Imagine a man fighting for his life in a deep and angry ocean. Furious, the ocean just won't let him go. It wrestles him mad. Its waves batter him to no end. One moment, he is down, another moment, he's on the surface.
To and fro, he is slapped and thrown from one place to another and thrashed about here and there. On and on it went, until he could feel his strength ebbing away. He could not take it anymore.
What or who can save him?
* How about we call for a priest there and have him baptized, adding more water to the water? Will it save him?
* How about we give him a cellphone so that he can call someone and donate his riches to the poor? Will it deliver him?
* How about some pep talk "C'mon, you can do it! Just believe in yourself! Never give up! We are our own saviors." Will it work?
* How about we give him a cellphone so that he can call someone and donate his riches to the poor? Will it deliver him?
* How about some pep talk "C'mon, you can do it! Just believe in yourself! Never give up! We are our own saviors." Will it work?
None of these things will do. The man is completely helpless. What he needs is a deliverer who will come and save him.
Applying this to spiritual salvation, it is not baptism, or good works or self-effort that can save us. We need a Savior.
Here we are sinners under the wrath of God, helpless and hopeless in ourselves to save ourselves, but the Lord Jesus Christ came and died for our sins and rose again. And He comes to us extending His saving arms saying: "Will you trust Me and what I did on the cross for you? Will you take hold of Me by faith?"
