Spiritual Restoration (4)

People are not aware of the fact they need salvation. They may be aware of the fact God exists and they need Him, but that does not translate into them having a desire to be saved or even that they need to be. While there may be a disconnect, it does not lesson the fact there is a need for salvation from Him and the importance to live in accordance with righteousness. The Scripture reads, And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved (Acts 4:12, ASV).

The freedom of will that exists with us today has both a negative and a positive consequence. Those who hear and obey the Lord, will hear their name called by Him when life is over. Those who don’t, won’t. Those who feel no need for salvation reject the notion of submission to the Almighty. They feel about themselves that they are not that bad and, in fact, are better than most. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes; But Jehovah weighteth the hearts (Proverbs 21:2).

This may be true from a practical neighborly standpoint, but it fails completely from the vantage point of the Lord. What they have done is set forth their own judgment in place of the Lord, not the least bit mindful of the fact they Lord cares not one wit about their way of thinking along these lines. The prophet Isaiah dealt with this way of thinking when he wrote the words of the Lord: Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (55:6-9, ESV).