Psalm 119:155 Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not your statutes. Salvation is far from the wicked. Why cannot God save the wicked man against his will? Because (1) such a salvation would do the wicked man no good; and (2) because when God saves a man, what he saves is his bad will. Therefore the absolute first condition of salvation must necessarily be "repentance." And this truth has its further application in the life of the saved man, who is ever needing God's further salvations. He cannot have them if he is self-willed and rebellious. They can only come as he keeps the spirit of sonship, and is "obediently disposed." I. SALVATION IS FAR FROM THE WILFUL. It is, and it must necessarily be. Illustrate by the paper which is to receive the photographic picture - it must be in a prepared state. The willful man does not want the salvation. He has no intention of responding to it. God's salvation is always a work in the man himself, not in his circumstances. The father, in the parable of the prodigal son, could do nothing for his boy so long as he kept in his willful mind. Hope for him dawned when "he came to himself." So penitence is the door of salvation. No man can ever have God's soul-salvation until he feels that he both needs it and wants it. There can be no waste in God's spiritual dealings; and it would be waste to give salvation to a man who did not care for the gift, and would make no return for it. II. SALVATION IS NEAR TO THE WILLING AND OBEDIENT. These represent the attitude and mood of mind with which God can work. Let a man want to obey, God will help him to obey. Let a man want to get free from sin, and God will deliver and save him from sin. Let a man be in any kind of disability and distress, if he be a son of God, and cherishing the spirit of sonship, he may be sure of the Father's deliverance. So the preservation of right attitudes and moods of soul bears direct relation to the workings of the Divine Deliverer in our lives. - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.WEB: Salvation is far from the wicked, for they don't seek your statutes. |
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