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unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me,
till I have eaten and drunken; and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he
thank the servant because he did the things that were commanded? Even so ye
also, when ye shall have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We are
unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do.' And again
He asks, 'What 1 should a man give in exchange for his life?' We see,
therefore, that man has nothing and can do nothing by which he may be able by
himself to obtain remission of his sins. Even if he were to give all his wealth
and riches 2 and to do every good work of which he is capable, yet he
could not by such means earn the pardon of a single one of his many sins. We
have already seen that even heartfelt repentance, suitable and appropriate as it
is, though pleasing to God, is not of itself sufficient to secure the salvation
of the sinner, because it does not satisfy the requirements of God's perfect
justice. Hence man can never be saved, unless in some wonderful manner God's
wisdom devise a means whereby man may find a full and perfect atonement for his
sins, and may thereby have his will brought into harmony with God's will, may be
drawn near to God in love, and may have his whole character so changed and
purified that he may become a new spiritual Man.
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The Gospel
(البشارة) is so called, because it conveys to man the good news that God,
of His infinite love and mercy, has devised and discovered for His fallen and
sinful creatures a perfect sin-offering, by means of which salvation may fall to
the lot of every one who truly and humbly desires it. No one is fated to eternal
ruin, nor does God will the death of a sinner, 1 but rather that be
should accept the free gift 2 of eternal life which God offers him in
the Person of the word of God
(كلمة
الله), the Lord Jesus Christ.
If our Muslim friends now inquire why salvation should be offered through Him
rather than through Abraham, or Moses, or Elijah, or John the Baptist, or
finally through Muhammad, we ask them in the first place to consider
thoughtfully and reverently how different is what the Qur'an and the Traditions
say of Him from what they say of the other Prophets, and how much higher are the
titles which they give Him than those given to all others. 3 If they
reflect on this attentively, they will be prepared to understand the testimony
which the holy Scriptures bear to Him, and finally to comprehend how He alone
could be an effectual mediator between God the All Holy and sinful men.
The Qur'an itself speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ as 'an 4 Apostle
of God, and His Word
(كلمته)
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