suffice in the present article to show that the removal of guilt was the object of Christ's death, and that the recognition of sin as guilt is in conse- quence a prominent, if not the primary feature of tlie teaching of the NT concerning sin.
1. The gospel, as first preached bv the Baptist (Mt 3-) and Jesus Himself (Mk 1", Mt 42^ 10'), was the Kingdom of God. Even the Fouith Evangelist, who usually presents it as Eternal Life, mtnesses to this fact ( Jn 3'- % The message, therefore, as coupled with the summons to repentance, involves a restoration of personal relations, God reigning in the midst of a reconciled people. Baptism, though the symbolism of cleansing is employed, is ' unto remission' (Mk 1*, Lk 3^) rather than to the wash- ing away of sins ; remission being not a vital act by whicii sinners are made just, but a personal favour (Mt 6'-, cf. 1 Jn P) by which they are accounted righteous. The risen Lord expressly carries on this \iew of His atoning work into the proclamation of the completed Christian gospel. Remission of sins was to be preached in His name among all the nations (Lk 24", cf. Mt 28"). To this message the primitive preaching shows an exact fidelity (Ac 2** 5'i 10« IZ^ 26'»). The ex- pression ' blotted out ' in Ac 3" emphasizes for- giveness as the cancelling of an account. And the statement of St. Paul in Ac 17™ (cf. Ro 3»), that God had ' overlooked ' the times of ignorance, again gives prominence to the personal relation.
It is the guilt rather than the infection of sin which appears in the teaching of Jes^is. The analogy between disease and sin, which the miracles of healing suggest, might appear to show the contrary. But it is doubtful wiiether the transi- tion from the sickness of the body to that of the soul would have presented itself to the Hebrew in this form, and not rather through the conception of suffering as the punishment of sin. It is this, for example, that makes the problem of the ' marred visage ' of Jehovah's Servant (Is 52i'-"' 53). And the interpretation given by our Lord Himself in the case of the paralytic seems to be decisive. His power to cure tlie body is the evidence, not of His power to heal the soul, but of His authority (iiovaia) to forgive sins (Mk 2'"). It is the 'debts' which remain as the permanent result of past ' trespasses,' for which we ask forgiveness in the Lord's Prayer (Mt 6'-, Lk 11^) ; and when we crave deliverance, it is not from the sick will, but from the ' Evil One' (Mt 6"), the personal enemy of God who has received a guilty allegiance. The im- portance of this aspect of sin is further marked by the requirement of human forgiveness as the condition because the pattern of Divine remission (Mt 6"- '' 18-'-="). What, therefore, is removed is not, in the first instance, the subjective conse- quences, but an objective result of sin. If it be urged that Christ discharges the latter only in virtue of the fact that He destroys the former, as expressed in the words ' it is he that shall save his people from their sins' (Mt 1^', but cf. Ro 5'), the reply is that Jesus is here represented as Saviour in the sense in whicli Messiah was to save, and that this is determined by the meaning of ' salva- tion ' as developed in the theology of the OT. The root idea of the Messianic salvation is liberation not remedy (Ex 14" 15=, Is 45" 46" 52'», Lk
169. 71. 77).
Again, attention must be paid to the promi- nence given to judgment, especially the Day of Judgment, in the Synoptic narrative (Mt 5='- =2 71-2
IQlS 1120-S4 1236.37. 41. 1JJ6-.-7. 28 1 928 04 POSsi'" 25 1*"""' 26",
Lk 12'*- °"). The unquenchable fire is not merely the automatic result of sin bringing forth death, but punishment inflicted by judicial sentence (Mk 9«.48^ Mt 25-"). The wicked are workers of in-
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iquity giving account for idle words and deeds (Mt 12»« 16'"). Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, however it be interpreted, incurs condemnation as the unpardonable sin (Mk 3^- =», Mt 123'- 3=). It is the personal relation, and therefore the guilt of sin, which appears in the parables of the Lost Sheep, etc. (Lk 15). The joy of the angels is represented as arising out of the reconciliation between the Father and the penitent (Lk 15"*). The expiatory character of the Cross is not so fully evident. But Jesus gives His life a ransom (Mk lO^'* ||) ; the
Agony was a cup given by Hi.s Father (Mk 14^* |i); the sorrow of death was the forsaking by God (Mk 15** II) ; the peace of Calyary the self-committal to
the Father (Lk 23«)
2. The Gospel of St. John, dwelling, as it does, upon the gift of God as life, truth, and light, might seem on a superficial reading to obscure, if not to ignore, the view of sin as guilt. But even the Prologue couples grace, or God's free favour, with truth as that which came by Jesus Christ, and that in antithesis to the Law given by Moses (Jn 1"). The witness of the Baptist is to the Lamb of God (l''''-^'), a sacrificial term involving expiation (193« ; cf. Ex 12* Nu 9'=, 1 Co 5', Jn 6== with West- cott's note). To believe on the name of the Son of God is to escape judgment (Jn 3" 5'^). It is 'ac- cusation to the Father' which the Jews have to fear (5^). Through Christ we come to the Father (14*). The commission of the risen Christ to His disciples is to forgive and retain sins (20^ ; cf. Mt lgi9 igis). It is the confession and forgiveness of sins which the First Epistle represents as eft'ecting the cleansing from sin and unrighteousness through the sacrificial blood and heavenly intercession of our Advocate with the Father (1 Jn 2'- =). The use of avo/ila,, ' lawlessness,' as a synonym for a/iap- tIo., 'sin,' implies the guilt of a broken law (3*). The condemnation or acquittal of the heart reflects the judgment of God (3™). In the Apocalypse, sin is set in relation to Him that sitteth on the throne (Rev 42), incurring His wrath (6'«), noted in His Ijooks (20'2), and receiving His plagues (15').