Christ: The Way, the Truth, and the Life

by John Brown

12. The believer, having taken this course with his daily provocations, and laid them all on him, would aquiesce in this way, and not seek after another, that he may obtain pardon. Here he would rest, committing the matter by faith in prayer to Christ, and leaving his guilt and sins on him, expect the pardon, yea, conclude, that they are already pardoned; and that for these sins, he shall never be brought unto condemnation, whatever Satan and a misbelieving heart may say or suggest afterward.

Thus should a believer make use of Christ, for the taking away of the guilt of his daily transgressions; and for further clearing of it, I shall add a few cautions.

CAUTIONS.

1. However the believer is to be much moved at, and affected with his sins and provocations, which he committeth after God hath visited his soul with salvation, and brought him into a covenant with himself, yet he must not suppose, that his sins after justification do mar his state; as if thereby he were brought into a non-justified state, or to a non-reconciled state. It is true, such sins, especially if gross, whether in themselves, or by reason of circumstances, will darken a man's state, and put him to search and try his condition over again. But yet we dare not say, that they make any alteration in the state of a believer; for once in a justified state always in a justified state. It is true likewise, that as to those sins, which now he hath committed, he cannot be said to be acquitted or justified, till this pardon be got out by faith and repentance, as is said; yet his state remaineth fixed and unchanged; so that though God should seem to deal with such in his dispensations, as with enemies, yet really his affections change not; he never accounteth them real enemies; nay, love lieth at the bottom of all his sharpest dispensations. If they forsake his law, and walk not in his judgments; if they break his statutes and keep not his commandments, he will visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes, nevertheless his loving-kindness will he not utterly take from them, nor suffer his faithfulness to fail; his covenant will he not break, nor alter the thing that has gone out of his lips, Psalm lxxxix. 30-34. And again, though after transgressions may waken challenges for former sins, which have been pardoned and blotted out, and give occasions to Satan to raise a storm in the soul, and put all in confusion, yet really sins once pardoned cannot become again unpardoned sins. The Lord doth not revoke his sentence, nor alter the thing that is gone out of his mouth. It is true likewise, that a believer, by committing of gross sins, may come to miss the effects of God's favour and good will, and the intimations of his love and kindness; and so be made to cry with David, Psalm li. 8, "Make me to hear joy and gladness;" and ver. 12, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation," &c. Yet that really holdeth true, that whom he loveth he loveth to the end; and he is a God that changeth not; and his gifts are without repentance. Yea, though grieving of the Spirit may bring souls under sharp throes, and pangs of the spirit of bondage, and the terrors of God, and his sharp errors, the poison whereof may drink up their spirits, and so be far from the actual witnessings of the Spirit of adoption; yet the Spirit will never be again really a spirit of bondage unto fear, nor deny his own work in the soul, or the soul's real right to, or possession of that fundamental privilege of adoption,—I say, that the soul is no more a son, nor within the covenant.

2. The course before mentioned is to be taken with all sins, though, (1.) They be never so heinous and gross. (2.) Though they be accompanied with never such aggravating and crying aggravations. (3.) Though they be sins frequently fallen into; and, (4.) Though they be sins many and heaped together. David's transgression was a heinous sin, and had heinous aggravations, yea, there was an heap and a complication of sins together in that one; yet he followed this course. We find none of these kind of sins excepted in the new covenant; and where the law doth not distinguish, we ought not to distinguish; where God's law doth not expressly exclude us, we should not exclude ourselves. Christ's death is able enough to take away all sin. If through it a believer be justified from all his transgressions committed before conversion, why may not also a believer be, through virtue of it, justified from his gross and multiplied sins committed after conversion? The blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin; Christ hath taught his followers to pray, "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive them that sin against us;" and he hath told us also, that we must forgive our brother seventy times seven, Matth. xiii. 22. We would not be discouraged then from taking this course, because our sins are such and such; nay, rather, we would look on this, as an argument to press us more unto this way, because the greater our sins be, the greater need have we of pardon, and to say with David, Psalm xxv. 11, "Pardon mine iniquity, for it is great."

3. We would not think, that upon our taking of this course, we shall be instantly freed from challenges, because of those sins, for pardoning whereof we take this course; nor should we think, that because challenges remain, that therefore there is no pardon had, or that this is not the way to pardon; for, as we shall show afterward, pardon is one thing, and intimation of pardon is another thing. We may be pardoned, and yet suppose that we are not pardoned; challenges will abide till the conscience be sprinkled, and till the Prince of Peace command peace to the conscience, and put the accuser to silence; who, when he can do no more, will mar the peace of a believer, as long as he can, and stop the current of his comforts, which made David pray, that "God would restore to him the joy of his salvation," Psalm li.

4. Nor would we think, that upon our taking of this course for the pardon of our sins, we shall never thereafter meet with a challenge upon the account of these sins. It is true, when sins are pardoned, they are fully pardoned in God's court, and that obligation to condemnation is taken away, and the pardoned person is looked upon as no sinner, that is, as no person liable to condemnation because of these sins; for being pardoned he becometh just before God; yet we dare not say, but conscience afterward, being alarmed with new transgressions, may mistake, as people suddenly put into a fight are ready to do; nor dare we say, that God will not permit Satan to upbraid us with those sins, which have been blotted out long ago, as he suffered Shimei, who was but an instrument of Satan, to cast up to David his blood-guiltiness, which had been pardoned long before. The Lord may think good to suffer this, that his people may be kept humble, and made more tender and watchful in all their ways.

5. Believers would not misimprove or abuse this great condescendency of free grace, and take the great liberty to sin, because there is such a sure, safe, and pleasant way of getting those sins blotted out and forgiven. "Shall we sin because we are not under grace, but under the law? That be far from us," saith the Apostle, Rom. vi. 15. This were indeed to turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. And it may be a question, if such as have really repented, and gotten their sins pardoned, will be so ready to make this use of it; sure sense of pardon will work some other effect, as we see, Ezek. xvi. 62, 63.

6. The believer, in going about this work of nailing his sins to the cross of Christ, and of improving Christ's death, resurrection, and constant intercession, for the obtaining of pardon, would not think of going alone, or of doing this in his own strength; for of himself he can do nothing. He must look to Christ for grace to help in this time of need, and must go about this duty with dependence on him, waiting for the influence of light, counsel, strength, and grace from him, to repent and believe; for he is a prince exalted to give repentance, first and last, and he is the author and finisher of faith; so that without him we can do nothing.

7. Let the believer beware of concluding, that be hath got no pardon, because he hath met with no sensible intimation thereof by the flowing in of peace and joy in his soul. Pardon is one mercy, and intimation of it to the soul is another distinct mercy, and separable from it: shall we therefore say, we have not gotten the first, because we have not gotten both? The Lord, for wise reasons, can pardon poor sinners, and not give any intimation thereof; viz. that they may watch more against sin afterward, and not be so bold as they have been; and that they may find more in experience, what a bitter thing it is to sin against God, and learn withal to depend on him for less and more; and to carry more humbly; for it may be, God seeth, that if they saw their sins pardoned, they would forget themselves, and rush into new sins again.