Nature can afford no balsam fit for soul cure. Healing from duty, and not from Christ, is the most desperate disease. Poor, ragged nature, with all its highest improvements, can never spin a garment fine enough (without spot) to cover the soul’s nakedness. Nothing can fit the soul for that use but Christ’s perfect righteousness. Thomas Wilcox
Wilcox is quite clear that sin is bad enough, but trying to heal our wounds from sin is perhaps even worse. A heart that thinks it can overcome sin by self-righteousness is a deceived heart, but the heart that thinks it can make up for sin or that it can earn something from God on the basis of self-righteousness is a horribly darkened heart. The natural man and anything in all of creation can do nothing of a spiritual nature. There is nothing that the natural man can do in his filthy heart do, even with all the refinements of education and religion, to cover one sin much less cover his entire soul for his entire life. The soul is completely naked of righteousness and is covered with sores that are bleeding and oozing. The only thing that can heal the sores is Christ. The only thing that can cover the nakedness of the soul is the righteousness of Christ.
People can be taught though means of education and example how to be polite, some basic manners, and to be morally acceptable in society. People can be taught a high degree of information about nature and basic external morality, but also a lot about internal morality that is within the grasp of human endeavors apart from the Spirit of God and the fruits of the Spirit. But not even the highest degree of those things can possibly cover for one sin. There is no obtaining the righteousness necessary to have one sin covered much less all sin covered apart from the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The righteousness that man must have can and will only come by grace and grace alone. There is nothing that man can work up that will please God as God can only be pleased with Himself and His own works. The righteousness of Christ satisfies both points as He is God and so the works of Christ are the works of God. In the righteousness of Christ God is pleased with that righteousness because it shines for His glory and He beholds His own glory in that.
The grace of God is what saves sinners from beginning to end and not what man can work up to cover his own vile nakedness. Of himself man can only sin in every thought, word, desire, intent, motive, and deed. Man drinks iniquity like water and in every part he is full of self, pride, and all manners of sin. There is nothing in man that would attract a holy, holy, holy God who is perfect in justice and wrath as well, so this should teach us with utter certainty that God saves by grace alone. How vile and awful are the sermons of the hirelings who will not teach men how utterly impossible it is for them to earn the slightest bit of righteousness and how they really are in the sight of the living God. How wicked it is for so-called preachers not to point men to the grace of God over and over rather than their own morality and works. Men must be driven from their works as they are bound fast to them by nature and love. They will only be driven from them by grace and so ministers need to set forth the glory of this grace that will take away their sin and give them a perfect robe of the righteousness of Christ.
There is nothing that will fit the soul nor cover it from the wrath to come but the righteousness of Christ. This robe of righteousness is fitted and created for each soul that God chooses and it will fit that soul perfectly and is all that the soul will ever need. All the righteousness that men try to work up is nothing but works of filth and dirt and will not cover the soul with a perfectly white and clean robe of righteousness. The righteousness of men is like a very poor tailor who cannot measure and cannot sew and uses only manure to stitch together garments. But the grace of God is what measures and sews the perfect garment out of the finest of materials and they will last for eternity.
Why will men not look to Christ alone and His beautiful garment that fits perfectly and will last for eternity? It is because they want to do it themselves. It is because they want to sew something of it so that they will have some control of their salvation and some of the glory of it as well. But Christ will not share His glory with another. The Gospel of grace alone is exactly and precisely that. It is a Gospel of grace alone and it will not share the smallest thread of men’s works. The Gospel of grace alone has been planned from eternity with a perfect plan and it has been carried out perfectly by Christ. There is nothing that needs to be added or can be added. It stands alone or men will stand without the righteousness of Christ and will stand on their own righteousness which less than a pile of manure in the sight of God. We must forsake our own works and efforts and look to grace alone by grace alone.
God Loves... Himself 
Leave a comment