Excuses, Excuses!

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The apostle Paul and Silas responded to the jailor in the city of Philippi, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved, and your household” (Acts 16:31).

The only road to heaven is by faith in Jesus Christ. Calling on any other name will not save you. There is salvation only in the atoning death of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). When we believe on Christ as Savior we trust or lean upon Him with our whole weight upon His cross. We cease to stand in our own religious strength, and cast ourselves wholly upon the Rock of Ages. Faith, belief and trust are synonyms for receiving Jesus Christ and the free gift of eternal life in Him.

Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost all sinners who come to Him, take His word, and trust Him. Only believe. That is God’s requirement for salvation. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” The greatest sin in the entire world is unbelief. The object of saving faith is Jesus Christ.

R. G. Lee once said, “Excuses, excuses—rotten bridges over hell.” What are some excuses that will send you to an eternal hell?

Some people give the excuse, “My faith is too small. I do not think Christ could save me.” God does not ask us to trust in ourselves, but in the finished work of Jesus Christ who died in our place on the cross. C. H. Spurgeon said, “It is not the strength of your faith that saves you, . . . it is the object of your faith. If your faith is fixed on Christ, though it seems to be in itself a line no thicker than a spider’s web, it will hold your soul throughout time and eternity. . . The faith that saves men is sometimes so small that man himself cannot see it.” Put your trust in the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse you of all your sins. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved . . .” Let Him be the object of your faith and trust.

Other individuals use the excuse, “I have many doubts that Jesus died for me. Can I be a true Christian if I have doubts and fears?” The Bible does not say we have to have great faith to be saved. It only says, “He that believes shall be saved.” Focus your trust on Christ, and He will save you.

Another says, “I don’t feel like I am saved.” The Bible does not tell us that we must have certain emotions in order to be saved. It does not say, “he that is joyful shall be saved,” but “he that believes shall be saved.” It is not what you feel that saves you, but it is in whom you believe that saves you for eternity. The apostle Paul wrote, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”

Spurgeon said, “When I feel my soul as cold as an iceberg, as hard as a rock, and as sinful as Satan, yet even then faith ceases not to justify. Faith prevails as truly in the midst of sad feelings as of happy feelings, for then, standing alone, it proves the majesty of its might.”

How many times have I had people tell me, “God cannot save me. I am too great a sinner. You do not know the kind of life I have lived.” They want you to believe that they are a special case. My friend that is the whole reason why Jesus came and died on the cross. He came to save the ungodly. He died to save you and me. Jesus did not come and die for good religious, self-righteous people; He came and died for you and me—the ungodly. All of your sins, though they be many will not condemn you to hell. Unbelief will send you to hell. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” You will go to hell because you have rejected His saving grace. Claim the cleansing blood of Jesus to cleanse you of all your unrighteousness. His blood alone cleanses us from all sin—every one of them.

This leads me to the excuse I have heard so often, “I am too weak; I could never live the Christian life. When I would do good, evil is present with me.” If you wait until you are perfect, you will never be saved. You will never be perfect, even as a Christian, until you see God face to face in heaven. The only way you will ever see Him is to place your trust in Jesus Christ who died for you on the cross to cover all your sins.

Your responsibility is to trust in Christ. You must depend, not upon your feeble strength as a sinner, but on nothing but the blood of Jesus. “He that believes on the Son of God has everlasting life.” “He that believes not shall be damned.” “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” I must agree with the old preacher, “I find my sense of need of Christ is ten times more acute now than it was before I found Christ.” Come, believe on Christ, and you shall be saved.

Selah!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006

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