The Penn's Grove record., 1912-09-06

TELLS WHICH III JllS lie call Tor
solution, but no question can
possibly be so momentous as the
query of the jailer of Philippi, What
must | do to be saved?" nor any an
swer to that question at once so sim
pie and so comprehensive as the re-
ply Of Paul, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved"
In every age men have in multitudes
been moved to ask this question. and
the name is legion Of those who have
found comfort and peace in accepting
the solution offered by prisoner Paul,
and believing savingly in the name of
the redeeming Christ.
In the present day there are many
men Of mere morality" who continue
like their predecessors in history to
pride themselves on their upright life
and good works" and decline to sub
NIT as humble srpplicants for pardon
at the foot of the cross on which Jesus
died for sinners.
There is still need, however, for the
simple, earnest and direct preaching
OF the truth that Jesus died for sinful
men, and that the only way to the IA
Vor OF God lies past the foot of an up
lifted cross.
Three Elements of Faith.
The question, however, may arise:
What is it to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ savingly? Many enquir-
ers are in real perplexity on that
picnt. No Christian believer should
be In ignorance of the true answer to
that query. It is a fact that human
language is inadequate to fully state
all the implications of redemption, and
there may be elements of this saving
belief on the Lord Jesus which escape
detection and analysis, in the present
world at least, but the broad outlines
of redemption may be mastered by a
child'sH intelligence, so long as a child's
spirit of simplicity and sincerity
moves to the inquiry. There are, it
may be said, three elements in saving
faith, no one of which may safely be
neglected. These are the assent of
he mind, the consent of the will and
the obedience of the life.
The assent of the mind Is required
by the Master to a few simple pro-
positions which, if language means
anything at all. are readily discerned
as an integral part of the teaching of
Gods Word. In order to be saved
mar must regard Jesus as a Saviour.
and that, too. a divine Saviour. He
is not born of God-in this century
any more than in the first century,
when John wrote-who does not con-
fess that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh, and the means come as a di-
vine and ~all-suf1cient Redeemer, be-
ing at nee the incarnation and the
interpreter of the one God. The sin
fulness Of man. the need Of the new
birth, the dependence of mankind on
Gods Holy Spirit. the eternal differ
ence between right and wrong, and the
final issues of life ultimating in heaven
or hell-these are the salient out
lines of the New Testament teach
ings, which the spiritually illumined
see. Without some such irreducible
minimum of mental conviction the
content of salvation is not provided,
Must Have Consent of viii.
But when the mind has assented to
certain doctrinal teachings the wilt
must consent to the mode and process
of salvation. Perhaps this activity of
asserting is In actual practice con-
temporaneous with that of consent
ing. At any rate. the will must be
reached With the gospel motives. and
must yield to them, if salvation is to
be made possible. The will is in a
sense the man. The will and the af-
fections are bound up mysteriously to-
gether. Unless a man wills to be
saved he cannot be saved.
There is a third element In saliva
ton which, in all cases of genuine
conversion, practically follows the
other two, and that is the obedience
of the life. Thi9 is not the ground
but the result of the sinners justih-
cation. The fruit which the plant
bears is not the source, but is the
proof of it's life. Men are not saved
by their good works, 1t is true, but it
Is certain that they are not saved
without them. The apostle Paul
pierced this error, when he exclaimed:
Shall we continue in sin that grace
may abound? God Forbid" 1t is a
point that cannot be too much insist
ed on that while sinners are saved
they are saved from their sins and are
the Lords redeemed. The magma
charta" of believers is expressed in
the assurance: Sin shall have no
more dominion over you"
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
with such an intelligent, practical
faith as this, and thou shalt be saved.
Satan is intent on mystifying the
mind, DETECTING the will and debasing
the conduct of all would-be believers
on the redeeming Christ. but we are
not ignorant of his devices, nor should
we allow others to be misled by him
and thus defeated of their heavenly
Upward and Outward.