Salvation: Explanation

Salvation: Explanation

Help From Above
An old Indian chief constantly spoke of the Lord Jesus and what He meant to him. "Why do you talk so much about Jesus?" asked a friend. The old chief did not reply, but slowly, deliberately gathered some sticks and bits of grass. He made a circle of them. In the circle he placed a caterpillar. Still silent, he struck a match and lit the sticks and grass. They watched the caterpillar. As the fire caught around the circle, the trapped caterpillar began to crawl around rapidly, seeking a way to escape.
As the fire advanced, the helpless caterpillar raised its head as high as it could. If the creature could have spoken, it would have said, "My help can only come from above."
Then the old chief stooped down. He extended his finger to the caterpillar which crawled up his finger to safety. "That," said the chief glowing, "was what the Lord Jesus did for me! I was lost in sin. My condition was hopeless. I was trapped. Then the Lord Jesus stooped down in love and mercy and He drew me out of the horrible pit of sin and shame. How can I help but love Him and talk of His wondrous love and care?" His Name Was Jesus, the Savior
A visitor approached the preacher after listening to his sermons on the necessity of receiving Christ as Savior.
The man said he thought that Christianity should limit itself in presenting Christ as our example whom we should follow.
The preacher turned to the visitor and said, "If I were to preach Christ as our example, would you follow His example?"
"Why not?" was the flippant answer.
The preacher thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let us think then of some of the things that Jesus did and did not do. One of the things that is said of Him is that He did not sin. Can you take that step and follow His example in doing no sin?"
"No, I must be very honest about myself, I do sin."
The preacher then answered: "It is impossible then to follow Jesus unless you first make Him your Savior. It is He who must live in you so that you can say 'For me to live is Christ.'"
Jesus came into the world not to set an example for us, but to become our Savior. It is only as we receive Him that we are able to follow Him because He indwells us.

God's Transforming Power
A group of atheists were criticizing the Bible. One of them spoke about creation. He said, "What man with any common sense could believe that several thousand years ago, God stooped down and picked up a piece of mud, breathed on it, and changed it into a human being?" A Christian man standing by overheard the conversation and responded by saying: "I cannot answer all the questions about creation, but this I know: One night God stooped down and picked up the dirtiest piece of mud in this city, breathed upon it by His Holy Spirit, and changed a gambling, thieving, drinking wretch into a peace-loving man of God. I was that man."

He Swapped
A minister was speaking to fishermen on an English seashore. He was trying to make it plain to the men what Christ's work on the cross really was.
Presently, he said, "Now will one of you men tell me, in your own words, what the Lord Jesus did there on the cross?"
An old seaman looked up and, with tears on his weather-beaten face, said: "He swapped with me."
How gloriously true! "His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree."

Salvation Assurance
Nothing disqualifies us for doing God's work more than a doubt as to our salvation. Mr. Moody used to illustrate this by saying: "If I were in the river, and I didn't have a firm grip on something, I couldn't help anybody. I've got to get a good hold for myself before I can help someone else." There is no liberty, peace, rest, joy, or power until we have assurance. Not a Dying Thief but a Living Thief
A minister was talking to a man who professed conversion. "Have you united with a church?" he asked him. "No, the dying thief never united with a church and he went to heaven," was the answer. "Have you ever sat at the Lord's table?" "No, the dying thief never did and he was accepted." "Have you been baptized?" "No, the dying thief was never baptized and he went to heaven." "Have you given to missions?" "No, the dying thief did not, and he was not judged for it." "Well, my friend, the difference between you two seems to be that he was a dying thief and you are a living thief." The Cross of Christ-Key to Salvation
A little girl once begged a famous preacher to visit her dying mother. "Come and get my mother in," she pleaded. He followed the girl to a slum tenement, and sitting by the mother's bed began to speak of the beautiful example of Christ. But the woman interrupted him saying, "That's no good, mister, no good for the likes of me. I'm a poor sinner and I'm dying!" He was one of those preachers who did not think it proper to speak of the cross and the blood of Christ. But he remembered the simple story of Jesus dying on the cross, which he had heard from his mother, and he explained it all to the woman. "Now," she cried, "you're getting at it! That's the story for me!" The minister said afterward, "The gospel message got her in, and got me in, too!" That's the message that can bring salvation-the cross of Christ. The Bridge of Repentance and Pardon
Across the River Zambesi, below the Victoria Falls, is a bridge which spans the widest chasm and overlooks the most terrific turmoil of waters to be seen on any river in the world. That bridge was made by building out an arm from either shore and uniting the two outstretched arms in the center above the roaring stream. Neither arm could have reached the opposite bank by itself; the two were needed to meet each other. Such are repentance and pardon which form the bridge across that tumultuous stream and those stupendous falls which separate the soul from God. At first one is inclined to say, "Why cannot the bridge of pardon be thrown over exclusively from God's side?" Perhaps others are tempted to say, "Surely the bridge of repentance will span the chasm and bring the soul to the unregarding God." But no, the truth lies here: pardon without repentance is impossible, and repentance without pardon is useless. When repentance and pardon meet, the soul is joined with God.

Illuminated by the Light
After a mission service, the preacher of the evening was hurrying away to a late train. He had just three minutes to catch it when he saw a man running after him. "Oh, sir," he said breathlessly as he came up, "can you help me? I am very anxious about my salvation." "Well," replied the preacher, "my train is just here, and it is the last one; but look up Isaiah 53:6. Go in at the first 'all' and go out at the last 'all.' Good night." The man stood staring after him until he had disappeared into the station and then he muttered, "Go in at the first 'all' and go out at the last 'all.' What does he mean?" When he arrived home he took down his Bible and turning to Isaiah 53:6 read these words, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." "Go in at the first 'all,' " he repeated. " 'All we like sheep have gone astray.' I am to go in with that 'all.' Yes, I see. It just means that I am one of those who have gone astray. And go out with the last 'all.' 'The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.' I see. Yes, I am to go out free with those whose iniquity has been laid on Christ." At last he realized his individual lost condition and his individual redemption. This is actually the message of John 1:9. The eternal Light of Christ illumines the individual who responds affirmatively. "Go in at the first 'all' and go out at the last 'all.'" The Needy Community
On a cold winter day Thomas Carlyle was sitting near his fireplace when the door opened and the new pastor of a nearby church came in. After they had exchanged a few words, the young preacher asked the philosopher, "What do you think our community needs more than anything else?" Without hesitation Carlyle answered, "What our community needs more than anything else is a man who knows God experientially, not simply from what he has learned from others."

Put Yourself among Sinners
Dwight L. Moody once said, "The great trouble is that people take everything in general, and do not take it to themselves. Suppose a man should say to me, 'Moody, there was a man in Europe who died last week, and left five million dollars to a certain individual.' 'Well,' I say, 'I don't doubt that; it's rather a common thing to happen,' and I don't think anything more about it. But suppose he says, 'But he left the money to you.' Then I pay attention; I say, 'To me?' 'Yes, he left it to you.' I become suddenly interested. I want to know all about it. So we are apt to think Christ died for sinners; He died for everybody, and for nobody in particular. But when the truth comes to me that eternal life is mine, and all the glories of heaven are mine, I begin to be interested. I say, 'Where is the chapter and verse where it says I can be saved?' If I put myself among sinners, I take the place of the sinner, then that salvation is mine and I am sure of it for time and eternity."

Available to All
An unbeliever once ridiculed the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ by saying, "If Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost, why is it that there are so many unbelievers?" The Christian to whom he was speaking stopped a very dirty little boy who was passing by and turning to the unbeliever said, "Can you blame soap and water for the filth of this boy?" It was available to all, but only those who accept it experience its regenerating power.

Simple Faith
An evangelist was holding special meetings for boys and girls. One day after the children's meeting, little Helen came home, rushed into her father's study, threw her arms around him, and said, "Daddy, I am a Christian!" "Well, Helen, I am glad to hear that," said her father. "When did you become a Christian?" "This afternoon, Daddy," she replied. He asked her to tell him what had occurred. "Oh," she said, "the evangelist told us that Jesus Christ was there in the room and that, if we would receive Him, He would come in and live in our hearts and make us His own; that He would receive us." "Well," he said, "go on; tell me what else happened." "Why," she said, "I received Him and Jesus took me in." "But how do you know that when you received Jesus He took you in?" the father persisted. She gave him a look which he would never forget as she answered, "Why, Daddy, because He said He would!" That's exactly what it means to believe in the name of Christ-to believe what He is and what He said He would do for us when we receive Him. It is so simple that explanations only serve to complicate it.

Saved by Faith
The recognition of your sinful and lost estate does not necessarily mean that you have to understand fully how and why it all happened before you can cry out for help and salvation. A man once came to a preacher and asked, "How is it that I was born with an evil heart? Is that fair, that I should inherit the sin of Adam?" The preacher replied, "The question that should concern you more is how to get rid of your evil heart. You have an evil heart which renders you completely unfit for the Kingdom of God; you must have a new heart or you cannot be saved. The question which now most deeply concerns you is, how shall you obtain it?" But the man insisted, "I wish you would tell me how I came by my wicked heart." "I shall not do that at present," replied the preacher, "for if I could do it to your entire satisfaction, it would not in the least help you toward obtaining a new heart. The great thing for which I am desirous is that you should become a new creature and be prepared for heaven." Then he continued, "You are like a man who is drowning. Along come his friends to save him, but he insists on being told exactly how he came to be drowning before he will consent to be rescued." The man started to think. The preacher was right. The most urgent thing for him and for you is not the full understanding of why and how you came to be what you are, but to come to the Savior, to become what you can be-a child of God by receiving Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Light Brings Change
The light is willing enough to enter the window of the soul when it is allowed admission. No man passes from his natural darkness into heavenly light without being aware that a great change has taken place. When the light first comes in, it reveals much that before was unperceived. If a room has been shut for a long time and kept in darkness, the light has a startling effect. With the light of a candle we cannot detect the dust, but if we open the shutters and draw the curtains, the light makes the mold and the dust very apparent. The first effect of the light of God in the soul is painfully unpleasant. It makes us loathe ourselves and wish we had never been born. Things grow worse and worse to our consciences as the light shines more and more. We would have every idol discovered and broken, and every dark chamber exposed to the sun. We must not keep the light out of any part of our nature. The light should be permitted to continue to enter our souls, and as it does, it gradually illuminates. Our will by nature prefers the darkness. We claim the right to act as we please. The light must continue to enter if our will is going to consent to change.

Salvation in Three Tenses
Somebody asked a Christian, "Are you saved?" "In what tense?" was the queer retort of the Christian. "What do you mean?" "Well," said the Christian, "salvation is in three tenses: it is in the past: 'Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost' (Titus 3:5). Here is salvation in the present: 'Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and ... by which also ye are saved.' The Greek word sozesthe is inadequately translated in the King James Version. It should be 'ye are being saved' (1 Corinthians 15:2). Not only were we saved in the past, but we need salvation continuously. Finally there is salvation in the future: 'Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him' (Romans 5:9)." Is your salvation in all three tenses?

Man's Way of Salvation
Billy Sunday told of a man who came to him and said, "I will cut out the booze and get on the water wagon," "Good; what else?" "Of course, I am a gambler; I will quit gambling and I will never touch a pack of cards." "All right; what else?" "I am a bad man, and I will live a clean life." "Good; what else?" He said, "If I quit these things, I think they cover about all. I will quit drinking, swearing, stop gambling, and I will quit being impure." Billy said, "Good. Give me your hand and say you will accept Jesus Christ as your Savior," He said, "No, I will not. If I stop those things, I won't need to do that."