Grace points us into the character of God and why God does what He does. He saves sinners because of Himself and He saves sinners because of who He is. When sinners try to find some religious acts to justify themselves before Him, He hates this. He does not need our efforts or our religion to save us, but instead all He needs is Himself in order to save by grace alone.
Mourn for your unbelief, which is a setting up of guilt in the conscience above Christ, and undervaluing the merits of Christ, accounting His blood an unholy, a common, and unsatisfying thing. Thomas Willcox
Unbelief is a horrid sin as it does look to either the righteousness of self in the soul or the amount of guilt we have rather than Christ. It is utterly impossible for the strength of man to overcome this drive of self in the soul. Oh how the Pharisees wanted to be righteous in their own works and strength, but they would not come to Christ for a true righteousness. Oh how they hated the Lord Jesus because He spoke to them as sinners, even vile sinners. Oh how they hated the Lord of glory because He was brighter than their own supposed glory that they had worked up. They would not look to grace alone because they were blinded by their own righteousness. They did not need Christ to help them as they could do it by themselves. Who needs the Christ when you have Moses and the laws that they had worked on in history?
What did David do when he was confronted with his sin of adultery and murder by Nathan the prophet? He knew that he had sinned for greater than he could be forgiven for in and of himself. How do you make up for sinning against God? We see his agonizing and his confession in Psalm 51. His sin, he said, was against God and Him alone. But in noting that, he looked to God to show mercy because of God alone as well.
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge. Psa 51:1-4
Where would David go? What could he do to make up for his sins? The God He had sinned against is the same God that He went to and plead with God to forgive him “according to the greatness of your compassion” and “according to Your lovingkindness.” What is David doing here? He was asking for forgiveness based on the character of God and asking God to forgive Him for His name’s sake. Our sin is so great there is no name by which we can be saved but the name of Christ. Our sin is so great that there is nothing we can do to make up for our sin, and in fact in trying to make up for it we are sinning even more.
On the other hand, while some try to make up for their sin by what they do, there are others who drop into deep despair when they see the depth of their sins. As an older author said, we are to despair of any help from ourselves but we are not to despair of God being able to save us. We must know that to set out to work in order to make up for our sins AND to despair of God is really the same sin. It is to devalue the work of Christ on the cross and to devalue His perfect righteousness. For both sides the great need is for both to be humbled under the hand of God and to behold the greatness of the value of the life and blood of Christ.
Behold, poor sinner, the blood of Christ can fully satisfy the wrath of God in your place. What wickedness it is and unbelief on your part to think that puny little you can possibly sin enough and make yourself beyond the infinite grace of God. What wickedness it is to think that His righteousness is not enough to fully satisfy God. What makes you think that His grace is not enough? Have you not discovered the riches of His grace? Have you not seen the overflowing and abundant grace of God that far exceeds your sin? What, do you think that He cannot save you because of Himself and His own glory if He is pleased to do so? Why do you despair when a God of such grace is on the throne of the universe? Why do you set out to work to make up for anything when God alone can do it by grace alone? Do you think your works or your despair can earn anything but His displeasure? Cease and desist from both. There is grace sufficient for the worst of sinners, even a grace that merits far more than your sin unmerited.
God Loves... Himself 
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