Remember, that apart from the eternal judgment of the lost, God has only one way of dealing with sin according to His own righteousness, and that is by the sacrifice and death of Jesus. Take a sinning saint — say David, in the Old Testament — and one, like yourself, in the present dispensation. The cross of Christ met every sin for both, or else eternal damnation must be your portion. But in the two cases there is one marked difference. We may put it this way: When Christ hung upon the cross as a sin-bearer, He bore none of David’s sins but his past sins; while He bore none of yours but your future sins. What is meant by this is, that when that Blessed One was actually bearing “our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:2424Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)), David’s sins were then all past, and yours were all future. As the little hymn puts it —
God, who knew them, laid them on Him,
And believing, thou art free.
Or, better still, as the Scripture expresses it. (See Isaiah 53:6,6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6) margin,) “All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath made the iniquities of us all to meet on Him.” David’s sins, and yours, and mine — the sins of every saved soul in the world’s history — all found a meeting-place there. That cross will attract every redeemed one from every dispensation for eternity! It was love unsearchable that brought Him there; and until sin’s full judgment was endured and exhausted, until that greatest of transactions was completed, and that mightiest of victories won, it was love unquenchable that kept Him there. Blessed Saviour!
What makes our sins after conversion so awful, is the dishonor we bring to such a Name, the grief we cause to such a heart as His.
But He, who thought of and met our case as ruined sinners, has not forgotten to provide for us as ungrateful saints. He who took our place upon the cross and died for us has taken our cause upon the throne and lives for us. “If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:1010For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10)). That is, we get the divine guarantee, in the words “much more,” of our preservation to the end. Sin ought not to come in, and there is no shadow of excuse for us when it does. “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not” (1 John 2:11My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (1 John 2:1)). But there is the gracious provision, notwithstanding, for the very same verse says, “And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” It does not say, If any man repent of his sin we have an Advocate. No; repentance and self-judgment, leading to confession, are the results of the Advocate’s service for us. He doesn’t plead because we are made sorry; we are made sorry because He pleads. “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not,” was His gracious word to Peter. He knew that his conduct would fail, but He did not wait until Peter “wept bitterly” before He prayed for him. “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” He had once before proved to that then self-confident Peter that He was as able to support a disciple beginning to sink as He was able to attract a disciple beginning to walk; that if Peter took his eye off the Lord, the Lord didn’t take His eye off Peter; and that even his failing to walk by faith should only be the occasion for displaying fresh activities of his Master’s love — His outstretched hand should now be at the service of His faithless servant. “He withdraweth not His eyes from the righteous” (Job 36:77He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings are they on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted. (Job 36:7)). It is therefore by His prevailing intercession with the Father there, that I am, by the Spirit of God, brought to heart-broken confession here. And “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:99If 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)).
You may, therefore, approach the Father with all confidence, and unburden your whole heart before Him; and if you do, be assured that, in faithfulness and justice to Him who bore our sins, and who “ever liveth to make intercession” for us, He will freely pardon. And when He does, such grace will make you increasingly careful so that no false step would again grieve such faithful, unchanging love.