The Apparatus of Salvation Nigh
T. Chalmers, D.D., W. Arthur, M.A. Romans 10:5-11 For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which does those things shall live by them.… But what saith it? The word is nigh thee. — THE IMPORTANCE OF SIMPLE FAITH IN THE WORD: — To bring Christ down from above, or to bring Him up from the dead, would be to make Him an object of sight. A current aphorism is, that seeing is believing; yet Scripture distinguishes between the two. "Faith is the assurance of things not seen," and belief through the medium of the senses is far less valued than a belief in a testimony (Luke 24:25; Mark 16:14; 1 Peter 1:7, 8; Romans 4:21). But there is a third way in which an absent thing might be viewed by us — viz., as an object of conception, an act often conjoined with faith, yet perfectly distinct from it. One might conceive a thing without any belief in its reality; and, on the other hand, though one can scarcely believe without some conception of the object of faith — yet may that conception be so dull as almost to justify the expression of our believing in the dark. You might believe in the existence of an absent friend, and in his affection for yourself; and this belief might or might not be as strong to-morrow as it is to-day. His whole countenance, manner, and voice, bespeaking the utmost cordiality — these may all tell more vividly on the imagination at one time than another. This conception flits and fluctuates, as if dependent on the ever varying mood of the spirit — at one time gleaming forth towards the vivacity of sense, and at another fading almost to extinction. But the remarkable thing is that, under all these varieties of conception, the faith might remain invariable. There may be a dimness in the contemplation, without the slightest mixture of a doubt in the object contemplated. What is true of an earthly friend is true of our Friend in heaven. He is far removed out of sight, but may become the object of faith through the word that is nigh unto us. And He may also become the object of conception, which is a sort of substitute for sight. But let us never forget that as faith without sight is all the more pleasing to God in that it subsists on its own unborrowed strength without the aid of the senses — so might faith be in the absence of any lucid or enlivening conception, having nothing to sustain it but the simple credit which it gives to the word of the testimony. Yet while we hold these bright and exhilarating views of the Saviour to be unspeakably precious (John 14:21), we should distinguish between the conception and the faith — because while the one may be a minister of sensible comfort, it is the other which is the guarantee of our salvation. The man who, to repair the insufficiency of the word, would bring down Christ from heaven, but exemplifies the man who, as if to make up for the same insufficiency, strains but ineffectually to frame some picturesque idea of Him there. The danger is that he may compass himself about with sparks of his own kindling, or walk in the light of his own fancy or his own fire. Let him keep, then, determinedly by the word which is nigh, rather than by the imagery wherewith he peoples the distinct and lofty places which are away from him. He who has conception but not faith, will at length lie down in sorrow. He who has faith, but from the want of conception walketh in darkness, and has no light, is still bidden trust in the name of God and stay upon His word. He who conceiveth may have sensible comfort; but, with or without this, he who believeth is safe (Isaiah 50:10, 11). (T. Chalmers, D.D.) The apparatus of salvation nigh: — Once in the city of Rome, giving a gentleman of the place an account of a sermon I had heard a friar preach in the Coloseum, I said that though many things in it pleased me, one did not: he never gave the people to understand that they might go for absolution direct to God without the offices of a priest. That intelligent and noble man leaned across the table, and, with an eager look, said, "Do you believe that a man can obtain absolution without the intermediation of a priest?" Of course, I replied that our view of the place and work of the minister of the gospel was directly the opposite of that. Instead of his being a power between God and the sinner, we hold that his happiest work is to make the sinner feel that there is no power, visible or invisible, between him and the Saviour, and so to encourage him and lead him direct to the one Mediator. He then put some question which seemed to say, "What, then, is the apparatus of absolution?" This, he was told, was settled by a few words of St. Paul. "The word is nigh you" (Romans 10:6-10). Here the whole apparatus is "nigh" the man, in his own person — his heart to trust in the Saviour, his mouth to call upon Him; that is all the apparatus. Wherever a man stands feeling his need of salvation, there are all things now ready — the loving Saviour, the free pardon, the blood that speaketh peace, the heart to believe, the mouth to call upon the Lord. When the Roman heard this he looked up and said, "How grand that is! why, that could be done in a quarter of an hour." Yes, it may be done in a quarter of an hour; for this salvation is a free gift (Matthew 7:7, 8). (W. Arthur, M.A.) Parallel Verses KJV: For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. WEB: For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, "The one who does them will live by them."