“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other…” (Luke 18:10-14) The publican (a tax collector in ancient times) in the text above realized his desperate need of help which he could neither satisfy nor supply. He cried out “God be merciful to me a sinner.” It was a personal matter between him and God. He received Christ by his own act and deed by believing on His name, “Even to them that believe on His name.” Receiving Christ and believing on His name is a very simple matter if God is dealing with your heart as He was with this publican. He, by the Holy Spirit, understood that simple matter and therefore found eternal life. Our Gospel is a simple Gospel through which the most ignorant may be saved. In it is wisdom in which the best instructed might find beyond their depth. Here are those everlasting hills of divine truth which man cannot climb; yet here is that plain path in which the wayfaring man, though a fool, needs not go wrong, nor lose his way. It does not bring salvation to the critical and faultfinding who will not believe, but to anxious inquirers. “He (Christ) came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11-13). Notice what a simple matter, “As many as received Him…even to them that believe on His name.” To them He gave power to become the sons of God. Simple but mysterious, “they were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The simplicity of Salvation is this: righteousness and acceptance with God is simply in Christ. “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19). And what is that “word”? “It is finished,” all things are accomplished; God through Christ has made certain salvation. Receive it as the gift of free grace and rest in His accomplishments alone. --WTW
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