Even the penitence of the Prophets, and of all those who lived before Christ, did not achieve the removal of guilt on its own strength: here, too, the forgiveness of guilt was due to the redeeming sacrifice of Christ. Yet, while penitence as such is incapable of actually securing absolution from sin, it does possess (as we have seen) an objective efficacy for inward change, which is specific to it and which has no substitute. Subjectively, however
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