In the great Old Testament revelation of God's character which was made to Moses on the Mount, two contrasting statements stand side by side: ". . . forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and"--here follows what one would least have expected--"that will by no means clear the guilty" (Ex. 34.7).

      These two features of God's unchangeable character are in such strong contrast as almost to clash; yet in His nature both are united. He is a forgiving God, but He will not clear the guilty. Since, however, it is none but the guilty that need forgiveness, the guilt of the guilty must in some way be dealt with before God can forgive. He cannot clear the man until the guilt is removed. In this fundamental fact lies the whole Bible doctrine of the atonement, the whole grace and truth of the Gospel. "He will not clear the guilty"--that is God's integrity, His incorruptible justice and righteousness. But "forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin," that is His mercy and His lovingkindness. The harmony of these two attributes demands--not only that He forgive where in righteousness he can (for that alone would mean nothing to us)--but that He must make a way which will make it possible for Him to forgive the guilty while yet upholding His perfect righteousness, so that He may be just and the justifier of those who have sinned.

      In nothing is the fleshly judgment of men so wrong as in the question of forgiveness. Most men see no reason why God should not freely forgive any and every man that may desire forgiveness, or even those who do not. Being themselves devoid of any real sense of sin, or of righteousness, or of judgment, they see no reason why God should take great exceptions to sin. They would be disposed to blame Him if he held men guilty and condemned them to any severe punishment. The natural lawlessness of their own hearts sees no difficulty in the way of God's arbitrarily wiping out man's score of guilt--just as some rich man might generously cancel a poor man's debt, or as they themselves good-naturedly would let off their own children for acts of disobedience and insubordination.

      Why not? That there might be any principle involved 'in God's sight, that the disregard of such principle would compromise God's character and make Him as lawless and criminal as themselves, does not seem to enter their thoughts. To their minds all the reconciliation needed is on man's part. There is nothing on God's side that needs to [333] be adjusted, and there never was. Men only thought He was offended because they felt they had acted meanly toward Him; but in reality He never was out of humor with us poor silly children. His Son came down from heaven to tell us that there was really nothing the matter. His death was only a dramatic exhibition to impress us all with the greatness of His love--but there was no necessity of such a death to remove guilt or judgment. (One shrinks from even stating such notions, as from blasphemy.)

      Little do they know of a God whose holiness is a consuming fire, and who, by His very nature must render to every man according to his works; who must and will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or bad. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" But they think of His love as laxness, and His mercy is nothing more to them than easy-going good nature. They think that the supreme liberty of His will is exercised in lawless, unprincipled license of decree and action. They think he is free to clear the guilty, and that He does without rhyme or reason whatever and wherever He may choose. His government in their eyes is nothing more than an arbitrary exercise of power.

      "He that condemneth the righteous, and he that justifieth the wicked, both of them alike are an abomination unto Jehovah" (Prov. 17:15). The judicial function among men is delegated from God and is to be exercised after the pattern of His judgment. For this every public official is responsible to God. "If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, and the judges judge them; then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked" (Deut. 25:1). God hates unjust judgment, for the perversion of justice in high places strikes at the very heart of the nation and at the foundation of human welfare. Men instinctively feel the outrage of it. The seed of injustice necessitates a future harvest of blood and disaster. The nation in which that sort of thing goes on is headed toward ruin. I suppose that most people felt something of the significance of the following news item, taken from the front page of the Louisville Courier-Journal, Dec. 13, 1927.

      Gov. William J. Fields opened and shut the prison doors sixty two times today, releasing as many men convicted of murder, manslaughter, malicious shooting, robbery, child desertion, house breaking, embezzlement, forgery, automobile stealing, and barn burning

  *       *       *       *       *       *  

With the pardons announced today, the Governor filed his reasons. The number granted today ran the total of pardons granted since [334] November 1 to more than 129. This does not include pardons and commutations granted for misdemeanor and minor offenses.

      I give this without comment. I cite it merely for illustration. This kind of pardon God cannot give. If God, the Judge of all, should exercise pardoning power in an arbitrary fashion, the whole world--and heaven too--would become hell.

      The stem integrity of God's government shines forth in the very message that proclaims the good tidings of mercy to sinners. The sending of the Son, His coming to the earth, His ministry and death, in which on God's behalf and as the representative of man before God He assumed the judgment of sin and "bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (for "Jehovah laid upon him the iniquities of us all") is to be explained in no other way than that eternal, inflexible justice demanded it. And just as plainly was it eternal, infinite love and mercy that provided it, and so provided a free and righteous pardon to all who will come and avail themselves of it.

[LOGP 333-335.]

      The electronic version of R. H. Boll's "Limitations of God's Pardon" has been produced from the 90th Anniversary Issue of The Word and Work, Vol. 92, No. 11 (November-December 1998), pp. 333-335. The essay is reprinted from its earlier appearance (1928) in the magazine, Vol. 21, No. 1 (January 1928), pp. 1-3. Thanks to Alex V. Wilson, Editor of Word and Work, for permission to publish the essay as an electronic text.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained.

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 1 October 2000.
Updated 21 June 2003.