B. Will you allow me to ask you a question? Do you believe that when the sinner’s heart is truly turned to Christ, all his sins, past, present, and to come, are pardoned?
A. Well, that is a very important question; I should not like to say that they are, or that they are not. So much depends on the way you look at the subject. It would require some explanation. My difficulty is with the expression “and to come,” when you speak of pardon.
B. Oh! I thought that was what you believed! I know some who not only hold it, but are always speaking about it. It seems to me a dangerous doctrine; but a very comforting one, if true.
A. Perhaps you do not exactly understand what they mean. I firmly believe that my sins were all atoned for on the cross; then, of course, they were all to come; but when you speak of “pardon” you speak of something which takes place now, in connection with myself, and with my state before God.
B. Then you do not hold that our sins are all pardoned, past, present, and to come, when we first believe in Jesus.
A. I certainly should not use this language, and that for the following reasons. My first difficulty is with the word “pardoned.” As I said before, I am perfectly sure that the sins of every believer were atoned for, and put away forever, on the cross, by the precious blood of Jesus. But to speak of pardoning an offense before it is committed, appears to me to be incorrect. Forgiveness of sin, according to Scripture, is connected with the confession of it. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9.) I quite understand what is meant, and one would not seek to make a man an offender for a word. Still we should consider what we say. Then, secondly, we read nothing in Scripture, so far as I can recollect, of “sins to come,” as regards a believer. Their possibility is supposed, and God’s gracious provision for them declared. “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father.” But this is immediately preceded by the statement, “These things write I unto you, that ye sin not” (1 John 2:1.) Believers are exhorted to reckon themselves “dead indeed unto sin;” and we are told, “whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” (1 John 3:9.)
B. But you do not mean to say, surely, that believers have no sin?
A. Far from it. Every intelligent believer will say, “In me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.” But both the sin of my flesh, and the many sins of my life, were all atoned for, and put away on the cross. They were all judged there by God Himself, the Judge of all; so that no question as to my sins can ever again be raised. God made the demand, Christ answered it, and the whole system of sin, in which I stood, was canceled forever “There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8) “For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” (Heb. 10) The believer is perfect IN Christ now, he will be perfect WITH Him by and by.
B. Yes, quite so: it is very easy quoting texts. But when shall we be “sanctified?” If I were sure that I am among the sanctified ones, I should be happy.
A. If you are among the believing ones, you are among the sanctified ones. We are sanctified by faith in Jesus.
Β. I never understood that. We think sanctification a matter of great attainment, which can only be reached by constant watchfulness, prayer, and self-denial. There is nothing said about faith in the passage.
A. No; the apostle’s theme in this chapter is worship and the perfectness of the worshippers in the presence of God, through the perfect sacrifice of Christ. But we have it distinctly stated in other places. (See Acts 26) Here the Apostle is giving an account of his conversion and mission. Jesus sends him to the Gentiles, “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified, by faith, that is in me.” The moment the poor, dark, degraded Gentile had faith in Jesus, he was turned from darkness to light, from Satan unto God. His sins were forgiven, and his inheritance was on high. This is sanctification—viz., being separated from evil, and set apart for God.
B. But sanctification is not an act, surely: it is a work. Justification is an act, but sanctification is progressive. It means growing in holiness.
A. Well, I have no wish to weaken that meaning of the word. There ought to be progressive holiness in every believer. But you must first separate the stone from the quarry before you can prepare it for its destined place in the building. The great principle of sanctification, or being set apart for God, ought to be applied daily to our thoughts, affections, and to all our practical ways. As the Apostle prays, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The one is the result of the other. You must be separated from the world, and set apart for God, before you can grow up in practical conformity to Him. In the passage before us, (Acts 26:18,) the word clearly means an act—something done by God, and which only He could do. In what condition does the gospel find the Gentiles? The slaves of sin and Satan. And what did it do for them that believed? It separated them from their own sad condition, and set them apart for God, through the operations of His Holy Spirit. They were sanctified by faith in Jesus.
But in 1 Cor. 6:11, the apostle states, in the most distinct and positive way, that sanctification is as much an act of God as justification. “And such were some of you;” (see ver. 9, 10,) “but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” Nothing can be plainer than this. Here, you will observe, that sanctification is as directly, and absolutely, an act of God, as either washing or justification. If cleansing be an act, so is sanctification. If justification be an act, so is sanctification. Oh! what comfort this gives to the mind that can simply receive it. “Some” of these Corinthians had been sunk in the deepest mire of sin, but the moment they believed the gospel, they were, by the immediate act of God Himself, washed, sanctified, and justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. Of course, they had much to learn, break off, and the like. But God’s work was perfect. He never does things by halves.
B. Well, certainly, I never saw things in that light before. I feel as if God were opening my eyes. I have never been in the habit of examining and comparing scripture in that way. I have believed certain doctrines drawn from scripture; this is taking God’s word as it is. I confess, that I have never before seen so many blessed consequences flowing from faith. I could sit now ever so long.
A. The Lord be praised! The Bible being God’s own book, we ought to try and get at His meaning in it. But now one word, before we part, about pardon. You have seen that the sins of every believer were put “away” by the one perfect sacrifice of Christ. “But now once, in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin, by the sacrifice of himself.” (Heb. 9:26.) This, He assuredly accomplished. “When he had by himself thus “purged our sins,” he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Heb. 1:3.) Such was the completeness and such the efficacy of the work He accomplished, for all who, through grace, believe in Him. But it is when we believe in Him that we personally become partakers of the results of that work. Until we believe, we are “children of wrath, even as others.” But the moment Christ is really received by us, we participate in all the value of His sacrifice. FULL AND ABSOLUTE FORGIVENESS is one blessed effect of this work: but it is not the whole, as we have already seen. Through its wondrous efficacy, every believer is also a justified person and a sanctified person God regards the believer as having died with Christ to the sins which once were chargeable upon him; and now, as alive in and with Christ. The truth is, we are one with Him, we have everything in Jesus! “All fullness dwells in him.” Ο reckon on what you have in Him, and not on what you feel in yourself: and keep close to the word—keep “looking unto Jesus.” He Himself is the portion of our souls. We possess His life, stand in His righteousness, enjoy His love, and wait for His glory.
What in thy love possess I not?
My star by night, my sun by day,
My spring of life when parched with drought,
My wine to cheer, my bread to stay,
My strength, my shield, my safe abode,
My robe before the throne of God.