To believing, there must be a clear conviction of sin, and the merits of the blood of Christ, and of Christ’s willingness to save upon this consideration, namely, that you are a sinner; things all harder than to make a world. All the power in nature cannot get up so high in a storm of sin and guilt as really to believe there is any grace, any willingness in Christ to save. When Satan charges sin upon the conscience, then for the soul to charge it upon Christ, that is gospel-like; that is to make Him Christ. He serves for that use, to accept Christ’s righteousness alone. His blood alone for salvation, that is the sum of the gospel. When the soul, in all duties and distress, can say, “Nothing but Christ, Christ alone, for righteousness, justification, sanctification, redemption,” (I Cor 1:30); not humblings, not duties, not graces; that soul has got above the reach of the billows. Thomas Willcox
In order to have a true faith in Christ there must be a convicting work of the Spirit that strips the soul of all trust and hope in self-righteousness of any form in order that the sinner would not look to self at all for salvation. But it is also the case that the Spirit must also convince unbelievers of the merits of the blood of Christ and how it alone can atone for the sins of sinners. As Willcox points out, this is harder to do than it is to create a world. Oh how stout a proud heart is in clinging to self, something of its self-righteousness, and of course its pride. The depths of pride and self will cling with tenacity to some hope in self and its ability or sufficiency for something. The soul will arrive at degrees and depths of despair before it will believe, but most of that despair is really pride as the soul is finding out how hopeless it is and its utter lack of sufficiency in self. Until the soul is convinced of the complete merits of the blood of Christ and how it alone is sufficient to save the sinner, the sinner will look to self for some little something.
The Scripture is replete with references to the blood of Christ and the cross of Christ where that blood was shed. But again, the views of sinners of themselves and their own merits and value will always be balanced with their views and merits of the blood of Christ. The sinner cannot value the blood of Christ as it should be valued apart from devaluing self as it should be. As long as sinners hold on to some view that denies their utter inability and utter lack of merit, they will not look to the blood of Christ alone. The Scripture sets out that God has set forth Christ as the propitiation by His blood (Romans 3:24-25). This is set out in the context of justification by the grace and righteousness of God alone. But again, there is no sacrifice for sin unless it is in the blood of Christ. All the righteousness that man holds to is actually sin and as long as men hold to their sin in any way they are not looking to a complete and full satisfaction for their sin from Christ and Christ alone. The Spirit alone can open the blinded eyes of sinners and enable them to see that on the cross God purchased the church “with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). Behold the glory of God in the merits of the blood of Christ! Behold the grace of God in the merits of the blood of Christ! But only the Spirit can show these things and convince sinners of them.
Sinners cannot take away their own sin, but it can only be taken away by the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Christ alone has the power and the authority to take away sin and He only does so by the blood of His cross. It is Christ who has made peace through the blood of His cross (Col 1:20). There is nothing in the universe that can take away sin and make peace between sinners and God but the blood of the cross of Jesus Christ. This is great hope for sinners because Christ has been offered as a sacrifice for sinners. Sinners cannot offer up themselves as a sacrifice because they don’t have any value to begin with. Sinners are born in sin and have done nothing but sin since they were born, which tells us quite clearly that they have nothing to sacrifice to God. Sinners cannot make up for even part of one sin they have committed much less the mountains of sin that they have committed. Only the precious blood of Jesus Christ can do that. But only the Holy Spirit can shows sinners the truth of that.
This blood of Christ (and Christ Himself) is truly the only hope of the sinner and as such there is no hope for sinners to be found in themselves. While it is quite true that the Holy Spirit must convict sinners of sin, there is no hope for sinners found in their convictions of sin. Their hope is in Christ alone. A true conviction of sin will show sinners that there is nothing meritorious found in their convictions, but these convictions of sin by the Spirit are meant to show sinners that they have no hope in themselves and no hope in what they have done and no hope in what they can do. God will not dwell with the proud, but only with the humble and contrite in heart. This is the work of the Spirit in conviction of sin, then, to bring men to an utter end of hope in self that they may look to Christ alone. The blood of Christ has enough merit that men have no need of it. Christ alone can please God.
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