Believe and Be Saved: Or, Around the Wicket Gate

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

You have nothing to lose, for you have lost everything already; therefore, make a dash for it and dare to believe in the mercy of God to you – even to you.

My answer is, “Try him.” Cast yourself on the Lord Jesus, and see if he refuses you.

How?

Likewise, in the darkness of their ignorance, many think that sure destruction awaits them, even if they confess their sin, quit all hope in self, and resign themselves into the hands of God. They are afraid to let go of the hope they ignorantly cling to. It is an idle fear. Give up your hold upon everything but Christ and drop. Drop from all trust in your works, or prayers, or feelings. Drop at once! Drop now! Soft and safe will be the bank that receives you.

This is the major part of faith – giving up every other hold and simply falling upon Christ.

Maybe I never gave up every hold. Maybe this is the problem. I still have idols that I seek comfort from. But Tim Keller says "Christians are in bondage to idols."

There is no reason for fear; only ignorance causes your dread of what will be your eternal safety. The death of carnal hope is the life of faith, and the life of faith is life everlasting. Let self die that Christ may live in you.

God help me!

If, then, I wish to believe, but for some reason or other find that I cannot make that step of faith, what shall I do? Shall I stand like a cow staring at a new gate;

Haha, exactly

Evidence weighed and knowledge obtained lead to faith. It is true that faith in Jesus is the gift of God (1 Corinthians 12:9), but he usually reveals it in accordance with the laws of the mind, and hence we are told that faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). If you want to believe in Jesus, you need to hear about him, read about him, think about him, know about him.

ask for testimonials from his cured patients.

Listen to much about Jesus.

Podcasts

Read the story of his sufferings and death (Mark 15) with devout attention, and before long, faith will enter your soul.

The cross of Christ not only rewards faith but also begets faith.

If hearing and reading are not enough, then deliberately set your mind to work to examine the matter and settle it. Either believe, or know why you do not believe. Finish the research to the utmost of your ability, and pray for God to help you make a thorough investigation to come to an honest decision one way or the other. Consider who Jesus was and whether the quality of his person does not entitle him to have your confidence. Consider what he did and whether his deeds also are grounds for trust. Consider him as he died, rose from the dead, ascended, and lives to intercede for transgressors; see if this doesn’t entitle him to be trusted by you. Then cry to him and see if he doesn’t hear you.

If you want to know Jesus, get as near to him as you can by studying his character and appealing to his love. At one time I might have needed evidence to make me believe in the Lord Jesus, but now I know him so well by proving him in my life that I would need a great deal of evidence to make me doubt him.

Not helpful

Now, troubled seeker, if it is true that your minister and many others in whom you confide have found perfect peace and rest in the gospel, why shouldn’t you?

Do I know anyone who loves God more than they love the enjoyments of the world?

The LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Isaiah 53:6). For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).

“There is nothing whatever for you to do. By the stripes of Jesus we are healed. All those stripes he has endured and left not one of them for us to bear.” “But don’t we need to believe on him?” Yes, certainly. If I say a certain ointment heals, I do not deny that you need a bandage to apply it to the wound. Faith is the linen that binds the plaster of Christ’s reconciliation to the sore of our sin. The linen does not heal; that is the work of the ointment. So faith does not heal; that is the work of the atonement of Christ. “But we must repent,” cries another. Surely we must, and shall, for repentance is the first sign of healing, but the stripes of Jesus heal us and not our repentance. These stripes, when applied to the heart, work repentance in us; we hate sin because it made Jesus suffer.

Is it possible to approach the gospel with presuppositions that render the gospel ineffective?

Chapter 8 Hindrances

THIS CHAPTER. THIS RIGHT HERE.

A sweet sin, harbored in the heart, can prevent a soul from securing Christ by faith. The Lord Jesus has come to save us from sinning, but if we are resolved to continue sinning, Christ and our souls will never agree. If a man takes poison, and a doctor is called in to save his life, he may have a sure antidote ready, but if the patient persists in keeping the poison at his lips and continues to swallow the deadly drops, how can the doctor save him? Salvation includes parting the sinner from his sin, so the very nature of salvation would have to be changed before we could speak of a man’s being saved when he is loving sin and willfully living in it. A man cannot be made white while he continues in black; he cannot be healed and yet remain sick; neither can anyone be saved and still be a lover of evil. A drunkard will be saved by believing in Christ – that is to say, he will be saved from being a drunkard. But if he determines to intoxicate himself, he is not saved from it, and he probably has not truly believed in Jesus. By faith a liar can be saved from falsehood, but then he quits lying and is careful to speak the truth. Anyone can see with half an eye that he cannot be saved from being a liar but will continue in his old style of deceit and untruthfulness. A person who is at enmity with another will be saved from that feeling of enmity by believing in the Lord Jesus, but if he vows that he will still cherish the feeling of hate, it is doubtful that he is saved from it. ...

money