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1. Repentance is necessary for salvation, but repentance alone cannot save sinners unless their sins are also forgiven by the grace of God. If I hurl a stone at a man and he dies and I repent, such repentance may prevent me from repeating the folly in the future, but the harm that has been done cannot be undone and the life of the man cannot be brought back. God alone can forgive me and give an opportunity to the dead man to make up in the next life the loss sustained by him by his sudden death. In this way, both the murderer and the murdered may be saved.
2. It is God alone who can punish or forgive rightly, because He alone understands the inner needs and conditions of man and knows what will be the outcome of his forgiveness or punishment. If man punishes, the purpose of punishment is not often attained, because he does not know the inner need and conditions of the wrongdoer. In some cases punishment will do harm, instead of good; whereas forgiveness has an almost magical effect in changing them. In the case of others, forgiveness may mean more opportunities for wrongdoing; punishment is necessary to reform such men. God alone knows the real nature of men and, according to their needs, saves them from the causes as well as the consequences of sin.
3. To obtain real and permanent joy is the aim of the soul. Any attempt to attain this aim by wrong means, such as sin, is destructive of the very capacity of the soul to enjoy happiness; and neglect and disuse of the capacity to enjoy results in its destruction. For God, who in His love has created in us these powers, capacities or senses for enjoyment, desires that in fellowship with Him we might enjoy eternal happiness. This is salvation.
4. Pride is sin, because the proud man thinks of himself as being more than what he really is. By doing so, he loses the grace of God and, falling into sin, destroys his soul. Falsehood is sin, because it is spoken against the Truth. Gradually, the influence of constant falsehood on a liar is such that he begins to tell lies to himself. He ceases to trust in his own inner and outer senses, always doubting their truth. At last he begins to doubt even the love and grace of God and loses his spiritual life and God’s richest blessings. Covetousness is sin because the covetous man seeks satisfaction in created things by forsaking the Creator. Adultery is sin, because the adulterer breaks family ties and destroys purity and life. Theft is sin, because the thief snatches away from others their earnings. He seeks joy in the loss of others. Therefore it is necessary that from these and all other sins we should repent and obtain salvation so that God’s will might be done in our lives on earth as it is done in heaven among saints and angels.
5. Scientists and philosophers who believe in evolution speak of the survival of the fittest by natural selection. There is, however, another greater fact, proved by the changed lives of millions, that in divine selection there is the survival of the unfit (i.e. sinners). Drunkards, adulterers, murderers, robbers, have been lifted up from depths of sin and misery and have received a new life of peace and joy. This is the salvation which is obtained through Jesus Christ, who came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. i. 15).