God can save us only by His own power, for His glory, merely in a way of grace and favor, solely by Christ, to the end we may love, adore, and praise Him; and yet the wish and will of man, notwithstanding the peculiar discoveries of the Christian religion, and the fullest conviction of infinite defect, is to be independent and self-saved. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)
When we see the clear teaching of Holy Scripture that God saves for His own glory, by Christ alone who is the shining forth of His glory, and by grace alone which is only given for His glory, it should be as clear as anything can be that man must repent of his independent spirit and his desire for self to do all or any part of salvation. As Adam notes above, it is the wish and will of man to be independent and self-saved. A mere moments reflection will show that if God saves to the glory of His own name and by grace alone that the will and desire of man to be independent and self-saved is nothing but a horrid wickedness to control salvation and honor self. Another moment of reflection will reveal that the wish and will of a man to be independent and self-saved is demonstrative evidence of what man must be broken from, granted repentance from, and to be saved from.
The whole notion of free-will comes from the desire of man to be independent of the will of God, yet it is only by the will and pleasure of God that men are created, have all things, and can possibly be converted. When the disciples asked Jesus with a great deal of astonishment as to who could be saved, Jesus replied that “with people this is impossible” (Matthew 19:26). He said nothing about how men should make a choice of in some way simply pray a prayer or will and act of some kind, but He told them that this was impossible. The Greek word translated as “impossible” has the idea of no possibility, unable, and powerless. The will is powerless and has no ability to save man, which should show that men are to repent of their independent spirit from God and any notion or concept that they can save or contribute the slightest bit to salvation. The Gospel rings with great clarity that God alone can save sinners and He does this by grace alone and for His own glory.
By this we can also see how wicked and awful it is for preachers and so-called evangelists to do what they do to their own glory and honor. Preachers can preach in ways that are attempts to gain honor for self, but in doing that they are not preaching the Gospel of grace alone which brings honor and glory to God. What a great judgment men will have when they use the things of Christianity to serve their own lusts for honor and glory. How can a man preach the true Gospel of the glory of God when he is preaching for his own glory? How can a man preach the true Gospel of grace alone when he is preaching for honor and glory himself? How can a man preach the true Gospel of Christ alone when that man is preaching in a way to get people to see him rather than Christ?
While the Gospel of grace alone seems so easy to people, it is actually a hated message when it is preached in truth. Some (many?) preachers also hate the Gospel of grace alone so they preach mostly grace, which means they give lip-service to something they term as grace. Even more orthodox (in creed) preachers preach in a way where men are not told that they must repent of free-will rather than trust in it, which is to say that those who preach that way also oppose the Gospel of grace alone. Preachers say that they are Reformed and yet they do not point men to Christ alone and grace alone but leave men in their own independent spirit and self-salvation way of thinking because they don’t teach them that they must be broken from that independent spirit and way of self-salvation.
If the wish and will of men is to be independent of God and to be self-saved, even when they sit under the preaching of some aspects of the truth of the depravity of man, then men must have this set before them with great plainness and clarity. But the men who preach for their own honor and love of applause will not do so because men will not honor them and applaud them if they do. However, if men don’t hear that then they will not hear the true Gospel of Christ alone and grace alone. Instead of bowing in submission to the Gospel, men will look to their own proud hearts to do what needs to be done. But the truth demands that men be broken from their proud hearts and even the desire to save self and become as little children before the living God. Jesus invited the weary and heavy-laden to come to Him and learn humility and meekness, not to learn how they can be self-saved and independent. The hearts of men must be humbled and broken from their desire to be independent of God and to be utterly dependent upon Him. The hearts of men must be humbled and broken from their desire to be self-saved or they will never look to Christ alone to save them completely by grace alone.
God Loves... Himself 
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