A Way Which Seems Right.........

"There is a way that seems right to a man,
      But its end is the way of death." (Proverbs 14:12)

    It has been said with considerable truth that the way to Hell is paved with good intentions.  There will be many in the Lake of Fire who commended life with good intentions, honest resolutions and exalted ideals-those who were just in their dealings, fair in their transactions and charitable in all their ways; men who prided themselves in their integrity but who sought to justify themselves before God by their own righteousness; men who were moral, merciful and magnanimous, but who never saw themselves as guilty, lost, hell-deserving sinners needing a Savior. Such is the way which "seems right."  Such is the way that commends itself to the carnal mind and recommends itself to multitudes of deluded ones today. The Devil's Delusion is that we can be saved by our own works, and justified by our own deeds; whereas, God tells us in His Word-"By grace are you saved through faith...not of works lest any man should boast." And again. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us."

   Those who are trusting to an outward form of godliness, such as baptism or "confirmation," those who are religious because it is considered a mark of respectability; those who attend some Church or Chapel because it is the fashion to do so; and those who unite with some Denomination because they suppose that such a step will enable them to become Christians, are in the way which "ends in death"-death spiritual and eternal.  However pure our motives, however noble our intentions, however well meaning our purposes, however sincere our endeavors, God will not acknowledge us as His son/daughters, until we accept His Son. 

    The Son of God did not come here to save His people in their sin, but "from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). To be saved from sins. is to be saved from ignoring and despising the authority of God, it is to abandon the course of sell-will and self-pleasing, it is to "forsake our way"(Isa. 55:7). It is to surrender to God's authority, to yield to His dominion, to give ourselves over to be ruled by Him.

     "Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:22-23)  It is possible to work in the name of Christ, and even to preach in his name, and though the world knows us, the Church knows us, yet to be unknown to the Lord!

     How necessary then to find out where we really are; to examine ourselves and see whether we be in the faith; to measure ourselves by the Word of God and see if we are being deceived by our subtle Enemy; to find out whether we are building our house on sand, or whether it is erected on the Rock which is Jesus Christ.

(Excerpts taken from: "Another Gospel," by Arthur W. Pink)