A young girl came to sec the preacher, being anxious about her soul. “Are you saved,” he asked, “or are you only trying to be saved?”
“I am trying,” she sadly replied. “How are you trying?”
“I am praying, and reading the Bible, and going to church, and striving to keep the commandments.”
“How are you succeeding?” “Not very well,” she sorrowfully answered.
“Do you not see that in all this trying. you are leaving Christ out as truly as if there were no Saviour who has come down from heaven to deliver us from sin and its dreadful consequences?”
“O, I believe in Jesus!” she quickly responded.
“You do? Let us see. Do you believe that Christ died upon the cross?
“Yes, I know it.”
“How do you know it? You were not there to see Him die.”
“I know it because God says so in His Word.”
“Do you believe, then, whatever God says in His Word?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, why did Christ die upon the cross?”
“He died for our sins.”
“You are correct; for God says over and over again that He died for our sins. Your sins were upon Him when He was nailed to the cross, were they not?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Where is Christ now?”
“He is up in heaven.”
“You are right again, for God repeatedly tells us this in His Word. And your sins upon Him?”
“No, sir.”
“Observe, your sins were upon Him once when He was nailed to the cross and today He is in heaven without them. Where are your sins?”
She looked down for a few moments deep thought, and then, raising her eyes, a sweet smile played over her face as she said,
“They must be all gone.”
ML 10/20/1946