The Two Great Needs

Two Great Needs

There are two things of which the world is totally ignorant. One is the fact of sin, and the other, the fact of God's holiness. These are spiritual truths, and being spiritually discerned, they become known only by the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. When this occurs, progress in all Christian truth becomes simple and steady.

In the preface to a theological work published in England a century ago, the author speaks of the help he had received from a certain British nobleman. He writes of him: "For years he had found the emptiness of the world, and had begun to seek the better part. His religion was no sentimental religion; his fear of God was not taught by the commandment of men. His faith was drawn directly from the inspired fountain of divine truth. The origin of that earnestness and attachment to spiritual things which he manifested in his last years was the perusal of the tract entitled 'Sin no Trifle.' Deep was the impression that tract had made. He read it and reread it, and continually carried it about with him, until it was entirely worn away. Under the impressions springing from such views of sin, he said to an intimate friend, when in the enjoyment of health and vigor: 'It is easy to die the death of a gentleman, but that will not do!'"

Sin is no trifle. It is the cause of the death of the human race and of every ill that we know. This understanding is the first step in spiritual growth. It is only when we accept God's verdict about sin and look to the Lord Jesus Christ that we can grow in spiritual knowledge. No wonder, then, that this same author was able to continue to write of his noble friend, "From the time the claims of God to the homage of his heart had laid hold on him, the Word of God became his grand study, and few men have I ever known who held with a more firm and tenacious grasp the great truths that the Word of God, and that Word alone, is the light and rule for the guidance of Christians; and that every departure from that Word, alike on the part of churches and individuals, implies going off the rails, and consequently danger of the highest kind. As his religion was Scriptural, so it was spiritual."

All this goes to prove the great declaration of Scripture that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." As one steeps himself in the teachings of this Book he sees himself more clearly in all his sin and unworthiness. He sees, too, the matchless worth of the Lord Jesus, our God. He sees the cross and all that it means. Faith feeds upon these great teachings and grows because it is rooted in the Word of God.

1. If being sinful is our helpless state, how is it that we are called to live unto Christ?
2. Is there any part, portion or compartment of the human composition that is not affected by sinfulness?
3. If yes what are they? If no why not?