THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS
FROM THIS WORLD,
TO THAT WHICH IS TO COME
CHAPTER 18
WEEK 6 – TUESDAY
Read and pray: “Then Jesus declared to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’” (John 6:35)
Christian – Have you ever felt relief from the burden of your sins when those thoughts came to you?
Hope – On the contrary, it only made my conscience firmer, and just thinking that I would return to sin (even though my heart was inclined toward it) was a double torment for me.
Christian – And what did you do then?
Hope – I thought I had to make efforts to amend my life, because otherwise my condemnation was inevitable.
Christian – Didn’t you make those efforts?
Hope – Yes, and I fled not only from my sins but also from my companions in sin; I busied myself with religious practices such as praying, reading, weeping over my sins, speaking the truth to my neighbors, etc. I did this and many other things that would be tedious and difficult to list.
Christian – Did you consider yourself good for acting that way?
Hope – Yes, but only for a short time; very soon my affliction overcame me again despite all my reform.
Christian – But how, if you were already reformed?
Hope – For several reasons. I remembered words like these: “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6); “No one will be justified by the works of the law” (Galatians 2:16); “When you have done all that is commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants’” (Luke 17:10); and others of the same kind. Then I reasoned this way.
If all my righteous works are filthy rags, if no one can be justified by works of the law, and after doing all that is commanded we are unworthy servants, it is madness to want to reach heaven by the law. And I kept thinking: if a man contracts a debt with a merchant, even if he pays immediately for everything he buys afterward, his old debt remains in the ledger, and sooner or later the merchant may come to demand it and have him imprisoned until it is paid.
Christian – And how did you apply this reasoning to yourself?
Hope – I thought this way: because of my sins, I contracted a great debt to God, and my current reform cannot settle that account; so, despite all my amendments, I must constantly think of the reform by which I will be delivered from the condemnation incurred by my past transgressions.
Christian – That reasoning was true. Continue.
Hope – Another thing that afflicts me most since my recent reform is the idea that if I carefully examine my actions, even the most commendable, I always discover new sin, sin wrapped up with all that I can do better, so I am forced to suppose that, despite the false ideas I once had about myself and my duties, I commit enough sins every day to be condemned to hell, even if my previous life was spotless. And what did I do? I didn’t know what to do until I opened my heart to Faithful, whom I knew well, and he told me that only by the righteousness of a man who had never sinned could I be saved; neither my righteousness nor that of the whole world was sufficient.
Christian – And did you find true what Faithful told you?
Hope – If they had told me when I was content and satisfied with my reforms, I would have called them foolish; but now that I recognize my weakness and see sin mixed with my best actions, I am forced to agree with him.
Christian – But when he first made you aware of that opinion, did you think it possible that there was a man of whom it could be said he never sinned?
Hope – I must confess that at first his words seemed very strange to me; but after further conversation and closer fellowship with him, I was fully convinced of what he said.
Christian – And did you ask him who that man was and how you could be justified by him?
Hope – Surely, and he answered me: It is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of the Most High (Hebrews 10:12 and 21). And he added: “You will be justified by Him, trusting in what He did in the days of His flesh, and in what He suffered when He was nailed to the tree” (Romans 4:5; Colossians 1:14; 1 Peter 1:19). I asked him more about how the righteousness of that man could have the power to justify another before God, and he told me that the man he spoke of was the Almighty God, and that all He did and the death He suffered were not for Himself, but for me, to whom His works and all His worth would be credited if I believed in Him.
Christian – And what did you do then?
Hope – I objected to those doctrines, because it seemed to me that the Lord was unwilling to save me.
Christian – And what did Faithful say to you?
Hope – He told me to go to Him, and He would convince me otherwise. I objected that it would be presumption on my part, but Faithful removed the objection, reminding me what Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” And he gave me a book to encourage me to come with more freedom, adding that every jot and tittle was firmer in that book than heaven and earth (Matthew 24:35).
I then asked what I should do to approach Him, and he taught me that I should invoke Him on my knees (Daniel 6:10), that I should pray to the Father with all my heart and soul (Jeremiah 29:12-13), that He would reveal His Son to me. I asked again how I should make my prayers, and he said: “Look, and you will see Him sitting on a mercy seat, where He remains all year to forgive and redeem those who come near” (Exodus 25:22; Leviticus 16:2; Numbers 7:8-9; Hebrews 4:16).
I told him I did not know what to say when I presented myself before Him, and Faithful recommended I speak to Him something like this: “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Make me know Jesus Christ, and believe in Him, because I recognize that without His righteousness, or without trusting in it, I would be hopelessly lost. Lord, I have heard that You are a merciful God, and that You gave Jesus Christ, Your Son, as Savior to the world, and that You are willing to give Him to a poor sinner like me, who indeed is a sinner. Lord, seize this occasion and show Your grace in saving my soul through Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen.”
Christian – And did you do so?
Hope – Once and many times.
Christian – And did the Father reveal His Son to you?
Hope – No, not the first, nor the second, nor the third, nor the fourth, nor the fifth, nor the sixth time.
Christian – And how did you act seeing this?
Hope – I did not know what decision to make.
Christian – Did you not try to give up prayer?
Hope – I did two hundred times.
Christian – And why did you do that?
Hope – Because I believed what Faithful had told me was true, that without the righteousness of this Christ, not even the whole world would have power to save me. So I reasoned with myself: If I leave Him, I die, and then I prefer to die at the foot of the throne of grace. Besides, these words came to mind: “If he delays, wait for him; for he will surely come and will not delay” (Hebrews 2:3). Then I continued praying until the Father revealed His Son to me.
Christian – And how was He revealed to you?
Hope – I did not see Him with the eyes of my body, but with those of understanding (Ephesians 1:18-19). It was like this: One day I was very sad, sadder, it seems to me, than I had ever been before, this sadness caused by a new revelation of the magnitude and vileness of my sins, and when I expected only hell and eternal condemnation of my soul, it seemed to me suddenly to see the Lord Jesus, looking at me from heaven, and saying: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
But Lord, I replied, I am a great sinner, very great; and He answered me: “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9). I asked Him: What is faith? And I recognized from those words, “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35), that believing and going were the same thing, and that he who goes, that is, who runs in his heart and affections for the salvation of Christ, is the one who truly believes in Christ.
My eyes moistened with tears, and I kept asking: But Lord, can a sinner as great as I really be accepted and saved by You? And He answered: “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37). And I said: But Lord, what idea should I have of You when I come to You, so that my faith may be perfect? And He told me: “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). From this I concluded that I must find righteousness in His person, and the payment for my sins in His blood; that what He did, obeying the law of His Father and submitting to the penalty of that law, He did only for those who accept His salvation and thank Him. Then my heart was filled with joy, my eyes with tears, and my affections expanded in love for the name, the people, and the ways of Jesus Christ.
Christian – That was indeed a revelation of Christ to your soul. Tell me now what effects it produced in your spirit.
Hope – It made me see that everyone, despite all their own righteousness, exists in a state of condemnation; that God the Father, although Just, can justify with justice the sinner who comes to Him; it made me ashamed of my former life, and humbled me by making me know and feel my own ignorance, because until then no single thought had come to my heart that revealed the beauty of Jesus Christ in such a way; it made me desire a holy life, and long to do something more for the honor and glory of the Lord’s name; it even seemed to me that if I had a thousand lives, I would gladly lose them for the love of Jesus!
Enjoy more:
Hymn – “Christ loved me, what a good Savior!”
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