God's Plan with Men

Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not

that ye believe on him who

on me shall never

through his name whosoever believeth on him

Jesus, and thou shalt

aying unto the people that they should believe on him t

him that justifieth the ungodly, his fait

in [into] me shall never die.

e might be justified by the faith of Christ, and

d that he is able to guard that which I have commit

n. One may think it to be too good to be true, when he reads what God's word says along this line; he may be honestly tempted to suspect that there must be many hidden, suppres

gotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him shou

baptized the right way, or lives the right kind of a life; it simply says, "whosoeve

veth on me and unites with the right church, or is baptized the right way, or lives the right kind

e remission of sins."-Acts 10:43. He did not say, whosoever believeth on him and unites with the right church, or is baptized the right way, o

simply, plainly, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved."-Acts 16:31. They did not say, believe on the Lord Jesus and unite with the r

Rom. 4:5, he did not say, believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly and unites with the right church, or is baptized the right way, or lives the r

id not say, whosoever liveth and believeth in me and unites with the right church, or is baptized the right way, or lives the right

al. 2:16, he did not say, we have believed in Jesus Christ and united with the right church and been baptized the right way, tha

religious teachers to-day. Why did not the Saviour and Peter and Paul express these conditions? There can be but one answer,-because they

s is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many, for the remission of sins,"-Matt. 26:28; and then before leaving the upper room He said to His disciples: "if ye love me, keep my commandments."-John 14:15. Why love Him? Love Him because He shed His blood for the remission of the

ho believe on him, depend on him, rely on him to pay their debts, will have their debts paid. So Christ died for all our sins (1 Cor. 15:3); He gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity (Titus 2:14); but only those who believe on Him, depend on Him, rely on Him to save them, will ever be saved. The man who is depending on Christ and his baptism or Christ and his church, or Christ and his good life to save him, will be lost; for he is not believing on, depending on, relying on

dly. How? "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood ... to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3:25, 26); "being now justified by his blood."-Rom. 5:9. And H

strate: A father gives a little boy ten rows of corn to work out and says to him, "Willie, if you will work out the ten rows of corn to-day, I will pay you five dollars; but it will take steady work all day." About nine o'clock some boys persuade Willie to play, and he plays with them for two hours. Now he cannot get the task done, and so is sure to lose the five dollars. His grown brother comes to him and says, "Willie, I saw the trouble you were getting into, and had a talk with father. Father says that the work must be done or you will lose the five dollars. But father agreed to let me do the work for you. Now if you will quit working at the task and trust me, depend on me, I will see that the work is done, and that you get the five dollars." The little brother quits working at the task, and gets out of the field. He believes on, depends on, trusts, his big brother. If, now, there is any failure, it will be the big brother's failure, and not the little brother's. So, "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness." If, then, the sinner will quit working at the task of his salvation and believe on, depend on Christ, trust the whole work of salvation to Him, He will "justify the ungodly" from "all iniquity" (Titus 2:14). If, then, there shou

me. But you cannot work for me for nothing. I will pay you fifty cents for every hour you work in my field. Now, work hard and have a large reward for your labor." So the Saviour says, "Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in

g brother, and then chastises him and sends him back to the big brother's field. So, when God's redeemed, saved children backslide, do wrong wilfully, He chastises them. "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."-Heb. 12:5, 6. "Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for hi

the message, "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness." Believe on Him, depend on Him, to justify you from all iniquity (Titus 2:14). The moment you do, your eternal destiny is settled, "Verily, ve

In trusting money to a bank one does not need to know how much German or French or English blood there is in the bank officials. In trusting one's case to a physician, one does not need to know the different nationalities from which he is descended, but he needs to know him in his character as physician. So men must know Jesus in His character as Saviour, or they cannot believe on, trust Him to save them. They must, then, know Him as the Messiah, the promised Saviour, the complete sin-bearer, or they cannot believe on Him. But after one knows the bank, he must commit his money to the bank, else the bank is not responsible for it. After one knows the physician, he must commit his case to the physi

he whole responsibility for the delivery of the package entirely to the company, leaving no responsibility whatever upon himself for its safe delivery. No one has committed a letter to the post-office who has not left the entire responsibility for its safe delivery to the government, leav

ve trusted the express company, but only risked it; one may have committed a letter to the post-office and yet not really have trusted the post-office, but only risked it. So, one may have commi

ime, nor till one can see how he will afterwards feel; nor till one can see whether he is going to be able to live a Christian life. It is to commit one's salvation to Christ "against that day." And the moment one does what Paul did, commits his salvation to C

e with whom they are here in strict agreement; "I hope for happiness beyond this life"; "I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy"; "The only true religion is deism, by which I then meant and now mean the belief of one God, and an imitation of his moral character, or the practice of what are called moral virtues; and that it was upon this only (so far as religion is concerned) that I rested my hopes of happiness hereafter. So say I now, and so help me God." These are exact quotat

be included in "I know him" in His character as Saviour, in order that one can believe on Him, be saved by Him, be a real Christian? First, one must know Him as the promised Messiah, in order to really believe on Him, to be really a Christian. The high priest asked, "Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am."-Mark 14:61, 62. The woman at the well said, "I know that Messiah cometh, who is called Christ: When he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee, am he."-John 4:25, 26. As Ballard, in "The Miracles of Unbelief," has clearly pointed out, either (1) He was the Messiah; or (2) He was the ill

either no redeemer at all, or He "gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity."-Titus 2:14. To try to avoid the issue here is as fatal as to try to avo

o be heralded abroad as a great preacher and theologian who yet denies the literal, real resurrection of the Saviour, cannot change God's word that all such are yet unredeemed, lost, not real Christians. God's word is plain on this point: "If

d find that they cannot make out a shadow of a title to the divine favor. The error of both lies in their looking to themselves when they should be looking to the Saviour. 'Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.'-Is. 45:22. The Son of man was so lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:14, 15). It is your part simply to lay hold of the proffered boon. You are invited to do so; and you are entreated to do so; nay, what is more, you are commanded to do so. It is true, you are unworthy, and without holiness no man can see God; but be not afraid, only believe. You cannot get holiness of yourself, but Christ has undertaken to provide it for you. It is one of those spiritual blessings of which He has the dispensation, and which He has promised to all who believe in Him. God has promised that with His Son He will freely give you all things (Rom. 8:32);

h is not a work. On the contrary, it is a ceasing from work. It is not a climbing of the mountain, but a ceasing to attempt it, and allowing Christ to carry you up in His own arms. You seem to think that it is your act of faith that is to save you, and not the object of your faith, without which your act, however well performed, is nothing. Accordingly, you bethink yourself, and say, 'What a mighty work is this believing-what an effort does it require on my part-how am I to perform it?' Herein you sadly err, and your mistake lies chiefly here, in supposing that your peace is to come from the proper performance on your part of an act of faith; whereas, it is to come entirely from the proper perception of Him to whom the Father is pointing your eyes, and in regard to whom He is saying, 'Behold my servant whom I have chosen, look at Him, forget everything else-everything about yourself, your own faith, your ow

Christ, that is faith in Christ. To be satisfied with His blood, that is faith. What more could you have? Can your faith give you something which Christ cannot? Or will Christ give you nothing till you can produce faith of a certain kind and quality, whose excellences will entitle you to blessing? Do not bewilder yourself. Do not suppose that your faith is a price, or a bribe, or a merit. Is not the very essence of real faith just your being satisfied with Christ? Are you really satisfied with Him and with what He has do

ospel to win souls-this message of a sin-bearing, sin-expiating love which pleads for acceptance, which takes th

urself in child-like faith upon that atonement-'Christ dying for the ungodly' (Rom. 5:6)-and you are saved! Justification is this, a poor law-condemned, self-condemned, self-destroyed sinner, wrapping himself by faith in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is unto all them that believe (Rom. 3:22). He, then, is justified and is prepared to die, and he only, who casts from him the garment of his own righteousness and runs unto this blessed city of Refuge-the Lord Jesus-and hides himself there-exclaiming, 'There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus' (Rom. 8:1). God is prepared to accept you in His blessed Son, and for His sake He will cast all your sins behind His back, and take you to glory when you die. Never was Jesus known to reject a poor sinner that came to Him empty and with nothing to pay. God will glorify His free grace by your salvation, and will therefore save you just as you are, without money and without price (Is. 55:1). I close with Paul's reply to the anxious jailor, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be sa

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