p. 8 | Only One Way

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 19, 1914

Only One Way

The nearer we come to the close of probation, the greater is the number of snares and delusions and counterfeit ways of salvation that are pressed upon the attention of men. Every civilized land is being flooded with literature that

either presents some false theory of salvation or seeks in some way to cast discredit upon God's way. It is a sign of the times, and a fulfillment of divine prophecy. "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived."

Yet God has been warning the world for centuries against just such conditions and such manifestations of Satan's activities. God's Word is still declaring: "Without me ye can do nothing;" and, "There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved."

We are helpless without Christ. Let it ring through the temple of the soul until every nook and niche of the entire edifice has heard the sound. Without him we are lost; with him we are safe from every assault of the adversary, and safe from the consequences of every mistake and sin of the past.

When man, at Satan's prompting, took it upon himself to elevate himself to a place where he would "be as God," his birthright slipped through his hands like a block of lead, and sank into the sea of sin, beyond his reach forever. The center and soul of the plan which God inaugurated for the recovery of the lost estate was, and still is, Jesus Christ. As God could provide no other, how worse than useless are all the devisings, philosophies, deep searchings, and wonderful eloquence of man to establish some other plan for man's redemption, regeneration, and salvation! But these schemes multiply like mushrooms in a misty night. Every new theory breeds a tribe of its own, till the mazes of these wanderings are devious indeed and marvelous in their windings.

The gospel is prefigured in the very act of placing man where he could not partake of the tree of life. That indicated that if man was ever to have eternal life, it must come from some source outside of himself. That fact is indicated also in the placing of the cherubim with flaming swords at the gate of Eden, whose swords "turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life." As that sword "turned every way," there was no possible way by which man at that time could evade the angels and come again to "the tree of life" to "eat and live forever." In other words, there was no possible way for man to gain eternal life save through the operation of God's own plan, as foreshadowed in God's declaration that "the seed of the woman" should "bruise" the serpent's head. Outside of that plan every soul in this world is lost, and it is Satan's plan to induce every soul of this generation to step outside that plan. In and through that plan every soul in this world may be saved if he will; and God has made it the business of every Christian to hold that plan aloft in faithful persistence before a perishing world.

To the stony-hearted Pharisees the Saviour said, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Again he declared, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Again, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6. What Christ really told these self-righteous Pharisees was that, as they would not come to him for life, they would not have life, for they were cutting themselves off from the only channel through which it could flow to them. He had purchased life for the race, and he was thus the only one who had the right or the power to give eternal life. When there is only one stream at which to drink and we turn our backs upon that, we cannot drink. We may make all the beautiful theories we choose; but, the longer we travel away from that stream, the drier we get, and the closer on our trail walks the angel of the second death.

The higher critic, the Christian scientist, the Christian socialist, the inventors of new and strange religions, will all admit that Jesus Christ was a great teacher; but what he taught was that they are all hopelessly lost unless they come to the Father through him; unless his sacrifice is allowed to atone for their sins; unless they exalt him in the place of self, and look no longer to their own deeds to bring them into possession of the usurped inheritance.

Christ is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him. Whatever Christ has promised to be to you, or to do for you, that is his note, his sight draft, made out in your favor. He expects you to cash it at its face value, for there is no bankruptcy in heaven.

He has promised to be a help in every time of trouble—cash the note. He has promised to give rest to all those who labor and are heavy-laden. Is your work laborious, and are your burdens heavy? You have but to present the note and the promise is fulfilled.

He declares that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." But "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." We have all sinned; but there is his sight draft. What shall we do with it? Shall we cash it, or shall we let the enemy cheat us out of what it represents?

Have you longed for eternal life? "And this is the promise which he promised us, even the life eternal." 1 John 2:25. "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish." John 10:28. Jesus Christ is the only one who has the right or power to give such a promissory note. None but his would Heaven honor. But there it is, filled out for you. Will you cash it? or will you accept a human counterfeit which you cannot pass? We are indeed hopeless and helpless without Christ; but in him we are heirs of all things, and able to enter into the promised inheritance.

C. M. S.