I suppose that you have at some time felt alarmed in view of your sins, and wondered, "What must I do to be saved?" You hear the Bible say: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36), and "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). Still you hesitate. You ask what this language means. You desire to know what it is to believe on Christ.

To Believe on Christ is:

1. To feel your need of Him;

2. To believe that He is able and willing to save you, and to save you now;

3. To cast yourself unreservedly on His mercy and trust in Him alone for salvation.

1. To feel your need of Him. Until you do this, you will never seek Him earnestly, or trust Him wholly. The sinner never goes to Christ in a right manner until he feels himself to be a lost, wretched being. It is not enough to know this: you must feel it.

Do you say you cannot? Can you feel no sorrow when you think of a suffering Saviour whose love you have abused—no alarm, when you call to mind that fearful judgment to which you are hasting?

2. But you say, "I do feel, at least in some degree, that I am a poor, guilty, undone sinner, but this will not save me." No, it will not. Thousands have felt this and perished. You must also believe that Christ is able and willing to save you, and to save you NOW. He is able, for He is almighty. You are a great sinner, but Christ is an infinite Saviour. Satan has been trying to persuade you that Christ is not able to save so great a sinner as you are. It is false. He is able and unless you BELIEVE THIS in all its glorious extent, you will perish in your sins.

Perhaps you have thought Christ would be willing to save you after a few more days or weeks spent in praying and weeping and trying to grow better. You are growing no better. You are doing nothing to gain Christ's favor while you refuse to yield to His invitations. Until you believe that He is able and willing to save you, and to do it NOW, you never will be saved.

3. To cast yourself unreservedly upon His mercy, and trust in Him alone for salvation. This means that you renounce all expectations of saving yourself, or of being saved any other way than through the righteousness and redemption of Christ who "died for our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:3). Just stop doing, and trust Christ as your personal Saviour and you will be saved. All the sinner's hope lies not in struggling to save himself, but in ceasing to struggle. It is not doing, but believing that Christ has done it all!

Thus the sinner must lay hold upon the cross—not by waiting until he is better, but by first concluding that he will never be any better in the way he is going, and then looking in faith to Christ. As he perceives how lost and wretched he is, he cries, "Lord save me." His prayer is heard—the heart of the compassionate Saviour is ready to welcome him—the arms of mercy are stretched out to receive him—a word of welcome reaches his ear: "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee" (Matthew 9:2). He believes that word, he trusts that heart, he falls into those arms and he is safe.

Reader, does your heart say: "Lord: I believe" (John 11:27)? Will you take the Saviour at His word? Are you willing to trust Him to do the whole work of your salvation?

If so, bow yourself before this waiting and still compassionate Redeemer. Tell Him all your heart; put your soul in His hands, and He will pardon, accept, and save you.

—J.W. Chickering