WE ARE CONSIDERING the open door—into salvation, into life. If Jesus is the Door, and the only door, what about those who died before Jesus came and those who lived after He came, but never have heard of Him—are they lost? I am grateful I do not have to decide that matter, for only God our Father is good enough and wise enough to decide it. It is my business to preach the gospel and leave judgment to God.
The Scriptures do give us guidance here, however. Paul says that those who have lived under the law will be judged by the law; those who have lived apart from the law have the law written within them—in their consciences, in their higher ideals—and they will be judged by the light they have had. Each will be judged according to his light. Now it says of Jesus: “The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world” (John 1:9)—the excarnate light of Christ is the light in conscience and in higher ideals in every man. If men live according to their light, then they have been unconsciously living according to “the light which lighteth every man coming into the world”—the light of Christ. If they have, they will be saved by Christ whether they knew Him or not. You and I have the light of Christ, and the bigger question is whether we will be saved, for of him to whom much has been given much will be required (see Luke 12:48).
If the Scriptures say that Jesus is the Door, what does life say? The same thing? Yes. The only alternative for the modern man is Christ or nothing. There seem to be no other alternatives. Life eliminates the alternatives, and we are being more and more shut up to Him. If He isn’t the Way, there is no way. Ripley’s Believe It or Not had the picture of a stone stairway into a house. At the head of the stairway was a blank stone wall. It led nowhere. Life without Christ leads to a blank stone wall—nowhere.
O Jesus Christ, when I put my finger upon the latch by faith and surrender, the Door opens—opens to everything. I know You are the Open Door into redemption, freedom, everything. I am entering. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: Listen, my soul: every road leading away from Jesus is a dead-end road.
