Acts 13:38

THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS

‘Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.’

Acts 13:38

This was St. Paul’s first public utterance since his conversion. He was the Barnabas of the Synagogue, and, as the custom of the Synagogue was, he was asked to speak, and up he got, and the Holy Ghost was upon him, and he poured out this most significant speech.

I. No agnosticism permissible.—‘Be it known unto you.’ That is, about this matter there is to be no agnosticism whatever. It is to be ‘known unto you.’ You must know this, that the Holy One being dead saw no corruption, that He was raised from the dead, and that through Him is preached the forgiveness of sins. That is the matter about which you and I must have no doubt whatever. There is no agnosticism permissible on this point.

II. The forgiveness of sin; not forgiveness of crime.—It is the forgiveness of sin that is preached in Christ’s Name. It is not forgiveness of crime. A great many make a mistake here. Crime can be appraised, and the punishment due to it meted out. Sin may be committed without crime, but crime can never be committed without sin. For instance, I can forgive a crime, but I have no power whatever to forgive sin, in myself. A man has committed a crime. It is expiated. For six months, say, he has been in prison. The doors are open, he is free because he has expiated his crime. If he has expiated his crime, society is bound to forgive him. But what about God? And then comes this Gospel, ‘Through this Man is preached unto you forgiveness of sins.’ He may say, ‘I can never forget that I did it, the consciousness of my guilt still remains.’ And it is to such an one that the Gospel comes home. Forgiveness of sins is through Jesus Christ complete. Our religion is not a metaphysical argument or archæological study. It is a Gospel—good news. To those who feel that they cannot forgive themselves, He comes as the Saviour Christ. We are forgiven of God.

III. Forgiveness must be with the consent of both parties.—So many make the mistake here that it is quite necessary to emphasise it. For instance, many think, and not a few say: ‘Why cannot God forgive us all, and make an end? If God is all-good and all-powerful, let Him forgive us all, at once, and let there be an end of the business.’ God can’t—you can’t—I can’t, for forgiveness means the consent of both parties. Both must hate sin. It is a moral impossibility that forgiveness can come only on one side. God hates sin, and you must, for forgiveness. Then comes in, you see, the Gospel of sin and its forgiveness. If we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us; faithful, because He has so promised; just, because the Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

IV. When God forgives sin, He forgets.—Without forgetting there can be no real forgiveness. We say, ‘Well, of course, I forgive you, but you know I can never forget; it is not possible.’ But the forgetfulness I speak of here is forgetfulness of the heart, not of the intelligence. The essence of God is love. God is love, and therefore, God being love, with Him forgiveness is forgetfulness. The Bible expression for this is, as you know, that God puts sin behind His back. How far is that? Where is that? As far as the east is from the west. How far is that? You cannot measure it; it means utter, complete, entire. ‘I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.’ You may say to me, ‘It is impossible that I can conceive such a thing.’ Yes, I admit, I cannot understand it, and you cannot; but we are not saved by understanding, we are saved by love.

‘Be it known unto you.’ If there were any other way we should know it; there is no other way whatever. This is the preaching which we declare unto you, that through this Man is preached unto you all remission of sin.

—Rev. A. H. Stanton.