itself. God's little children repent, and so do
the young men and the fathers. Repentance is the inseparable
companion of faith. All the while that we walk by faith and not by
sight, the tear of repentance glitters in the eye of faith. That is
not true repentance which does not come of faith in Jesus, and that
is not true faith in Jesus which is not coloured with repentance.
Faith and repentance, like Siamese twins, are vitally joined
together. In proportion as we believe in the forgiving love of Jesus, in that proportion we repent; and in proportion as we repent
of sin and hate evil, we rejoice in the fullness of the forgiveness which Jesus is exalted to
offer us. You will never value pardon unless
you feel repentance; and you will never taste the deepest draught of
repentance until you know that you are pardoned. It may seem a
strange thing, but so it is - the bitterness of repentance and the
sweetness of pardon blend in the flavour of every life that is
blessed by grace, and together they make up an incomparable happiness.
These
two covenant gifts are the mutual assurance of each other. If I know
that I repent, I know that I am forgiven. How am I to know that I am
forgiven except I know also that I am turned from my former sinful
course? To be a believer is to be a penitent believer. Faith and repentance
are but two spokes in the same wheel, two handles of the same
plough. Repentance has been well described as a heart broken for
sin, and from sin. It is a change of mind of the most thorough and
radical sort, and it is attended with sorrow for the past, and a
resolve of amendment in the future.
Repentance
is to leave
The sins we loved before;
And show that we in earnest grieve,
By doing so no more.
Now,
when that is the case, we may be certain that we are forgiven; for
the Lord never made a heart to be broken for sin and broken from
sin, without pardoning it. If, on the other hand, we are enjoying
pardon, through the blood of Jesus, and are justified by faith, and
have peace with God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, we know that our
repentance and faith are of the right sort.
Do
not regard your repentance as the cause of your forgiveness, but as
the companion of it. Do not expect to be able to repent until you
see the grace of our Lord Jesus, and His readiness to blot out your
sin. Keep these blessed things in their places, and view them in
their relation to each other. They are comparable to Solomon's two
great pillars which stood in the forefront of the house of the Lord,
and formed a majestic entrance to the holy place. No man can come to
God unless he passes between the pillars of repentance and
forgiveness. Upon your heart the rainbow of covenant grace has been
displayed in all its beauty when the tear-drops of repentance have
been shone upon by the light of full forgiveness. Repentance of sin
and faith in divine pardon are the warp and woof of the fabric of
real conversion. By these tokens shall you know an Israelite indeed.
To
come back to the Scripture upon which we are meditating: both
forgiveness and repentance flow from the same source, and are given
by the same Saviour. The Lord Jesus in His glory bestows both upon
the same persons. You are neither to find the forgiveness nor the
repentance elsewhere. Jesus has both ready, and He is prepared to
bestow them now, and to bestow them most freely on all who will
accept them at His hands. Let it never be forgotten that Jesus gives
all that is needful for our salvation. It is highly important that
all seekers after mercy should remember this. Faith is as much the
gift of God as is the Saviour upon whom that faith relies.
Repentance is as truly the work of God's grace as is the blotting
out of our sins. Salvation, from first to
last, is of grace alone. You will not misunderstand me. It is not
the Holy Spirit who repents. He has never done anything for which He
should repent. If He could repent, it would not meet the case; we
must ourselves repent of our own sin, or we are not saved from its
power. It is not the Lord Jesus Christ who repents. What should He
repent of? We ourselves repent with the full consent of every
faculty of our mind. The will, the affections, the emotions, all
work together most heartily in the blessed act of repentance for
sin; and yet at the back of all that is our personal act, there is a
secret holy influence which melts the heart, gives contrition, and
produces a complete change. The Spirit of God enlightens us to see
what sin is, and thus makes it loathsome in our eyes. The Spirit of
God also turns us toward holiness, makes us heartily to appreciate,
love, and desire it, and thus gives us the impetus by which we are
led onward from stage to stage of sanctification. The Spirit of God
works in us to will and to do according to God's good pleasure. To
that good Spirit let us submit ourselves at once, that He may lead
us to Jesus, who will freely give us the double blessing of
repentance and remission, according to the riches of His grace.
"BY
GRACE ARE YE SAVED."
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