Purged by atoning blood, we shall be clean indeed. Washed in this fountain, we shall be, according to the prayer of the royal penitent, “whiter than snow.” We shall be absolved from guilt, accepted in the Beloved, and justified freely by God’s grace; so that, though, as the prophet speaks, “our sins have been as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they have been red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” It is upon this ground only that any repentant sinner can hope for the Divine forgiveness, and enjoy that “peace in believing,” which is the effect of a true and genuine reconciliation to God.

”