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Forgiveness Full and Free, July 24
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the
Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
Psalm 130:4, 5
.
There have been sins among us as among ancient Israel, but thank God we
have had an open door which no man can shut. Men may say, “I forgive all the
injuries you have done to me,” but their forgiveness would not blot out one sin. But
the Voice sounding from Calvary—“My son, my daughter, thy sins be forgiven
thee”—is all-efficacious. That word alone has power and awakens the gratitude in
the grateful heart. We have a Mediator. There is but one channel of forgiveness
and that channel is ever open, and through that channel a rich flood of divine
mercy and forgiveness comes pouring down to us....
Many have expressed wonder that God demanded so many slain victims in
sacrificial offerings of the Jews, but it was to rivet in their minds the great and
solemn truth that without shedding of blood there was no remission of sins. A
lesson was embodied in every sacrifice, impressed in every ceremony, solemnly
preached by their priests in holy office and inculcated by God Himself—this great
truth that through the blood of Christ alone there is forgiveness of sins....
I wish I could present this matter before our people just as I view it—the great
offering made in behalf of man. Justice asked for the sufferings of a man. Christ,
equal with God, gave the sufferings of a God. He needed no atonement Himself. It
was for man—all for man.... His depth of agony was proportionate to the dignity
and grandeur of His character. Never shall we see and comprehend the intense
anguish of the sufferings of the spotless Lamb of God until we feel how deep is the
pit from which we have been delivered, how grievous the sin of which humanity
is guilty, and by faith grasp the full and entire pardon.
Here is where thousands are failing. They do not really believe that Jesus
pardons them individually. They fail to take God at His word. He has assured us
that He is faithful that hath promised to forgive us and be just to His own law. His
mercy is not wanting in anything. Were there one defective link in the chain, then
we are hopelessly ruined in our sins.... There is not one flaw in it, not one missing
link. Oh, precious redemption! Why do we not bring this great truth more fully
into our lives? How broad it is, that God for Christ’s sake forgives us—me, even
me—the moment we ask Him to, in living faith, believing that He is fully able
to do this.—
Letter 85, July 24, 1886
, to Uriah Smith, editor of the
Review and
Herald
.
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