1. Pardoning of sin in the court of heaven, it belongeth to God peculiarly : Dan. ix. 9, ' To the Lord our God belong mercies and for- givenesses,' &c. It is God alone can do it, for two reasons : —
[1.] He is the wronged party.
[2.] He is the supreme judge.
(1.) He is the wronged party, against whom the offence is committed: Ps. li. 4, ' Against thee, against thee only, have I sinned.' He had sinned against Bathsheba, against Uriah, whose death he projected. How is it said ' against thee only' ? There may be wrong and hurt done to a creature, but the sin is against God, as it is a breach of his law, and a despising of his sovereign authority ; the injury done to the creature is nothing in comparison of the offence done to God, against so many obligations wherein we stand bound to him. Amongst men, we distinguish between the crime and the wrong. And a criminal action is one thing, and an action of wrong and trespass is another. If a man steal from another, it is not enough to make him restitution, but he must satisfy the law.
(2.) He is the supreme judge. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as one God, are the judge of all the earth, to whom they must be accountable for the offence: Gen. xviii. 25, ' Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?' But in the mystery of redemption, the Father, as first in order of the persons, is represented as the judge, to whom the satisfac- tion is tendered, and who doth authoritatively pass a sentence of abso- lution. And therefore it is said, 1 John ii. 1, ' We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.' He is to deal with him as the supreme judge; and 'it is God that justifieth,' Rom. viii. 33. The whole business of our acquitment is carried on by the Father, who is to receive the satisfaction, and our humble addresses for pardon.
But to answer some objections that may arise.
Object. 1. It is said. Mat. ix. 6, ' The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.'
I answer : That is brought there as an argument of his Godhead. He that was the Son of man was also very God ; and therefore upon earth, in the time of his humiliation, he had power to forgive sins, for
192 AN EXPOSITION OF [MaT. VI. 12.
he ceased not to be God when incarnate. And it became him to dis- cover himself, as by his divine power in the work of miracles, so his divine authority in the forgiveness of sins.
Object. 2. Is taken from the text, ' Forgive us our debts, as we for- give those that trespass against us.'
I answer : In sin, there is the obliquity or fault in it, and the hurt or detriment that redounds to man by it. As it is a breach of the law of God, or an offence to his infinite majesty, God can only pardon it, or dispense with it. As it is a hurt to us, so restitution is to be made to man, and man can pardon or forgive it.
Object. 3. It is said, John xx. 23, ' Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained,' So that it seemeth man hath a power to remit sins.
I answer : They do it declaratively, and by commission from God. The officers of the church have the keys of the kingdom of heaven committed to them ; the key of knowledge or doctrine, and the key of order and discipline. Accordingly this power is called, ' The keys of the kingdom of heaven,' Mat. xvi. 19. And the use of them is to open or shut the doors of God's house, and to ' bind or loose,' as the expression is. Mat. xviii. 18. That is, to pronounce guilty and liable to judgment, or to absolve and set free declaratively and in God's name ; or, as it is literally expressed in the place alleged, to remit or retain. The key of doctrine is exercised about all sin as sin, were it never so secret and inward ; and the key of order and discipline about sin only as it is scandalous and infectious. Now what they act minis- terially, according to their commission, it is ratified in heaven, for it is a declaration or intimation of the sentence already passed there. So that a declarative and ministerial power is given to the church ; but the authoritative power of forgiving sins, that God hath reserved to himself. Man can remit doctrinally, and by way of judicial procedure, but that is only by way of commission and ministerial deputation. Such as are penitent, and feel the bonds of their sins, they do declara- tively absolve and loose them, or take ofi"the censure judicially inflicted for their scandalous carriage. This ministerial forgiving, however carnal hearts may slight it, both in doctrine and discipline, yet being according to the rules of the word, is owned by God, and the penitent shall feel it to their encouragement, and the obstinate to their terror.
2. As he pardoneth sin in the conscience ; and there God alone can forgive sin, or speak peace to the soul upon a double account : —