(Article for
publication week of 2-13- AD 2014)
"But as
many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on His Name:" (John 1:12).
Receiving Christ is shown by
our text to be practically synonymous with believing in Christ, hence we say
that receiving Christ is a principle act of faith.
To receive
Christ as Lord and Saviour as He is revealed by the scriptures is an act of
faith. To believe in Christ to the saving of the soul is to believe from the
heart (Romans 10:10) that you are a poor lost sinner, and trust in Christ Alone
for the salvation of your soul. To receive Christ by faith is to reach out with
an empty hand and receive Christ and all spiritual blessings in Him. Augustus
Toplady, who was a faithful minister in the Established Church of England in the
eighteenth century (there were still a number of men in that Church at that
time who believed the gospel) poetically describes saving faith in his hymn
"Rock of Ages" in the line that says "in my hand no price I
bring, simply to Thy cross I cling." Saving, or justifying faith is indeed
an empty hand.
The believer in
Christ confesses by his faith that he is
spiritually bankrupt without a cent to pay. You cannot come to Christ
with any of your own righteousness, for you have none (Isaiah 64:6). Salvation
is not a partnership between you and Christ, but it is all of the Lord. Christ
does not save sinners by Him doing His part, and the sinner doing his part.
Christ does it all! Christ does not make up the difference, He pays the whole
price. We sometimes sing "Jesus paid it all", and dear reader He
certainly did! You cannot be saved as long as you are trying to do your part,
or helping the Lord save you. You must acknowledge that you are utterly lost
and receive Christ as the Saviour of the lost. Christ will not be received by a
hand that has some pretended good works, or morals or ethics in it. It must be
an empty hand that receives Christ.
The empty hand
that receives Christ, believes in Christ, and receives salvation in Him Alone.
The very moment a sinner believes in Christ, that sinner is thoroughly cleansed
from all his sins. The recent snow we had reminded me of Isaiah 1:18,
"though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow." The
very moment dear reader that you confess your sins to God, and plead the
righteousness of His Son, you stand justified before God. When you receive
Christ with the empty hand of faith, you will be forgiven for all your sins and
receive a free and full pardon from God your Righteous Judge. We sometimes
sing, "the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a
pardon receives." There may be someone reading the Narrow Way this week
that feels that you are too sinful for the Saviour to save. Poor sinner, Christ
did not come to call the righteous, but sinners such as you and me to
repentance.
I preach Christ
to you as the able and willing Saviour of all who will repent of their sins and
reach forth with empty-handed faith, and receive Him as their personal Saviour.
That's right- Christ is the personal Saviour of everyone that receives Him for
all that He is. Believer, Christ died for you as if you were the only sinner
who needed to be saved. Christ died for a number that no man can number, but He
died personally for everyone who would ever believe in Him.
If you have received Christ as your Saviour and Lord I
would love to hear from you. You can call me any time at 601-927-5070 or email
me at brickfloyd@bellsouth.net.
No comments:
Post a Comment