The Review and Herald
March 21, 1912
God's Forgiving Love
Let no Christian seek to excuse himself in sin on the ground that others who have claimed to follow Jesus have committed the same errors. Your sin is none the less heinous because others have been guilty; and your manifest duty is to confess your sin to Jesus Christ, your intercessor. Take the weight of your woe to no human being. You have one mediator, Jesus Christ the righteous. In contrition of soul go to him and tell all your sins. The promise is sure, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” John says: “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.” “That ye sin not,”—here is where you bring yourself into condemnation when you continue to sin. But in the strength of Christ cease to sin. Every provision has been made that grace should abide with you, and that sin may appear to you the hateful thing it is. But if any man sin, he is not to give himself up to despair, and talk like a man who is lost to Christ. “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” RH March 21, 1912, par. 1
The temptations of the enemy will come; but shall we give him the advantage to break down all the barriers, by yielding one iota from the strictest principles of integrity? If we yield in the least, he will follow one temptation with another, until we shall go directly contrary to the plainest statements of the Word of God, and follow the mind and will of Satan. Satan and his confederacy of evil angels are ever on the alert to see by what means they may ensnare and ruin souls who have enlisted under the blood-stained banner of Prince Immanuel. You did run well for a season, you did taste and see that the Lord is good; but when you fell into sin, you walked in darkness. When you yielded to temptation, you must have ceased to look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. But, having confessed your sins, believe that the word of God can not fail, but that he is faithful that hath promised. It is just as much your duty to believe that God will fulfil his word, and forgive your sins, as it is your duty to confess your sins. You must exercise faith in God as in one who will do exactly as he has promised in his Word, and pardon all your transgressions. RH March 21, 1912, par. 2
How may we know that the Lord is indeed our sin-pardoning Redeemer, and prove what is the blessedness, the grace, the love there is in him for us? O, we must believe his word implicitly, with contrite and submissive spirit! There is no need to go mourning and ever repenting, and under a cloud of continual condemnation. Believe the word of God, keep looking unto Jesus, dwelling upon his virtues and mercies, and there will be created in the heart an utter abhorrence of that which is evil. You will be among those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. But the more closely we discern Jesus, the more clearly we shall see our own defects of character. As we see our failings, let us confess them to Jesus, and, with true contrition of soul, cooperate with the divine power of the Holy Spirit to overcome all evil. If we confess our sins, we must believe that they are pardoned, because the promise is positive: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Let us no more dishonor God by doubting his pardoning love. RH March 21, 1912, par. 3