A young Hindu stopped for a few moments on a street in Calcutta to hear a gospel preacher. He heard only the words,
All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
He walked away at once, but the knowledge of personal sin had entered his conscience and he could not shake it off. At last he sought relief by entering upon a religious life. For several years he wandered over India and prayed at many shrines, but he found neither rest nor peace.
He turned to a group of people who were dissatisfied with Hinduism. Their belief was: "Do what is just and right, and all will be well."
While this sounded good, it brought him no peace. To use his own words: "The remembrance of past sins kept rushing into my mind. Something seemed to say: Without atonement for past sins you will perish.
This new society rejected the teaching of atonement, but Hinduism acknowledges the need of some kind of expiation. He turned to his old religion and again wandered from holy spot to holy spot seeking peace. At Varanasi (Benares) with its two thousand shrines he fairly gave way to despair, exclaiming: "What more can I do other than that I have done? Yet there is no peace!"
He returned to Calcutta to visit a sick nephew. His nephew had been converted to Christianity and he had a Bible, portions of which he read to his troubled uncle. He persuaded him to go and hear a Christian speaker. There he heard of God's way of salvation and received it. With joy he exclaimed: "This is what I have been longing to hear for many years."
Having obtained a Bengali Bible, he learned from the Word of God itself that the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (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).)
Though he well knew that if he became a Christian he might become an outcast among his own people, he gladly became a follower of Jesus Christ. With the peace of God in his heart he could now say with the Apostle Paul: I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. (Phil. 3:88Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, (Philippians 3:8).)