JAMES STEWART ON SALVATION

There are many who want to be saved from the consequences of their sin, who do not want to be saved from the love of it.  Many want to be delivered from sin’s curse and sin’s wages, who do not want to bow their neck to the yoke of Christ.  There are many who are attracted by the Gospel message and see the way of salvation, which are still possessing a craving for this present evil age.  How great the need for care, lest by an inadequate presentation of the truth of the Gospel we deceive these souls into a false profession.  There is a grave danger that many people will make a mistake of substituting an emotional religious crisis for a born again experience.  To preach Christ as Savior without preaching Christ as Lord makes a mockery of the Gospel and the entire Christian life.  There must be true repentance (Acts 8:21-23).  THE SON OF GOD DOES NOT SAVE REBELS.  There must be true submission (repentance) before there can be salvation.  What a parody of the Gospel when many are told to ‘trust Jesus to take them to Heaven when they die,’ who nevertheless are living in the practice of sin and rebellion against His laws.  The grace of God does not give deliverance to the sinner from the penalty of his sins and then give him liberty to live a life of sin.  Paul tells us that the pardoning grace of God TEACHES us to live a life of HOLINESS.  Read Titus 2:11-15. — Scottish Evangelist James A. Stewart (1910-1975).