Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. I. SALVATION is a subject of world-wide interest, for all need it. 1. The infant at birth needs salvation, and unless kindly hands "save" it, and minister to its necessities, it must perish. Through Childhood the saving interposition of others is needed. Even in manhood there is constant exposure to dangers, salvation from which is required. In age, sickness, and sorrow, how great is the need of temporal succour and salvation! 2. The unhappy fall of our first parents has involved all their descendants in ruin. By it the human race has been brought into imminent peril (Romans 3:10, 23; Ezekiel 18:4). Nor is the danger of sinners the less real because they are ignorant of it, or affect to make light of it. See to it that you neglect not so great salvation. To give prior consideration to any earthly consideration, however pressing, is a terrible mistake. II. SALVATION IN CHRIST. 1. With the general outlines of the plan of salvation in Christ we are all happily familiar. We know how the Divine pity was extended to man in his fallen estate (Job 33:24). Christ undertook our cause, and purchased our salvation by His death (Isaiah 53:5; Romans 5:6, 8; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter 3:18). Now, since Christ was really God, His sufferings had an infinite value, and His life might well be regarded as more than an equivalent for the life of guilty man; and since He was perfectly man, it was both possible and proper for Him to take man's place, endure his punishment, and procure his salvation, so that God can be, and is "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:26). 2. The conditions on which this salvation is bestowed are also familiar, viz., repentance and faith (Acts 20:21). Compliance with these conditions is necessary. Nor can you justly complain of this. The seaman, provided with chart and compass, and instructions as to their use, who refuses to follow his instructions, and perishes, has only himself to blame. The man who has taken poison, and refuses the antidote, will have but scant pity. 3. And how much does the expression "salvation in Christ" include? (1) By it the mind is brought in contact with the entire range of human history. We are led to think of the fall of our first parents, the promise of a Deliverer in the seed of the woman, the types and shadows of the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, the incarnation of the Messiah, His atoning death, His triumphant resurrection and ascension, the mission of the Holy Spirit as His representative and administrator until He shall come again, His high-priestly intercession and mediatorial reign, the coming judgment of quick and dead. (2) Nor are thoughts connected with the salvation of the individual less full of interest. Salvation in Christ comprehends the first dawn of conviction of sin, the apprehension of the plan of salvation, the exercise of repentance and faith, the joy of forgiveness, adoption, and renewal, a life of holiness and usefulness, with its vicissitudes, its conflicts, and its triumphs, conquest of death, entrance into heaven, everlasting life in God's presence, where there is fulness of joy, the light of perfect knowledge, the glow of perfect love, the rapture of perfect felicity, and all this for ever. 4. This salvation, as it is needed by all, is adapted to all. Of all so-called faiths the gospel alone is equally suited to all latitudes and Lives. Some religions can only flourish in certain countries, just as some kinds of food are peculiar to certain climates; but this seed of the kingdom is like corn — wherever man lives it will grow. 5. And this greatest of all blessings, while adapted to all, is intended for all. It is cause for thankfulness that the chief blessings even of this world are not the exclusive property of the great and wealthy. And salvation may be the portion of the poor as well as of the rich. Moreover, it may be embraced by the illiterate as well as by the learned. 6. This salvation is in the name of Christ. Amongst the Jews a mystic virtue was supposed to be attached to certain names (chap. Acts 19:14-16). And we rejoice to know that the name of Jesus is still the most potent of charms, and is invested with glorious mystic and saving properties. III. SALVATION IN CHRIST ALONE. 1. With regard to the salvation of the race, of no other being except Christ has it ever been affirmed, "He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). Christ, however, having redeemed all, claims the homage and the hearts of all (1 Timothy 4:10). 2. As to the salvation of the individual, this, too, is to be had in Christ alone. (1) We cannot save ourselves. The poor sinner under conviction resolves, it may be, to "turn over a new leaf," but the first thing he does is to make a blot at the top of the next page. But even supposing he could succeed, what would it profit him while his former sins still cried for vengeance? For a sinner to undertake to lead a moral life henceforward is merely like a bankrupt promising his creditors that for the future he will always pay cash. Nor can we save ourselves by the merit of our penitence and faith. Impenitence is a perpetuation and aggravation of sin; but penitence has in it no atoning efficacy. And unbelief — the refusal to accept Christ — is a sin; but faith is not a meritorious act which earns salvation. (2) And as we cannot save ourselves, so also no other human being can save us. We would not undervalue the loving efforts of others for our salvation. Who can tell how much those of us who are now saved owe to the examples, counsels, prayers, and faith of pious parents and devoted friends? The conditions of salvation cannot be fulfilled by proxy. (3) Nor can any human system save us. (a) Look at the various systems of heathenism. How degrading and demoralising their teaching and tendency! (b) Sometimes an impious priesthood has professed to dispense salvation by external religious rites and sacramental efficacy; but such a claim is mere blasphemy. (c) Philosophy has often made proud pretensions as to the elevation and salvation of mankind, but her actual performances have not been such as to warrant boasting. Education and civilisation may do much for man; but with regard to his sorest need they are helpless. The greatest benefits which it is in their power to bestow may be enjoyed, and enjoyed to the full, by sinners whose end is everlasting destruction. In the great work of human redemption Christ is absolutely alone (Isaiah 63:1-3; Isaiah 45:22; Matthew 1:21; Hebrews 7:25). (A. O. Smith, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. |
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