Sin and Judgment to Come 49 Gospel is true—a nd how few there are who really believe it to be true!—who can dare to impugn the justice of “ever- lasting punishment” ? For Christ has opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers; the way to God is free, and whosoever will may come. There is no artifice in this and grace is not a cloak to cover favoritism. Unsolved mysteries there are in Holy Writ, but when we read of “God our Saviour,” who will- eth that all men should be saved; and of “Christ Jesus who gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:3-6), we are stand- ing in the full clear light of day. This much is as clear as words can make it—a nd nothing more than this concerns us—that the consequences of accept- ing or rejecting Christ are final and eternal. But who are they who shall be held guilty of rejecting? What of those who, though living in Christendom, have never heard the Gos- pel aright? And what of the heathen who have never heard at all? No one can claim to solve these problems without seeming profanely to assume the role of umpire between God and men. We know, and it is our joy to know, that the de- cision of all such questions rests with a God of perfect justice and infinite love. And let this be our answer to those who demand a solution of them. Unhesitating faith is our right attitude in presence of divine revelation, but where Scripture is silent let us keep silence.* *The scope of this article is limited not only by exigencies of space but by the nature of the subject. Therefore it contains no special reference to the work of the Holy Spirit.
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