is by faith. Romans 1 :17 tells us that it is “From faith unto faith.” Of ourselves we do not have faith. Sav ing faith is given of God. Very care fully read Ephesians 2:8 and 9. It is faith that God gives us by His matchless grace. You see, faith is taking God a t His word. I t is simply relying on what the Lord has said. You cannot work it out in your own way. As someone has defined faith, spelling it out as an acrostic, it is “Forsaking All, I Trust Him.” Ro mans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing. The way to have faith grow, therefore, is to read the Word. As you study your Bible, your faith will increase. Knowing God better, you will be trusting Him more. God will enable you in your faith to do His will. Q. Portland, Ore ---- "J became a Chris tian by reading the New Testament. Is it necessary for me to join the church? I f so, how can I choose the right one?” A. It is certainly not absolutely nec essary for anyone to join a church in order to be saved. Salvation is by the simple personal act of acceptance by faith of the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. At the same time, it is certainly extremely desirable for a person to join a church, and in doing so to make sure he selects the right one. Be fully persuaded that the Gos pel is being preached in the power of the Holy Spirit. Be certain that the pastor proclaims the whole coun sel of God. Sometimes you can deter mine the soundness of a minister’s doctrine as much by what he omits as by what he says. The question is still, “What think ye of Christ; whose Son is He?” If the minister talks about the Bible as being the Word of God but never says any thing about its being the only in fallible rule of faith and practice, minimizing the inspiration of the Scripture, the rest of what he says can hardly be trusted. He must be
lieve that the whole Bible is verbally inspired. Do not hesitate, if there is a question, to ask the pastor if he believes the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. If he begins to equivo cate and present excuses, look out! One who believes the Bible will be glad to declare himself. * A man can go to hell in hit own way, but he can only go to Heaven by God's way. * * * TAKING OUR PLACE Have you ever heard of Willie Leer whose tombstone may be seen to this very day at Palmyra, Missouri? A young single man, he lived during the Civil War. A group of Southern sol diers had been sentenced to death by a Northern firing squad. They were lined up blindfolded in a little clearing in the woods. As rifles were raised, bushes parted and Willie Leer came through to ask, “Who’s in charge of this de tail?” Irritated, an officer replied, “I am, and you’d better get out of the way!” Without heeding the warning, young Leer interrupted, “Standing at the end of that line of condemned men is the father of ten children. If you kill him today, you’ll make orphans of those little ones. Do you believe in a person taking the place of another?" The stem officer growled, “Sure, if he’s fool enough.” So, Willie Leer volun teered and took the man’s place, ex plaining that he was alone anyway, without any family. So, standing blind folded with the others, in a moment it was all over for Leer. Shots rang out and the men fell in the bloody dust. It wasn’t too long after the war that the grateful father headed toward a little military cemetery where he erected a tombstone which bore the epitaph, “Here lies the body of Willie Leer, the man who died for me." While this was a brave act indeed, it cannot begin to compare with the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, who died in our place, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. Yes, He who was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through His pov erty might be made rich. 13 * *
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