False Presumptions of Forgiveness Discovered

The Narrated Puritan

Men by nature have presumptions and common ingrafted notions of other properties of God besides his holiness and justice, —as of his goodness, benignity, love of His creatures, and the like; but all these have this supposition inlaid with them in the souls of men, namely, that all things stand between God and his creatures as they did at their first creation. And as they have no natural notion of forgiveness, so the interposition of sin weakens, disturbs, darkens them, as to any improvement of those apprehensions of goodness and benignity which they have. If they have any notion of forgiveness, it is from some corrupt tradition, and not at all from any universal principle that is inbred in nature, such as are those which they have of God's holiness and vindictive justice.