According to the experience of those who serve the Lord, the more one sees his sins in the light, the more sorrowful he feels for his sins and the more he senses the grace of forgiveness. With some, because they have sinned so much and so grievously, there is always the fear that God will not forgive them. Some who have been frequently troubled by their past sins and suffered overmuch have developed a weak conscience. Even though their sins have been forgiven, whenever they think of them they are still afraid, fearing they have not been forgiven. They may even feel that it is too cheap for God to have forgiven them. Those in such a condition with such an attitude must realize that the security of forgiveness has a firm foundation. Such a one must take note of the following two points:
Our God is not only a holy God (1 Pet. 1:16), but One who loves righteousness and hates lawlessness (Heb. 1:9). His holy nature does not allow Him to tolerate sin, and His righteous attitude causes Him to judge sin. His Word says, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). His Word also says that “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22). Whenever we commit sin, God must condemn us for our sin. According to God’s nature He is holy; therefore, He cannot tolerate sin. According to God’s way of doing things, He is righteous; therefore, He must punish sin. In Himself God is also glorious; for this reason sinners cannot approach Him. Those who do approach Him will surely die. God deals with man according to the principles of His holiness, His righteousness, and His glory. Therefore our sins are not forgiven without passing God’s judgment. He does not simply disregard the charges of sin against us. He forgives us our sins and no longer remembers them, because the Lord Jesus has shed His blood (Matt. 26:28; Eph. 1:7).
Grace never reigns by itself; grace reigns through righteousness (Rom. 5:21). Grace never comes to us directly; grace comes to us through the cross. It is not that God sees us repenting, feeling sorry, and weeping for our sins, and because of this He has pity upon us and forgives us. No, God never does this. First God judges our sins; then He forgives us (Isa. 53:5, 10, 12). A certain common saying goes, “Grace and righteousness never come hand in hand.” However, those who are taught by grace realize that God’s way of forgiving men their sins is perfect in both grace and righteousness.
Not only is this God’s way, but sometimes even His redeemed ones may express a little shadow of the perfection in both grace and righteousness. A girl high school student tells the following story. Her principal was one who belonged to the Lord. One day someone broke a piece of furniture in the school. The principal (a woman) conducted an investigation, but no one would admit to having broken it. She tried to explain to the students that it was not right to break public things in the school, and that it was even worse to have broken it and lack the courage to admit it. While she was saying this, she was also crying. Then a student came forward to confess. But this student was too poor to pay the damages. The principal then took the money from her own pocket, paid for the damage the student had done, and also forgave her of her sin. Such a gracious and righteous attitude and conduct on the part of the principal not only caused the student to know sin, but also enabled her to know both grace and righteousness. This is only a little shadow of the perfection of both grace and righteousness being manifested through God’s redeemed people.
On the day the Lord of holiness bore the sins of us all, He cried loudly saying, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). This was even more painful than the crown of thorns on His head and the wounds and stripes on His body. Isaiah 53:5 says, “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.” Who says that forgiveness is cheap? Those who have been taught by grace sing with tears and thankfulness:
The depth of all Thy suffering
No heart could e’er conceive,
The cup of wrath o’erflowing
For us Thou didst receive;
And, oh, of God forsaken
On the accursed tree;
With grateful hearts, Lord Jesus,
We now remember Thee.
(Hymns, #213)