There is only one way in which sinners can be saved. For salvation requires the blotting out of guilt, and the belief that this has been accomplished by Christ. That we cannot do. We cannot bring to an end the everlasting punishment for which our sins call; and coming into this world spiritually dead, we cannot believe that Christ did this for us.
We do have salvation, however, because God realized it through His Son Who had no guilt and was sent to represent us. We could not bring Him forth. We, with the wicked Jews, would nail Him to the cross in hatred. But in His grace God sent His Son into our flesh to represent us and to save us from our guilt, but also from our unbelief.
Paul speaks of this in Romans 10:9 , where we read, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness: and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
This does not mean that by believing and confessing Christ we are saved. As those who came into this world spiritually dead ( Eph. 2:1 ), we cannot believe or confess Christ, but do hate Him. And to say that we changed our hearts and minds into faith and confession is to call God a liar, as Paul teaches us in Ephesians 2:1, 8, 9 , and 10.
No, salvation is promised to those who confess and believe, because this reveals that Christ, having earned that salvation for us, has by His Spirit caused us to be born again, and to believe and confess that He earned it for us.
If salvation is yours, you will have the evidence of it by belief in the truth that Christ earned it for you, and by confessing it in your walk of life. And you will thank God for a free and wonderful gift.
Read: Romans 10
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Isaiah 41:17-29; Isaiah 42; Isaiah 43
Ephesians 2:1-22
Psalm 67:1-7
Proverbs 23:29-35
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Quote for Reflection:
On the expression “thine they were” in John 17:6 Rainsford writes: “’Thine they were, and thou gavest them me.’ He is not speaking of the heavens given to Him; of the earth given to Him; of the thrones, and dominions, and principalities, and powers, and crowns given to Him; but ‘Thine they were, and thou gavest them me.’ Given to Him to be His charge, doubt not He will take care of them; given in trust to Him, He will keep them, He will teach them, He will qualify them, He will clothe them, He will wash them, He will present them without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, to the everlasting praise of the glory of His love.”
