Vet. 20. — Perfeet forgiveness, h In what it oonsists. When Gtod forgives a man he pardons him completely, as Christ thoroughly cured all the sick persons whom he healed in any way. There is no middle course here. Either the forgiveness is total or it is not accorded at all. 1. This is more than the remission of penalties. Some conse- quences of sin must still remain, though these are no longer indications of God's anger, but converted into merciful chastisements. But the essence of forgiveness lies deeper than anv manipulation of external experience. It is inward, in the relation of God to the lou. 2. This spiritnal forgiveness consists in the removal of all estremgemeni. between Ood and the sinner. It is perfect reconciliation with no shadow cast upon ih by old offences. Many men profess to forgive and yet bear a grudge, or say the;
CH.U1— 46.J THfi BOOK Of THE PROPHET JEKEMIAS. 271
will forgive but cannot forget, or foro;ive partially but retain a certain suspicion and zoolness. God's forgiveness goes further. He is said to remove our sin from us " as far as the east is from the west," to " cast it into the sea," to " remember it no more." He treats his guilty but penitent child as if the sin had never been committed. No record of guilt is preserved, none can be found, even if an enemy search for it. The proilig:il is not made a hired servant ; he is welcomed with joy. The Christian is not grudgingly received into the outer courts of God's house ; he is called to the presence of his Father and blessed with full jjrivileges of sonship. If he is justified he is also glorified. Hence we may learn (1) that, after genuine repentance and fa.th, a man need not remain in a state of fear and sadness ; he may rejoice with confidence. His sin is not to be found ; then he need think no more of it. If God has forgotten it he also may forget it. The typical Christian is not a weeping Magdalene, but a happy, lioiielul servant of Christ. We may also leain (2) to extend more charity and coufldence to other men in their penitence. If God has forgiven them, who are we that we should treat them with contempt or anger ?
II. How rr is obtaiked. 1. Often after chastisemtni. The promise to Judah and Israel is forgiveness after the sufferings of the Captivity. This is not invariably the case ; for (1) chastisement may fail in its work upon the soul, and then the forgiveness will not follow ; or (2) God may bring the sinner to penitence by milder means. But it is the design of chastisement to lead us to the blessedness of reconciliation. 2. After repentance. The people are first depicted as " going, weeping as they go." Forgiveness is offered to the worst man who repents, but not to the mildest offender who .remains impenitent. 3. Through the mercy of God. This forgiveuess is part of the blessed- ness of the restoration which God promises to effect for his children. It is not earned by future good conduct nor by any sacrifice or penance. We now know that it is not cheap. The price ia no less than iixe life of the Son of God. But to us it is a free gift of God's love.
Ver. 34. — The strong Redeemer, L The OHARAcn-SB and foweb of the Rbdeembb. 1. Ood is the Redeemer. He is the Ooel, the Friend, Advocate, Avenger, and Saviour of his children. (1) The goM was the next of kin (Lev. xxv. 25). Ko man is so nearly related to us as God is. (2) The goel was bound by law to redeem or avenge the sufferer. Human laws, in so far as they are just and good, are shadows of the Divine laws, f.e. of the ways of Rod's procedure. If the Jewish law of redemption was inspired by (jod, it was made after the pattern of God's manner of acting. In the New Testa- ment we see this side of God's work brought into leading promiuence. Jesus Christ is the manifestation of God in the flesh, and Jesus Christ is pre-eminently " the Reileemer " (Eph. i. 7). 2. The almightiness of Ood is <mr assurance of redemption. '1 be massive strength of the rock makes it painful for us to fall upon it, and fearful and fatal for it to fall upon us ; but this very characteristic renders it a blessing if we rest under its shadow, build on its foundation, or cling to it for support in the driving tempest. Men may well shrink from the might of God when they are opposed to it, and tremble and despair when it rises up, awful and irresistible, to crush them ; but if they can turn to it with trust and know it is working their good, they will find in it a ground for solid assurance. How disastrous would it be for us to have a weak God, though he might have all other Divine perfections 1 His love might be infinite ; but if he could only pity, and not effectually save us, his grace would be of little use. But our Redeemer is the Lord of hosts. If a host encamp against us, the Lord of hosts is on our side. The strength of the Redeemer is of importance, because (1) our foes are great — earthly trouble, sin, death ; (2) our evil state is disastrous — we have fallen far into sin, some of us, perhaps, into deep wretchedness, only a strong hand can pull us out of so horrible a pit ; (3) our own strength is slight. We are not able to cope with the dangers that beset us. In face of the great forces of evil we are like withered leaves before the autumn blast. Hence to us weaklings amid the strange and awful powers of time and eternity, what grand comfort lies in the thought that "our Redeemer is strong "1
II. The method and fecits of hib eedemption. 1. the method. "He shall throughly plead their cause." The case is intricate, many cross issues arise. The honour of God, justice, the maintenance of respect for law, the government of the aotrerse, the highest good of all creatures, are concerned in the sin r ( man and its effeut^
2T8 THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. [ch. l. 1— 46.