I
remembering hearing this man of God in Ammanford, Carmathenshire in 1991, when some friends from Bible School and I
skipped a lecture to hear him at The Calvinistic Methodist Church.
This
may be the best couple paragraphs theologian J.I. Packer ever wrote:
To
the question: “What must I do to be saved?“
The
old gospel replies: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
To
the further question: “What does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?”
Its
reply is: It means knowing oneself to be a sinner, and Christ to have died for
sinners; abandoning all self-righteousness and self-confidence, and casting
oneself wholly upon him for pardon and peace; and exchanging one’s natural
enmity and rebellion against God for a spirit of grateful submission to the
will of Christ through the renewing of one’s heart by the Holy Ghost.
And
to the further question still, “How am I to go about believing on Christ and
repenting, if I have no natural ability to do these things?”
It
answers: Look to Christ, speak to Christ, cry to Christ, just as you are;
confess your sin, your impenitence, your unbelief, and cast yourself on his
mercy; ask him to give you a new heart, working in you true repentance and firm
faith; ask him to take away your evil heart of unbelief and to write his law
within you, that you may never henceforth stray from him. Turn to him and trust
him as best you can, and pray for grace to turn and trust more thoroughly; use
the means of grace expectantly, looking to Christ to draw near to you as you
seek to draw near to him; watch, pray, and read and hear God’s word, worship and
commune with God’s people, and so continue till you know in yourself beyond
doubt that you are indeed a changed being, a penitent believer, and the new
heart which you desired has been put within you. The emphasis in this advice is
on the need to call upon Christ directly, as the very first step … So do not
postpone action till you think you are better, but honestly confess your
badness and give yourself up here and now to the Christ who alone can make you
better; and wait on him till his light rises in your soul, as scripture
promises that it shall do. Anything less than this direct dealing with Christ
is disobeying the gospel. Such is the exercise of spirit to which the old
evangel summons its hearers. ‘l believe – help thou mine unbelief': this must
become their cry.
Source:
J.I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness
1
Peter 1:3-12 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
Born
Again to a Living Hope
3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great
mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is
imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's
power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in
the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if
necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested
genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is
tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the
revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him.
Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is
inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the
salvation of your souls.
10
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was
to be yours searched and enquired carefully, 11 enquiring what person or time
the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of
Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were
serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to
you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent
from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
