“I have made a study of different religions, of the teachings of Muhammad, Confucius, Buddha and others, but the tracts you gave me remind me that, with all my sins, I am not fit to meet God.” So said a man in the mountains out west to a servant of Christ.
There are many besides this man who take for granted that peace of soul is to be found in the belief of some creed or the observance of some religion and its rituals. Naturally, they want to know which is the best religion to follow. So they set out to examine the various conflicting creeds. They may find excellent moral maxims in Confucianism; they may find conspicuous examples of unselfishness and devotedness in Buddhism; they may find earnestness to the point of fanaticism in Muhammadanism. But there is one thing for which they search all these religious systems in vain.
What is this one thing that is lacking? It is the knowledge of how a sinner may be made fit to meet a supremely holy God.
Only in Christianity is this knowledge to be found. Yet Christianity, as a mere religion, no more satisfies the need of the soul than Buddhism or any other system. There are those who profess Christianity who are as far from being truly satisfied as any deluded pagan. It is not belief in a creed, however correct, but faith in a living Person, Christ Jesus, that is the way of blessing.
Religion - that is, the mere outward expression of a creed - is no Saviour. Christ alone can save. Confucius, Buddha and Muhammad lived their lives hundreds of years ago and are now dead. But Christ is not dead!
True, He laid down His life upon the cross. He suffered and died for sinners. But His resurrection is a great fact. He lives today. “Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth” (Hebrews 7:2525Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)).
It is to this living Saviour you are invited to come. On the ground of His atoning work God can blot out all your sins from under His holy eye and thus make you fit for His own presence. Do not let another hour go by without putting your trust in the Saviour that God has provided for you.
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“Choose you this day
whom ye will serve.”
“But [God] now
commandeth all men
everywhere to repent.”