Salvation Through Jesus Christ
THE only means of salvation is Jesus Christ. No works of men will avail. "By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight;" "for all have sinned." God's law is the standard of God's righteousness. It comprehends, therefore, in the exceeding breadth of its spirituality, all righteousness, and condemns all sin. The fullness of its righteousness is the fullness of the righteousness of God's character. It also comprehends all love, for "God is love." As it is therefore impossible for finite man to comprehend infinite righteousness and infinite love, it is impossible for him to comprehend the requirements of God's law; and he therefore cannot intelligently do the law. THIS would be true of man if he had never sinned. He could not of himself do God's will, or attain to God's righteousness. This lack in man God designed to supply through faith. If our first parents had believed God, he would have given them infinite enlightenment through his Holy Spirit, with power to do his will. Man would have been continually called out of himself, and would have gone on to all eternity with ever increasing though perfect love. That is, his love would be defective in its fullness of knowledge, but not in its intrinsic quality. BUT man sinned, and ever more unfitted himself to obey God. He yielded to the devil and became the slave of sin. His very impulses to good are brought under bondage by the power of sin within him. He cannot rescue himself from his cruel master, because he has within himself only the power of self to do it, and self is the very one which brought him into bondage. He by himself cannot lift himself above himself, nor out of himself. His case, of himself, is utterly "without hope." He is "without strength." BUT here God's love comes in; "for when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." And he "died for all;" he "came to save sinners;" he "died for the ungodly." What does he ask on their part, that he may save them from sin?—Nothing but faith, simple faith. "Man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." "Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead." SIMPLY faith! God asks no more. He does not say, "Wait till you are better, and then I will accept you." No, indeed; he says: "Come now, come just as you are, all laden with sin, all covered with filth, all filled with the leprosy of sin, deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; come, and I will undo the heavy burden; I will cleanse you from filth; I will heal you from disease; I will give you a new heart and new spirit; I will clothe you with my own spotless robe of righteousness; I will put upon you the garments of salvation. I have bought you just as you are, and I will take what I purchase and make it to the praise of the glory of my grace." This is Christ's message to you, sinner. Will you not believe him, and yield all to him? If not, why not? "BUT what about the works?"—Never mind the works; God will care for them. It is true he requires good works; but the secret of performing them lies in the faith. Faith puts Christ in the heart (Eph. 3:17; Gal. 2:20), and Christ will do the work. You will be then working from life, not for life. As you believe God, you will daily, hourly, momentarily, yield all to him, to wait, to watch, to do, to suffer, and his strength will all be vouchsafed for every trial. But leave all that to him and the future. Come now and find him a Saviour from sin. He wants to help you. "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?"