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THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
by C. A. Coates (1862-1945)
Biography of C. A. Coates
I DESIRE to bring before you at this time a very important subject, the Forgiveness of Sins. Some may think it an elementary subject to bring before a company of believers, but I am quite sure it is a subject which many believers have not apprehended in its greatness and bless-edness. We too often think of it from the side of man's need only, and by so doing we are apt to lose sight of the greatness and grace of it according to God.
In the first place, then, let us consider
THE PROCLAMATION OF FORGIVENESS.
The Lord Jesus "said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should he preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luk_24:46 - Luk_24:47). Paul at Antioch says, "Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Act_13:38 - Act_13:39).
The first thing that demands attention as to this blessed proclamation is the fact that it is altogether on God's part. It does not suppose or require the fulfillment of any conditions on the part of man. It rather, indeed, assumes and takes for granted at the outset that nothing attaches to man but sins. It is the unconditional declaration on God's part of His disposition towards men. On their part they may be ungodly and impenitent, too hardened by familiarity with sin to feel their need, too proud to own it even if they feel it, or too much in love with their sins to wish to part company with them. But all this, sad as it is, does not in any way affect the proclamation of forgiveness, either to change its character or to limit its scope. God would have men to know what He is, and to know that His grace is greater than their sins, and to this end He sends forth this gracious proclamation. It is entirely of and from God.
Then it is preached in the name of the Lord Jesus, and through Him. A name sets forth the character, reputation, renown, dignity, and glory of the one to whom it belongs. Now it is in the name of the Lord Jesus that forgiveness of sins is proclaimed. What lustre and honour is thus put upon the proclamation! With what exceeding grace and attractiveness is it presented to men! We are not called upon, as it were, to look at the guilty sinner in his fearful need and danger; our eyes are at once directed to a Saviour in whom every perfection is found. Not the leper in his sores, but the mighty and gracious Healer, is before us. In short, we do not find ourselves in the presence of man's need and ruin, but in the presence of God's infinite grace.
Think of this blessed One, in whose name forgiveness of sins is proclaimed; seek to get before your heart something of His greatness and preciousness. He is One who, from eternity, was daily God's delight, and who came into this world to bring the full revelation of God into it, and at the same time to present absolute perfection in manhood to the eye of God in the very scene and circumstances where Adam and his children had so thoroughly broken down. He was One able to make atonement, to overcome death, to vanquish Satan, to spoil principalities and powers, and to glorify God as to the whole question of sin; He was One who filled up and presented in His own person every prophetic blessing, whether connected with the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, the Son of man, or the Son of God; He is One who has finished the work God gave Him to do, who has glorified God by bringing every divine attribute into full and eternal display, and who has set the nature of God free to have its own way in blessing, even in a scene where everything had been ruined by sin. He is One now raised by the glory of the Father, and seated in heavenly exaltation at the right hand of the majesty on high. And
IN HIS NAME
forgiveness of sins is preached among all nations, and to every creature under heaven. With what power and preciousness does the proclamation go forth! It goes forth according to all the worthiness, excellence, perfection, grace, and glory of Christ, and invested with all the authority and attractiveness of His name. Important addresses to honored individuals are often inscribed upon costly vellum, and ornamented with every device that art can suggest; but was ever address or proclamation inscribed upon such a scroll as that on which God has inscribed His proclamation of grace to a world of lost and guilty sinners? God has invested that proclamation with all the beauty and glory of Christ, and with the power and preciousness of His sacred name. One might say that God has made forgiveness of sins as attractive as possible by setting it forth in the name of the Lord Jesus.
"Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins." God puts Christ before sinners—the Son of His love, the blessed Victim of Calvary, now the risen and glorified One—and through Him proclaims forgiveness. On the platform of divine grace—on which God approaches man with this wondrous proclamation—there is but one figure to be seen, and that is Christ. It is on the ground of what He is, and in connection with the worthiness and glory of His Person, that forgiveness of sins is proclaimed. The gospel of God is "concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." Our goodness, repentance, desire to amend, prayers, religious service, or works of any kind, have absoutely nothing to do with it. And, on the other hand, our sins—impiety, self-will, pride, indifference, self-satisfaction, blasphemy, hypocrisy, or whatever other form of wickedness we may have been guilty of in thought, word, or deed—do not in any way detract from the fulness or the freeness of this divine proclamation. The very fact that such a proclamation is addressed to us assumes that we are guilty; it is as such, and in no other way, that it regards us. But it addresses us, not according to our deserts, but according to all the greatness, perfection, and worthiness of the One in whose name it is promulgated.
"Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached CHRIST unto them" (Act_8:5). Christ is the great and blessed theme of the evangelist, and as He is preached, faith in Him "cometh by hearing." Faith in Christ is not a blind acceptance of certain arbitrary dogmas or the assent of the mind to an orthodox creed. It is the whole-hearted confidence of one who has come to the knowledge of the blessed perfection of Christ as a Saviour. He is everything that He needs to be to fill that place—to be the Mediator between God and men. Nothing can be added to Him. He is everything to God's satisfaction, and He is everything that the heart and conscience of an exercised sinner would like Him to be. He is a suitable, an acceptable, and an attractive Saviour. And He is the only One; He has no rival; it is Christ or nothing. Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins" (Act_13:38).
This proclamation is universal in its scope; it is to go forth "among all nations." It is also unlimited in its application to the individual. God does not offer a partial discharge. He does not say "sins that are repented of," nor "sins that are confessed," nor "sins up to the time of believing," but simply "forgiveness of sins." The whole question of sins is looked at as one thing, and when you get the forgiveness of sins you get it forever. If it were otherwise there could never be any certainty about the matter. How could the believer ever be sure that he had not overlooked some of his sins? Or if every fresh sin committed raised again the whole question of the believer's forgiveness and justification, it would be quite impossible for any to have the quiet confidence of peace with God or the certainty of forgiveness, which is the very groundwork in the soul of all happy relationship with God. I purpose later on to say a little about sins committed after conversion, both as to how they affect the believer's heart and conscience, and as to how they are dealt with. But for the present I desire to press the importance of seeing that the forgiveness of sins, which clears the believer of all imputation in the sight of a holy God, is something which Is unchanging and eternal. There is no thought in Scripture of a believer having it today and not having it tomorrow. But before saying more as to this I should like to bring under your notice several scriptures with reference to the
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS:
Act_10:43; 1Jn_2:12; Col_1:14. Doubts and misgivings on the subject of forgiveness arise from the fact that anxious souls are slow to believe that the proclamation is one of absolute grace, that it is presented to them in the name of the Lord Jesus, and that it is entirely "for his name's sake." They look upon it as a sort of conditional offer on God's part to obtain the benefit of which there must be the fulfillment of certain conditions on their part; and as they cannot be quite sure that they have fulfilled the conditions, they are in a state of uncertainty on the whole matter. They do not know whether they have repented enough, or whether they have faith enough, or whether they have the right kind of faith. These difficulties, and many others which trouble anxious souls, only show how little they have apprehended the grace of God. We are so slow to take in the blessed thought that God is acting from Himself and according to the worthiness of Christ, and that there is no question of any conditions to be fulfilled on our side. The whole thing is complete on God's side, and is not in any way conditional on our repentance or faith; it is God approaching man in all the fulness of His grace, and declaring Himself to be a Saviour-God.
I find nothing in myself that I can trust in the smallest degree, but I can trust the grace in which God has set Himself forth in Christ. It is God who has spoken to me of forgiveness of sins, and who has set this great blessing before me in the name of the Lord Jesus and through Him. I gladly receive this wondrous grace, for it brings me what I need, and at the same time bows my heart in adoration before the unexpected and unmerited favour of God. I believe on God as the Source of the whole blessing, and as the One who has provided it altogether from His own side; and I believe on the Lord Jesus as the Mediator of that grace, as the One who has opened up a righteous channel for it, and in whose name it is proclaimed. And the Word of God declares that "through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins" (Act_10:43). There is no question or peradventure about it. The blessing is certain to "whosoever believeth in him."
But the question will arise in some hearts, "Is it not possible to believe in a way that leaves a man a mere professor? We read that "Simon himself believed also" (Act_8:13), and he turned out to be one that had "neither part nor lot in this matter." It is written that "the devils also believe, and tremble" (Jam_2:19). How, then, can one be sure that his faith is such as will secure the blessing of God?
I must again point out that the thought which lies behind this question is that faith is a condition which has to be fulfilled on our part before the grace of God is available for us. That is, the soul has the idea that the grace of God is conditional upon faith, but conditional grace is not really grace at all. The gospel of the grace of God is the proclamation of the blessed fact that God is coming out in absolute grace on the ground of the death of Christ, and according to all the perfections of Christ, and is proclaiming forgiveness of sins to a world of sinners. When this gospel is believed it brings the knowledge of God in all the blessedness of His unconditional grace into the heart of the sinner. But the sinner's faith adds nothing to the gospel any more than the windows of our houses add to the light of the sun. The sun shines for everybody; my window lets the light into my room so that I enjoy it and am warmed by it.
In like manner, the sun of divine grace is shining for everybody; faith is the window which lets the light and warmth of it into the soul of a sinner. If you appreciate that grace and rejoice in it as the only thing that could possibly meet the need of your soul, you need have no question as to the nature of your faith. You may be sure that Simon Magus had no appreciation of the grace of God. He was intellectually convinced, it may be, by the miracles done by Philip; the new religion had credentials that could not be disputed, and, moreover, it was, for the moment, the popular thing. By the sheer force of evidences and circumstances, he accepted and professed it, but there is nothing to show that he had the smallest real appreciation of the grace which Philip preached as he proclaimed Christ in the city. The devils may believe that there is one God, and tremble as they believe, but you may he sure they have no appreciation whatever of divine grace.
A man may "say" he has faith; he may "say" that he believes in the grace of God; but if his heart is not cheered and gladdened by it, it is evident that it is nothing to him. The knowledge of grace subdues a man to God; it breaks the power of sin, and it brings heavenly gladness into the heart. In short, it brings the knowledge of God into the heart of man. The sinner who believes has the light of what God is in his heart. He only thinks of himself as a corrupt and hell-deserving sinner, but he knows what God is in absolute and unconditional grace for sinners; he knows something of the preciousness and worthiness of Christ. It is not that he believes in his own faith—anyone who did so would be on very dangerous ground—he believes God's proclamation of grace, and rejoices in that grace because it not only meets his need, but makes God known to him so that he can "joy in God."
Those who have misgivings about their faith are not generally those who despise the grace of God. It is more often those who realize something of the value of that grace, and feel they must perish without it, that are concerned lest they should not have it for themselves. Let me say to such that that grace has already, to some extent at any rate, established itself in your heart. The window may be small, and the rays of light are only few that have yet entered, but the light has begun to shine even in your soul. What you need is to turn away from yourself—your feelings and your faith—to the blessed God of all grace. He is what He is, whether you believe it or not; believing it brings the knowledge and gladness of it into your heart.
It is "for his name's sake" that the believer's sins are forgiven. It is because of what Christ is, and according to the value of His atoning death, that God can say to every believer on His blessed name, "Your sins are forgiven." And believers can say without question or doubt, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Col_1:14).
What many souls need in order to establish them in assurance is to see
THE GROUND OF FORGIVENESS
as we have it clearly and fully presented in the Word of God. I desire to direct your attention in particular to Heb_10:1-39, where we learn that forgiveness is founded upon a sacrifice in which God has been glorified in righteousness. Let us then briefly consider what is presented to us in the first eighteen verses of this chapter.
A careful reader cannot fail to notice that two things are prominent in these verses: first, the accomplishment of the will of God; and second, the securing of a purged and perfected conscience for those who approach God. The second is really included in the first, for the will or pleasure of God may be briefly summed up in this, that He would make Himself known, and that He would have a people free in conscience and happy in heart to approach Him according to the revelation of Himself. The first covenant, and all that was connected with it, entirely failed to accomplish either of these two things. God found fault with the first covenant, as we are told in Heb_8:1-13, because it failed to make Him known in the hearts of His people; and the law, with the whole system of sacrifices connected with it, is taken away in Heb_10:1-39, because it was so entirely powerless to give a purged conscience to those who approached God.
But now in connection with Christ we get all the grace of the new covenant [in His blood], God revealed in supreme and blessed grace on the one hand, and on the other His people purged and perfected in their consciences, so that they may be able to "draw near with a true heart." Consequent upon the death of Christ two things are made good: believers are (1) "sanctified" and (2) "perfected forever" (vv. 10, 14). "Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God... By the which will we are sanctified [once for all] through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ." Believers are sanctified, or set apart, according to the pleasure of God. It is His pleasure to have a people whom He can regard according to His own estimate of the value of the death of Christ; it is His pleasure to have a people entirely divested of every trace of unsuitability to Himself; and this not by a progressive work carried on in them, but by the infinite efficacy of the "offering of the body of Jesus Christ."
As to what the believer is in himself, Heb_10:1-39 supposes that he is nothing but a heap of sins. Morally my whole history is covered by that one word, sins. As a child of fallen Adam, nothing could come out of me but sins, the sad evidence of my corruption arid irretrievable ruin. But in the "offering of the body of Jesus Christ" God has been glorified in the execution of a righteous sentence upon me and my sins. Christ has gone into death vicariously, and in His death there has been such a judgment of sin and sins that in the eyes of God not a stain of guilt, not a spot of contamination, remains upon His people. They are set apart in the will of God, and according to His pleasure, from everything that they were naturally, and from everything that attached to them as Adam's children in this world. Such is the efficacy and such is the result of the death of Christ looked at from God's side. It has secured for Him a sanctified people suited to Himself.
But, on the other hand, this has to be made known and to be made good in the consciences of believers, or they would have no liberty to approach God. Hence we read, "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." If we compare this statement with Heb_9:9, we shall see that the perfection here referred to is perfection "pertaining to the conscience." It is not by any means that the believer is brought into a state of perfection as to his actual condition in this world; we shall only attain perfection in condition when we are conformed to the image of God's Son in glory, but perfection in conscience we not only may know now, but if we have it not, we must be more or less in legal darkness and in ignorance of the true grace of God.
The believer is in his conscience with God, not as identified with his sins and all the imperfection that attached to him as a man in this world, but as identified with the value of the "one offering" of Christ. He knows the efficacy of that offering and rejoices in it as that by which his sins have been completely and eternally purged. It is not that he thinks lightly of his sins, but he has come to know and appreciate the value of the death of Christ. That death has cleared everything away in the estimation of God, so that He can have His people before Him in the beauty of divine sanctification, and it has cleared everything away in the estimation of the believer's conscience, enlightened by grace, so that every question of sins is settled; he is as to this matter "perfected." And inasmuch as the ground of this perfection is the unalterable value of the death of Christ, he is "perfected forever." The believer's place with God according to divine grace is not changeable; he is not sometimes on the ground of Christ's death and sometimes on the ground of his own good behavior.
The value of the "one offering" does not fluctuate with his changing moods and feelings, nor with the ebbings and flowings of his joy. It abides as the only and the unchanging ground on which God can have a people for Himself. The believer who apprehends this is on solid ground; he is acquainted with the grace of God, and he knows the secure basis on which all the activities of that grace are based; he is perfected in perpetuity.
There is another thing in the chapter before us which connects itself with all this in a very blessed way. I refer to [Israel's New Covenant in] verse 16: "I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Here we see the effect of grace being known in the hearts of men. It becomes a pleasure to them to be controlled by the will of God, for the things which are on a man's heart and mind are things which give him pleasure: and along with this they have the blessed consciousness that the question of their sins has been entirely and eternally disposed of. The great thought of God is to have His people near Himself, with not a single outstanding question between Himself and them, and this in order that they may find their undistracted delight in Him and in being controlled by His pleasure. God would have His people conscious that there is nothing between Himself and them; He would have them conscious that they are a forgiven people, that thus they may realize the "blessedness" which David describes in Psa_32:1-11: "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." This is...
THE JOY OF FORGIVENESS
the happy portion of a people illuminated" (Heb_10:32) by divine grace.
But some man will say, "If the whole question of the believer's sins is thus disposed of he may live as he likes, and, no matter how badly he behaves, he is always forgiven." In answer to this often-raised objection, I repeat what I have already said, that the effect of the grace of God being known in the soul is to thoroughly subdue a man in the presence of God. The knowledge of forgiveness never has the effect of making a man careless about sin. There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared" (Psa_130:4). The knowledge of grace establishes the fear of God in the heart of everyone who has it in truth. The forgiven man is a godly man. In Psa_32:1-11, after describing the blessedness of the forgiven man, David goes on to say, "For this shall every one that is GODLY pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found." And the New Testament puts things in exactly the same order, for we read that "the grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and GODLY, in this present world" (Tit_2:11 - Tit_2:12). It is the believer's joy, as we have already seen, to be controlled by the will of God.
On the other hand, it is never stated in Scripture that the believer has no sin in him, or that he is beyond the reach of temptation or the danger of being overtaken in a fault. He is warned, if he thinks that he stands secure, to take heed lest he fall; he is warned against the deceitfulness of sin and the wiles of the devil; he is solemnly exhorted not to love the world, and to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. He has need to be in constant dependence, and to watch and pray that he may not enter into temptation. And practically it is true, as James says, that "in many things we all offend." But the more we know of the blessedness of forgiveness, the more sensitive we shall be to any shade that comes upon it. If we have tasted the deep joy of being in the presence of God, with the consciousness of His infinite grace and the knowledge that that grace has removed, in righteousness, everything that was between Himself and us, we shall not be in any way disposed to tolerate or allow the activity of sin. We shall dread sin; we shall avoid it; we shall flee from it; we shall pray continually, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
And yet God would not have us to lose the sense of His grace even when, through lack of dependence or purpose of heart, we have sinned. His grace has anticipated the possibility of our doing so, and has made provision for such a case: "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1Jn_2:1). And as to our side it is written that, "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1Jn_1:9). The very fact that we have sinned is the proof that in some degree we have departed from the sense of God's wondrous grace. No one could sin if his heart was in the consciousness of the grace of God, and restoration is the return of our souls to a sense of grace.
How far is the light and joy of divine favour the sunshine and life of our hearts? In proportion as it is so we shall be quick to feel the presence of a shade or a cloud. We shall make haste to confess our sins, not merely to get them off our minds or consciences, but to get near to God about the things which have for the moment intercepted the "blessedness" of our joy in His grace.
In conclusion, I should like to say a few words about
THE EFFECT OF FORGIVENESS
in its practical bearing on the believer's state. In the first place, when forgiveness is consciously known as we have it presented in Scripture the soul is entirely on the ground of what CHRIST is. Indeed, it is IN HIM that we have it, as Eph_1:7 and Col_1:14 state so plainly: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins." In the apprehension of this there is entire deliverance from the power of the enemy. Satan may challenge my clearance and my acceptance, he may raise all kinds of questions about what I am and what I have done, but he can raise no question as to the worthiness or acceptance of CHRIST. The forgiven man is on an altogether new ground with God; he is on the ground of grace—grace which is set forth in CHRIST. The apprehension of this is redemption, and it puts the soul beyond the reach of the oppression and harassing of the enemy.
This leaves the believer free in his spirit to approach God. God has brought us out of everything that attached to us in our responsibility as children of Adam, that we might be free to approach Him on another ground altogether. He has forgiven us all trespasses, that we might be free to apprehend His pleasure concerning us, that we might know what it is to be quickened together with Christ (Col_2:13). There is an entire settlement of every question connected with our responsible history, so that we may approach God as those whose hearts and consciences are free to enter into a circle where there is nothing but the perfection of Christ. If we have learned that God has approached us in His wondrous grace according to the preciousness and perfection of Christ—if God has dealt with us, not according to what we are, but according to what CHRIST is—the suited response to that grace is that we approach Him as those who are in conscious identification with the blessedness and perfection of Christ. This puts us on priestly ground with God; it is the suited state for the sanctuary; we begin to apprehend that God has brought us out that He might bring us in. He would have us in His own place, where everything is according to His own thoughts and according to the perfection of Christ. I do not think that anyone who had the consciousness of forgiveness according to God would care to stop short of this. Hence the writer of the epistle immediately follows up what he had been saying in Heb_10:1-39 about forgiveness of sins by the words, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having a high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
Here we get one of the greatest Christian privileges—a privilege God would have to be realized in His assembly now: that of approach to Himself in His own circle. Great as this privilege is—and, alas! so feebly entered into by any of us, if one may speak for all—it is notwithstanding the great present end, with a view to which God makes known the forgiveness of sins. And I think I may venture to say again that if we really apprehend forgiveness of sins from God's side in all its grace and preciousness, we shall not care to stop short of this great privilege. The effect of forgiveness being consciously known is that we are in the divine peace of redemption on the one hand, and on the other we are greatly attracted by the blessed privilege of approach to God. If these two things are not true of us, it is a question whether we have not been content to apprehend forgiveness from the side of our need, rather than from the side of the divine greatness in which it is presented from God in the gospel of His grace.
C. A. C.
* * *
Reprinted from "Spiritual Blessings" by C. A. Coates.
Published by Bible Depot, 7 Gensing Road, St. Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, England
No copyright. Public domain.