THESE two scriptures bring before us the two subjects—forgiveness of sins and eternal life—which I wish to take up. The first thing about which a soul is troubled, when God begins to deal with it, is its sins—sins which it is quite conscious it cannot put away, nor go into heaven with, and for which it knows it deserves to go to hell. And how are they to be put away?
Now I turn to 1 Corinthians 15:33For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; (1 Corinthians 15:3), which makes it very simple: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” “Our sins;” i.e. the sins of those who have believed in Jesus. He put away the sins of those who believe on Him, therefore God can never put a believer into hell, because Christ put away his sins. God will not ask payment for sins at two persons’ hands; one payment is enough for Him. “Christ died for our sins;” that is how the question of sins is dealt with; there was no other way suitable to God but by Christ dying for them; and if you want to see what an awful thing sin is, look at what nailed Christ to the cross. It was our sins put Him there—the judgment of God against our sins. The moment you see that Christ died for your sins, you will never love them again. How could you love them when Christ had to die for them? Those very sins cost the Lord Jesus His life; so of all things I hate, it is those sins.
Now I turn to Galatians 1:44Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: (Galatians 1:4), which brings in a little more than that verse in Corinthians: “Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” A man who says he believes in Jesus, but does not know that his sins are forgiven, is always worldly, because his sins are forever tying him down here. It is like a balloon ready to mount up into the air, but kept to the earth by the cords which tie it down. Until a man knows his sins are forgiven, his sins are like the cords tying him down to earth. Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world. Were any of your tears, prayers, experiences, sighs, or works there? Why Christ did it all eighteen hundred years before you ever could have had any of them.
Now look at 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) for another verse about sins: “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” Now then, beloved, how many sins had He on Him then? People say, “Oh, all my past sins?” Is He then coming again to put away your present sins, and then the future ones? Do you want Christ to die three times? That is impossible. How could He? He has shed all the blood He had. “Behold, I am alive for evermore.” He cannot die any more. Don’t you see, all your sins were future when Christ died eighteen hundred years ago. He had all our sins upon Him; every sin that we have committed, or ever shall commit, were all laid upon Him, and if they were not put away then, they never can be put away; for Christ will never be on the cross again. You did not find out that your sins were put away till quite lately perhaps, but the work was done eighteen hundred years ago. Your sins were not put away the other day, but you then first found out that they were.
Just look at another verse, 1 Peter 3:1818For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18): “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” There are three things in that verse: first, what Christ was; secondly, what we were; and thirdly, what our condition has cost Him. Look at every separate word of it; who was it that suffered? He that was holy, harmless, and undefiled. For whose sins did He suffer? Not His own, but the sins of the unjust. What you and I deserved to suffer forever and ever the Lord Jesus went through on Calvary’s cross, that we might never go through it in hell, and that we might be with Himself in the peerless heights of glory for evermore. How shall I then trifle with the sins for which the just Jesus suffered on the cross? Do you believe that Christ died for your sins according to the Scriptures? Do you believe that He gave Himself for your sins that He might deliver you from this present evil world? Do you believe that He Himself bare our sins in His own body on the tree? and that He suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God? They must all have been there, or else none of them. Where is the Lord Jesus who had them upon Him? Is He on the cross now? Indeed He is not; it was sins that kept Him there; but He is not there now. He went into the grave, but He did not leave the sins in the grave, as people say; for He could not have left that cross for the grave if He had not already put them away. The reason He could leave the cross was because the sins were all gone. He is not on the cross now or in the grave. Look up to the brightest spot in the glory of God, and the first thing that will meet your gaze will be Jesus. Could He be in glory if any sins were on Him? Certainly not; and yet Jesus is there, with the marks of the nails in His hands and feet, and the mark where the spear pierced Him in His side— “a Lamb as it had been slain.”
Where are the sins then? That brings me to the twelfth verse of 1 John 2: “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.” Does it mean that they are being forgiven? or that they shall be forgiven? No; it says they are forgiven—it is accomplished. Whether one of you has been converted fifty years, and another fifty minutes, it is just as true of one as the other. “I write unto you, little children.” There is a letter from your Father, and what is it about? To tell you that your sins are forgiven! How is it that God can tell me I am forgiven? Because He forgives me for “His name’s sake,” who has offered the payment in full to God, with His own precious blood. Christ paid, my debt on the cross, and God raised Him from the dead as the proof of it, and now He adorns the throne of God. Why doubt anymore? When the devil comes in you either resist him or you entertain him. Are you going to entertain him? or resist him by planting your feet firmly on the word of God? Suppose Satan comes in, and says, “Oh, your sins are not forgiven!” I say, “You are too late, Satan; for I have God’s word for it that they are, and you are a liar from the beginning.” I cannot doubt my Father’s letter to please Satan. Well, then, we have no more doubt about the sins being forgiven. Satan says, “Oh, but God will bring you into judgment for them one day!” But I turn to Hebrews 10:1717And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 10:17), and, meet him with the word of God: “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”—I not only have a letter to tell me that I am forgiven, but that God will remember my sins no more.
Now supposing I sin, won’t it separate me from Christ? What is to be done? Have I ceased to be a child of God now? Did your being a sinner hinder His saving you? No. Then do you think He is going to cast you off now you are His child, and yet have sinned? Sins won’t hinder His keeping you; but they come in between you and Christ, and hinder your communion and enjoyment of Him. How do I know it? Because 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) tells me so: “My 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.” Suppose that my besetting sin is temper, and I have got angry about something, what am I to do? Before you can do anything, before ever you can think, as quick as lightning flashes, or the pendulum swings, or heart throbs, or pulse beats, if you could see what happens, the Advocate is with the Father before ever you have time to confess. The instant any true child of God sins, the devil would like to come in and make that sin separate between the child and the Father. But the Advocate goes to the Father about it; and what happens? I am made conscious that I have sinned, and I go and confess it to God. The job of salvation is then restored to you. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” It shows how grace triumphs over sin. The Holy Ghost in me brings some word of God home to my conscience, and causes me to turn out my heart in God’s presence, and He is faithful and just to forgive me my sins. Sins touch my communion; but they can’t separate me from Christ. How could God put me into hell for the sins for which Christ suffered on Calvary’s cross?
Well then we have seen clearly from Scripture that the sins are forever put away, but we ought to praise God for these things; and a beautiful little song of praise comes out in Revelation 1:5, 65And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5‑6): “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” In these verses you get the washed, the Washer—what we are washed from, and what He washes us in. Now then we praise Him. Shall you and I drink in His love to us? shall we know that He has put away our sins, and have no note of praise for Him, no heart full of worship for Him? Oh, no! let our hearts go out in songs of praise and thanksgiving to Him.
Now I will close with a little word on eternal life. “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” What is the difference between forgiveness of sins and eternal life? Eternal life is something additional to forgiveness of sins. Picture a man thrown into a debtors’ prison because he owed money. There were two things he could not do in prison—he could not get into debt, and he could not pay his debts; for how could he work at anything to earn money in the debtor’s prison. Supposing I know the poor miserable being who is in this plight, and I go to him and ask him who his debtors are, and how many debts he owes, and he gives me their names. Well, I take the bills and pay them, and get the receipts for them all. Then I go back to the prison, and I show the governor there all the receipts as proofs that the debtor is no longer a debtor. He lets me go to the man, and he sees the debts are all gone. The governor says, “We can keep you no longer; you are a free man.” Away he can go, able to say there is not a man to whom he owes anything. No, he does not go. Why? “Ah” he says, “I know my debts are all paid, and that I am free; but I have not a halfpenny in my pocket, and the moment I get out of prison I shall have no power to keep out of getting into debt again.” “Well, first of all thank the one who paid the debt, and then I will tell you I have something more for you.” So the man thanks him gratefully; and now he says, “There is a checkbook for you, and you can write out a check to any amount, tens of thousands if you like. I have put a fortune into the bank to your account.” Now the man leaps for joy. “I am out of debt,” says he, “and no chance of ever getting into it again.” Well, that is forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Who can spend up eternal life? If you have eternal life, it is in God’s Own Son you have it. It is not a matter of feeling, it is a fact. There is the fortune for you; but where is it? It is in the bank; “this life is in His Son.” First He tells you He has given it to you, and then He tells you where He has put it for you. The Son of God Himself is my life.
And now, lastly, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” Two letters for you from God—one about forgiveness of sins (1 John 2:1212I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. (1 John 2:12)), and now the other about eternal life. (1 John 5:1313These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13).) Well, this enables me to go through the world as light of heart as the nightingale whose breast is full of song. What do I want with cares? Have I not got the forgiveness of my sins, and eternal life, and the Holy Ghost? am I not united to Christ in glory, and waiting for His second coming to put me in that glory with Himself? Tell everyone about it. Is it given to us that we may hide it in our hearts? No; it must find its way out somewhere if you have got it. How can my eternal life come to an end? It is Christ Himself. It is a wonderful thing to find out on the infallible authority of the word of God that I have eternal life. “I give unto them eternal life.” (John 10:2828And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:28).) “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:11There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1).) There is none for Christ, so there is none for us who are in Christ.