Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12
How Shall We Escape?
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?“Hebrews 2:3
The salvation which God freely offers to all mankind is not a thing to be trifled with. Our acceptance or rejection of His mercy has eternal ramifications. The words of Hebrews 2:3 propose to us a question of unspeakable weight and consequence. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?
It is a fatal mistake to make light of Christ and salvation. If the sinner could but once see himself as God sees him, if he could see his sin and misery, he would be brought to value a Saviour, just as a hungry man values food and a thirsty man values water. While sin is made light of, Christ and salvation will be made light of. When sin is perceived an intolerable burden, then the sinner must have Christ or die.
Do not suppose that eternity is distant in time. Many neglect salvation because they believe they have plenty of time. Most people intend to repent someday. “The sinner of today resolves to be a saint tomorrow.” This is as much true of older people as of youth. They are always purposing, but never following through. 2 Corinthians 6:2 addresses this issue. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” “To-day is important because every day that is spent in indecision or in rejection of Christ strengthens in your heart the cord of rebellion that holds you away from Christ.”(Louis Albert Banks)
God has shown that he is unwilling that sinners perish. He takes no pleasure in their death. “As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Ezekiel 33:11 God is long-suffering and gives men a sufficient and fair opportunity to repent. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
God, in his dealings with men, makes them sensible of their helplessness and unworthiness before He appears in His mercy and love to them. He sets before them the strongest motives for turning to Him and waits upon them with great patience and long-suffering. At the same time, He declares that if they do not come to repentance in this life, they shall surely perish in the judgment of ungodly men. “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…” Hebrews 9:27. The impenitent will be left wholly without excuse. They have been warned.
God is continually speaking to men in His word, in His providence, and by His Spirit. By His judgments He is warning them of their sins; by the disappointments and trials of life He is proclaiming the uncertainty and unsatisfying nature of all creature comforts; by the graves which are opening around them He is reminding them how short their time is; by the mercies which He scatters in their path He is encouraging them to look to Him for favour. Every sentence in the Bible is a voice from heaven to them.
By a written and preached Gospel He is constantly telling them of the design of their creation; that they were placed here to prepare for eternity; that His eye is constantly upon them; that He will presently call them to an awful account; that endless ages of happiness or misery depend on their present conduct; that they have ruined themselves by sin, and are under condemnation to eternal death; that His Son has descended from heaven to redeem them, and stands ready to receive them. He pleads with them with eloquence enough to melt a rock. He warns, He threatens, He remonstrates. Every chapter, every sermon, is the voice of God in their ears. His Spirit seconds all these calls and often fills them with anxious thought. In this manner He cries after them from day to day,—from year to year. But they make light of it. (Edward Griffin)
The Suffering Servant
Consider deeply what it cost the Son of God to procure your salvation. Isaiah 
53 foretells the sacrifice and crucifixion of the coming Messiah:”He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
In this passage, Christ is portrayed as the Suffering Servant. His death on the Cross is the greatest example of undeserved suffering, ever. Christ suffered and died for you personally. He suffered physically and He suffered spiritually. By His death upon the Cross He suffered the punishment, and endured the wrath of God, due for all the sins of all our race.
He gathered up, as it were, into a heap, and bore on His own head all the sins and offenses that have ever been committed, or ever will be committed, in the world, from the beginning to the end of time, and then, of His own accord, took upon Himself the punishment due for them all, sustained and underwent the righteous anger and indignation of Almighty God which they had all collectively incurred; and in so doing restored to us (to all at least who are partakers of the benefits of His Sacrifice) that peace of mind which, so long as we were under God’s wrath, we never could have enjoyed. (Michael Ward Blagg)
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
There is a height and depth, a breadth and length in God’s love that passes knowledge. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 His is the most extraordinary love. The death of His Son demonstrates to us the unfathomable nature of that love. God is intent on our salvation.
I will end this post with one last quote:
Salvation! What is it? It is a deliverance from sin in its guilt, power, and penal consequences. It is a deliverance from Satan, his authority, power, and dominion. It is a deliverance from the wrath of God, and the bestowment of his best and richest blessing. Salvation is a restoration to the image of God, the smile of God, and the presence of God—or, a restoration to holiness, happiness, and safety. Salvation is for man—for sinners—for sinners as sinners. No qualification is required, no conditions are made, for the gospel says to all, and to each one that it addresses, ” Come, and be saved. Come, and be saved.” Salvation is in Christ, and by Christ alone. It is God’s greatest blessing, and man’s highest privilege. To say that a man is saved, and saved by Christ Jesus, is to say that he is blessed indeed— blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.
Salvation is By Christ Alone. No one can save but Jesus, for he alone could make a satisfactory atonement for our sin—he alone could produce the righteousness necessary to justify our souls—he alone can exert the power needful to raise us from a death in sin, rescue us from Satan’s power, and conduct us safe to glory. No one has authority to save but Jesus. He is given to save. Given under heaven, among men, being intended for fallen man, not fallen angels. There is no other name or person, whereby we must be saved, but Jesus only. He saves such as we are. He saves freely, by grace and not by works. He saves eternally, not for a time, but for ever. Any one may be saved by Christ, but no one can be saved without Christ. His blood can cleanse any conscience. His righteousness can justify any person. His power will reach any case. If therefore any one is not saved, it is because he has not heard of Jesus, or hearing has refused to come to him for life. Rills from the Rock of Ages
By James Smith
Why would anyone want to make light of this wonderful salvation in Jesus Christ?
Top Photo courtesy of Delphine
Since the fall of man, there is no other way of being made just or righteous, but by the righteousness of the man Christ Jesus. Just Noah, righteous Lot, meek Moses, faithful Abraham, patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, all were sinners in themselves, but “their righteousness is of me,” saith Jehovah Jesus….Isa. liv. 17. Hence the Lord calls his people righteous. They are really constituted so in his sight. This truth should ever dwell in our minds. It is the foundation of all delight in God and love to him. Hence we are comforted in the way of truth and holiness. For Jesus, who is our righteousness, is also our light to direct our steps, and our path wherein we walk. He is the “light of the world, the light of life.” “I am the way,” saith Jesus. St. Paul exhorts, “As ye have received the Lord Jesus, so walk ye in him.“….Col. ii. 6.
Knowing the Time 