SALVATION is not a question of a beautiful outwardly blameless life, nor of doing the best you can, but of faith in that which alone can fit you for the presence of God, viz., the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is an immense point to get the sense deeply in your soul that atonement is accomplished. There is no uncertainty about it. When Israel broke the law and lay exposed to its curse, “Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin” (Ex. 32:3131And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. (Exodus 32:31)). That was all Moses could say in the day of law.
We live in the day of grace. There is an excess of grace, I might say, for we read, “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love to us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6-86For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6‑8)). A righteous man is a man that pays twenty shillings in the pound, and expects everybody else to do the same. Very well, he is righteous, but usually he is not a very lovable character.
What do you understand by a good man? A man like John Howard who went and lived in prison to see how the prisoners fared. We are told that “Peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.” But even that only means perhaps. What does the apostle say then? “But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (vs. 8). That is God, my reader. That is God’s nature unfolded. That is God’s love in activity. That is God’s way of reaching man. And that is what the apostle means when he says elsewhere, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved)” (Eph. 2:4, 54But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Ephesians 2:4‑5)).
When does God begin with man? When his case is hopeless. Rejoice, my self-judged penitent reader, that your case is hopeless. You are the very one God loves to meet. I remember traveling to the North of Scotland some years ago, and at Bannockburn a lady entered the carriage I was in. I gave her a little gospel book, and as she read it I saw tears come rolling down her cheeks. Presently I turned round and made some remarks about the joy of possessing Christ and the knowledge of present salvation. Soon I found out that she was a very wretched sinner and very anxious to be saved. Then the truth came out that she had been in this state for twenty long years.
“I have been doing the best I can, and am only a miserable failure,” was her confession, as down came the tears faster than ever.
“You have made plenty of good resolves in these twenty years, and broken them too? I said inquiringly.
“Yes, I have been trying, and resolving to be better, but all in vain, I always break down. My resolves seem to have been merely made to be broken. My case is so bad, I think I am past all hope, and now I am in despair. It is all over with me now,” and she fairly collapsed in agony of soul.
“I have some good news for you,” said I at this juncture.
“What is that? “she eagerly asked.
“You were never nearer salvation all the days of your life than you are now,” I replied,” for you have lost all confidence in yourself and your own doings.”
“But I never felt so bad, or so weak. I can do nothing but sin,” was her sad response.
“That is the ground of my assertion as to good news. Hopeless as to yourself you are just ready to let another do His part.
“Now tell me, are you willing to let Jesus save you? Are you prepared to give up all your own doings, strivings, and reformations, and as a poor lost sinner let the Saviour save you?”
“Yes, indeed, if Jesus will have me.” I put the simple gospel of Romans 5:6-86For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6‑8) before her, and she received it like a thirsty man does water, or a hungry man bread. She received Jesus simply as her Saviour, then and there, and when she got out on the Perth platform, really a new creature in Christ Jesus, who now was all her hope and all her salvation, I wish you had seen her face. It was shining with the enjoyed knowledge of God’s salvation. That is the way the mercy of the Lord meets really anxious souls.
Reader, if you have been thinking you must do something to obtain salvation, give up the idea on the spot. If you are going to get blessing you will have to go straight to God with an honest confession of what your real state is. When did the prodigal get right? When he said, “Father, I have sinned.” I quite admit there was a work of grace in his soul before, and I think he was full of amazement when he saw the father running towards him, with outstretched arms, but when did he get relief? When he said, “Father, I have sinned.” What is the next word? The father said to the servants, “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet” (Luke 15:2222But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: (Luke 15:22)), and he passed into the house fit for it. Then he enjoyed the feast which love had spread for him. So is it with us. Love provides a full salvation in Christ Jesus and His finished work. Faith appropriates what love provides. The heart then enjoys this blessed revelation of God. As a consequence the walk manifests the effect of grace upon the soul. Devotedness to Christ and all His interests mark the newly-saved one.
Reader, are you one of these highly blessed souls who simply believe in Jesus unto eternal life?
W. T. P. W.