How I Know That Jesus Died for Me.

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 8
AS a boy, I was sorely perplexed with the doctrine of Election. It was preached in the parish where I lived, in such a way as to make it impossible for any to be saved, except those for whom Christ died, and they seemed to be a very select and holy few. The result was that I became skeptical. God only knows how far I would have gone, and what the end would have been, had He not in His mercy sent the gospel message, as it is recorded in His Word, to my ears. A number of young men on a holiday held an open-air meeting on the “Common” close by our village, on a summer Sunday afternoon. A good number of the people attended. I went, out of curiosity, and stood a good way off. One read John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16), and re-marked that “‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,’ meant, that there was not one present but was included in ‘the world,’ and therefore loved by God.” I said to myself, “That means me.”
The second speaker read Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8): “While we were yet SINNERS, Christ died for us,” and added, “If you know yourself a sinner, then you can say, on the authority of this verse, ‘Jesus died for ME.’” That was another ray of heavenly light to me.
A third read Acts 13:3939And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:39): “All that believe ARE justified,” and remarked, “If twenty persons here, believe that Jesus died for them as sinners, then God says these twenty persons ‘ARE justified.’” I never heard the way of life made so clear before: I have not heard it made clearer since. I forgot all that I had heard of man’s reasonings about election, and all that I had said against God, and what I had wrongly thought to be His Word. The truth, plainly, simply, and I believe powerfully spoken by these three young men, who knew its saving power themselves, cleared my mind of all the false ideas that lodged there, and at the same time reached my heart as God’s message. That afternoon at that little open-air meeting, I, as a sinner, believed that Jesus died for me, and was saved. Praise the Lord!
If you want to be saved, take God’s Word for it, as I did.
ML-09/12/1920