We are not saved by being as good as we can or by doing as many good works as we can. We should do good things, of course, and be good people but we can never be good enough to save ourselves. We can only be saved by the Lord Jesus’s sacrifice of His perfect and sinless life on the Cross to pay the penalty for our sin. When the Lord does save us, our testimony will be…

Let’s think about one of the most beautiful verses in the whole Bible – Hebrews 7.25: Jesus is able to save to the utmost all who come to the Father through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.

Think about the disciples. They were just very ordinary people – like us – until Jesus called them, saved them and enabled them to do great things for Him.

Peter denied that he knew Jesus on the night before He was crucified. But after Jesus rose from the dead He forgave Peter and made him a great leader of His people.

Andrew was overshadowed by his big brother, Peter. But when we see him in the Bible, he is bringing people to Jesus, starting with his brother Peter, followed by the boy with the loaves and fishes, then the Greek people who wanted to see Jesus.

John, who the Bible describes as ‘the disciple Jesus loved’, was once called ‘the Son of Thunder’ by Jesus because he was ambitious and angry against people he thought should have been following Jesus. But over the years he would become known as ‘the Apostle of Love’, a name which was justified by the tenor of his three letters.

After Jesus was crucified, we see that the disciples were full of fear and scattered by the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. We see them not believing at first but then filled with joy at the Resurrection.

And then we see them gathered together on the Day of Pentecost. Suddenly Christ’s promise was kept, and they received the Holy Spirit, evangelised those around them, and went out into all the world to preach the Gospel.

What a great change came over them! They were no longer governed by the words ‘I am able’; rather their testimony was: ‘He is able!’ They went on to discover how true Christ’s words were when He said: ‘Without Me you can do nothing’; and how true Paul’s testimony was when he wrote: ‘I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.’

We’re just ordinary people too, but Christ saves and empowers us today just as He did so long ago, with three of the loveliest words in all of Scripture: ‘He is able.’

1. What is He Able to Do?

He is able to help those who are tempted (Hebrews 2.18) by giving us strength to resist the devil. He is able to save to the utmost. (Hebrews 7.25) that is fully, freely and completely. He is able to keep us from falling (Jude 24), that is, He is always with us and watching over us.

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