It would seem that when it comes down to the bedrock, things that really count, things of sin and the soul and the Savior, a great many people suddenly become very positive about their negatives, and very negative about those positives which are clearly, definitely marked out in the living Word of God.
Ask them about the welfare of the soul, and there will be the innocent look and the injured line: “Why, I don’t do this and I don’t go there!” As if heaven could be gained by the pious accumulation of nothings. And it is tragic to note their negative attitude and expression when one seeks to bring home the positives of the Word of God: “Christ died for our sins” (1 Cor. 15:3), and, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). An old man belligerently asked me if forty years of church membership was to “go overboard.” Another was disappointed when I was not impressed by his graphic recital of personal philanthropies. But for all of that, it is tragically true that many who are church-filled are Christless, and they will find plenty of company in the woe of “blackness of darkness forever” (Jude 13).
The “do’s and don’ts” of the Christless become the peril of the soul which, in the midst of its negatives, has neglected to spend a clear, honest moment in facing facts according to the perfect Word of God.
“The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (2 Cor. 4:4). A chemist will follow the formula; a builder, the blueprint; a driver, the road map. They consider it important to follow directions. But how sad the soul which is allowed to carry on without the help and guidance of the living Word of the Lord!
And remember, all such negatives come from the devil to keep the soul from light and salvation. Nothing, on the other hand, is more positive than this: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
And: “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7)!
This is primary. This is pertinent. And this is pressingly positive!