ADDRESSES ON ROMANS
fact that they were lost. There are whole nations in Christen~ dom like that today. When I was returning from the East, I spent a day in Mexico. I saw there great cathedrals and throngs of people going in and out to worship, but i_t was all ritualism. They were sincere, "but not according to knowledge." Paul was like Israel in this respect when he was Saul of Tarsus. He was not an atheist; he believed in the one true God. He would compass land and sea to make one proselyte, so zealous was he. But he was lost until he met Christ on the road to Damascus. And so were the children of Israel lost who had "a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge." cThey did not know the Lord Jesus; therefore, they were with~ out "knowledge" of tpe gift of His righteousness, which is the only way to God. J ยท My! what a lesson this should be to people who say it is all right for one to believe what he wishes, as long as he is sincere. If a religion without Christ left Israel unsaved, we may rest assured that the cult of today which has ritualism without Christ will not save the soul. The only possible way to be saved is by faith in the shed blood of Jesus, the Son of God. Because the Jews were ignorant of God's righteousness given through faith in Christ, they tried to establish their own righteousness by the works of the law. They were like Adam and Eve, who tried to make themselves fit for the presence of God by sewing fig leaves together-the works of their own hands. It is significant that the only thing Christ ever cursed was a fig tree. It is a type of Israel, and the fig~leaf aprons were a type of self~righteousness. God made "coats of skins" and clothed Adam and Eve, made them fit to stand in His presence on the ground of the shed blood, the foreseen sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God.\ And Israel. nationally or individu~ ally, can stand before God)only on the same ground. "With~ out shedding of blood is no remission" of sin (Heb. 9:22). [Page 195
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online