“WE have peace with God” (Rom. 5:11Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)); “Being now justified” (vs. 9); “We have now received the reconciliation” (vs. 11); “Ye are saved” (1 Cor. 15:22By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:2)); “By grace are ye saved through faith” (Eph. 2:88For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8)); “We have redemption through his blood” (Col. 1:1414In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (Colossians 1:14)); “We have... the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:1414In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (Colossians 1:14)); “The Father... hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col. 1:1212Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: (Colossians 1:12)); “You... now hath he reconciled” (Col. 1:2121And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled (Colossians 1:21)); “Jesus... delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:1010And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10)); “God, even our Father,... hath given us everlasting consolation” (2 Thess. 2:1616Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, (2 Thessalonians 2:16)); “According to his mercy he saved us” (Tit. 3:55Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (Titus 3:5)); “Your sins are forgiven you” (1 John 2:1212I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. (1 John 2:12)); “God hath given to us eternal life” (1 John 5:1111And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11)); “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:1313These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13)).
Classifying these scriptures, we have, ―
1. Present Peace with God.
2. Present Justification.
3. Present Reconciliation.
4. Present Redemption.
5. Present Fitness for Glory
6. Present Deliverance from Wrath.
7. Present Possession of Everlasting Consolation.
8. Present Salvation.
9. Present Forgiveness of Sins.
10. Present Possession of Eternal Life.
It is difficult to understand how anyone professing to accept the Bible as a divine authority, can, in the face of such plain statements as the foregoing, positively, persistently, and publicly declare that no man can know for certain in this world that he is saved, that his sins are forgiven, that he has eternal life, and so forth,―that we must all go on day by day, doing the best we can, praying to God for mercy, and humbly hoping that it will be all right in the end. I believe this doctrine to be one of the devil’s most effectual means for ensuring the eternal ruin of souls. Men make a liar of God, and give credence to Satan, and must suffer the bitter consequences of their awful guilt in the lake of fire forever.
When a person accepts this theory as true, he settles down pretty composedly, thinking that, since these things cannot be known as certainties, he will take his chance as to the issues, content to let the most important and solemn question of his eternal destiny hang on the fragile thread of a hope that has no foundation. Whereas, once admit the truth of the Word of God, and give it its full force, when it states with such clearness that salvation is a present portion, the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, &c., things to be known and enjoyed now, and the question immediately addresses itself to the conscience, “Are you, then, saved or lost?”― “Are your sins forgiven, or still unpardoned?”
Come then, my reader, I ask your serious attention while solemnly, as in the presence of God, I remind you that there are but two roads to eternity, ―on one of them you are traveling at this very moment, and speeding onward as fast as time can carry you, ―the broad road, which leads to destruction; and the narrow, which leads to life. Destruction, “everlasting destruction” (2 Thess. 1:99Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; (2 Thessalonians 1:9)), is the goal of the one; and life, eternal life” (1 John 2:2525And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. (1 John 2:25)), the terminus of the other. Stop, and think a moment, Which are you on? Perhaps you answer, “Well, I hope I am on the narrow one that leads to life.” Just so; and you will contentedly lay your head on your pillow tonight, will you, if nothing should occur to prevent you so doing, hoping that it is so, to find, perhaps before the morning dawns, your lost soul launched out into the shoreless ocean of “everlasting destruction”? to discover, when, alas! too late, that it was the broad road you were traveling on after all. Oh! how can you, dare you, risk it? Is not your soul of more value than that? What! hope to be all right in the end, while now you are all wrong? hope to get to heaven when you die, while now hell is yawning, but one step, it may be, before you? And the devil lures you on, blinding your eyes with a false hope, till he has you with himself and his angels in the place of eternal hopelessness, “then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.” Most earnestly I entreat you, therefore, to face at once this solemn reality. Don’t give it another moment’s delay. Time is short; the Lord Jesus is coming quickly to take His people home; life is uncertain. Yet, once more, God warns you; oh, do give heed!
Just picture by yourself a man that lives in Dublin being summoned in all haste to Glasgow, to receive from a friend rapidly dying there a title to a property worth some thousands. He goes off to the quay, and gets aboard the first steamer he sees, without ever ascertaining whether it is a Glasgow boat or not. The fact is, it is a London steamer he has embarked in; and while he tells you that he hopes it will take him to Glasgow, as he would be exceedingly sorry to miss such a splendid opportunity, and he knows that there is not a moment to be lost, yet he is altogether indifferent as to whether he is in the right boat or the wrong one. Why, you would say the man is mad to treat such an important matter so carelessly; to be satisfied with the hope that he is going right, when the loss or gain of so much money depended entirely on whether he was or not, is most extraordinary. But let us apply the illustration. If you are unsaved, and yet hoping to get to heaven by and by, are you less foolish than he? He risks a few thousands, you risk your soul; his is a question of time, yours of eternity. He in a short time may find to his dismay that he is in London instead of Glasgow; and can it be possible, that before another morning the soul of the reader of these lines may be in hell, and his voice raised in that awful cry, that “weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth,” “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched?” Oh! what road are you on? the broad or the narrow? Where, oh where, are you bound for? the lake of fire, or the glory of God? Think of the thousands now in that “outer darkness,” who, when on earth, would have said, like you, they hoped to go to heaven when they died. But they were deluded by the devil, and refused to believe the truth; and now, the sight of the “great gulf fixed” shuts out the possibility of the entrance into their souls of the faintest glimmer of a hope forever. How awful to contemplate the very expression! “I hope,” tells that the question is not settled. Beware, lest you leave it unsettled till too late. Dear reader, God is not mocked. May He arouse you even now to a sense of the urgency of your need.
Dear soul, would you not like to be saved, to be justified, to have your sins forgiven, to have eternal life? Notice, then, God’s own precious simple words, written for your ears to hear, your heart to believe: 1St, SALVATION, ― “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:1, 91And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (Ephesians 2:1)
9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:9)). 2nd FORGIVENESS, ― “When they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both” (Luke 7:4242And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? (Luke 7:42)); “Your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake” (1 John 2:1212I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. (1 John 2:12)). 3rd JUSTIFICATION, “Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:2424Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (Romans 3:24)); “By him all that believe are justified from all things” (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)). 4th ETERNAL LIFE, ― “The gift of God is eternal life” (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)); “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:1717And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)).
Dear reader, won’t you accept now these wonderful blessings which God offers you? “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2)). The terms on which they are to be had are fixed unalterably, and oh how simple, blessed be God! Do you ask, What are the terms? Read them again; glorious tidings! “Frankly” (Luke 7); “freely” (Rom. 3), “without money and without price” (Isa. 55), “to him that worketh not” (Rom. 4), and that hath “nothing to pay” (Luke 7), “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3).
“Who paid in blood the dreadful score,
The ransom due for me.”
Yes, in that glorious ransom, the blood of the Lamb of God’s own providing, every demand of God’s justice, every claim of divine righteousness, against the believing sinner is met to the full; and, in testimony to it, God raised Him from the dead, and put Him sitting on His throne at His own right hand, ―grand, glorious, eternal proof that the work of redemption is done to God’s complete satisfaction. He is there now, the infinitely precious object of the Father’s love; and if you, in simple faith, accept Him as your only and all-sufficient Saviour, resting upon His precious blood as meeting all your need as a guilty hell-deserving sinner before God, you are saved―your sins are forgiven and forgotten by God, you are His forever, none can ever pluck you from His hand (John 10). And as long as that blood retains its value in God’s estimation, so long will the foundation on which your hope is built endure; for this only is the ground on which God receives and saves you, even “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Hence the glorious character of this hope; hence its eternal stability. It, is one that “In is none that “maketh not ashamed,” (Rom. 5:55And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. (Romans 5:5)), because it can never fail, being both “sure and steadfast” (Heb. 6:1919Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; (Hebrews 6:19)). “It is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed” (Rom. 4:1616Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (Romans 4:16)).
T. C. H.
CHRISTIANITY is not a set of dry doctrines, but divine truth and blessing for man, wrapped up in the living person of the man Christ Jesus, who came down, and did a work on the cross by which all my sins are put away, and who is now gone up again into glory, and draws my mind and heart to Himself there. W. T. P. W.