A Personal Saviour

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 28, 1909

A Personal Saviour

THE stanchest infidel believes in the forces of nature and in the legitimate rule of law. The devils believe in much that is true, much that some Christians, even, will not assent to. But it is more than belief in force and law, more than a mere belief of truth itself, that is required to save men. It is more than that that is needed to keep men, even those who have acknowledged allegiance to Christ. Men need a personal experience in the things of God. They need to know what it is to have their sins forgiven, to grasp the hand of Omnipotence when their own strength and courage have proved unequal to the tasks laid upon them. They need to feel the fellowship of the Elder Brother, the humanity of Jesus as well as his divinity, the clasp of his hand in the times of sorrow and trial. The theory of the best religion, with the personal-experience equation left out, will soon turn into a dead formalism that can not save. Men must know there is a Father's pitying heart in heaven and a Saviour's presence with them in the earth if they are to be truly saved and kept through the tribulations and persecutions that are coming on the world.