Have you found salvation?

I was reading the Word last night before bed and a verse in particular caught my attention. Jesus says in Matthew 7:14, "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." The word "find" jumped off the page. Most modern evangelistic messages omit this point. In fact, often we are taught that salvation is only to be received, not found. Salvation must be sought in Christ, found through Christ, then received from Christ.

It seems that many professing believers today have received pseudo-salvation. They have what Tozer calls a "nominal" faith, faith in word but not in deed. It is not real faith. It is not a faith that saves. In a sermon I heard yesterday, Tozer says that nominal faith believes a text and accepts what he is told. This man believes what he reads wholeheartedly. But real faith in God is belief in God, depending upon the character of God. The text exists to point to God. Many people believe the words of the page of the Bible are true, but they do not trust in the God who spoke those words.

How tragic would it be to substitute belief in words for belief in God! The Pharisees thought that they had eternal life because they studied the scriptures daily. Jesus says in John 5:39: "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." They searched for salvation in a book, while the Word of Life stood before them! The Bible reveals the way of salvation for sinful man, and Jesus is revealed as the only door to heaven. He is the Way, the Truth, the Life. By the grace of God, man can be forgiven and saved from sin and death through faith in Jesus Christ.

It is difficult to follow Jesus, and the way is narrow. There are people going to hell that can quote scripture references verbatim. They have sought knowledge, but not salvation. Those who keep on seeking will find (Matt. 7:8). If you have never sought salvation, you have not received it. Following Jesus will be laborious and taxing. It will be challenging and the hardest thing you have ever done. But it is rewarding and exciting. It is the place of blessing. But it will come at a cost: your entire life. We say we will trade our earthly experience in for a heavenly one. Our words betray us because our actions often declare otherwise.

Jesus told a parable in Matthew 13:44: "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." This is a story of a treasure hunter who finds hidden treasure in a field. The treasure had been hidden by someone else. It was not by accident that this treasure was found, because the man was looking for it like many treasure hunters do today. He was so excited about the find that he re-hid the treasure, sold all that he had, and purchased the field so the treasure would be his. One thing is for certain: He recognized the value of the treasure. Another certainty is that he knew what he already possessed, and it was nothing compared to this treasure. Because of the find, everything else in his life was expendable if he could obtain the treasure rightfully. It would not do to steal it, because it must have a cost. The man sold all because he would not risk not having enough to buy the field, because what the field contained was worth the world to him.

This is the heart God desires His children to have. This man did not just "receive" the treasure: he had to find it for himself and pay a price. The man did not earn the treasure, but once found there was a price to pay to receive it. Every man, woman, and child has the opportunity to find salvation in Jesus Christ paid for with His own blood. They must seek to find. Once they find they must receive. To receive we must give all to obtain that treasure of eternal life. Jesus says in Luke 9:23: "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." I want to go after Jesus into eternal glory and rest by the grace of God. It is a joyful thing indeed to follow Christ. All the passing pleasures of this world cannot match a moment in the presence of the Living God. Jesus says in John 16:33, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." What will a man give for a little peace? How much more should he give for his soul?