SPEAKING to a class of boys the other night, I was astonished to find that not one of them would own being a sinner. Evidently they thought this designation applied only to drunkards, thieves, and openly ungodly people. I asked one boy if there were any “sinners” in the town.
“Yes,” he said, “down in the V—,” a district of very bad repute.
“Any others?” I asked, but the boy shook his head.
One bright little fellow, who had been listening to our conversation with evident interest, quietly said,
“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
That little boy was right. Not only the openly ungodly, but those also whose lives may be outwardly very moral and even religious, are sinners in the sight of God, and need a Saviour. It was for such that God provided Jesus, for we read,
“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom. 5:6.
It was not for the good, or the worthy, or the religious, but for “sinners” that Jesus died. And it was lost “sinners” that He came to save. The grand declaration of Paul, which has brought many a weary sinner to the Saviour, tells the same story,
“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Tim. 1:15.
And that very name gives you a title and a claim, for as the little boy truly said, “All have sinned.” There is not one exempt, from the greatest to the least. Have you learned that your name is “sinner,” and have you claimed the sinner’s Saviour? Can you truthfully say,
“I take the guilty sinner’s name,
The guilty sinner’s Saviour claim.”
There is no other way of entering the kingdom, save on this plea, and in this Name. Thousands who are now in heaven entered thus, and thousands more are on the way, who were saved by taking their place as sinners, and claiming the Lord Jesus as their own and only Saviour. If people will cling to their religion and their good name, rejecting Christ, they must perish, as surely as the Word of God has declared.
“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.
ML 11/19/1933