Unbelief, the Most Heinous Sin. (Pasche)

 "He that believeth not shall be damned". Mark 16,16.

We were the captives of Satan, held in bondage under the Law, and subject to eternal death. But God had compassion on us and purchased us from bondage and death unto liberty and life, from sorrow and sighing to everlasting joy and gladness. “Ye are bought with a price,” St. Paul writes to the Corinthians. And what is the price, the ransom, that was paid for us ? “God spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.” The price for our liberty was high; it cost God His only Son. And the Son did not refuse to be delivered into inexpressible pain and death. He consented to the will of the Father and gave Himself a ransom for us. And the blood of Jesus, our Redeemer, cleanses us from all sins. Purchased by the blood of the Son of God, we are purchased indeed. Now we belong to God and no longer to Satan.

Men are now no longer lost because they were not redeemed, because liberty had not been purchased for them, or because the chains of their bondage were so strong that they could not be freed from them; men are lost only because they slight the salvation of Christ, because they deny Him who bought them, — because they do not believe in Christ. Not believing in Christ is the greatest of sins, the only sin that damns. Alas, that the great multitude of men, notwithstanding they have been bought so dearly, should prefer to remain in bondage and bring upon themselves swift de­ struction! In the mean time the voice of the Gospel resounds throughout the world, inviting men out of bondage into liberty, out of darkness into light, and calling upon all men at all places to rejoice over the free salvation of God in Christ Jesus. But the unbeliever rejects this blessed invitation of the Gospel. He means to be more than the Most High; God’s message seems despicable in his eyes!

Oh, what a terrible sinner the unbeliever is! He has not yet begun to understand the bottomless depth of his depravity. Surely unbelief is the most heinous sin.

Prayer.

O Lord Jesus, Thou Brightness of God’s glory, dispel all dark­ ness of unbelief and ignorance and malice from my mind and let me believe aright, live holy, and die happy. When the end of my life draws nigh, O blessed Redeemer, hold me safe in Thine arms of love and grace that Satan may not snatch me out of them. Grant unto me a joyful departure and bestow this grace upon Thy servant, that I may in peace leave earth and enter heaven, and with all the elect behold Thee face to face, in everlasting joy. Amen.