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THE WAY OF SALVATION
What must I do to be saved? Saved from what? What is it
you wish to be saved from? Hell? That proves nothing. Nobody
wants to go there. The issue between God and man is SIN. Do you
wish to be saved from it?
What is sin? Sin is a species of rebellion against God. It
is self-pleasing; it is the utter ignoring of God's claims--being
completely indifferent whether my conduct pleases or displeases
Him.
Before God saves a man, He convicts him of his sinnership.
By this I do not mean that he says with everybody else "Oh yes,
we are all sinners, I know that." Rather do I mean that the Holy
Spirit makes me feel in my heart that I have been a lifelong
rebel against God, and that my sins are so many, so great, so
black, that I fear I have transgressed beyond the reach of divine
mercy.
Have you ever had that experience? Have you seen yourself
to be totally unfit for heaven? For the presence of a Holy God?
Do you now perceive that there is no good thing in you, nothing
good credited to your account, that all the way through you have
loved the things God hates and hated the things God loves?
Has the realization of this broken your heart before God?
Has it made you mourn that you have so despised HIs mercies,
misused His blessings, broken His Sabbaths, neglected His Word,
and given Him no real place at all in your thoughts, affections
and life? If you have not yet seen and felt this personally,
then at present there is no hope for you, for God says, "Except
ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). And if you
die in your present condition, you will be lost forever.
But if you have been brought to the place where sin is your
greatest plague, where offending God is your greatest grief, and
where your deepest desire is now to please and honour Him, then
there is hope for you. "The Son of man came to seek and to save
that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). And He will save you provid-
ing you are ready and willing to throw down the weapons of your
warfare against Him, bow to His Lordship, and surrender yourself
to His control.
His blood can wash the foulest clean. His grace can support
and uphold the weakest. His power can deliver the tried and
tempted. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the
day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2). Yield yourself to Christ's
claim. Give Him the throne of your heart. Turn over to Him the
regulation of you life. Trust in His atoning death. Love Him
with all your soul. Obey Him with all your might and He will
conduct you to heaven. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).
A. W. Pink