Proverbs 16:6

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged This is not a statement of the method and ground of atonement, though the Heb. word here rendered purgedis the usual word in the O.T. for covering, or atoning for, sin. That is taught elsewhere both in the Old (Psalms 51:7), and in the New Testament (Romans 3:20-26). But it is a lifting of man's appropriation of atonement out of the ceremonial and ritual into the moral sphere of action. Not by sacrifices as its purchase-money, but by a new life as its seal, is the free gift of atonement realised and assured. Comp. Ezekiel 18:27-28; Micah 6:6-8; James 2:24.