‘Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth’ (Isaiah 45:22).
By ‘free grace’ I mean the sheer mercy of God in Jesus Christ that demands nothing from the creature, not even the initial willingness to be saved, but gives everything, and so saves the sinner. This is the only hope of the world.
‘No,’ says an objector, ‘that is unfair! It must be possible for everyone to be saved. God must give each person the free choice whether he or she will be saved or not.’
And if no one is willing to be saved? What then? Because that is how Holy Scripture portrays the state of humanity. We are said to be ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ (Ephesians 2:1), as little inclined to turn to God as the dead in the graveyard are. By nature, we are at bitter enmity against God and his ways. We will not turn to him.
‘Well, then,’ says the objector, ‘God must bring everyone to life, so that each person can decide freely whether he will turn to God.’
Ah, yes, I reply. So that you can retain your pride and self-sufficiency; so that you can attribute your salvation to yourself, to the superiority of your choice over that of your neighbour? No, I am afraid not. No flesh may presume to glory in God’s presence (1 Corinthians 1:29). Besides, it has been tried before, and man fell. So would you, were you in Adam’s place.
What, then, is to be done? We must humble ourselves and acknowledge our guilt. We must seek God with all our heart. We must do what is said in the text, Look to him, that is, to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must thirst for his salvation, and keep on looking to him until he has mercy on us. Look nowhere else, but cast ourselves at his feet and wait till he gently and graciously raises us up.
He will not be bribed. This is free grace. He will give it freely. But he will have us obtain it from him, not out of our own imagined resources – not in the least degree. This is a humbling path to have to take, but it is the only way. If we are willing to take this humble path, it is a sign of his mercy to us.
We must be willing to put our mouths in the dust, if so be there may be hope (Lamentations 3:29). And there is hope! Hope for every humbled sinner who looks to Christ. This is free grace, and it is the hope of the world – the only hope.
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