|
One day, a bank owner was sitting with a merchant. They sat facing each other in the merchant's office. The merchant leaned over to the banker and started to talk about Jesus, very passionately and sincerely; however, the banker suddenly stopped the merchant. 'This is so ridiculous!' The banker got angry and interrupted with an arrogant tone. 'Why do you think it's ridiculous?' the merchant asked. 'Are you asking me why? Why do you need to ask that question to a man like me? Look at me! I am clever and educated. It is just absolutely ridiculous,' the banker said with a sarcastic smile. 'That is right. I am asking you the reason why you think it is ridiculous,' the merchant answered politely. The banker began to get irritated. His voice was wavering because of his anger when he answered, 'Are you really trying to convince me with such a story of Jesus on the cross? Do you expect me to accept that Jesus died for me, and the God was satisfied by that? Please stop telling these ridiculous lies. The only one who can save me is me. It should be done by my own efforts!' 'Well, I understand very well. Now I know where your agony is. You think that you are qualified to walk on your own path. That is why you refuse the God's plan of salvation and despise it,' the merchant replied. 'What does that mean?' the banker asked doubtfully. The merchant answered his question. 'Please think about this. Suppose that someone comes to you and asks you to lend him some money. Who, in this case, do you think will set the conditions to loan this man the money and determine whether he meets that condition? Should it be a wealthy bank owner, which is you? Or the man who is in trouble? Which do you think it should be?' 'It is me. It goes without saying. That man has to accept my conditions before receiving my money,' the banker answered. 'You are right, and this is exactly the same situation you are in now. You are a miserable and hopeless sinner who just is going to perish. On the other hand, the Lord God is the very wealthy bank owner. You go to see the Lord God and beg for his blessing and forgiveness. In this case, who do you suppose decides the conditions to receive the salvation of God and who is qualified to give directions?,' the merchant asked. 'I have never thought about it that way until now,' the banker answered with a touch of surprise. 'Of course, in that situation I am not qualified to decide. It is only the Lord God who is qualified to give directions.' 'Actually, you have been building the way to the salvation of your own. You forgot that beggars cannot give directions, but can only receive what was offered. Lord God, the owner of the huge bank, is always ready to offer you, and each person in the world, his plan of salvation. Why don't you try stepping onto the path of the Lord God instead of walking on your own way? The Lord God is waiting to see you on the road he prepared by himself. Why don't you prepare to meet the Lord now?' It was then that the banker was illuminated by this new light. 'Yes, the Lord God saves me,' the banker answered in a faint voice. I. Plan of the Salvation by God What is the plan of the Lord God? Here are some very well-known verses from the bible. Isaiah, 45:22
Luke, 19:10
Acts, 16:30-31
Ephesians, 2:8
1Timothy, 1:15
Romans, 10:9
No other word in the bible is interpreted differently by readers than the word 'saved'. What is the true picture of salvation? Let's try to find out what the Lord God says about it. Proverbs, 14:12
What a tragedy it will be if you kept walking on the pathway that seemed right before your eyes, but the road actually led you to the death at the end. In the early churches, very often, people were taught the wrong pathway. It is also described in the scripture. [Acts15:1] Then some men came down from Judea and started to teach the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the Law of Moses, you can't be saved." This was a teaching against the belief of Paul. He proved that circumcision is not required to be saved, and moreover, it is not required to obey the laws of the bible. Even today there are so many people who misunderstand the salvation of the Lord God. Let's look at some typical examples of this kind of misinterpretation. II. Wrong interpretation of the God's salvation [1] Religion So many people believe that they can be saved by their religion. No man-made religion, including Christianity, whether it is Catholic or Protestant, Judaism, Muhammadanism, Shintoism or Buddhism can save the souls of men. This is what I want to say. The true salvation is only in Jesus Christ himself. Matthew, 1:21
Acts, 4:12
If you need someone to save you, you have to be saved by Jesus Christ. There is no other way. Lord Jesus is the only Savior for you. No religion can give you a life. You need to be given 'a new life' to be saved. Jesus said: John, 3:3
A man called Nicodemus appears and talks to Jesus in this part. He was a very religious man. However, he was not saved. Jesus clearly told him that he had to be born again into a new life. Cornelius was also very religious, as described in Acts, chapter 10. He worshipped the Lord God, donated generously, never forgot to pray(Acts 10:2). He was also well-liked by the people. However, Cornelius also had to be saved. Paul must have been one of the most faithful men of his time. As a child, he was raised by very religious family. He could tell anyone that he was devoting his life to the Lord God, and he was so proud of it. He was circumcised, respected all laws in the bible and obeyed them. Nevertheless, in the eyes for the Lord God, he was just one of those sinners. He was a 'lost person' who did not realize that he was a sinner. He also needed salvation, because he had not yet found the righteousness of God. Actually, he was a faithful sinner. After he came to know Jesus, he called himself the chief of the sinners. He testified: Philippians, 3:4-9
Religion could not save Paul, Cornelius or Nicodemus. So, how can we expect it to save us? Do you still rely on a religious life, believing that it will lead you to the salvation? If you do, you are just clinging to false and delusional hope. If religion can save men, why did Jesus have to die? If we can be saved by religion, there would have been no need for the cross. There is only one savior. It has nothing to do with any religion, but it is Jesus himself. [2] Ethics The second wrong interpretation is ethics. Many people believe that they are saved because they are leading ethical lives. These people rely on their own moral acts to be saved. If ethical life and sincere attitude can save us, why did Jesus have to die? If we can save ourselves, we do not need Jesus. If we could get to heaven by our own efforts, we would say when we get there, 'Look at me! I came here because of my great life. I was very good man. I always have been a very ethical and sincere man, so God brought me in here! I did not need any savior. I made it without the help of Jesus Christ. I saved myself.' Of course, no one can say something like this in this world. It is because nobody can lead a life ethical and good enough to satisfy God. Isaiah, 64:6
Romans, 3:10
It is written in the bible that everybody is a sinner. This is why everybody needs a savior. If we are totally ethical and have our own righteousness, Jesus would not have had to come down to this world for us. Luke, 5:32
Matthew, 9:13
Are we whole? Are we righteous? If so, we do not need Jesus. Luke, 18:9-14
Jesus justified the tax collector and accused the Pharisee. Do we really recognize that we are not righteous at all? Don't we try to hide what we have in our minds from other people? Do we belong to the people who can stay in the presence of the Holy God? You may not see any dust in your room now. However, when sunshine comes in, through the light from the sun, you will see dust everywhere in the same room. We might say that we are righteous, but when the light from the glory of the Lord God enters into our hearts, what will we see? You will see that it is filled with downfall, impurity and filthy stains. In simpler words, our hearts are filled with sin. Peter cried out, 'Lord, I am a sinner' (Luke5:8), when he was amazed at the number of fish he caught and fell down at Jesus' knees. Isaiah cried, 'How terrible it will be for me because I am ruined! I'm a man of unclean lips.' He said this when he was in the presence of the Lord: 'My eyes have seen the King; the Lord of the Heavenly Armies' (Isaiah6:5). Job screamed that he was impure. In 42:5-6, he said, 'I've seen you with my eyes. As a result, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.f These were men of good will, and they belonged to the most ethical and sincere people of their time. However, when they saw the Lord they saw themselves too. The same is true for us. Can you say that your life is as righteous as that of Peter, Isaiah or Job? Or is it better than theirs? Just like they could not be saved by leading ethical lives, we will never be saved by our ethics. Do we recognize that we are not righteous at all? Sometimes, we compare ourselves with others and think that we are better than them. However, if you are judged by the standard of the Lord God, you will see how iniquitous you are. Lord God seeks the perfect righteousness. And there is only one man who is perfectly righteous. It is Lord Jesus. If you obtain the righteousness of Jesus, you will be accepted by the Lord God. Otherwise, you are doomed to perish forever. Your righteousness is useless. Your righteousness is never sufficient. We can only do the best we can. However, the best efforts we can make will never ever satisfy the Lord God. It is only Jesus' righteousness that can save us. You have to take off your filthy clothes as the prodigal son did and ask for the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus. You have to confess from the bottom of your heart, 'I am a sinner, nothing but a filthy sinner. Lord Jesus is everything for me.' At a time in the past, Queen Victoria of England decided to forgive all army deserters and acquitted them, once they admitted what they did. They had to confess that they deserted the army. Just like this, we have to confess our sins if we want to be forgiven. [3] Deeds The third misunderstanding is deeds. Many people believe that they can be saved by their efforts or good deeds. These people devote themselves to things like repentance, abstention or charity. Sometimes, they offer sacrifices and pray. They also preferably visit sick people and prisoners. They plan very long pilgrimages or even whip themselves. These people believe that they go to heaven by doing these kinds of good deeds. Think about the thief who was crucified along with Jesus. What did he do to be saved? The thief could not do anything good, because both of his hands were already nailed to the cross. There was nothing he could do. Nonetheless, Jesus saved this man. When people plan to save someone, they emphasize that they would 'do' something, while the Lord God always mentions that he 'has done' something, instead of saying he 'does'. People desperately want to make some effort, to pay some price. People try to grab the salvation in their hands by their own means. However, the Lord God said it was 'done' already. There is nothing left for men to do. Jesus has done all that has to be done. The real salvation is a 'gift'. It is a present. Romans, 6:23
Do you need to work hard to receive a present? If you have to pay for what you get, it is not called a gift. If you receive something as a reward for your efforts, it also shouldn't be called a gift, because you deserve to take it. A gift is what you get for free. The same is true for salvation. What did the prodigal son pay to his father? Please tell me if you know the price, the prodigal son paid and I will give you an estimate for the price you need to pay to buy salvation. The prodigal son did not pay a cent, because he did not have anything. He went broke and had nothing in his hands. The same is true for us. You can be saved without paying any money, with no charge. You can never actually buy salvation. Let's look at the words of our Lord God and see how clear it is. Ephesians, 2:8-9
It is clearly stated that it is not a result of any deeds. Our deeds, our efforts, nothing we do will ever be taken into account for our salvation. Only Jesus saves us. If we come to Jesus, if you surrender to the work of Jesus, what he accomplished on the cross, and if you totally rely on Jesus, you will be saved at the very moment. Jesus is the only one who can save you. [4] Commandments There is another wrong interpretation. The fourth is the commandments. Many people believe that they will be saved just by following the laws of God described in the scripture. However, Jesus said that not even one person of them followed these laws strictly. We realize that we do not keep these commandments at all. We have to admit that we very often break these laws in our daily lives. It is written in the Bible; James, 2:10
It is written in the scripture that if you fail to follow just one of the laws, even though you follow all other laws, it is equivalent to breaking all laws. All men are sinners. There is no exception. We are guilty because we broke the laws of the Lord God. So then, is there anything we can do for ourselves? The Lord Jesus suffered for all men and died upon the cross to expiate our sins. Jesus was crucified, and he bore our sins on his body on the tree. The Lord Jesus sacrificed himself to redeem us for our sins. What we need to do is so clear now: we must accept Jesus as the savior of our own kind. How simple and easy it is for us to be saved! Anybody can accept Lord Jesus no matter where they are or what their situation is. We can be saved in less than 3 minutes. It is pointless to visit someone in a hospital suffering from serious cancer and give him a book called 'How to live a healthy life'. He has a cancer. What he needs is medical treatment to stop the pain. It is also meaningless to tell someone who want to be saved, 'You ought to keep all laws listed in the scriptures'. All people suffer from the cancer called sin. We all need someone to bear the sickness of our sins and make us healthy. This is how the gospels were brought in. Jesus bore our sins on his body. The burdens of our sins were carried by Jesus in his own body to the Cross. And now, Jesus is offering to all mankind the life of himself, an eternal life. Galatians, 2:16, 21
[5] Rites The last wrong interpretation is in Rites. It is widely believed that people will be saved by keeping to the rules of their churches, by following rituals, such as baptisms or communions. But again, was the thief crucified with Jesus baptized? Did he ever attend a communion service? Never. Nevertheless, the thief was definitely saved. It was because Jesus said to him, on the cross, 'Today you will be with me in Paradise. [Luke 23:43]' If one man was saved without being baptized, then anyone can be saved without being baptized. Thus, baptism in water is not required to be saved. Those who are forgiven for their sins by Jesus are already saved. People are baptized when they are saved. But, we were not baptized because we want to be saved. The same is true for the Holy Communion. We are allowed to attend it, because we are already saved, not because we want to be saved. We are allowed to take the bread because we are saved by the Lord's compassion. These rites held in churches cannot save men although these may not be totally meaningless. Men are saved by Jesus alone. The only savior is the Lord Jesus himself. III. The Only Savior So far, we have pursued the ways men believe the ways to salvation, which are religion, ethics, deeds, commandments and rites. And finally, we learned that all of them are false. Where is the road to salvation that the Lord God prepared for us? John, 14:6
'I' in this verse, is the Lord Jesus. No one else. It is not any religion, ethics or good deed. Jesus the son of God is the only savior. The Lord Jesus is himself the way. As I just said, he is not merely a road sign to show you the direction. No one can reach the true God without passing through Jesus. Not by Moses, not by Buddha, Muhammad nor Confucius. Monks, pastors or the Pope cannot send a man to God. Only by the Lord Jesus can we come to see the true living God. What do you think? You still don't want to accept Jesus to bring you to salvation? Acts, 4:12
Such wonderful words of the Lord, aren't they? No other verse in the Bible clearly explains salvation like this one. There is no other way which leads you to salvation than Jesus Christ. There is no other name by which we can be saved. 'You are to name him Jesus, because he is the one who will save his people (Matthew 1:21).' Are we prepared to turn away from all other paths and face Jesus only and rely on Him? Only the Lord Jesus can truly save men. But does the Lord Jesus truly save you? If you are not so sure, let's look at the next verse. John, 6:37
The Lord Jesus promises so. Jesus would never refuse. He would absolutely accept everyone who humbly comes to him. Shouldn't we thank the Lord God for sending such a savior? Some people might think that because the Lord God has accomplished everything that has to be done for their salvation, there is nothing left for them to do. This is a terrible misunderstanding. These people do not understand that men have to grab what the Lord is offering. The bible says, 'Choose and receive'. Salvation was finished by the Lord Jesus. But men have to accept it. For example, I can pass you a glass of water, but you have to grab it in your hands to quench your thirst. Doctors can prescribe medicines for you, but you won't be cured unless you swallow them. If you truly want to be saved, you have to accept Jesus into your heart. 'Be reconciled to the Lord God.' It says so in the bible. John, 1:12
Only those who have reconciled with Jesus are saved. Nobody has ever been saved without having the strong intention to reconcile. You can never accept Jesus unless you are determined to do so. In the same way, you will never be saved without realizing it. You have to decide to choose. So, please accept Jesus as a savior of your own. Please accept him today, now, at this moment. This is the call of the Bible. There is a huge difference between the faith in your brain and faith in your heart. For example, you believe that elevators bring you to the upper floors. If you do not put that belief into action, that is to say, if you do not step into the elevator, you can never go upstairs. You also know that trains transport you anywhere you want to go, but again, you won't get to your destination unless you get on the train. It is same thing. You firmly believe that Jesus will save you. But to be saved, you need to put your faith into practice, which means that you have to rely truly on the Lord Jesus. We all have to choose Jesus, accept Jesus, surrender to him and devote ourselves to him. It is this kind of faith that truly saves people. Why don't you start relying on Jesus now, today? It really has to be now. If you know that you are not saved yet, you cannot postpone and wait for the best time to be saved. But for the Lord God, there is no best time which comes later. Jesus says, 'In a favorable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the favorable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2)' The time of the Lord God is now. This exact moment is the time for your decision. The most critical time has already come. This is the best time for you to make up your mind. It may be too late tomorrow. Please do not hesitate and wait too long. Let's accept Jesus. Please accept Jesus now. You will receive eternal life at that very moment and you will be saved. Don't give the devil a chance. If you allow the devil to let you hesitate, you might be lost forever. So, please come and accept Jesus now. Isaiah, 55:6
The time will come when you will never be able to see the Lord Jesus anymore. So, please accept the Lord Jesus. Accept him now. |