THE METHOD OF SALVATION
Give no place to a heated imagination. Do not hastily ascribe things to God. Do not easily suppose dreams, voices, impressions, visions, or revelations, to be from God. They may be from Him. They may be from nature. They may be from the devil. Therefore, "believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God." Try all things by the written word, and let all bow down before it. You are in danger of enthusiasm every hour if you depart ever so little from Scripture; yea, or from the plain, literal meaning of any text, taken in connection with the context. And so you are, if you despise or lightly esteem reason, knowledge, or human learning: every one of which is an excellent gift of God, and may serve the noblest purpose.
-- John Wesley
There is but one method of salvation and that is the Bible method. Let us examine its nature:
1. SALVATION, NOT MAN'S WORK FOR GOD, BUT GOD'S WORK IN MAN:
It is not possible for one to save himself by what he does for God. God will accept nothing we have or do as merit for our salvation. Salvation is solely a gift from God. Paul declared, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5).
2. SALVATION IS NOT A NEW LEAF--BUT A NEW LIFE!
You may in times of trouble sincerely determine to quit sin by turning over a "new leaf." But this does not save you. Even if your "new leaf" attempt seems to work out, what about the dirty days of all your past years? "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
3. SALVATION IS MEMBERSHIP, NOT IN THE VISIBLE CHURCH NECESSARILY, BUT IN THE INVISIBLE:
The visible church organization is God's appointed institution in the world, but in itself it has no saving virtue. The true church is composed of the body of believers who are "born of the Spirit." Salvation is not something one may "join," but by faith one may be adopted into the "body of Christ" through the merits of the shed blood. Christ, in addressing Nicodemus addresses us all: "Ye MUST be born again" (St. John 3:7). There is no other means by which one may "pass from death unto life" (1 John 3:14).
4. SALVATION; NOT HEAD KNOWLEDGE, BUT HEART KNOWLEDGE:
One may always have believed in Christ intellectually as he believes in Washington or Lincoln, but so do the devils believe and tremble! (James 2:10) Intellectual Faith is a thing of the head; saving faith, a thing of the heart. Simon the sorcerer, who had intellectual faith, was rebuked by Peter, who said to him, "Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God" (Acts 8:21).
5. SALVATION IS NOT BY WATER--BUT BY BLOOD!
Baptism by water is one of the two great sacraments of the Church. It is an outward sign of an inward work, which tells of a Christian's union to Christ. Never, however, is it a means of salvation. Sin is canceled only by blood. "Without shedding of blood (there) is no remission (forgiveness)" (Hebrews 9:22).
A man who was badly injured was wheeled into the emergency room of the hospital. As a nurse assisted in removing his shirt, she saw the name "JESUS" tattooed in large letters on his chest. Her observation was, "I wonder if it goes deeper than the skin?" Much modern religion, we fear, never goes "deeper than the skin"--it never reaches the soul at all!
Socrates once tried, in good faith, to call a corpse back to life. After failing three times to get a response of any kind he acknowledged, "it needs something in it." The Bible says all are "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). In short the sinner is a moral corpse and needs "something within" to bring him to LIFE! This is exactly what Jesus Christ has come to do. "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (St. John 10:10).
Christ does more than reform men--He regenerates them. He not only makes bad men good, He makes men live. Salvation is not simply a resolution of the head, it is a resurrection from the dead. The saved man is more than reformed, he is reborn. Christ imparts life to men. The saying, "man white washes but Christ washes white; men cover up but Christ cleans up" is true. Salvation, then, is more than the old life improved, it is a new life infused. With a new start the saved man has a new heart. This is God's method--this is salvation through Christ!
CALVARY'S HILL
O come ye, O come ye to Calvary's hill,
The visible church organization is God's appointed institution in the world, but in itself it has no saving virtue. The true church is composed of the body of believers who are "born of the Spirit." Salvation is not something one may "join," but by faith one may be adopted into the "body of Christ" through the merits of the shed blood. Christ, in addressing Nicodemus addresses us all: "Ye MUST be born again" (St. John 3:7). There is no other means by which one may "pass from death unto life" (1 John 3:14).
4. SALVATION; NOT HEAD KNOWLEDGE, BUT HEART KNOWLEDGE:
One may always have believed in Christ intellectually as he believes in Washington or Lincoln, but so do the devils believe and tremble! (James 2:10) Intellectual Faith is a thing of the head; saving faith, a thing of the heart. Simon the sorcerer, who had intellectual faith, was rebuked by Peter, who said to him, "Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God" (Acts 8:21).
5. SALVATION IS NOT BY WATER--BUT BY BLOOD!
Baptism by water is one of the two great sacraments of the Church. It is an outward sign of an inward work, which tells of a Christian's union to Christ. Never, however, is it a means of salvation. Sin is canceled only by blood. "Without shedding of blood (there) is no remission (forgiveness)" (Hebrews 9:22).
A man who was badly injured was wheeled into the emergency room of the hospital. As a nurse assisted in removing his shirt, she saw the name "JESUS" tattooed in large letters on his chest. Her observation was, "I wonder if it goes deeper than the skin?" Much modern religion, we fear, never goes "deeper than the skin"--it never reaches the soul at all!
Socrates once tried, in good faith, to call a corpse back to life. After failing three times to get a response of any kind he acknowledged, "it needs something in it." The Bible says all are "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). In short the sinner is a moral corpse and needs "something within" to bring him to LIFE! This is exactly what Jesus Christ has come to do. "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (St. John 10:10).
Christ does more than reform men--He regenerates them. He not only makes bad men good, He makes men live. Salvation is not simply a resolution of the head, it is a resurrection from the dead. The saved man is more than reformed, he is reborn. Christ imparts life to men. The saying, "man white washes but Christ washes white; men cover up but Christ cleans up" is true. Salvation, then, is more than the old life improved, it is a new life infused. With a new start the saved man has a new heart. This is God's method--this is salvation through Christ!
CALVARY'S HILL
O come ye, O come ye to Calvary's hill,
Where Jesus so freely His life blood did spill; Fulfilling not His, but the dear Father's will, To save us from sin and hell's power to kill.
O come ye, O come ye, the tomb is now bare, Jesus, my Saviour, no longer is there;
He's pleading the Father to answer our prayer, And take us to heaven His glory to share.
O come ye, O come ye, the tomb is now bare, Jesus, my Saviour, no longer is there;
He's pleading the Father to answer our prayer, And take us to heaven His glory to share.
No comments:
Post a Comment