Billy Graham: Redeemed Completely Through Christ

All over the world, people have the same hungers, longings, frustrations and desires. And their problems can only be met by Him who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

Jesus had among His disciples a man named Thomas who seemed to embody the soul-cry of the centuries. His were the questions and the misgivings of all the disciples of doubt who were to follow him.

When Jesus uttered His words of comfort in the 14th chapter of John, “And where I go you know, and the way you know” (John 14:4), Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” (John 14:5).

Jesus answered him with a statement that has the ring of eternity. It was sublimely simple and profoundly deep. Its surface meaning was clear to all, and yet the great theologians have never completely sounded its mighty depths.

This is that statement: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

In one majestic sweep, these words silenced Thomas’ questions and brought reassurance and peace to the hearts of the other disciples. Within that authoritative word from the lips of the Son of God, there was enough comfort to assuage the sufferings of the tormented, enough wisdom to satisfy those who yearn for understanding, and enough power to set the great Christian movement in motion.

If you are to be a Christian, you must accept the entire challenge of Christ for your total person. Thousands have gone part way with Christ, but that is not enough. Jesus said unless you are willing to deny self and take up your cross and follow Him, you cannot be His follower.

Time after time, Jesus turned to His followers and said that they must surrender their total personalities if they were to follow Him.

You may have had mental concepts of Christianity. As a child you were given religious instruction, you were taught certain creeds; but your faith stopped there. You did not “go on to perfection” (Hebrews 6:1). Your faith did not saturate your whole life. It was something merely taught, rather than something that had been wrought by the Spirit.

Or you may have had emotional experiences which perhaps were valuable, but you failed to absorb the Word of God. You stopped short of the total surrender of your life to God, and your religion consists merely of a fond memory of the past, with no present reality.

Perhaps you have exercised your will to a degree and in your own strength have resolved to “live right,” but you have also discovered that you possess an inadequacy, and that your resolutions to “be better” usually end in frustration and defeat.

Someone has aptly said, “Without the way there is no going, without the truth there is no knowing, and without the life there is no growing.”

I would like to consider what Jesus said in John 14:6.

First, Christ is the life. This is the key to all the rest of the truth in this passage. Before there can be any growth or understanding, there must first of all be life.

A glance at the Bible will reveal that Christ, and Christ alone, is the source of spiritual life.

The Bible says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4).

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12).

And Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

The new birth that Jesus requires of every person is as important as your first birth, and far more so. Your first birth was involuntary; but your second birth is voluntary. The physical life that you received at your first birth terminates at death. But the life you are given at the second birth continues forever.

Your first birth was made possible in order that you might experience the second birth, and if you fail to find Christ, who is the source of spiritual life, the purpose of your first birth will be unfulfilled.

You are a spirit, and you possess a mind and a body. God wants to redeem you completely through Christ. He wants to make every area of your life complete in Him. The Bible says, “And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

But He begins with your spirit, or as we say, “our hearts.” The Bible says, “I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them” (Ezekiel 11:19).

And again, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This is the impartation of life. Call it the new birth, conversion or regeneration. It is by faith, according to the Word, and through the Spirit. It is the fulfillment of the purpose for which you were born into the world. It means that you will live forever. The Bible says, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28).

Christ is the life. As the Bible says, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (1 John 5:1).

I want to ask you: Do you have this life? Have you been born again? Have you become a partaker of eternal life?

Second, Christ is the way.Christ is more than “a way of life.” Christianity is more than “a good way to live.” Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Christ is a way! It says, “He is the way”—the one and only way!

If someone were giving you directions to a certain city and he made such statements as, “Now, when you come to an intersection, just go any way you want to,” or, “When you come to the junction of these two highways, just go to the right or left, either way—it doesn’t really matter,” you could be sure that he was giving you the wrong directions.

God’s laws have never been amended. His directions have never been changed. Old remedies are still prescribed for old sins. Old directions still point to old established destinations. Old laws, which were made for the good of men and women, are still in force.

The Bible says, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” But “narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

Many have mistakenly thought that if they lived a good life and did the best they could, they could earn salvation. That is a false idea. The Bible says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

Christ, the way, cuts right across our stubborn wills. If He is to “have His way,” then our own wills cannot rule supremely. Someone asked a learned Christian to sum up the Christian life in the fewest words possible. He said, “Not my will, but thy will be done” (Cf. Luke 22:42). After reflecting a moment he said, “Take out ‘my will,’ and say ‘Thy will be done.’” That is the essence of the Christian life; renouncing our own will, and allowing His will to be done.

Only when our will is surrendered can Christ be “the way” to us. When we, by the renouncing of our way, make Christ the way, then the fruit of the Spirit is seen in our lives. The old ways of uncleanness, hatred, strife and envy vanish like fog in a blazing sun. The fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace and longsuffering—will be the eloquent witness that we have the way.

The Gospel affects our attitudes toward others. It has social implications. Our tongues as well as our other faculties are brought under Christ’s control. Christ becomes the way to a Christian, and a Christian lives the way a man or woman should live.

Third, Christ is the truth.This indicates the redemption of our minds. Paul wrote, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).

“To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).

And the Bible says again, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

My heart goes out to the person, rich or poor, intelligent or ignorant, bound or free, who concocts a creed and manufactures a belief outside of Christ. Christ is not merely a truth—He is the truth.

So, there we have the three dimensions of Christianity. They all merge into one powerful, dominant personality—Jesus Christ.

Christ, the Way, redeems our conduct by dealing with our rebellious wills and sets us going on the highway of holiness.

Christ, the Truth, redeems our minds by canceling the mind set “on the flesh” and giving us the mind of Christ.

Christ, the Life, transforms our hearts, and replaces the fleshly emotions of envy, greed and lust with love, joy and peace.

Christ deals completely with the nature of man. Don’t be content with emotional faith alone. Don’t be satisfied with an empty creed or a mental concept of Christianity. By yielding your will completely to Him, you can have a whole Christ for your whole being.

To a world that cries out, “Lord … how can we know the way?” (Cf. John 14:5), Jesus answers, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). And then He expresses the relevance of this truth to your life and mine when He says, “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version.

THE ONLY WAY TO THE FATHER

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Do you know Him? He will come into your heart and life today if you will turn from your sin and put your faith in Him. You can have a new life, a new beginning. First, confess your sin to God and turn away from it. Second, receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, putting your faith in Him alone to save you. He promises to live in you and to transform your life.

START BY SIMPLY TALKING TO GOD.

You can pray a prayer like this:

“Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I’m sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. Please forgive me. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe He died on the cross for my sin and You raised Him to life. I want Him to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow Him as my Lord from this day forward. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

DO IT RIGHT NOW.

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