Sinners Pardoned for Christ's Sake



It was highly proper that the unexampled benevolence, humility, and other graces which Christ displayed in condescending to obey, suffer, and die in our stead - should receive from His righteous Father a suitable reward; and that God should manifest, in a signal and illustrious manner, His approbation (approval) of such unequaled goodness to all His intelligent creatures. But the Son of God neither needed, nor could receive any reward for Himself; for He is the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person, and possesses in the highest degree all possible perfection, glory, and felicity (intense happiness).

Since, therefore, it was necessary that Christ should be rewarded, and since He needed no reward for Himself - His Father was pleased, in the covenant of redemption, to promise Him what would be to His benevolent heart, the greatest of all rewards. He promised Him that if He would make His soul an offering for sin - then He should have a seed and people to serve Him; and that all His spiritual seed, all His chosen people who were given Him by His Father - should, for His sake and as a reward of His obedience, suffering, and death - be saved from the guilt and power of sin, be adopted as the children of God, made joint heirs with Christ of the heavenly inheritance, and receive, through Him, everything necessary to prepare and qualify them for its enjoyment.

Thus God bestows everlasting life, glory, and felicity on guilty rebels, merely for the sake of Christ - and with a view to convince all intelligent beings that He is infinitely well pleased with the holy benevolence which His Son displayed when He consented to die in their stead.


-Gospel report by preacher Edward Payson (1783–1827 A.D.)

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