“To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood” (Revelation 1:5).
I read about a man who remembered being in a city where people constantly visited a favorite well in one of the parks. He asked a man one day: “Does the well never run dry?” The man was drinking from the well. He stopped drinking to answer, smacked his lips, and said: “They have never been able to pump it dry yet. They tried it a few years ago. They put the fire-engines to work, and tried all they could to pump the well dry; but they found there was a river flowing right under the city” (https://ministry127.com/resources/illustrations/salvation).
You know, friends, the same is true in regard to the salvation from Hell’s damnation and the wrath of God. God’s mercy to save humble, repentant sinners never runs dry. It is God Himself who promises us in Isaiah 63:1: “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” The writer of Hebrews, speaking of Jesus, guarantees us in Hebrews 7:25: “He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
Suppose you go to the doctor with red spots all, and he diagnoses you with shingles. There you sit right in front of him with bands of red, inflamed, itchy whelps stretching halfway around your midsection. Imagine he then tries to cure you by wrapping gauze around your upper body covering the sores and hives. Undoubtedly, you would disapprove, because you know that is not the cure. The sores and hives are only the symptoms. The root cause of the sickness is inside you. It is the same with our sin. Sin is a heart issue deep inside us, and we cannot fix the problem by applying bandages such as trying to be a good person, doing good deeds to impress God, amassing more good deeds than bad deeds to cancel out the bad stuff we have done, performing rosaries, or thinking positive. We simply cannot, by any means, earn our way to heaven.
Friends, the only thing you will ever be able to add to your salvation is your sin. There is nothing we can do to add to the finished work of the cross. Jesus has done everything that is necessary for our sins to be forgiven and for us to become sons and daughters of God. John wrote of Jesus in Revelation 1:5: “To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood.” Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:8-9: “By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” He added in Philippians 3:8-9: “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, … that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.” So, do you get it? Trying to earn God’s forgiveness or favor, or trying to add something to what Jesus has accomplished… is like trying to improve a priceless painting by Van Gogh by adding some brushstrokes of your own. No matter how careful you are, you will never be able to add to the masterpiece. In the end, all you will succeed in doing is defacing and destroying the invaluable, irreplaceable work of art. Salvation, loved ones, is never by our efforts and endeavors. Salvation is according to the Book, God’s book, the Holy Bible. Salvation is found not by trying but by trusting.
Charles Finney, lawyer and evangelist, prominent Presbyterian minister who preached during the Second Great Awakening in the nineteenth century, was speaking in a New York church in the 1830s. At the end of each evening, he gave people the opportunity to come to the front of the room and commit their lives to Jesus. A great many lawyers came to hear him. One night, the Chief Justice of New York was sitting way up in the gallery. As he listened to Finney proclaiming the gospel, he became convinced it was true. Then this question came into his mind: “Will you go forward like the other ordinary people?” Something within him made him think that it would be inappropriate to do so, because of his prestigious social position. After all, he was at the legal hierarchy of New York State. He sat there pondering the choice he had to make. Then he thought, “Why not? I am convinced of the truth… why should I not do it like any other person?” He got up from his seat in the gallery, went down the staircase and came up the stairs at the back to where Finney was preaching. Finney, in the middle of his sermon, felt someone tugging at his jacket. He turned around. The Chief Justice said, “Mr. Finney, if you will call people forward I will come.” Finney stopped his talk and said, “The Chief Justice says that, if I call people forward for salvation, he will come. So, I ask all of you to come forward now.” The Chief Justice went forward. Almost every lawyer in Rochester, New York, followed him! It is said that 100,000 people were converted to Jesus Christ in the next twelve months in that area. One person’s choice affected the lives of numerous others (https://accessinspiration.org/topic/salvation/).
You know, life is full of choices. We make choices every day, and they are either good choices or bad choices. This means your choices matter. The choice of whether to humble yourself, confess your sins and need of salvation from eternal damnation, believe in Jesus Christ, and trust Him as Lord of your life matters more than any other choice. It has life-changing and eternity-changing consequences for you. Yet, here is the kicker. Your choice to receive God’s offer of salvation for yourself may matter for others you know and love. Someone that means a great deal to you— your spouse, child, father, mother, friend, neighbor, co-worker— may follow you to Christ. Someone you do not know might witness the change that Christ brings into your life, and seek Christ for his or her own salvation. According to 2 Corinthians 5:20, Christians are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through them for others to be reconciled to Christ. Therefore, God will use you to persuade others to be saved from eternal wrath in Hell by coming to faith in Jesus, if you will but truly give your whole life to Jesus.
So, wait no longer. Receive God’s gift of salvation today. If you already count yourself a Christian, act like it. I am not suggesting you fake it till you make it. I am saying dive deep, and allow Christ to have complete control of all of you, transform you, and place His mark upon your life. Others who need salvation in Christ are watching, and, who knows, they might just see Jesus in you and want Him for themselves.