At the close of a service in our Chicago church I found a man standing by one of the chairs. He seemed to be deeply interested. The moment I began to speak to him he broke down and said, “I would like to be saved, but I have committed a sin for which there is no forgiveness. I remember my mother reading me in the Bible when I was a boy that those who committed this sin could not be saved.” I asked him what the sin was that he had committed. He told me, and for a moment I could not think where there was any passage in the Bible that could by any possibility be construed into meaning that there could be no forgiveness for this sin, but suddenly 1 Corinthians 6:99Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, (1 Corinthians 6:9) occurred to me. I said, “I think I know the passage to which you refer,” and opened my Bible and began to read, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” “Yes,” he said, “that is it. Does it not say there is no salvation for those who do this sin? Does it not say ‘they shall not inherit the kingdom of God’?” I said, “Listen, while I read the next verse,” and I read on, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” “Does it say that? Does it say that?” the man cried. I said, “Read it for yourself.” He took my Bible and read it and cried, “Thank God.” He knelt down with the tears streaming down his face and accepted the Saviour, and arose full of joy in the knowledge that his sins were all forgiven.
Some weeks after when I entered the church one Sunday morning, I saw him standing at the back of the seats with a lady between thirty and forty and a young lady perhaps seventeen or eighteen. As I stepped up to speak to him he said, “Let me introduce you to my wife and daughter.” I spoke to them about Christ and they both took Christ. Today that man is a hard-working member and office-bearer in Chicago Avenue Church. His sin was great, but even such as he could be “washed” and “sanctified” and “justified.”