The first act of saving faith is to deal directly and immediately with the person of Jesus Christ. I must trust the Giver first, and then receive the gift. The Giver is greater than what He gives. I must first trust to the Helper, and then I will receive help. Jesus is the Best of the best. Sinners need Christ Himself the most. I must first find the tree, and then I will obtain the fruit. It's always the bulb before the bud, the horse before the cart. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is the root of the matter, a change of life and joy in the Lord will come afterwards. My first business is to believe in Jesus Christ for free pardon. I must trust myself with the divine Savior. I must Believe in the Promiser, and then I will believe the promise. You must know a man first before you will trust his word. You must find out who he is, what he is, and what he has done. Trust to the pardoning God, Christ Jesus, and you obtain His pardon.
The first step of true faith is to rely on the Forgiver, and the forgiveness of sins will be obtained instantly. The simple course is to believe in the Savior. Look to His power and sympathy, majesty and mercy, omnipotence and compassion. Believe on the virtue of His precious blood. The only way God saves sinners is through Blood, and not just any blood, it must be sinless, precious, atoning Blood shed by His Son. The Savior first, and then His Salvation. If a guilty, condemned criminal wants a pardon, he must deal directly with the Pardoner. There is no escaping God's divine justice without Christ's Blood.
Seek after mercy, pardon, new nature, purity, heaven through Christ Jesus Himself. Religion is filled with counterfeits and delusions. Begin at the foot of the Cross. Jesus says first, "Come unto Me." *Matthew 11:28* First Jesus, and then His rest, not the other way around. Come straight to Jesus in all your unworthiness, depravity and vileness. Begin with Jesus. Believe in the divine Substitute for sinners. Rely upon Jesus' power to save and sanctify you. Forget yourself, and only think of Jesus. Go straight to the Well for water. You cannot quench your thirst by just hoping for the water, you must go to the Well.
Keep to this line - don't let anyone take you off it - the first object of your faith should be the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Simply hope in Jesus, never look for signs, feelings, or evidences in yourself. Trust only to the glory of His person, the perfection of His obedience, and the merit of His precious blood. The best and straightest road to Christ is by simple childlike faith in His Blood. Take the straight road to God, fix your faith in Jesus' atoning blood. It is your highest wisdom to fall down at Jesus' feet, and let Him give you what your soul needs. We are too ignorant to know what to ask, and our doubts make us afraid to ask. We will do well just to lie still, and let Jesus fix our souls and provide us with what we need. We need to be saved from Hell, but we also need our natures changed so we will no longer love our sins. Human nature is too puzzled and ignorant to ask for the right blessing from Jesus, we need only to seek HIM. When I lay hold upon Jesus, I have obtained everything else in one. Seek first to Jesus. *Matthew 6:33* Seek the Holy Spirit's strength, comfort, guidance, and fruitfulness. Make Jesus the main object of your faith, lay hold upon Him, this is the wisest course to follow. Jesus is the great Promiser, Pardoner, Giver and Forgiver.
You have sinned against God, you are full of evil, and you have lived an unchaste life. Jesus is God and man in one glorious Person. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among sinful men here on Earth for 33 years. He took upon Himself the whole weight of human sin, and bore it in His own body up to the Cross. Jesus was arrested by the divine justice, and treated as if he was Sin itself, even though He had never sinned Himself. He was numbered with the transgressors. He yielded to the wicked men who maliciously scourged Him, spit upon Him, crowned Him with thorns, and falsely condemned him to die. He died for my sins, not any of His own. He was made a Curse for me. He was made to be Sin for me, that I might be made the Righteousness of God in Him. He died the Just for the unjust, that He might bring me to God. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. The grace of God in Christ Jesus to the guilty.
Listen to the warning sound of your conscience. You have been taking the path of sin every day. The Holy Ghost has sounded the warning to you multiple times trying to get your attention, and received no response from you. Heed God's warning, seek His pardoning and sparing Mercy through the Savior's Atoning Sacrifice. I have plenty of sin, so I need plenty of Forgiveness. Trust to the life, death, and person of the Son of God. Freedom from the bondage and slavery of lusts, evil passions, and moral evil is only found at the Cross. Rely distinctly on the Lord Jesus Christ. Begin with Christ, end with Christ. If your religion puffs you up, it is not Christ's Christianity. God will always help you when you are weak. Always depend upon God's blessing and presence. He will always fill us when we are empty, and feed us when we are hungry. As long as you remain a nothing, Jesus will help you. You have done all you can do when you simply trust to Jesus. I am nothing but sin, but Jesus please have mercy on me.
