Without question, the most
profound, most mysterious, and most incomprehensible thing in all the world is
the gospel of Christ. Who can explain how the eternal Son of God could come to
this earth in human flesh, live in perfect righteousness as our Representative
before God, have our sins imputed to him, suffer and die as our Substitute in
full satisfaction of infinite justice, rise from the dead in accomplishment of
our justification, and reign in glory as the God-man Mediator to save his
people? The fact of the gospel is incomprehensibly astonishing!
Yet, the message of the gospel is plain, clear, and
simple. It is just this, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
be saved." Do you ask, "How can I be saved from my sin?"
"How can I be made righteous before God?" "How can a sinner like
me be justified in the sight of God?" There is no need for your
perplexity. Paul said, "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in
thy heart: that is the word of faith which we preach; that if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation." If you will acknowledge Christ's Lordship and dominion over
you, believing on him alone for the pardon of your sin and all your
righteousness before God, you will be saved.
Nothing in all the world is more plain and clear than
that. You do not need to figure out a way of salvation. Christ has done it all.
You must simply trust him. As surely as it is true that "The soul that
sinneth it shall die", just that surely it is true that "Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Not until the throne
of God is overturned and the truth of God becomes a lie will it be possible for
a sinner to truly believe on Christ without being saved.
The question is simply this - "Dost thou believe
on the Son of God?" If you do, you are a saved man. Your sins are
pardoned, and you are made perfectly righteous in Christ. If you refuse to
believe the plain declaration of God in the gospel, you make God a liar, you
are without excuse, and your damnation is just.