You have been turning this great matter over in your mind: how a soul gets right with God, what it means to be saved, whether there is a welcome for you. And you have lighted upon the very words that answer it all, confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth, believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and you shall be saved. That is no riddle; it is a plain door standing open before you.
Perhaps somebody whispered to you that you must first scramble up a high wall of preparation, that your repentance must reach a certain pitch of bitterness before you may dare to trust Christ. But that is not the gospel. The gospel does not say, “Bewail your sins enough and then you may believe.” It says, “Repent and believe.” And the remarkable thing is that both are given to you in the name of Jesus. You are not sent off to manufacture a broken heart on your own, and then return with it as a ticket of admission. The very moment you take your place as a sinner before the cross, a sweet sorrow and a living faith spring up together. The hand that opens to receive the gift is the hand that learns to hate the sin.
Notice how the Scripture puts it: a gift. “If you knew the gift of God,” our Lord said to that woman at the well, “you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water.” She came thirsty to the well that day, carrying a life full of tangled things, and she left with a well of water inside her, springing up into everlasting life. And how did it happen? Jesus told her who He was, and she believed. The gift was given. So it is with you: salvation is not a wage to be earned, but a kindness to be received. The freeness of it is part of its glory. God’s right hand holds out eternal life, and the hand is nail-pierced; you may take it without money and without price.
I know what it is to wonder, “Have I any right to believe? Am I permitted to trust Him?” The enemy would keep you forever on the doorstep, examining your own fitness. But listen: God commands you to believe. He does not merely sit on high and invite, as though the matter were left to your option; He speaks with the authority of the lawgiver and says, “Repent and believe the gospel.” And this is meant for your comfort, not your terror. For if He commands it, then you may do it. No poor soul need stand shivering outside the tent, looking for some secret password. The command is your warrant: come now, just as you are, and trust the Son of God.
You have already seen that the Lord Jesus did not stay in the grave. God raised Him from the dead. That is the great sign that His work for sinners is finished and accepted. The stone rolled away is the receipt for a paid debt. So when you believe that, you are not resting on a feeling inside you, which ebbs and flows like the tide, but upon a settled fact outside you, upon the risen Christ at the Father’s right hand. And from that living Lord there flows into the soul a life that sin cannot quench. The very thing that makes you grieve over your sin is a proof that He is already at work in you. A dead man cannot weep; a heart of stone cannot feel itself to be hard. But you are seeking, you are asking, you are hungry, and that hunger itself is a quiet pledge that the Bread of heaven is near.
Do not be discouraged if the joy does not come all at once. I have found that the sweetest hours of my soul have not always been the ones where I laughed loud, but sometimes the ones where I leaned very low upon the bosom of God and felt it good to be so low that I did not wish to be any higher. True repentance goes arm in arm with faith all the journey through, and strange as it sounds, it pours a deep, tender gladness into the heart. So take your place humbly before the cross, read those holy pages, especially the Gospel of John, and see how Christ meets every kind of seeker. He did not send the weary woman at the well away to clean herself up first; He told her who He was, and the living water did the rest. He will do the same for you.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus, You came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost. Look upon a soul that is looking for salvation, and show Yourself to be all that is needed. Grant the faith that takes hold of You and the repentance that counts all else as loss. Let Your word be a lamp for the feet, and let John’s testimony lead the heart straight to the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep. Take away every shadow of doubt that hides Your welcoming face. Bring this dear one into the clear light of knowing that to confess You as Lord and to believe the resurrection in the heart is to be saved, now and forever. Amen.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, wisdom, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. God, bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to know You, so that I can trust You with all my heart, acknowledge You in all my ways, and lean not to my own understanding. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do. 
be-an-encourager.blogspot.com
