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Salvation Day by Day, August 16
Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
1
Corinthians 10:12
.
Peter’s fall was not instantaneous, but gradual. Self-confidence led him
to the belief that he was saved, and step after step was taken in the downward
path, until he could deny his Master. Never can we safely put confidence
in self or feel, this side of heaven, that we are secure against temptation.
Those who accept the Saviour, however sincere their conversion, should
never be taught to say or to feel that they are saved. This is misleading.
Every one should be taught to cherish hope and faith; but even when we
give ourselves to Christ and know that He accepts us, we are not beyond
the reach of temptation.... Only he who endures the trial will receive the
crown of life (
James 1:12
).
Those who accept Christ, and in their first confidence say, I am saved,
are in danger of trusting to themselves.... We are admonished, “Let him that
thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (
1 Corinthians 10:12
). Our only
safety is in constant distrust of self, and dependence on Christ.
There are many who profess Christ, but who never become mature
Christians. They admit that man is fallen, that his faculties are weakened,
that he is unfitted for moral achievement, but they say that Christ has borne
all the burden, all the suffering, all the self-denial, and they are willing to
let Him bear it. They say that there is nothing for them to do but to believe;
but Christ said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross, and follow me” (
Matthew 16:24
)....
We are never to rest in a satisfied condition, and cease to make advance-
ment, saying, “I am saved.” When this idea is entertained, the motives for
watchfulness, for prayer, for earnest endeavor to press onward to higher
attainments, cease to exist. No sanctified tongue will be found uttering
these words till Christ shall come, and we enter in through the gates into
the city of God. Then, with the utmost propriety, we may give glory to God
and to the Lamb for eternal deliverance.
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