"He, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:37-39).

The One Who Forgives

All sin is committed against God. We find it so stated in Scripture. When David sinned so grievously he said in Psalm 51:4, "Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight." Let me assure you of this, that every sin of your life, of my life, of every man's life, is against the living God Himself.

Sinner, remember this—your sins are recorded in God's books (Revelation 20:12), and no mistakes are made there. There are no errors in God's records as to sins—sins of omission and commission; sins of the night and sins of the day; sins of the moment and sins of the hour, of the week, of the month, and the year; sins of manhood, of womanhood, and of youth. All sins, both in public and in private life, God has put them down in His books.

Sinner, when you think of this, and of how by-and-by you have to meet God, does your heart not quake? What an awful exposure of sin must take place before the Great White Throne when "the books" are opened! The sinner's guilt will all come out in the light there. But oh, my hearer, if you would only turn to God and have all settled with Him now; if you would but say to Him, "Search me, O God" (Psalm 139:23). If you would but come to Him with the confession, "I have sinned"—then He would point you to the sacrifice of His blessed Son on the cross, and would assure you from His Word that, by that wondrous offering, the sins of all who rest on the Saviour's blood are put away, to be remembered no more. "There is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared" (Psalm 130:4).

Can any but God forgive sins? No; a thousand times, No! It is God, and God alone, who can bestow the priceless blessing of forgiveness. O my friends, look up to Him as the One who alone can forgive you your sins.

The Ground of His Forgiveness

God is light, as well as love, and if He forgives sins, He must have a righteous ground for doing so. Now let this sink deep down into your soul—that God must judge sin. Yes, I press that point—He must judge sin; we can't be saved without His judging it.

Then here comes the problem: How can God be holy and yet have us in heaven? How can His grace be shown to us and yet He can judge our sin? God, in love to us, gave His blessed Son who came down into the dark waters of death. There in the greatness of His grace, and the holiness of His person, He, in those terrible hours of darkness and suffering under God's judgment against sin on the cross, bore the judgment due to your sins. As a result, the moment you trust in Him, your sins will be eternally forgiven.

Jesus, as the sin-bearer on the cross, has met the full tide of divine judgment against sin; He has satisfied all the claims of divine holiness, and has told out the deep, boundless love of God's heart. And remember this, that the death of Jesus did not make God love us, but was in itself the blessed proof of divine love for us. It is written, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). God has, in the death of Jesus, found a righteous ground by which He can bestow His choicest blessings upon the darkest sinner that ever lived. "On a righteous ground?" Yes, it is the finished redemption-work of Christ. People often look within themselves to find some ground for God to bless them; but I tell you that you need to look out, not in. Don't look into your own heart, but right out to Calvary for the ground of God's grace. You will then see that the Lord Jesus, by His atoning death, opened up the way for God in righteousness to bless the sinner that comes to Him in the name of Jesus.

The ground of God's forgiveness is clearly the death of the Saviour. Your works have no place in that. God's gospel is that forgiveness of sins is a present blessing; it is permanent and eternal; received now, upon this earth; not on the ground of your doing, but on the ground of what Christ has done. Man's gospel is Do! Whereas, God's is Done! Not what you can do, but what Christ has done. Are you resting in what you can do, or in what the Saviour has done? "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered" (Psalm 32:1).

—Rowland Dixon-Edwards