would have meant a premium on crime. That
would have meant the debased, the debauched, the immoral, the drunken,
the fiend, on a level with the chaste, the pure, the upright, the
true. That would have meant unbridled rein to passion and lust and
every other evil inclination, and no penalty following. That would
have meant Hell in trying to get rid of Hell.

Third, There was left but one other possible plan, to be just and at
the same time extend love to the sinners. In the nature of the case,
real redemption, without any makeshift, was the only way this _could_
be done. "Even so _must_ the Son of man be lifted up,"--John 3:14;
"that he himself might be _just_ and the _justifier_ of him that hath
faith in Jesus,"--Rom. 3:26; "God so _loved_ the world that he gave
his only begotten Son,"--John 3:16; "Herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be _the propitiation
for our sins_."--1 John 4:10.

This leads to another question: How can God be _just_ and _not_
justify "him that hath faith in Jesus"? Again men may quibble and
warp, and ridicule, but no one will ever answer the question. And the
reason why this question will never be answered leads to another
question:

From how many of his sins is the one "that hath faith in Jesus"
_justified_? We have now gotten to the very centre of the whole
problem of salvation. Let us give it most careful consideration.

In not one of the Scriptures cited at the head of this chapter is
there one word that limits the number of sins for which Christ died,
or from which the believer is justified. That of itself is sufficient
warrant for us to conclude that Christ died for _all_ of the sins of
the believer, that when He "gave himself for our sins" (Gal. 1:4), it
included _all_ of our sins, and that the believer is justified from
_all_ of his sins. One man promises another that he will pay his
debts. That of itself means all of his debts, unless the one making
the promise was simply juggling with words. While this of itself would
be sufficient, God in His word has made it positive and absolute as to
how many of the believer's sins were laid on Christ ("the Lord hath
laid on him the iniquity of us all."--Is. 53:6); for how many of our
sins Christ gave Himself ("Who gave himself for our sins."--Gal. 1:4);
for how many of our sins Christ died (1 Cor. 15:3); from how many of
his sins the believer is _justified_, ("that he might himself be
_just_ and the _