J. C. Ryle John

for sinners. He has "suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God." He has opened a
way into the holiest, through His blood, by which we may draw near to God with boldness, and
approach God without fear. And now He is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God
by Him. In the highest sense He is "the door." No one "can come to the Father" but by Him.
Let us take heed that we use this door, and do not merely stand outside looking at it. It is a door
free and open to the chief of sinners--"If any man enter in by it, he shall be saved." It is a door
within which we shall find a full and constant supply for every need of our souls. We shall find
that we can "go in and out," and enjoy liberty and peace. The day comes when this door will be
shut forever, and men shall strive to enter in, but not be able. Then let us make sure work of our
own salvation. Let us not stand tarrying outside, and halting between two opinions. Let us enter
in and be saved.
JOHN 1:10-18
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and
may have it abundantly.
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand
who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep
and runs away. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. Because he is a hired hand
and is not concerned about the sheep, he runs away.
"I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me-- just as the Father knows me
and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not
come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there
will be one flock and one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me--because I lay down my
life, so that I may take it back again. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own
free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This
commandment I received from my Father."
These verses show us, for one thing, the great object for which Christ came into the world. He
says, I have come that men "might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
The truth contained in these words is of vast importance. They supply an antidote to many
crude and unsound notions which are abroad in the world. Christ did not come to be only a
teacher of new morality, or an example of holiness and self-denial, or a founder of new
ceremonies, as some have vainly asserted. He left heaven, and dwelt for thirty-three years on
earth for far higher ends than these. He came to procure eternal life for man, by the price of His
own vicarious death. He came to be a mighty fountain of spiritual life for all mankind, to which
sinners coming by faith might drink; and, drinking, might live for evermore. By Moses came
laws, rules, ordinances, ceremonies. By Christ came grace, truth, and eternal life.
Important as this doctrine is, it requires to be fenced with one word of caution. We must not
overstrain the meaning of our Lord Jesus Christ's words. We must not suppose that eternal life
was a thing entirely unknown until Christ came, or that the Old Testament saints were in utter
darkness about the world to come. The way of life by faith in a Savior was a way well known to
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