The testimony you have borne is the very heart of the gospel, and I join my Amen to it with all my soul. 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.
This is no cold assent of the lips, but a living work in the heart. Salvation is of the Lord in its planning, in its execution, and in its application. No one hath helped to provide it, God hath done it all Himself, and He must make the unwilling willing and bring the vile rebel to the feet of Jesus, or else salvation will never be accomplished. We rest not upon our faith, our repentance, our prayers, or our conquests of sin, but upon Jesus Christ crucified, who is all our salvation, the Alpha and Omega, the Author and Finisher of faith. Simple faith is always the work of the Spirit, and through the Spirit we wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
And let it be remembered that faith and repentance are inseparable. They come into the soul together. No repentance is worth having which is not perfectly consistent with faith in Christ. The repentance which glorifies God is a godly sorrow whereby we hate sin with a perfect hatred because it pierced the Lord, and loathe evil because it is hateful to the heart of Jesus. It is the repentance which ejects sin as an evil tenant that faith may admit Christ to be sole Master of the heart. An old saint well said, Lord, sink me low as hell in repentance, but lift me high as heaven in faith. Cry even now, Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief, I would quit my sin, help me to quit it now for Jesus sake and to give Thee glory.
Where such faith lives in the heart, confession will follow with the mouth. Nail your colours to the mast if you have entered the service of the Lord. Let your confession be sincere, with no hypocrisy, owning Him as Jesus our Lord. How sweetly does that name sound, Jesus our Lord. He is Jesus, the Man of Sorrows, and yet our Lord. In proportion as faith grows, reverence grows, and the soul bows to His lordship. With the heart we believe, with the mouth we confess, and the result of both is salvation.
Upon His incarnation, life, death and resurrection our salvation hinges. God raised Him from the dead, and he who believes this truth aright hath believed the gospel. He who was of the seed of David took the sins of His people and died in the sinners place, and now being Himself set free, all His people are set free in their Representative. Let obedience then be the gracious fruit. When fear is grafted upon faith it bringeth forth good fruit. Prove that you have grace by accurate and careful obedience, not to earn salvation, but because you have received it and would follow and obey Jesus.
Your counsel to read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and to begin in the book of John, is most wise. There you will meet Jesus our Lord in His glory and His grace, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His name. Search those pages daily and pray the Holy Spirit to open your eyes, for faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
May the Lord grant to every seeking soul that faith which looks to Christ alone, that repentance which turns from sin to give Him glory, and that open confession which owns Him before men. May He keep you and perfect His work in you till the ultimate perfection of salvation is complete, for salvation is of the Lord from first to last. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
