Experimental Salvation.

SALVATION may be viewed from many angles—and contemplated under various aspects. But from whatever side we look at it we must ever remember that "Salvation is of the Lord!" Salvation wasplanned by the Father for His elect before the foundation of the world. It was purchased for them by the holy life and vicarious death of His incarnate Son. It is applied to and wrought in them by His Holy Spirit. It is known and enjoyed through the study of the Scriptures, through the exercise of faith, and through communion with the triune Jehovah.

Now it is greatly to be feared that there are multitudes in Christendom who truly imagine and sincerely believe, that they are among the saved—yet who are total strangers to a work of divine grace in their hearts. It is one thing to have clear intellectual conceptions of God's truth—but it is quite another matter to have a personal, real heart acquaintance with it. It is one thing to believe that sin is the dreadful thing that the Bible says it is—but it is quite another matter to have a holy horror and hatred of it, in the soul. It is one thing to know that God requires repentance—but it is quite another matter to experimentally mourn and groan over our vileness. It is one thing to believe that Christ is the only Savior for sinners—but it is quite another matter to really trust Him from the heart. It is one thing to believe that Christ is the Sum of all excellency—but it is quite another matter to LOVE Him above all others. It is one thing to believe that God is the great and holy One—but it is quite another matter to truly reverence and fear Him. It is one thing to believe that salvation is of the Lord—but it is quite another matter to become an actual partaker of it through His gracious workings.

While it is true that Holy Scripture insists on man's responsibility—and that all through Scripture, God deals with the sinner as an accountable being; yet it is also true that the Bible plainly and constantly shows that no son of Adam has ever measured up to his responsibility, that every person has miserably failed to discharge his accountability. It is this which constitutes the deep need for GOD to work in the sinner—and to do for him what he is unable to do for himself. "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom 8:8). The sinner is "without strength" (Rom 5:6). Apart from the Lord, we "can do nothing" (John 15:5).

While it is true that the Gospel issues a call and a command to all who hear it—it is also true that ALL disregard that call and disobey that command, "They all with one consent began to make excuse!"(Luke 14:18). This is where the sinner commits his greatest sin and most manifests his awful enmity against God and His Christ: that when a Savior, suited to his needs, is presented to him, he "despises and rejects" Him! (Isa 53:3).

This is where the sinner shows what an incorrigible rebel he is, and demonstrates that he is deserving only of eternal torments. But it is just at this point that God manifests His sovereign and wondrous GRACE. He not only planned and provided salvation, but he actually bestows it upon those whom He has chosen!

Now this bestowal of salvation is far more than a mere proclamation that salvation is to be found in the Lord Jesus: it is very much more than an invitation for sinners to receive Christ as their Savior. It is God actually saving His people! It is His own sovereign and all-powerful work of grace toward and in those who are entirely destitute of merit, and who are so depraved in themselves that they will not and cannot take one step to the obtaining of salvation! Those who have been actually saved, owe far more to divine grace, than most of them realize! It is not only that Christ died to put away their sins—but also the Holy Spirit has wrought a work in them—a work which applies to them, the virtues of Christ's atoning death!

It is just at this point that so many preachers fail in their exposition of the Truth. While many of them affirm that Christ is the only Savior for sinners, they also teach that He actually became ours only by our consent. While they allow that conviction of sin is the Holy Spirit's work and that He alone shows us our lost condition and need of Christ—yet they also insist that the decisive factor in salvation is man's own will. But the Holy Scriptures teach that "salvation is of the Lord!" (Jonah 2:9), and that nothing of the creature enters into it at any point. Only that can satisfy God—which has been produced by God Himself! Though it is true that salvation does not become the personal portion of the sinner until he has, from the heart, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ—yet that very BELIEVING is wrought in him by the Holy Spirit: "By grace are you saved through faith, and that NOT OF YOURSELVES; it is the gift of God" (Eph 2:8).

It is exceedingly solemn to discover that there is a "believing" in Christ by the natural man, which is NOT a believing unto salvation. Just as the Buddists believe in Budda—so in Christendom there are multitudes who believe in Christ. And this "believing" is something more than an intellectual one. Often there is much feeling connected with it—the emotions may be deeply stirred. Christ taught in the Parable of the Sower that there is a class of people who hear the Word and with joy receive it—yet have they no root in themselves (Matt 13:20, 21). This is fearfully solemn, for it is still occurring daily!

Scriptures also tell us that Herod heard John "gladly." Thus, the mere fact that the reader of these pages enjoys listening to some sound gospel preacher is no proof at all that he is a regenerated soul. The Lord Jesus said to the Pharisees concerning John the Baptist, "You were willing for a season to rejoice in his light," yet the sequel shows clearly that no real work of grace had been wrought in them. And these things are recorded in Scripture as solemn warnings!

It is striking and solemn to mark the exact wording in the last two Scriptures referred to. Note the repeated personal pronoun in Mark 6:20: "For Herod feared 'John' [not 'God'!], knowing that he as a just man and a holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly." It was the personality of John which attracted Herod. How often is this the case today! People are charmed by the personality of the preacher: they are carried away by his style and won by his earnestness for souls. But if there is nothing more than this—there will one day be a crude awakening for them! That which is vital, is a "love for the truth," not for the one who presents it. It is this which distinguishes the true people of God from the "mixed multitude" who ever associate with them.

So in John 5:35 Christ said to the Pharisees concerning His forerunner: "You were willing for a season to rejoice in his light," not "in the light"! In like manner, there are many today who listen to one whom God enables to open up some of the mysteries and wonders of His Word—and they rejoice "in his light" while in the dark themselves, never having personally received "an anointing from the Holy One." Those who do "love the truth" (2 Thess 2:10) are they in whom a divine work of grace has been wrought. They have something more than a clear, intellectual understanding of the Scripture. The Bible becomes the food of their souls, the joy of their hearts (Jer 15:16). They love the truth, and because they do so, they hate error and shun it as deadly poison. They are jealous for the glory of the Author of the Word, and will not sit under a minister whose teaching dishonors Him; they will not listen to preaching which exalts man into the place of supremacy, so that he is the decider of his own destiny.

"Lord, You will ordain peace for us: for You also have wrought all our works in us" (Isa 26:12). Here is the heart and unqualified confession of the true people of God. Note the preposition: "You also havewrought all our works in us." This speaks of a divine work of grace wrought in the heart of the saint. Nor is this text alone. Weigh carefully the following: "It pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me" (Gal 1:15, 16).

"Unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" (Eph 3:20). "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it" (Phil 1:6). "It is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil 2:13). "I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them" (Heb 10: 16). "Now the God of peace...make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight" (Heb 13:20). Here are seven passages which speak of the inward workings of God's grace; or in other words of experimental salvation.

Next Part Experimental Salvation. 2

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