Forgiveness 1

“FORGIVENESS”
written by J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)
edited in modern English by  J.J. Cardwell (1960- )

“Because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.”—1 John 2:12

There is a clause near the end of the Belief, or Apostle’s Creed, which I fear is often repeated without thought or consideration. I refer to the clause which contains these words, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.” Thousands, I am afraid, never reflect what those words mean. I propose to examine the subject of them in the following paper, and I invite the attention of all who care for their souls and want to be saved. Do we believe in the “Resurrection of our bodies?” Then let us see to it that we know something by experience of the “Forgiveness of our sins.”

I. Let me show, first of all, our need of forgiveness.

All men need forgiveness, because all men are sinners. He that does not know this knows nothing of true religion. It is the very A-B-C’s of Christianity that a man should know his right place in the sight of God and understand the punishment he deserves.

We are all great sinners. “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10); “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sinners we were born, and sinners we have been all our lives. We take to sin naturally from the very beginning. No child ever needs to be taught or educated to do wrong. No devil or bad companion ever leads us into such wickedness as much as does our own hearts. And “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). We must either be forgiven, or lost eternally.

We are all guilty sinners in the sight of God. We have broken His holy law. We have transgressed His precepts. We have not done His will. There is not a commandment in all the ten that does not condemn us. If we have not broken it in deed, we have in word; if we have not broken it in word, we have in thought and imagination—and that continually. Tried by the standard of the fifth chapter of St. Matthew, there is not one of us that would be acquitted. The entire world is “guilty before God” (Romans 3:19, KJV). And, “…it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). We must either be forgiven, or perish eternally.

Then what is the Lord God, whose eyes are on all our ways, and before whom we have one day to give account? “Holy, holy, holy” is the remarkable expression applied to Him by those who are nearest to Him (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). It sounds as if no single word could express the intensity of His holiness. One of His prophets says, “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong” (Habakkuk 1:13). We consider the angels exalted beings, and far above ourselves; but we are told in scripture, “his angels he charges with error” (Job 4:18). We admire the moon and stars as glorious and splendid bodies; but we read, “Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes” (Job 25:5). We talk of the heavens as the noblest and purest part of creation; but even of them it is written, “The heavens are not pure in his sight” (Job 15:15). What then is any one of us except merely a miserable sinner in the sight of such a God as He is?

Surely, we all ought to cease from proud thoughts about ourselves. We ought to lay our hands upon our mouths, and say, with Abraham, I am “dust and ashes” (Genesis 18:27); and with Job, “I am vile” (Job 40:4, KJV); and with Isaiah, “We have all become as one who is unclean” (Isaiah 64:6); and with John, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). There is not man or woman in the entire listing of the Book of Life that will ever be able to say more than this: “I obtained mercy.” What is the glorious company of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of the prophets, the noble army of martyrs— what are they but pardoned sinners, every one? Surely there can only be one conclusion: we are all great sinners, and we all need a great forgiveness.

See now what just cause I have to say that to know our need of forgiveness is the first thing in true religion. Sin is a burden and must be removed. Sin is defilement and must be purged and cleansed. Sin is a mighty debt and must be paid. Sin is a mountain standing between us and heaven and must be moved. Happy is that mother’s child amongst us that feels all this! The first step towards heaven is to see clearly that we deserve hell. There are only two alternatives before us: we must either be forgiven, or be miserable for ever.

[“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright ©2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible. The King James Version is in the Public Domain.]