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Acknowledgment.
#1.
The Place of Acknowledgment in Experimental Truth.
pp. 18 - 20
Salvation is a finished work. Nothing that man can do can make salvation more
secure than it is, for it rests solely upon the once-offered sacrifice of Christ. It is a
salvation that is by grace. Yet, it is equally the testimony of the Scriptures that salvation
is also "by faith", and though it be a work already accomplished on behalf of sinful man,
no man is "saved" apart from faith in the Son of God. Man is a moral being and in this
lies his separateness from the rest of the visible world. No one has ever seen a stone
"refuse" to fall to the ground when released, nor the sun hesitate on his course. Like
man, sun and stones, stars and trees, are creatures but, unlike man, they are not moral. It
is of the essence of the moral sphere that obedience be freely rendered. The very idea of
an enforced holiness is intolerable either to reason or to revelation. The man who is
"saved by grace" is a man who has also felt his need and has been "saved by faith".
Now a word that recurs in the spiritual history of man as recorded in the Word, and
that forms the bridge over which man as a moral creature passes into salvation and its
accompanying blessings, is the word "acknowledge". Let us turn to some passages of
Scripture that reveal the important place "acknowledgment" has in the mind and will of
God for His people.
"Only acknowledge thine iniquity" was the one proviso needful for restoration in the
Lord's call to Israel by Jeremiah:
"Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding
Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you: for I am
merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine
iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways
to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed My voice, saith the Lord.
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you" (Jer. 3: 12-14).
Acknowledgement is here seen as one phase of repentance. "Return", "acknowledge",
"turn" and the like truth is also found in the New Testament. Much to the same effect is
the testimony of Prov. 28: 13:
"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them
shall have mercy."
This passage makes us think of that great example of true acknowledgment, David,
whose repentance has given us those two wonderful Psalms, 32: & 51: Psalm 32:
opens with the blessedness of the man whose transgression is forgiven, but before this
blessedness could be experienced by David, he had to acknowledge his sin. While he
kept silence his misery was great, and the hand of the Lord was heavy upon him.