Forgiveness of Sin. 293 



He who leaps from the precipice must fall ; he who 

 transgresses the laws of health must pay the 

 penalty, and no repentance will change the result. 

 Is this stern law of strict penalty to hold dominion 



T man as a moral being? \Yhcn he has sinned, 

 must he carry the burden for ever ? Must he be 

 goaded by the stings of conscience, and his relations 

 to his Creator be so changed that he must ever re- 

 main a guilty being in his presence? Must he be 

 A n down by every sin for ever, as gravitation 

 brii; iea towards the centre ? If so, the world 



would be gloom\' indeed, and deep despair would 

 le down upon the most thoughtful of the race. 

 But the Bible plainly proclaims for: \ on the 



condition of repentance. 



cntance is not only enjoined as a duty, but for- 

 giveness of sin and acceptance with God lur- 

 ed to be the result. It is not our province to enter 

 upon any defence of Christianity, nor to present any 

 technical theol> ;>lanations as to the nature 

 of this repentance, nor the ground on which free for- 

 giveness is offered in the Bible. We simply accept 

 the declaration that man may be forgiven and the 

 penalty of the broken law escaped. We do not now 

 inquire for methods, but for results. And this great 

 truth of forgiveness of sin through repentance meets 

 one of the deepest wants of man's nature. It puts 

 the key into his own hand to open his prison door, 

 and gives hope and courage instead of settled gloom 

 and despair. 



The last great truth in respect to which man 



