"All unrighteousness is sin" (1 John 5:17.)

"If any man see his brother sin a sin not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death:I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin; and there is a sin not unto death" (1 John 5:16,17).

"Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him:let him know, that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins" (James 5:19, 20).

"And above all things have fervent love among yourselves:for love shall cover the multitude of sins" (1 Pet. 4:8).

All sins, then, short of that which is unto death and that which may be "against the Holy Ghost," can be "forgiven unto the sons of men" (Mark 3:28-30); and we can pray for and seek the restoration of any "brother" and get the forgiveness and recovery we ask for.

"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven; for where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them"(Matt. 18:19,20).

Is there anything equivocal about the above citations? Can any other modification than that as here given by the inspiration of God change the plain meaning of such words? Have we any right to say, "But," and then seek to reason away the brotherly responsibility laid upon us by "the Holy Spirit of God?" Would it not be "SIN" for us to try to disqualify ourselves from this law of "the brotherhood?"

Peter enjoins:"Love the brotherhood" (1 Pet. 2:17).

It is equally a "sin" NOT to forgive-it is anti-christian NOT to forgive-it is a grief to "the Holy Spirit of God" (Eph. 4:30) NOT to forgive (5:32).

When we "see a brother sin a sin which is not unto death," must we go about to stir up others to put away from amongst us, instead of, as pastors, to seek his recovery and restoration?

One under Sinai's law could always find the stone heap; and was ever ready to "cast" them at the transgressor:but this is NOT Christianity.

There were some in Samaria, who, because they would not receive our Lord Christ, which, in the eyes of James and John was an unforgivable sin, they would destroy them with fire from heaven. But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of" (Luke 9:54, 55).

To refuse to forgive a brother whom we "see" as having sinned; and to seek not his restoration and recovery, is a SIN AGAINST CHRIST; to "cast a stone" at him, is to cast a stone at our Lord Christ:"Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto Me" (Matt. 25:40,45).

Do we not carefully bind up a wound inflicted upon any part of our "body," and mollify it with ointment, and nurse it gently until healing is complete? NOT to do this is to sin against the "head" of the body; and against every other "member" of it-"THE BODY IS CHRIST" (1 Cor. 12).

Yes, "Call sin by its right name," but do NOT call other sins by any other name.

There can be no salvation nor recovery from sin and error, except where there is genuine repentance toward God-"A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise" (Ps. 51:17).

Nor can there be any repentance accepted, save as God grants it (Acts 11:18); but we know that as "now is the accepted time" (2 Cor. 6:2), that God is very gracious and READY to forgive (Acts 10:44), for reasons stated in Rom. 11:25.

This, too, is exhibited in the "father" in Luke 15:11-32. But there was a punctilious brother, exacting and unforgiving, out in the field, whose heart was hard and cold, and not ready to forgive his brother; he was not in a spiritual state of mind to determine the genuineness of that repentance in his brother, as could the father- he was not in communion with his father's mind-his own spirit was at work-"he would not go in."

The words in the foregoing paper were written especially with the view of repentance on the part of those in whose power it is to forgive. If we are ready to forgive, we do not have to wait for the erring brother to say "I repent" (Lk. 17:3, 4), before we forgive him in our hearts. True forgiveness must be "from your hearts," to be acceptable with God (Matt. 18:35); and if from the heart, the Holy Spirit must prepare in us the spirit of forgiveness, so that when the brother says, "I am sorry," we can as quickly and generously forgive, "even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Eph. 4:32). To be "tenderhearted" means that we are in a spiritual state of readiness to forgive.

There is a subtle snare from the enemy, to render us so incapable of forgiving another, that we cannot tell when genuine repentance begins, nor its depth in the trespassing brother. But this is God's work, not ours; we can so grieve the Holy Spirit of God (ver. 30), as to hinder His work in another, by our cold, unsympathetic, exacting attitude toward him; if our own spirits are tender, "it cannot be hid" (1 Tim. 5:30); and the erring brother may know that forgiveness awaits him when he will "turn again to thee" (Lk. 17:4).

God ofttimes, if not always, would use the case of a transgressing brother to TRY US-to foster in us that brotherly tenderness so essential to true Christian fellowship:because the erring brother may be very sensitive- if repentant, his spirit is broken-and we can easily freeze that up, and so "destroy" the weak brother "for whom Christ died," and thus destroy the work of God!

Job was "a perfect" and an "upright" man, very punctilious with his offerings for each one of his children "continuously" (Job 1:1,5); but we do not read that he offered any for himself:he "eschewed evil," helped the poor, gave alms, very correct and righteous in his conduct; but do we see anything like tenderness toward his peers as to their knowledge of the "truth in the abstract" toward his brethren ? God would soften his spirit-are we better than he? He would teach "my servant Job" how to repent, to abhor himself, before he could rightly pray for his brethren.

Jonah would prophesy destruction upon an impenitent Nineveh; but he could not forgive a penitent city-he could not forgive like God. So he sat down in a safe, distant place to watch, "till he might see what would become of the city" (Jonah 4:5).

We may prophesy dire happenings to others, and then take a safe distant place and watch, Jonah-like, to see our prophecies come true, too far away to note the quiet work of the Holy Spirit of God in the erring one; and we are surprised to learn that God is blessing them, even before we saw any signs of repentance in them. Why? Because we ourselves are not in a state of penitence, so that we can exercise true discernment as to His work in others:we keep ourselves too jar away from them!

"They watch for your souls" (Heb. 13:17); yes, as God watches, but not in a paternalistic way, a spirit which would assume the place of a benefactor, but ever "as the younger" (Lk. 22:26); and as "ensamples to the flock" (1 Pet. 5:3). S. A. White