DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9552#0361
TO THE CHRISTIAN PUBLIC.
17
than two pages in proving this point. He has not,
however, attempted to counteract the force of the
passages I quoted in both of my Appeals, shewing
that the» guilt occasioned by the want of due obedience-
to the precepts in question may be pardoned through
repentance prescribed by the author of those precepts
as the sure and only remedy for human failure. I
therefore beg to ask the Editor to give a plain explana-
tion of the following passages selected from my Appeals,
that the reader may be able to judge whether or not
repentance can procure us the blessings of pardon
for our constant omissions in the discharge of the duties
laid down in the precepts of Jesus. Luke v. 32 : of
" I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repen-
tance." Does not Jesus here declare a chief object of
his mission to be the calling of sinners to repentance ?'
Luke xxiv. 47 : "That repentance and remisssion of
sins should be preached, in his name, among all
nations." Did not Jesus, by this commandment to his
disciples, declare the remission of sins as an immediate-
and necessary consequence of repentance ? In Luke
xiii. 3, " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish, '°
the indispensability of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins is explicitly declared. Is not also the mercy of
God illustrated by the example of a father forgiving the
transgressions of his son through his sincere repentance
alone, in the parable of the prodigal son ? Those wh o-
place confidence in the divine mission of Jesus, or even
in his veracity, will not hesitate, I trust, for a moment,
to admit that Jesus has directed us to sincere repen-
tance as the only means of procuring pardon, knowing
the inability of men to give entire obedience to his.
17
than two pages in proving this point. He has not,
however, attempted to counteract the force of the
passages I quoted in both of my Appeals, shewing
that the» guilt occasioned by the want of due obedience-
to the precepts in question may be pardoned through
repentance prescribed by the author of those precepts
as the sure and only remedy for human failure. I
therefore beg to ask the Editor to give a plain explana-
tion of the following passages selected from my Appeals,
that the reader may be able to judge whether or not
repentance can procure us the blessings of pardon
for our constant omissions in the discharge of the duties
laid down in the precepts of Jesus. Luke v. 32 : of
" I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repen-
tance." Does not Jesus here declare a chief object of
his mission to be the calling of sinners to repentance ?'
Luke xxiv. 47 : "That repentance and remisssion of
sins should be preached, in his name, among all
nations." Did not Jesus, by this commandment to his
disciples, declare the remission of sins as an immediate-
and necessary consequence of repentance ? In Luke
xiii. 3, " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish, '°
the indispensability of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins is explicitly declared. Is not also the mercy of
God illustrated by the example of a father forgiving the
transgressions of his son through his sincere repentance
alone, in the parable of the prodigal son ? Those wh o-
place confidence in the divine mission of Jesus, or even
in his veracity, will not hesitate, I trust, for a moment,
to admit that Jesus has directed us to sincere repen-
tance as the only means of procuring pardon, knowing
the inability of men to give entire obedience to his.