The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1918-05-25

JACOB OF olu was l@&&W&
when he
said: 81 have waited, o God, for thy
salvation" and the Psalmist spoke
truly when he said: salvation be-
longeth unto the Lord our God"
Many have the idea that salvation
is something that originates with man;
an effort by which he attempts to ex-
tricate himself from sin. Contrary to
this notion is the fact that salvation Is
of God. He is the author of it. 1t
originated in his heart of love, was
wrought out of his will and has the
marks of his handiwork upon it.
When the fullness of time came God
sent his Son to be the savior of the
world. From the lofty heights Of
heaven he came to the lowest depths
of death and on Calvary's cross he
bore our sins in his own body, putting
them away by the sacrifice of himself.
Thus, you see, salvation of which God
is the author, is also wrought out by
God and this makes it great.
Salvation Preached.
Salvation which Is provided by God
is made known through preaching. SIT
pleased God" we read, "by the fool
ishness of preaching to save them that
believe" This is the way the good
news is made known. Human lips
proclaim the gospel. 1t might suit
nan to have it made known some 9TH
er way. but this is Gods way of telling
sinners about the salvation he has
provided. 1t has pleased him to do 1t
this way, and Christ commanded his
followers to preach the gospel to all
creatures.
But what avail is it to hear the COS
pei if one does not accept it? Hear
ing the gospel is not sufficient to save
one. 1t must be accepted if it is to be
in ones life the power of God unto sal
walton. The way to make it ones own
is to believe it, that is, believe it with
a faith that acts upon it. 1t may help
us to understand this better if we say,
that the III who really believes the
gospel is the N who trusts himself
to Christ to be saved by Christ and
by him alone. 1t is not enough to be-
lieve there was a Christ; that would
be simply an historical faith; or to
believe that Christ is the Savior; that
would be only a religious faith. 1t is
necessary in addition to these to trust
oneself personally to Christ as ones
own Savior; this is saving faith.
Surely, this makes salvation great.
What 1t Does.
And then salvation Is great, be-
cause of what it does. 1t brings to
those who believe the forgiveness of
sins. Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins and
by him all that believe are justified
from all things" Think of it! God
forgives and justifes those who be-
lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ. No
matter what ones sins may be, the
provision God has made, if accepted, is
sufficient to meet the need. The
guiltiest sinner in the world will be
forgiven if he is willing to turn away
from his sin and accept the Lord
Jesus Christ as his Savior.
But salvation does not stop there,
for God not only ~forgives our sins,
but he gives us power over sin. That
is, he puts his own life within us when
we believe, and because of this new
life which is his own, we have power
ver sin. That is why the drunkard
who is saved quits his cups; why the
swearer no longer curses, why the har-
LOT on6 tho 1ihnrfinn nhnn0n thnir ~ We
1t is not because they have resolved to
do better, but because God has actu-
ally entered their lives. That is what
is meant by being born of God. 1t is
having the very life Of God himself
put within ones soul and a salvation
that does that is truly great. No mat
ter then what our ancestry may be on
the human side, If we are true believ-
ers In the Lord Jesus Christ, we have
been born from above and by this new
birth are the only genuine a~ristocrats
on earth, the children of God.
No Escape.
The text asks, How shall we escape
If we neglect so great salvation?
Frankly, I do not know, do you? If
there is only n way of being saved,
and we do not take that way, what
escape is there for us from the wrath
and judgment of God against sin?
Peter, preaching, said: Neither is
there salvation in any other; for there
is none other name under heaven Civ
en- among men, whereby we must be
saved" This makes it very clear that
there is no other way of being saved
apart from Christ, and since this Is
so, surely, salvation is great.
What must one do to be saved?