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sin that is repeated oft and forsaken . His language to the offender is , Turn unto me , ajftd I'wilHtirn unto you . What the justice of God really requires is , that he shbdld act towards his creatures in consistency with the character undehtfhich he ; has been pleased to reveal himself . And what is the
character under which he has been pleased to reveal himself ? It is this : " The Lord passed by Moses and proclaimed himself . The Lord , the Lord God , merciful arid gracious , long-suffering , and abundant in goodness and truth ; keeping mercy for thousands , forgiving iniquity , transgression , and sin . " To say after this , that the justice " of God requires that every sin , though repented of and forsaken , should entail upon it the punishment originally
denounced against it , is to set up the fictions of our own imagination in opposition to the positive assertions of the divine word . It is very true , that in civil society an offender against the laws is punished without any inquiry being made about his repentance . And the reason of this is sufficiently obvious . Limited as are our faculties , and circumscribed as is our knowledge , it is quite impossible for us at any time to say that such a repentance is genuine and sincere ; and , therefore , with us punish-i ment must take its course . But this reason does not , in the slightest degree ,
apply to the Divine Being . He can remit the punishment ; he can forgive the offender , without injury to his laws , because he knows , certainly and unerringly , when to forgive and whom to forgive . He is not to be imposed upon by false representations . He is not to be deceived by outward appearances . He looketh at the heart , and he knoweth when the heart is right . To deny to the Divine Being the power of forgiving sins upon repentance , or , which is the same thing , to say that such an act is inconsistent with his justice , is to rob him of the brightest jewel in the crown of
his glory . That doctrine , therefore , must be false , and that reasoning must be bad , which would place in direct opposition and contrariety to each other , the justice and the mercy of God . To forgive a debt , to remit ? a punishment , is an act of mercy ; and to him who knows always and with certainty what debt to forgive , and what punishment to remit * what and when is the proper time and occasion for exercising this disposition * —to such a being the act of forgiveness can never be opposed to the demands of justice ; in other Words , these two attributes of the Divine Being will always
concur and harmonize with each other . The general reasoning in favour of the common doctrine of the Atonement is also founded on erroneous conceptions of the nature and design of punishment . Punishment was not ordained for its own sake , or for any vindictive purpose , but for the furtherance of the ends of truth and
righteousness . And whenever the cause of righteousness can be more effectually promoted by the exercise of forbearance and forgiveness , than by the infliction of punishment , the laws of God * so far from requiring punishment , are best honoured and vindicated by the exercise of forgiveness . The object of punishment is the promotion of the general good , combined with the reformation of the individual offender . For the reasons just stated , it is
not always possible , under human governments , to connect these two purposes together ; but under the government of God there is nothing to prevent their most perfect and entire combination . With God , fully acquainted as He is with the thoughts and purposes of the human heart , if the sinner trul y repeht of his sins * and do works meet for repentance , the end of punishment is obtained , and the necessity of its positive infliction is done away with * But punishment , it is repeated , must be inflicted in vindication of the authority of God's laws . But God ' s laws archest and mo ^ t worthily
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550 JRet > tet 0 . 'JP ' -+ Dr . . . Smiths Discourses .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1828, page 550, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2563/page/38/
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