GREAT works are simple. Even in the works of man simplicity is written upon the highest attainments. In the things of God His own mighty handiwork is marked by simplicity of principle. In the work of grace, God has chosen so to bring His salvation to man, that a child may lay hold of it and possess it. Indeed, the great difficulty in the way of receiving the salvation of God is its simplicity. " Unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness" (1 Cor. 1:2323But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; (1 Corinthians 1:23)); let the Jews represent the religious world, and the Gentiles the scientific, and none can well deny that this is as true in our day as in that of the apostle.
In this question of questions the enquirer is face to face with the realities of eternity, and in such a case every shade of mere religious sentiment has vanished from the mind. A human being with divine judgment, and with death before his very eye, deeply, anxiously seeks for salvation for himself.
The answer comes in a moment, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved “(ver. 31). The man believed, and immediately he was saved, and proved by works that he was a Christian indeed. A man may have labored for years to attain an object, but the instant the prize is placed in his hands it is his. What must I do? Believe—possess.
In our day, the simplicity of this way of receiving salvation is much obscured by the fact, that most persons in professing Christian countries do believe, as a matter of history, that Jesus Christ was on the earth, and that He died and rose again. The apostle had not to explain to the jailor of Philippi the difference between historic and heart faith—between dead faith and live faith. Neither need anyone today attempt this task in the presence of a sinner really seeking after salvation, and for this reason, the seeking sinner has a heart awakened and alive to divine realities.
It is to such this page is addressed, and in answer to your question, “What must I do to be saved?" here is God's answer, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." God sent His Son, the Savior of the world, and He will save you. God laid the sins of all who come to Jesus on Him when He was the sin-bearer on the cross, and, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, He will save you from your sins. And not partly save you, for part salvation is no salvation, even as almost saved is altogether lost. You shall be saved. Salvation does not lie in what we do or feel, but in what Christ did for us.
Believe on the Savior.
Put all your weight upon Him. The more helpless, the more hopeless you are, the more needy you are for Jesus. The sense of sin, with the Savior of sinners close at hand, is a blessed complaint from which to suffer. A man was dying in a military hospital; he had tried hard, but in vain, to save himself, and was as hopeless as an honest sinner in such a position could be. Presently the chaplain came to him and said these two words—" Try Christ." Poor soldier! He had tried prayers, repentance, tears. But all his efforts had been in vain. Try Christ! Would he—could he?
The chaplain left him, and, when he next sat by the sick man's bed, he found the burden gone, and the doubts fled from the soldier's heart. He had tried Christ, he had believed in the Savior, and he was saved-and he knew that he was saved.
The little daughter of a well-known preacher of Christ was very anxious to be saved. She was but seven years of age, and some might therefore say, her burden of sin could not be very heavy. It was heavy to her, and more than she could bear, and she wept bitterly in her dear father's arms. After trying, but in vain, to soothe her with texts of Scripture, the father perceived that his child was leaning a little on him for hope. Ah! how many do this! They lean on their pastor, or on some holy person, and they do not find rest. Most wisely he led his child to the only Savior, and thus he did it. He untwined her arms that clasped his neck and left her alone. "My child," said he, “I must leave you alone with Jesus. You must go to Him yourself, and speak to Him yourself."
Upon his return he found his child at rest. Her fears were gone. She had been to the Lord Jesus Himself for salvation, and He had granted her, by His Spirit, to know that He was indeed her Savior.
Thou shalt be saved.
These are the words of God. In our religious country it is necessary to emphasize the faith of Christ, for Christ is sorely wanted in our nineteenth-century Christian religion, even as amongst the heathen Christ is needed instead of their religion. The Savior lives to die no more, and He waits to save every needy soul. True faith is faith in God, and the word of faith “is nigh thee "—it lies in the Scriptures—it is the word which the apostles preached—" That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Rom. 10:8, 98But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:8‑9).)
The Lord has died, and is risen from the dead, and nothing remains to be done for salvation by man—we have but to believe. These are God's conditions, and they redound to the glory of His grace, while they enrich everyone who submits to them. “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness” (ver. 10), and heart-faith is live faith.
There are objections made to the way of faith, though that way is God's way. But will the objector remember that faith in something or someone is common to all religion? Why do persons take pilgrimages to tombs; why do persons receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper fasting; why do persons go to a priest to confess, unless it be on the ground of faith? They believe the tomb is holy, and can confer a benefit on them; they believe that Christ is in the bread, and is received through the lips into the human body; they believe that the priest can absolve them. Such faith is extolled, and the belief that salvation may be had by such means is popular. But it is not popular to believe that the Son of God is our own personal Savior, and that He saves all who come to God by Him, and that His way of salvation is belief in Himself. Jesus Himself is the living and personal Savior of his people. Tombs cannot save us; priests cannot save us; bread cannot save us! Jesus, and Jesus only, saves. And He is received into the heart—" with the heart man believeth"— and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and makes "confession unto salvation."