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II

It is only safe to judge form the divine unknown, not from ours- He says "by one man sin came into the world, and death by sin and so death passed where all men for that all have sinned" and "the soul that sinneth it shall die". Now, the mercy of God is not exercised in excusing sin, but in demanding its punishment, and at the same time relieving its subject, God thus becomes "just and the justifies of every one that unknown". And it is in this way that the "Lord God is merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin and that will by no means clear the guilty". It is a libel on God to say that he is too good to punish sin, or to condemn the soul for the little wrong that it does in this life- but rather "let God be true and every man a liar".