A Common Fallacy.

RETURNING from business I fell into conversation with a fellow-passenger. Our conversation drifted to spiritual matters. He talked of the different sects in Christendom, and finished up by declaring his belief that if we did our best we should be all right in the end.
“What do you mean by doing your best?” I inquired.
“Oh! keeping straight, and doing no harm to anybody,” he replied.
“Do you read your Bible much?” I asked.
“I am not so well up in it as I used to be,” was his answer.
Then I quoted to him, “To him that worketh NOT, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:55But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5)). Also, “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:88For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8)). I asked him if that looked as if doing one’s best was the right way of obtaining the blessing.
His answer was sad in the extreme. “It does not appeal to my reason.” He refused to bow to God’s Word.
Reader, are you making the fatal mistake of this man? Are you doing your best for salvation? Or are you prepared to accept salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus without deed or merit on your part?
E. A. J.