Thought for the week: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved

​‘Touch Wood’ is an expression that we often hear when we are in conversation with others. It is one of those superstitious things that people say and do.
​Rev David McMillan, Free Presbyterian Church​Rev David McMillan, Free Presbyterian Church
​Rev David McMillan, Free Presbyterian Church
By ​Rev David McMillan
Published 27th Mar 2024, 16:15 BST

​A person will state something that they hope is going to happen to them; then they will put their hand on a piece of wood and repeat the words ‘Touch wood’.

Why do people go through that ritual? It is because they have been taught to believe that the touching of wood will bring a person good favour or so -called ‘good luck’. The expression actually comes from the idea that there is merit or value in touching the wood of the cross of Christ. There are those who claim to have in their possession some of the wood of the actual cross that the Saviour died upon. Strangely, enough wood has been found to make a hundred crosses and more.

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But it is even claimed by some churches, that to touch the actual wood of the cross that Jesus died upon, would find you favour before God, and even allow you to gain access to Heaven. But that is a false Gospel and there is no Scriptural evidence for such an idea.

When Paul was preaching the Gospel in Athens on his second missionary journey, he declared to the residents of that city: "I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious’" (Acts 17:22). That is still true of many today who are depending on superstitious beliefs to obtain Salvation. Always remember that it is the work of the Cross that saves the soul not the wood of the Cross, and there is a great difference between the two.

There was nothing special about the wood of the cross that Jesus died upon. It was just ordinary wood, and it has long since rotted and decayed. The work of the cross is the sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus that we remember at this Easter time. On the cross, the Lord Jesus bore the penalty for sin and died in your place, and that work is central to the Gospel and to our salvation. On the Cross, He cried: "It is finished’" The work He did is perfect and complete, and nothing ever needs to be added to it. There is no need for you to try to work your way to Heaven, because He did all the work for

you.

God’s way of Salvation is by simple faith in that finished work. Paul said: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). He is teaching, put your trust in the finished work of the Cross, and you will be saved for all eternity.