CHAPTER IX

FORGIVENESS THROUGH THE CROSS

B

UT some one will say, What connection

has the death of Christ with the forgive

ness of sinners? Was the historic death of Jesus not necessary to make the remission of sin possible?

The answer to that is: The mere shedding of the Savior's blood and His physical death did not make it any easier for the Father to forgive sin afterward than before. The death of Jesus did not increase God's tenderness and mercy toward the repentant sinner. Centuries before the crucifixion the psalmists had written, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so Jehovah pitieth them that fear Him," and "For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness unto all them that call upon Thee;" and Isaiah had written, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah,

and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." The sight of His bleeding Son did not make God hate sin any less, nor love penitents any more. God loved the world before He sent His only begotten Son. The physical death of Jesus was not demanded as a prerequisite of justification. The blood of Christ may be the sine qua non of a perfect revelation and of a perfect repentance, but not of a perfect forgiveness. It is not the material blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all sin-not the blood composed of serum and corpuscles that sprinkled the hill of Calvary, which "redeemed us" and "washed us," and by which we shall overcome. But this material blood is tremendously significant, symbolical, and sacramental of the spiritual fact lying back of it, namely, the GRACE OF GOD, who loved us and gave Himself for us; the grace that suffers to save; the grace that freely forgives and "passes over the sins done aforetime, in the for- . bearance of God," when the sinner repents and turns from sin. The blood of Christ is evidence and sacramental symbol of the love of God for

a lost world—a love which gave up life to save. Blood in the Bible is always symbol of life. The blood of Jesus, therefore, is the sacramental symbol of divine life laid down for the love of men. Divine grace that empties itself, takes the form of a servant, and becomes obedient even unto the death of the cross, is the ground of forgiveness; and the blood of Jesus is the ground of our assurance of forgiveness. We are "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus through faith in His blood." Faith in Christ means the practical assurance that He is the truth about God. It is "assurance of things hoped for, a conviction [or test] of things not seen. I have good reason to believe that my sins are forgiven when in faith I receive the blood of Jesus as the evidence of God's grace to the penitent. "Hereby know we love, because He laid down His life for us. The blood is, therefore, the ground of a Christian's faith, but not in itself, apart from the grace behind it, the ground of forgiveness. We are saved by grace through faith.

In England, it is said, over the burial place

of a Crusader lie side by side in effigy, their arms crossed over their breasts in everlasting stillness, the forms of a knight and his fair lady. Clad in armor, and complete from head to foot, rests the figure of the stalwart knight. The figure of the lady, however, while in all else perfect and entire, is marred by a missing hand.

The curious traveler is told the following story in explanation of the handless arm. During the Crusades the knight was captured by Saladin, the Moslem leader. When asked to give a reason why he should not be put to death, the knight replied that he had, back in old England, a lady loyal, who loved him with supreme devotion, and that if he were killed her heart would break. Saladin, who had naught but doubt for woman's love and loyalty, in scorn of his captive's confidence, laughed a mocking laugh and said, "She will soon forget her grief, and will soon be married to another.” "Not so," said the knight; "she would give her right hand for me." "Ah! we shall see," said Saladin. "I promise thy life if thy lady send to me her