Can morality save men? No. Absolutely no. Blessed is the man who knows this fact. Today men think that exhorting others to believe in Jesus is the same as exhorting them to do good. Little do they realize that exhorting men to believe in the Lord Jesus is really proving to them that they cannot do good. Even many believers do not realize that man is not saved by doing good.
Let us turn to God's Word. "For we account that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law."(Romans 3:28) The meaning of "works of the law" here is to try to do good. What is the meaning of justification? It means that God not only forgives your sins, but reckons you righteous. In other words, to be justified is to be saved. A justified person is a saved person. God teaches that you cannot be saved or justified by keeping the law. Do not think that you can be saved by doing good.
Mr. Charles Spurgeon of England was an evangelist who was greatly used by the Lord. Once he said that if the Lord would save him only if he did good, he would never want to be a Christian. He gave an illustration. Suppose he had done many good things, and then presented this goodness before God and asked, "Since I have done so much good, can I be saved? Since God is the God of all goodness, surely He would not approve of Spurgeon's goodness. He would shake His head and say, 'You have not done enough!' Spurgeon said he would then go away in discouragement and would try to do better. After a few years, he would present his goodness before God again asking God if his goodness was good enough, and if he could be saved. God would answer again, 'You are still not good enough. You still cannot be saved.' This could go on for two or three more times, and God would still not be satisfied. How then could he be saved? Is this not a pitiful thing? We have to thank the Father because we do not have to do good. All we need to do is to believe in God's Son, Jesus Christ, and we shall be saved. God is satisfied with the righteousness that the Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross. Although we cannot and will not do good by ourselves, the minute we believe in His Son and accept the merit of His Son’s shed blood on the cross, we will be saved.
We do not obtain God's justification through good works. Rather, we are 'being justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus'(Romans 3:24). If by grace, it is no longer out of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace?(11:6) Are not these two verses very clear? We are justified and saved by God, not because of works, but because of His own grace. Grace means that God is willing to save whether a man is good or bad. Man is not worthy to be saved, but because of mercy, God gives him salvation freely. Work means that only good people will be saved, while bad ones will perish. We know that we are all sinners. Although we may not have committed the sins of murder or arson, our nature is corrupted; our thoughts and conduct are full of deceit. We are truly sinners. Thank and praise God that He does not save us because of our work. He is saving us because of His free grace, a grace which we do not deserve.
How are you saved? Is it by good works? No. Is it because you are stronger than others? No. How then is man saved? The Bible tells us that salvation is by two things: God's grace and man's faith. 'By grace you have been saved through faith'(2:8). Grace is given by God. God has prepared a Savior for us. He has 'caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him' (Isaiah 53:6) by sending Him to the cross to die and bear all the punishment for our sins. Through His suffering and bearing pain for us and by drinking the cup of God’s righteous wrath, He accomplished a full salvation for us. How great is this grace! This is God's grace; it is the basis of salvation. Man can render no help; He has accomplished everything on our behalf. God has now prepared salvation and presented it before us. Salvation is placed before every sinner - it is placed before you.
Dear readers, perdition or salvation do not depend on your work, but on whether or not you will accept God's grace. Do not consider all your goodness! Consider rather your sins! Why would you not come before God with a contrite heart, confessing that you are a sinner, that you have no goodness to boast of, no merit to depend on, and trust solely in the grace that God has given you through the cross of His Son? I invite you to come quickly. While you are reading this, please kneel down and pray. Tell God that you will now receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior. Ask Him to forgive your sins, and be a saved person!
How wonderful this is! I wish that His love would touch you to come to Him in faith, saying, 'O God! I am truly a sinner! I know that none of my good works are worth anything before You. I pray that You will receive me and save me because of the substitutionary death of the Savior Jesus Christ. Amen!'
'He who comes to Me I shall by no means cast out'(John 6:37). |
