Second, man thinks that he must pray and plead before he can be saved because he simply does not realize that the Lord Jesus has come; He has died and resurrected, all of sin's problems are solved, and all obstacles to salvation are removed. Not only has the Lord Jesus come, but the Holy Spirit has also come. He came to make manifest in man what God and the Lord Jesus have accomplished. Many sinners pray for their salvation as if they were asking the Lord Jesus to die for them again. They do not realize that He has completely finished the work of redemption. Since He has finished His work, there is absolutely no reason for us to plead with Him. Today is the time for thanksgivings and praises; it is not the time for filing requests and petitions. Suppose your parents have brought you something that you asked for. You may perhaps, out of sincerity, bow to thank them. Certainly you would not kneel down and beg to have that item, saying, "Please give this to me because I need it." It is simply pointless and senseless for you to continue to beg after your parents have already given the item to you. Today God is not speaking about the severity of your sins. If He were, then there may be a reason for you to plead. Rather, God is now saying that He has freely given you His Son. It would be a strange thing indeed if someone gave you something and you were still begging instead of thanking! If you know God's heart, and if you are clear about the Lord Jesus' work, you would never attempt to be saved through prayer. Prayer has no place in this matter. It is better for you to kneel to thank God.

Once after I had shared the gospel with a man, I asked if he would believe. He replied that he would. When I said, "Let us kneel down," he asked if we were going to pray. I told him, "No." He asked, "For what purpose then?" I answered, "Simply to inform the Lord Jesus." There is no need to ask Jesus to die again or to ask God to love, to be gracious, or to forgive us. The Lord has already borne our sins on the cross. Now our only need is to notify Him by saying, "I have believed the Son of God, and I have received the cross of Christ. O God, I thank You." Is this not easy? Yes, to receive salvation is an easy matter. It was, of course, not an easy thing for God to accomplish salvation; it took God four thousand years to accomplish it. After man fell, it took God four thousand years to cause man to realize his sins. He then caused His Son to be born of a woman and to hang on the cross to be judged for sin. In the end He also sent the Holy Spirit. It is only after God has done so much work and expended so much effort that we can receive salvation in such an easy way. He has paid the greatest price to accomplish everything. Now if you have believed and received, all you need to do is to say, "Thank You." This is the way of salvation. There is no place for prayer here.

Why then does Romans 10 bring up the matter of prayer? Romans 10:5 through 7 reads, "For Moses writes concerning the righteousness which is out of the law: 'The man who does them shall live by them.' But the righteousness which is out of faith speaks in this way, 'Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven?' that is, to bring Christ down; or, 'Who will descend into the abyss?' that is, to bring Christ up from the dead." Two kinds of righteousness are mentioned here. One is the righteousness which is out of the law, and the other, righteousness which is out of faith. The righteousness out of the law results from one's works before God, and the righteousness out of faith is accomplished in us through our believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. The former has everything to do with us, and the latter, everything to do with Christ.