Sabbath evening again returned; and when the shutters were closed, and
fresh wood had been piled on the fire, little Emma climbed on her
grandmamma’s knee, and asked her to explain some more “Scripture
doctrines.”
“I shall do so with pleasure, my child,” said Mrs Allan; “and I must ask
you to give me to‐night your close attention, as I am going to speak to
you about some very important and precious truths.”
Emma thanked her for her great kindness, in being at so much pains to
instruct her; and her grandmamma thus began:—
[Sidenote: Of Justification.] “You will remember, my dear, that the
Bible tells us we are all condemned by nature—in a lost and ruined
state. In order to make us understand what this state is, it
represents,—
[Sidenote: The Judge.] “God as a great Judge, ‘of purer eyes than to
behold iniquity,’ and who cannot look upon sin.
[Sidenote: The Prisoner.] “It represents the sinner as standing at His
bar, called to answer for his many thousand transgressions.
[Sidenote: The Witnesses.] “And, as in a court of earthly justice
witnesses are brought in to condemn the prisoner, so Satan accuses the
sinner—his own heart accuses him—God’s Law, which he has broken, accuses
him.”
“And what more?” said Emma.
[Sidenote: The Sentence.] “These all,” said her grandmother, “pronounce
the sinner ‘_guilty_’—the Holy Judge passes upon him a sentence of
_condemnation_. Oh! how dreadful to think, that, if ‘out of Christ,’ we
are _at this moment_ in a _condemned state_! We have not to wait till a
day of judgment to have the sentence pronounced upon us. The Bible tells
us we are ‘condemned _already_,’ and that ‘the wrath of God _abideth_
upon us.’ We are, as it were, shut up in a condemned cell; the kindness
and clemency of our Judge alone delaying the execution of the awful
sentence!”
“But is there no hope,” said little Emma, “for the poor sinner? Must he
die in that state of condemnation and misery?”
[Sidenote: God’s Method of Mercy.] “No, dear child,” replied her
grandmamma. “God is willing, for Christ’s sake, to ‘_justify_’ us.”
“But what do you mean by that word?” said Emma.
“Listen to me,” said the other, “and I will endeavour to explain. I have
already told you that the sinner, standing in the court‐room of justice,
with the chains of condemnation fastened round him, cannot answer a word
for himself; his ‘mouth is stopped,’ and he has become ‘guilty before
God.’
[Sidenote: The Advocate.] “But, in the midst of that court‐room, there
is one who stands up to ‘answer’ _for_ him!—it is the ‘Advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.’
“God the Judge asks, ‘Sinner! can you say anything to justify yourself?’
The sinner says, ‘Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O God! for
in Thy sight no flesh living can be justified.’
[Sidenote: The Grounds of Pardon.] “God is about to execute the awful
sentence; but Jesus, his advocate, stands up, and says, ‘_I_ have
suffered, “the Just for the unjust;” I have obeyed the law the sinner
should have obeyed; I have been “made sin for him;” I have paid with my
own blood the price of his redemption!’
[Sidenote: The Acquittal.] “The Great Judge says, ‘It is enough! Take
the chains of condemnation off him. I pronounce him, for the sake of
what Jesus has done and suffered, “_not guilty_!” Let him go out of the
court‐room a “justified man;” for “there is no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus.”’”
“Do you mean to say, grandmamma,” said Emma, “that God thus graciously
pardons _all_ the iniquities of the sinner for the sake of Jesus?”
[Sidenote: Two parts of Justification.] [Sidenote: 1. Forgiveness of
Sin.] “Yes, my child; it is an amazing thought. But, on account of what
the Lord Jesus Christ has done, in pouring out His precious blood, this
great and holy Judge looks upon the sinner _as if he had never sinned at
all_! He is, in the eye of law, ‘_justified_’—considered ‘_just_.’ Jesus
is said to be ‘wounded for his transgressions, and bruised for his
iniquities.’ Like the scape‐goat under the Jewish law, God ‘has laid
upon Christ the iniquities of us all.’ These He has carried away into a
land of forgetfulness, where they can never more be found!”
“This is a wonderful doctrine indeed!” said little Emma, “and”――
“Stay, my child,” interrupted her grandmamma, “I have not yet told you
the most wondrous part of it:—
[Sidenote: 2. Acceptance as Righteous in God’s sight.] “In justifying
sinners, God does more than merely _pardon_ them. He not only reckons
the sinner as ‘_not guilty_,’ but, for Jesus’ sake, He counts him as
positively _righteous_. All the righteousness of Christ—His obedience,
and patience, and love, and resignation, and forgiveness of injuries,
and all the holy things of His holy life,—are put down to the sinner’s
account; and a holy God actually counts as if they had all been done by
the sinner himself. This is what is called _Christ’s imputed
righteousness_.”
“Surely,” said Emma, “this explains the meaning of that verse I was
reading to you this morning in Isaiah—‘He hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation; He hath covered me with a robe of
righteousness’?”
“Yes; you are right, my dear. The holy life, and virtues, and obedience
of Jesus, are spoken of as a bright shining robe or garment, in which
the poor sinner clothes himself. By nature, in his condemned state, he
is black with sin; and his language is, ‘O Lord, look not on me, because
I am black;’ but when he puts this imputed garment on, he can say, ‘O
Lord, look upon me, for I am all bright and shining with a Saviour’s
righteousness!’”
“How kind is God,” exclaimed Emma, “to do all this for vile sinners!”
[Sidenote: Justification all of Grace.] “Yes, my child; well may
justification be called ‘an act of God’s _free grace_;’ for man has no
part in it. He deserves nothing at God’s hand but wrath, and vengeance,
and condemnation. He might have been sent away trembling from His bar,
crying out, ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God!’ His justification proceeds from free sovereign mercy; and through
all eternity his confession will be, ‘By the grace of God, I am what I
am.’”
“I fear I may be wearying you,” said Emma; “but I have just one other
question to ask you about this glorious doctrine—how can _I_ be
justified, and get the great God thus to pardon and accept ME?”
[Sidenote: Received by Faith.] “That is a very proper question,” replied
her grandmamma, “and I am happy to think I can give you a simple and
easy answer. You are justified ‘_by faith_;’ by _believing_ that God is
able and willing to receive you—that Jesus has shed His precious blood
for you—that He died for you on earth, and now lives and pleads for you
in heaven. ‘He that _believeth_ on the Son of God hath life.’ ‘_Believe_
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’ ‘Therefore being
justified _by faith_, we have peace with God.’
“This glorious subject of Justification,” continued she, “has occupied
us so long, that it will be better not to speak of any other doctrine
to‐night. If spared till another Sabbath evening, I shall do so. I would
have you, my child, think very much about this most precious Bible
truth—_How a sinner is justified before God_.
[Sidenote: The Article of a Standing and Falling Church.] “Luther, the
great father of the Reformation, said, that a church could not stand for
a moment without this doctrine. Like a house without a foundation, it
would fall to pieces. And an older saint than Luther—the apostle
Paul—had his mind so full of it, that you cannot read his writings, and
understand them, without keeping this blessed doctrine constantly in
view.”
“Oh how peaceful, and safe, and joyous,” exclaimed Emma, “must the
justified sinner be!”
“Yes, truly,” replied her grandmother. “He has nothing to fear. On the
great day of judgment, however many his enemies and accusers may be, he
can look around him on all of them, and exclaim, with the great apostle,
‘Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is GOD THAT
JUSTIFIETH; who is he that condemneth?’ Here is a beautiful verse of a
hymn I should like you to learn by heart,” she added, repeating twice
over to little Emma the following lines:—
“‘Jesus! Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress,
’Mid flaming worlds, in these array’d,
With joy I shall lift up my head!’”