Whatever comes in when you go to God for acceptance, besides Christ, call it anti-Christ; bid it begone; make only Christ’s righteousness triumphant. All besides that is Babylon, which must fall if Christ stand, and you shall rejoice in the day of the fall thereof (Isa 14:4). Christ alone did tread the winepress, and there was none with Him (Isa 63:3). If you join anything to Christ, Christ will trample upon it in fury and anger, and stain His raiment with the blood of it. You think it easy to believe. Was ever your faith tried with an hour of temptation, and a thorough sight of sin? Was it ever put to grapple with Satan, and the wrath of God lying upon the conscience, when you were in the mouth of hell and the grave? Then did God show you Christ a ransom and a righteousness; then you could say, “Oh! I see grace enough in Christ.” You may say that which is the greatest word in the world, believe. Untried faith is uncertain faith. Thomas Willcox
This is a glorious quote with the glory of God’s grace shining through it. For the new believer, learn to go to God based on Christ and Christ alone. For those who have been believers for years, learn to go to God based on Christ and Christ alone. For those who are not being tested in obviously hard ways, learn to go to God based on Christ and Christ alone. For those who are being eviscerated (what it feels like) by the inward fight with sin and with trials beyond your strength, don’t try to get better in order to go to God. Don’t try to win this fight with sin apart from grace. Don’t fight these trials in your own strength. Regardless of circumstances and regardless of the length of time one has been a believer or not, Christ is the only ground of acceptance with God. All have sinned and continue to fall short of the glory of God and all who the least sight of his or her own heart see more sin than the self-righteous can imagine. But the righteousness of Christ is the only righteousness acceptable with God. Flee from all hope in your holiness, your sanctification, your prayer of salvation, and all that you have done or thought you have done. But don’t just flee FROM those things, reject them all as a basis to stand on and flee TO Christ and the righteousness of Christ. Here is a solid footing that will last for eternity.
It is so common today to get people involved in professing churches with myriads of Bible studies, prayer meetings, and all sorts of outwardly good things. But Bible study and prayer can also be forms of self-righteousness and be a basis of confidence for a professing believer rather than Christ. This can be a form of hidden self-righteousness. Evangelism can become a hidden form of self-righteousness which people trust in and think that they are converted because they do those things, and yet a true believer can begin to have his eyes turned from Christ alone to trust in that ever deceptive self-righteousness. Building programs and giving money to those can give people a sense of self-righteousness. Large ministries can give people a sense of self-righteousness, but there is no righteousness apart from Christ.
The point is that there are so many ways and methods for proud hearts to find ways for self-righteousness, but the most deceitful of those is in the realm of religion. It appears at times that the closer something is to the truth without being the truth the easier it is to deceive with it. This is to say that when we go to God for acceptance, anything is anti-Christ if it is not truly Christ Himself and His righteousness. The rites of religion and the duties of religion will not enable us to obtain the least amount of righteousness, though if we look to them for the least amount of righteousness they will keep us from the righteousness of Christ.
If we look to anything but the cross of Christ to take care of the wrath of God, we will find that as something that incenses the wrath of God itself. Christ Himself is the only acceptable propitiation to God. We cannot suffer enough or pay for the least sin much less for some of them or all of them. Trying to pay for our own sin will bring the wrath of God. The Gospel of Christ alone is truly all of Christ and the glory of His grace in being the only sacrifice for sin and the only righteousness of God. The Gospel of grace alone is truly all about grace and the glory of Christ in being Grace Himself and in the Gospel leaving nothing but grace and Christ as what sinners need. Oh how many need to examine their hearts today. The libertines need to examine their hearts to see if there is any amount of grace and any holiness at all. The conservatives and the active in church people need to examine their hearts to see if anything is there other than Christ and grace. Yes, sin is so very deceptive, but so is self-righteousness which is sin. The enmity man has toward God can be seen in open sin, but also in the professing churches where a lot of so-called “Christian” activity is taking place. Indeed, it is Christ ALONE and grace ALONE. It is not Christ plus one little thing or grace plus one little thing. Oh how the heart longs to rest in something of self and pride.
God Loves... Himself 
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