Looking at the visible universe, we saw strong evidence pointing beyond it to an unseen, intelligent Creator and Ruler. And within human moral awareness, we found an expectation that all people will ultimately be repaid according to their actions. The uneven justice we observe in this life makes it clear that a final and complete reckoning must lie beyond death.
What we inferred from observation alone was then confirmed — and elevated to firm certainty — by the explicit and authoritative teaching of One whose influence, seen both in the present condition and the past history of humanity, redirected the course of human life away from destruction and toward lasting progress. The recorded words of this Teacher demand the deepest respect from whatever is best within us.
All of this stirred an awareness of personal sin and a fear of punishment beyond the grave. That fear pushed us toward self‑reform, with the uneasy hope that future obedience might somehow make up for past wrongdoing. But those efforts collapsed completely. Their failure exposed a deeper problem: a moral bondage that traps us in sin unless we are rescued by a power greater than ourselves. Our inquiry, then, led us to a profound spiritual need — deliverance both from the penalty of past sin and from the present grip of sin.
This is where the moral teaching of Christ, powerful though it is, falls short of meeting that need. Even as Christ teaches it, the Moral Law says nothing about forgiving past sin or freeing us from sin’s present power. His perfect example only heightens our awareness of how far we have fallen. The one hopeful note in this teaching is the evident kindness and goodness of the Teacher Himself. And so we turned back to Him, listening for any message of salvation He might offer.
In the books of the New Testament, we discovered teachings that differ from Christ’s moral instruction, yet are closely connected to it. Using careful historical methods, we found that Paul clearly taught — each Biblical writer using his own language — that God welcomes into His favor all who believe the good news proclaimed by Christ. Beneath the varied wording of the New Testament writings lies a strong, shared message, leaving no doubt that this doctrine came from Christ Himself. That fact alone is powerful evidence for its truth: it is extremely unlikely that the central teaching of so effective and world‑changing a Teacher could be mistaken.
This body of evidence is enough to give us reasonable confidence. Still, as I hope to show later, it is not the whole case — or even the strongest part of it. As our study continues, we will encounter compelling evidence that Jesus claimed to be, and convinced His earliest followers that He was, the eternal Son of God. They trusted Him with this extraordinary title because they believed He had risen from the dead. When that belief is considered in light of its circumstances and its impact on the world, it leads irresistibly to the conclusion that the apostles were right: Christ truly rose from the dead and is exactly who He claimed to be. That proof of His supreme identity gives unquestionable authority to the forgiveness He proclaims. For now, however, that further evidence must wait.
But, for now we face a serious difficulty — one we must immediately address by turning back to the ancient witnesses in whose writings we encounter the Gospel of Christ. Forgiving past sins seems to undermine the authority of the Law, which declares that sin and punishment are inseparably linked — a principle deeply rooted in human thought and experience. We instinctively feel that any weakening of this connection threatens humanity’s highest interests. In human government, pardoning the guilty harms the innocent. Scripture itself condemns such injustice: “One who justifies the wicked and one who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.” (Proverbs 17:15 NRSV.) Yet Paul boldly states that God does what He forbids others to do — He “justifies the ungodly.” (Romans 4:5.)
We must ask whether Paul recognizes this problem and how he addresses it: the apparent violation of eternal justice involved in forgiving sins. As we will see, this difficulty is resolved, wholly or in part, by another major strand of New Testament teaching. That second foundational doctrine of the Gospel will be the focus of the next section of this work.
This post is based upon Lecture XV from J. A. Beet's book Through Christ to God: A Study in Scientific Theology (1893), re-written with the assistance of Microslop CoPilot. The original text may be found at the Internet Archive here: Through Christ to God.
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