tion freedom from sin, original and actual, is indispensable, if by our own works and deservings we would be justified: but St. John tells us in the very next passage, that If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us-our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. First, then, we are sinners; secondly, sinners cannot be justified in God's sight; for another Scripture saith, "He will by no means clear the guilty;" but St. John, speaking by the Holy Ghost, goes on to inform us that, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. But will a mere acknowledgment of error take us to heaven? will the condemned malefactor be pardoned by his judge, because he confesses, and reconfesses his crime? Surely not an earthly judge may err, but "the judge of all the earth" must "do right," and by his perfect laws we are to be judged: we have one of these laws now before us, in which pardon is clearly made to depend upon confession; but there is a reason for its dependence, and ignorance of this reason may lead us into the most awful error. Observe the latter part of the passage, and you will perceive, that he can only be "faithful and just" in forgiving us; if we confess. The passage of Scripture which throws the clearest light upon this apparent mystery, is the following; "And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." 'The scape-goat on his head, Was to be seen no more. In him our Surety seemed to say, Jesus is "the Lamb of God," the atoning Lamb, which "taketh away the sin of the world," and whoever has "received the atonement," has confessed, and day by day confesses his sins over his righteous head: for when on earth he was 66 once offered to bear the sins of many," and unspeakable is the consolation this tion freedom from sin, original and actual, is indispensable, if by our own works and deservings we would be justified: but St. John tells us in the very next passage, that If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us-our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. First, then, we are sinners; secondly, sinners cannot be justified in God's sight; for another Scripture saith, "He will by no means clear the guilty;" but St. John, speaking by the Holy Ghost, goes on to inform us that, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. But will a mere acknowledgment of error take us to heaven? will the condemned malefactor be pardoned by his judge, because he confesses, and reconfesses his crime? Surely not an earthly judge may err, but "the judge of all the earth" must "do right," and by his perfect laws we are to be judged: we have one of these laws now before us, in which pardon is clearly made to depend upon confession; but there is a reason for its dependence, and ignorance of this reason may lead us into the most awful error. Observe the latter part of the passage, and you will perceive, that he can only be "faithful and just" in forgiving us, if we confess. The passage of Scripture which throws the clearest light upon this apparent mystery, is the following; "And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." 'The scape-goat on his head, Was to be seen no more. In him our Surety seemed to say, Jesus is "the Lamb of God," the atoning Lamb, which "taketh away the sin of the world," and whoever has "received the atonement," has confessed, and day by day confesses his sins over his righteous head: for when on earth he was 66 once offered to bear the sins of many," and unspeakable is the consolation this truth brings to the hearts of his believing people; for they, "washed" in the blood of Christ, "bathed" in the water of regeneration, feel that they have escaped from the dreadful judgment of bearing their own iniquity, a weight so intolerable, that those who have chosen to retain it, are described, as calling upon the "rocks" and "mountains" to fall on them, and to hide them from "the wrath of the Lamb," in the day when he shall "appear the second time without sin unto salvation." "Our faith would lay its hand, But consoling as is the assurance of the forgiveness of sins, the real penitent looks for something more; he desires to be "cleansed from all unrighteousness;" he longs for that blessing, which consists in being "turned away from all his sins; " he is ashamed of his defiled garments; he desires to have them washed, and made" whiter than snow." When Aaron was consecrated to God, by God's own appointment, he was commanded to wear "holy garments," for the "glory and beauty" of his outward appearance; the Christian also is set apart |