D. H. LAMSON by D. H. Lamson

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 25, 1889

D. H. LAMSON

By D. H. Lamson

BY WHICH YE ARE ALSO SAVED, IF—

1 COR. 15 : 2.

MANY at the present day believe in what they are pleased to call a present salvation. This is well enough if salvation is not considered as absolutely completed, and the person does not think himself beyond the reach of danger of being liable to fail, or that no new duties may present themselves which demand obedience. It is not uncommon nowadays to hear people say, "I am a sinner saved by grace," "Christ has saved me," "I am fully saved," etc., meaning far more than any Bible phrase will warrant. Such persons generally have no use for the if of the text above.

Do not let it be understood that the use of the terms noticed are wrong in themselves considered, for all sinners are saved by grace, but only absolutely when they have "endured to the end." The assurance of final salvation till that time is in a conscious obedience to, the divine will, and a ready mind to yield to new obligations, or step out upon increasing light. Christ has saved sinners as the children of Israel were saved out of Egypt, yet their carcasses fell in the wilderness, and the doom of saved sinners will be just as fearful if they do not continue "rooted and grounded in the faith," and hold fast the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end.

There is no belief so destructive in its consequences as that which places less value upon the word of God than upon the raptures of the mind; it is a deception that will cause the severest anguish of soul in the day of God. Too many think that because the Lord has once granted them pardon and peace, henceforth they are privileged persons, forgetting that the same course that brought so priceless a boon is the only means by which it can be retained.

A son may merit, and receive, the approbation of his father, yet how inconsiderate would it be for that son, at any future time, to presume upon his father's good will, and transgress his plain commandment. How foolish for him to say that, having once the evidence of his father's love, nothing he could henceforth do would displease him! How much better to say, "I will endeavor now to even anticipate his desires."

When the law of God is presented in some of its claims, a deceived heart will sometimes answer, "The Lord Jesus has saved me. He saved me five or ten years ago; he saved me as I am, and I am saved now." The word of God has no weight; the simple statement, accredited as fact, although a delusive falsehood, admits of no argument, and the soul that is completely filled with a counterfeit glory cannot be touched by precept.

A flight of feeling is not religion, not even an evidence of it, nor yet a necessary concomitant; for the souls of the best of men have, in all past time, been bowed down with a weight of woe, of care, and of tears. Instead of letting feeling decide whether one has religion, let the word declare if the feeling is inspired by the Spirit of God. Thousands upon thousands, to this day, are carried away with an infatuation, the seductive snare of feeling. Then let us say, not that my feelings shall be my guide, but, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." If it be so, now and forever, the if is virtually removed, and then only.