I found him in a cottage one Sunday afternoon, and rather abruptly questioned him as to forgiven sins. He was old, and had been reading in a large type New Testament.
"Are all your sins forgiven you?"
"I can't say they are," he replied in a troubled voice.
Allowing one sin per day, I made a calculation that this aged sinner had added up a considerable score.
"Let us see, one sin each day is three hundred and sixty-five in a year, and you have lived—how many years?"
"But there has been more than one each day, sir."
"And you do not know they are forgiven?"
"Well, you see, sir, I've been reading this Testament, but somehow I don't seem to understand it."
Taking the book I turned to Rom. 5: and pointed to verse 6
"Christ died for the ungodly."
"For whom did Christ die?"
"Why, for all of us."
"But was it for you? Look at this verse now. Who does that last word mean—`ungodly?' Are you ungodly?"
This name seemed to rather startle the poor fellow, and he began, like many more, to try and prove he was fairly good.
"I'm not so very bad, sir."
Now the text does not say anything about Not-so-very-bad, so if the old man was to be known by that name he certainly was not mentioned. The Not-so-very-bads are to be found in every church and chapel, and in almost every house. But there are none of that name in heaven, nor are they spoken of in the proclamation of grace.
"You see, my friend, this verse says—`Christ died for the ungodly,' so own your name, and receive the blessings obtained by that death. Ungodly is the person spoken of. Ungodly deserved to be punished because of his ungodliness,
Though God hates ungodliness, He loves the ungodly, and that He might show His love, Christ took upon Him the penalty of the ungodliness, that the ungodly might be saved.