20
A New Life (Revival and Beyond)
The very first step to Christ is taken through the drawing of the Spirit
of God; as man responds to this drawing, he advances toward Christ
in order that he may repent.
The sinner is represented as a lost sheep, and a lost sheep never
returns to the fold unless he is sought after and brought back to the
fold by the shepherd. No man of himself can repent, and make himself
worthy of the blessing of justification. The Lord Jesus is constantly
seeking to impress the sinner’s mind and attract him to behold Himself,
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. We cannot
take a step toward spiritual life save as Jesus draws and strengthens
the soul, and leads us to experience that repentance which needeth not
to be repented of....
When before the high priests and Sadducees, Peter clearly pre-
sented the fact that repentance is the gift of God. Speaking of Christ,
he said, “Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and
a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins”
(
Acts 5:31
). Repentance is no less the gift of God than are pardon and
justification, and it cannot be experienced except as it is given to the
soul by Christ. If we are drawn to Christ, it is through His power and
virtue. The grace of contrition comes through Him, and from Him
comes justification....
[21]
Faith Is More Than Talk
The faith that is unto salvation is not a casual faith, it is not the
mere consent of the intellect, it is belief rooted in the heart, that em-
braces Christ as a personal Saviour, assured that He can save unto the
uttermost all that come unto God by Him. To believe that He will save
others, but will not save you is not genuine faith; but when the soul
lays hold upon Christ as the only hope of salvation, then genuine faith
is manifested. This faith leads its possessor to place all the affections
of the soul upon Christ; his understanding is under the control of the
Holy Spirit, and his character is molded after the divine likeness. His
faith is not a dead faith, but a faith that works by love, and leads him
to behold the beauty of Christ, and to become assimilated to the divine
character....
The whole work is the Lord’s from the beginning to the end. The
perishing sinner may say: “I am a lost sinner; but Christ came to