God Loves… Himself

This will be sound religion; “only rest all upon the everlasting mountains of God’s love and grace in Christ, to live continually in the sight of Christ’s infinite righteousness and merits, they are sanctifying. Without them the heart is carnal, and in those sights to see the full vileness, yet littleness of sin, and to see all pardoned; in those sights to trample upon all your self-glories, righteousness, privileges, as abominable, and be found continually in the righteousness of Christ only, rejoicing in the ruins of our own righteousness, the spoiling of all your own excellencies, that Christ alone, as Mediator, may be exalted in His throne. Mourn over all your duties however glorious, that you have not performed in the sight and sense of Christ’s love.” Without the blood of Christ on your conscience, all is dead service (Heb 9:14). Thomas Willcox

It seems so contrary to the human heart and to the modern way of thinking which exalts human beings “to trample upon all your self-glories, righteousness, privileges, as abominable, and be found continually in the righteousness of Christ only, rejoicing in the ruins of our own righteousness, the spoiling of all your own excellencies, that Christ alone, as Mediator, may be exalted in His throne.” Instead of glorying in self, the heart that loves the righteousness of Christ will glory in Christ. Instead of exalting and trusting in self-righteousness, the heart that loves the righteousness of Christ will exalt the infinite righteousness and merits of Christ. Not only that, but the idea of self looking to its own righteousness and glorying in self is an abominable thing to those that rest upon the everlasting mountains of God’s love and grace in Christ.

What is clear is that the natural man loves self and the righteousness of self and strives after his own merits, but those who have been born from above and are united to Christ love Christ and the righteousness of Christ and His merits. The two positions are as contrary to each other as can possibly be. The natural man will exalt in that which the spiritual man will abhor, while the spiritual man will exalt and delight in what the natural man will abhor. The natural man, and perhaps especially the religious man who is still a natural man, hate true Christianity and its utter reliance upon Christ and the desire to seek the glory of Christ alone. There is enmity in the heart of the natural man when he sees that all the glory and all the righteousness is of God and that he cannot earn one thing before God.

The heart can be examined with these things in mind. Regardless of the creed that one holds to in terms of the intellect and in terms of doctrine, the issues of the heart are more important. One can hold to the imputed righteousness of Christ in justification in the head and yet his heart may still love his own merits and righteousness. One may hold to the imputed righteousness of Christ in the creed and yet not desire to have his own righteousness trampled on and will not rejoice in the ruins of his own righteousness. While it is true that our creeds are important, yet the creed can be used by the brain to stifle and deceive the heart. The heart must be in accordance with the truth and not just the brain.

The spiritual heart, though far from perfect, will find it repulsive if its own excellencies are set forth rather than Christ being exalted. The natural mind can know that as a truth and try to do it, but the spiritual taste buds of the soul will rise up at some point. The spiritual man will see his duties and yet know that they are filthy rags if they are not done out of a true love for Christ, yet the natural man will see his duties and say that because he did them he must love Christ. How the heart must be examined and this paragraph teaches us one way to do this. Look at what comes out of your heart when Christ is exalted and His righteousness alone is set forth. Yet also look at your heart to see how it responds and not just to the intellectual teaching of that.

Without the blood of Christ on your conscience, says Willcox, all is dead service. The reason for this is that there is nothing but impurity that will come from the human beings in and of self. What must come from the human (to be acceptable to God) must first come from God through Christ. It is only when sinners are covered by the blood of Christ can anything that comes from their persons be acceptable to God. This shows us, once again, that Christ alone is the way of salvation and that Christ alone is the way of sanctification. The blood of Christ is utterly necessary to cover the sins of sinners and their foul hearts for them to do anything acceptable to God and in a way that exalts Christ as Mediator and Christ as our perfect righteousness. Away with self-exaltation and self-righteousness as there is a better away. It is Christ-exaltation and Christ as our righteousness.

This will be sound religion; “only rest all upon the everlasting mountains of God’s love and grace in Christ, to live continually in the sight of Christ’s infinite righteousness and merits, they are sanctifying. Without them the heart is carnal, and in those sights to see the full vileness, yet littleness of sin, and to see all pardoned; in those sights to trample upon all your self-glories, righteousness, privileges, as abominable, and be found continually in the righteousness of Christ only, rejoicing in the ruins of our own righteousness, the spoiling of all your own excellencies, that Christ alone, as Mediator, may be exalted in His throne. Mourn over all your duties however glorious, that you have not performed in the sight and sense of Christ’s love.” Without the blood of Christ on your conscience, all is dead service (Heb 9:14).   Thomas Willcox

It is in light of the everlasting mountains of God’s love and grace in Christ that the sinfulness of man is seen. This is not to deny that we see sin by the glass of the Law, but it is to say that the depths of the Law are only seen in the light of God’s love and grace in Christ as well. Apart from the love and grace of God in Christ the Law will only be seen as external rules, but in Christ we see the lengths of where love must go to keep the Law and we see the grace in Christ that we must have in order to keep the Law. It is also true that as a person grows in the understanding of the infinite righteousness of Christ and His merits that a person will grow in the understanding of his or her own heart and how shallow it really is.

It is also true that the pride of the human heart and the drive for the survival of self will move the soul to deny its own sin and how sinful the human heart really is. As the soul grows in its trust and reliance upon the infinite righteousness and merits of Christ, that soul can relax its hold on self-righteousness and the desire to have merits for self. How tenacious the soul holds to self-righteousness and the hidden thought of having its own merits. The soul in its pride, self-reliance, and self-sufficiency will hang on with great tenacity to some idea of having just a little righteousness and some control over self. But the teaching of Scripture is that man has no righteousness of his own and has no ability to obtain any at all. The soul must look to Christ and His infinite righteousness alone and to His merits alone or it will be trusting in self to some degree, and despite the appearance of a small trust in self it is actually a very large trust in self.

Without the soul’s trusting in Christ for righteousness and merit the soul will hope in self and as such will be loathe to turn loose of all hope in self and of some form of self-justification. Oh how hard it is for the soul to accept the teaching of Scripture on just how vile sin is and how vile the soul is for loving sin. The heart cannot stand to see itself as so vile and full of sin so it is in a constant state of denial until it sees the wonders and glories of the righteousness and merits of Christ. But even after the soul sees how vile it is, it is prone to think of how large sin is instead of seeing how little sin is in light of the infinite righteousness of Christ. The heart will struggle to believe that the blood of Christ pardons all of its sins and since it cannot even make up for one sin it must be Christ alone who pardons all sin. It is hard for the heart to look to grace alone without one condition and without anything in it that would move God to save sinners.

Once the soul arrives an understanding that the Lord alone can give of His righteousness and merits the soul is now free to delight itself to confessing how vile it is and “to trample upon all” of its “self-glories, righteousness, privileges, as abominable.” The soul now sees that instead of being dangerous to renounce its own righteousness as vileness, it is instead the safest and best course. Now the soul sees that it was never intended to trust in itself or to obtain righteousness for itself, but instead it was created for the glory of God and it is His glory to save sinners by grace alone which is to say by the blood and righteousness of Christ alone. The soul is now free to examine itself that it may be free of its horrid pride and self-righteousness that it may be found continually in the righteousness of Christ alone and it will rejoice in the ruins of its own righteousness. It is free to examine its own heart and it is freeing to be turned from any hope in self and any trust in self. It is now free to look at the righteousness and merits of Christ with joy as it tramples upon its own righteousness with disdain and even mourning.

This will be sound religion; “only rest all upon the everlasting mountains of God’s love and grace in Christ, to live continually in the sight of Christ’s infinite righteousness and merits, they are sanctifying. Without them the heart is carnal, and in those sights to see the full vileness, yet littleness of sin, and to see all pardoned; in those sights to trample upon all your self-glories, righteousness, privileges, as abominable, and be found continually in the righteousness of Christ only, rejoicing in the ruins of our own righteousness, the spoiling of all your own excellencies, that Christ alone, as Mediator, may be exalted in His throne. Mourn over all your duties however glorious, that you have not performed in the sight and sense of Christ’s love.” Without the blood of Christ on your conscience, all is dead service (Heb 9:14). Thomas Willcox

This little paragraph once again gets at the heart of true Christian sanctification. The Christian must not look to self and the obedience that comes from the strength of self as true sanctification, for that is still self doing it. But instead the Christian must rest on Christ alone as his or her sanctification. The Christian is not to live in a way as to earn God’s love and grace, but instead is to know that all of God’s love and grace are in Christ and to live on that love and grace as freely given because of Christ. It is this love and grace of Christ that moves the soul to holiness and it is living upon the infinite righteousness and merits of Christ as all the soul needs to enter into glory and be in the presence of the Father both on earth now and in eternity that the soul will be sanctified.

This is so necessary and so clear, but it is also muddied in so many places today. We don’t become sanctified and therefore God is pleased and gives grace, but instead we should seek the grace of God in order that we may be sanctified and share in His holiness and He will then give grace upon grace. It is in knowing that Christ is my righteousness and His merits alone are all that can possibly be accepted before God that I can be freed from serving self and do all out of love for God. This is utterly delightful to the spiritual taste buds of the soul. It is saved by grace and it is sanctified by grace and all that is needed is in Christ and comes by grace. The soul needs Christ and the merits of Christ and nothing else to be acceptable and pleasing to God.

This should show us how our hearts are so deceptive. The heart wants to love self and do works and think that they are acceptable to God. The heart wants to dote on self and have pride in self when it does a good work. The heart is very prone to deception and thinks that good can come from it rather than from Christ alone. But if what Willcox has written is true, then the thoughts or our hearts that run in that line are wicked. It is necessary that Christ alone be our righteousness and that Christ alone be our merit or what we are doing is nothing but sin. If we don’t look to Christ as our righteousness and our merit as we are doing good works and pursuing God and sanctification, then we are doing them for wrong reasons. It is only when we live in humility regarding self and pride and look to Christ alone that it is possible for the love of God to dwell in us and work through us to His glory.

So little is said from the modern pulpits on this topic that it makes one wonder where true sanctification is in the modern day, though the same could easily be said about the Gospel. We need discriminating ministers who will search the hearts of the people and direct them away from all confidence in their own works to a rest and confidence in the righteousness and merits of Christ. All of our good works must come from Christ by His Spirit first or they are not good, but instead they are sinful works. It must come from Him, be through Him, and then be to Him to be a good work. But oh how our hearts long to take some credit.

I may be ashamed to think in the midst of so much profession, that I have known so little of the blood of Christ, which is the main thing of the gospel. A Christless, formal religion, will be the blackest sight next to hell, that can be. You may have many good things, and yet one thing may be wanting, that may make you go away sorrowful from Christ. You have never sold all; you have never parted with all your own righteousness, and so on. You may be high in duty, and yet a perfect enemy and adversary to Christ, in every prayer, in every ordinance. Labor after sanctification to your utmost; but make not a Christ of it to save yourself; if so, it must come down one way or another. Christ’s infinite satisfaction, not your sanctification, must be your justification before God. When the Lord shall appear terrible out of His holy place, fire shall consume that as hay and stubble. Thomas Willcox

It may seem that Willcox is against holiness or against Christians doing duties, but that is not his point. His point is that we are to pursue sanctification and holiness and do so to our utmost, but that those things cannot contribute to a person’s justification before God. When a person tries to make their sanctification a means of justification, without doubt this is no different than a person trying to work for salvation. It is true that working for salvation by calling it sanctification is essentially a Christless, formal religion, yet it is also true that working for salvation is to make a Christ out of our works/sanctification and laboring to save self by those means in the name of Christ. No amount of works, either before or after justification, should ever be thought of as adding to or assisting Christ in the way of justification.

As seen in the previous Blog (Examining the Heart 76), even the enemies of Christ do works and sacraments/ordinances in the name of Christ and yet they are still His enemies and adversaries. Sanctification is built on the foundation of justification and must never be thought to replace the slightest part of it in theory or practice. All true sanctification is a desire for holiness out of love for Christ instead of self-love wanting to have a part in justification. Any life or sanctification or any duties in the life of a person that becomes a way of acceptance to God rather than Christ or in a way that assists or adds to Christ is a terrible deception. It cannot be overstated or stated too plainly that Christ alone is the basis for justification before God and that any true sanctification must have that in mind.

The righteousness of Christ and His infinite satisfaction is the only justification before God and no person’s work or works or holiness can ever add to what He has done. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and man and no man can ever do anything by which will make him acceptable to God apart from Christ the Mediator. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only High Priest to God on behalf of man and He offers His own blood which makes a perfect sacrifice which fully satisfies the wrath of God for all the sins of His people, but man cannot even satisfy for one sin must less all of them. All the works of man put together could not pay for one sin and even if they could, man owes God a perfect obedience each and every moment of each and every day and so man can do nothing extra to pay for a past misdeed. The only sacrifice that can possible pay for sin is the God-man who suffered the wrath of God on the cross and completely and totally satisfied the debt that all believers owed God. Nothing else can do and nothing else will do.

Oh how men and women who love God should examine their hearts to be sure that all that they do is out of love (imperfect and perhaps small) for Christ rather than an effort to please God themselves. How those who are building their own justification though they think of it in terms of sanctification must be awakened to see that despite what they say they believe and despite their creed they are in the way of damnation. When the Lord appears all the works that people have done that are not built on the foundation of a justification by Christ alone will be burned up and entirely consumed. All the works of human beings are imperfect at best and nothing but sin at worst, but apart from Christ working in the soul all that the soul does is from sinful human flesh. Apart from the soul being born from above and the person justified by Christ all that a person does is from sinful human flesh. Nothing will stand by Christ and what came from Christ in that Day. Oh how all professing believers should examine their hearts to see if Christ is truly there and that all that they do is for Him rather than for self. How all true believers should examine their hearts that they may love Christ in all they do.

I may be ashamed to think in the midst of so much profession, that I have known so little of the blood of Christ, which is the main thing of the gospel. A Christless, formal religion, will be the blackest sight next to hell, that can be. You may have many good things, and yet one thing may be wanting, that may make you go away sorrowful from Christ. You have never sold all; you have never parted with all your own righteousness, and so on. You may be high in duty, and yet a perfect enemy and adversary to Christ, in every prayer, in every ordinance. Labor after sanctification to your utmost; but make not a Christ of it to save yourself; if so, it must come down one way or another. Christ’s infinite satisfaction, not your sanctification, must be your justification before God. When the Lord shall appear terrible out of His holy place, fire shall consume that as hay and stubble. Thomas Willcox

There is so much in this paragraph that speaks to the modern day with a loud voice. It is chilling to read of how a Christless, formal religion is the blackest sight next to hell. It is chilling to read of how a person can have many things, but yet that person lacks that one thing and will be compelled to depart from Christ on that day. How sobering it is to realize that there may be multitudes that never sold all and never parted with all of their own righteousness. But fitting in with all of those statements, and perhaps as terrible as any of the rest, is that people can be carrying out many duties and yet “be a perfect enemy and adversary to Christ, in every prayer, in every ordinance.” This is a devastating comment that reflects the biblical picture of all those who are given to the practice of religion without Christ in reality though He may be in their creed.

While many would argue that this has nothing to do with the Gospel, that is simply incorrect. A person must be justified in the presence of God before anything that they do can be pleasing to God. A justified person is the one that God declares just based on what Christ has done on the cross and in earning a perfect righteousness for His people. A justified person is united to Jesus Christ and they are considered married or one person in some sense. A justified person has Christ as his or her life and Christ works Himself and His Spirit in and through that person. A justified person is one that God works in and His glory is truly manifested though that person. A justified person is one that God dwells in and the heart of that person is the kingdom of Christ. A justified person is one that when the person does a good work, it is based on the name of Christ and that work is Christ working Himself in that person and as such that good work is a true spiritual fruit that came from the Vine. The glory of the Gospel of grace alone drips all over the works of the people of God.

The unjustified person, however, is still a child of the devil and all the “good” works of that person is in the strength of self and is for the glory and honor of self. The prayers of that unjustified person are an effort to appear righteous or to obtain righteousness before God, but the effort of sinners to earn righteousness is an act of enmity toward God who saves sinners by grace alone. This is so contrary to modern thinking at so many points. Imagine the poor deluded sinner who gives him or herself to prayer without realizing that all of those prayers are nothing more than the words of an enemy and adversary of Christ. Imagine poor deluded sinners being so regular in taking the sacrament/ordinance and that is nothing but the action of an enemy and adversary of Christ. All of the outwardly righteous actions of deluded sinners are nothing but actions of enemies and adversaries of Christ. This is the great danger of religions and of outward Christianity in name without Christ in fact.

It appears that modern versions of Christianity (many, if not most) have yet to understand the profound words of Christ in John 15:5, for if they do they would not speak so easily of Christ and so easily of sanctification as if it were nothing but mere morality. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” We cannot truly pray apart from Christ. We cannot do any good work apart from Christ. We cannot take the sacraments/ordinances apart from Christ. We cannot preach apart from Christ. We cannot love apart from Christ. We are the branches and all true fruit that comes from the branch must come from the vine first. All fruit that does not come from the branch is not true spiritual fruit. Oh how we must examine our hearts and help others examine their hearts and not flee from this teaching. This is very humbling and quite apart from the ability of the natural man, but without this people will do nothing but be treasuring wrath for the day of wrath with all of their good works and religious activities.

I may be ashamed to think in the midst of so much profession, that I have known so little of the blood of Christ, which is the main thing of the gospel. A Christless, formal religion, will be the blackest sight next to hell, that can be. You may have many good things, and yet one thing may be wanting, that may make you go away sorrowful from Christ. You have never sold all; you have never parted with all your own righteousness, and so on. You may be high in duty, and yet a perfect enemy and adversary to Christ, in every prayer, in every ordinance. Labor after sanctification to your utmost; but make not a Christ of it to save yourself; if so, it must come down one way or another. Christ’s infinite satisfaction, not your sanctification, must be your justification before God. When the Lord shall appear terrible out of His holy place, fire shall consume that as hay and stubble. Thomas Willcox

It should chill each heart to the core and perhaps each bone as well to hear that a Christless, formal religion is the blackest sight next to hell that can be. How many people have a formal religion and yet don’t have Christ? The term “Liberal Christian” is an oxymoron, so that leaves most of those who profess to be that are simply out of true Christianity in America today. This leaves man variations, but there are so many who go through so many forms and yet seem to be without the power of Christ. These people, sad to say, sure sound like those in Matthew 7 who claimed to have done so much in the name of Christ and yet they are told to depart. In a sense this message or this truth (of a Christless, formal religion being the blackest sight next to hell) should be declared from every pulpit in the land and from every housetop as well. It is that important.

A religious person may have many good things, whether creature comforts in this world or religious things, and lack what is the most important thing. It is something like spending years on polishing the outside of a car and expect it to take you on the most important trip of your life and yet forget or not notice that it needs a motor. The most important trip is the trip a soul takes from this life into eternity. If the soul does not have Christ, regardless of whatever it thinks it has it is totally and completely unprepared. Without Christ the soul does not have the wrath of God taken away and without Christ the soul has no righteousness at all before Him. Without Christ the soul does not have a High Priest and a Mediator, but instead it will stand before God on its own and have nothing but its own filthy rags of righteousness to offer up.

It appears that the one thing that people must hang on to with grasping hands and proud hearts is just a little shred of their own righteousness. They want to think that their own will has enough righteousness to allow it to be a will that is free enough to make some good and righteous choice. They want to think that they have enough righteousness that God will look upon their choice and give them salvation. But of course that is complete nonsense, but people want to hang onto something of self and have just enough sufficiency to satisfy their pride. However, until sinners depart from all hope in themselves and their own righteousness they will not have Christ alone as their Savior alone and as their righteousness alone by grace alone.

It is not enough for a person to believe as a doctrine that Christ imputes righteousness to sinners, but a person must part with all righteousness of self and all hope of obtaining any righteousness by self. In modern America we are told that if you simply believe the facts you will be saved, but this is simply not the case. It is not enough to believe the facts, but instead the heart must be changed and the trust of the heart must not be in its own righteousness and it must leave all trust in its own righteousness. The soul must give up all of self and leave all of its own righteousness in order to rest in the righteousness of Christ alone.

It is true that hell will have many people who were open sinners and gave themselves to sin and drank from the poisoned wells of the world freely. However, even worse are those in hell who gave themselves to earning righteousness for themselves to some degree. Perhaps they home-schooled, or were ministers, or refrained from sin, or many other things. But if their so-called righteousness came from the strength of self, religion, and of pride it was a horrible sin against God as they were their own saviors in name. The profligate sinner waters down the commandments of God, but the self-righteous and religious sinner waters down the righteousness and the holiness of God. How we should examine our hearts while asking God to deliver us from ourselves and our own righteousness and to grant us the grace to sell all and to part with all of our own righteousness.

I may be ashamed to think in the midst of so much profession, that I have known so little of the blood of Christ, which is the main thing of the gospel. A Christless, formal religion, will be the blackest sight next to hell, that can be. You may have many good things, and yet one thing may be wanting, that may make you go away sorrowful from Christ. You have never sold all; you have never parted with all your own righteousness, and so on. You may be high in duty, and yet a perfect enemy and adversary to Christ, in every prayer, in every ordinance. Labor after sanctification to your utmost; but make not a Christ of it to save yourself; if so, it must come down one way or another. Christ’s infinite satisfaction, not your sanctification, must be your justification before God. When the Lord shall appear terrible out of His holy place, fire shall consume that as hay and stubble.   Thomas Willcox

According to the paragraph above, knowing the blood of Christ is far different than knowing about the blood of Christ. Knowing about the blood of Christ is consistent with a mere profession, but knowing Christ Himself and the blood of Christ is to be in fellowship with Christ and to receive the grace of Christ. The Gospel does not just tell you that if you believe the facts you will be forgiven, but instead it promises that you will have eternal life which is the life of God that comes in the Person of Christ. In the Gospel we have the promise of the forgiveness of sins, but when sin is gone the presence of God comes to that person. In the modern day we have confused the message of the Gospel and the deliverance from hell with the Gospel of the glory of God dwelling in His people. True believers don’t just believe things, but they have God Himself dwelling in them.

It seems as if Christianity is full of formal religion, and despite using the name of Christ in the religious service (especially at the end of a prayer), it is essentially a Christless religion. A religion without the presence and power of Christ, even though His name is used often, is a Christless religion. A religion without the love of Christ, even though that may be mentioned often, is a Christless religion. A religion without the life of Christ as its very life, even though that life may be mentioned, is a Christless religion. It should be quite clear that a local professing church may indeed have an orthodox creed and be conservative and yet be nothing more than a Christless, formal professing church.

Christ and Christ alone is what determines if a professing church is real or a Christless, formal one. Sinners may have some grip and even a great grip on theology and knowledge of the Bible and yet they may not know Christ at all. Can it really be that a professing church that has an orthodox creed and a conservative morality is the blackest sight next to hell that there can be? What a shock it is to the system to think that those who hold to the truth in an external way and live a moral life in an external way are the blackest sight a person can have next to hell itself. But, if one thinks about it, this is precisely what the Bible teaches us about the Pharisees. They were very rigorous in their adherence to doctrine and to morality, but Jesus spoke to them far more harshly than with anyone else.

If nothing else will shake a person up to examine his or her heart, this should. While it seems many people (in one sense) flock to Christianity for morality, that very morality apart from Christ is a thing that is close to hell. While there are many who attend Bible schools and seminaries to learn things about the Bible, yet that may make them the blackest thing next to hell. The proud heart of man will strive for religion and morality and yet use those things to buttress his proud heart and make him and his practice of religion the blackest thing next to hell. While the Scriptures do teach us that faith without works is dead, we must also know that works apart from Christ makes us the blackest thing next to hell. While the Scriptures teach us that justification is by grace alone through faith alone, yet without Christ Himself those doctrines can be held by those who are the blackest things next to hell.

How we should listen to Paul who told us to examine ourselves: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you– unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5). If Christ is not in us, then our beliefs and our practices are nothing but shams making us far worse than we can imagine. The external (and to some degree, internal) doctrines and morality of Christianity will do nothing but make us proud and harden our hearts unless we have Christ Himself

To say…, “I am a sinner,” is easy; but to pray with the publican indeed, “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner”, is the hardest prayer in the world. It is easy to say, “I believe in Christ”, but to see Christ full of grace and truth, of whose fullness you may receive grace for grace; that is faith indeed. It is easy to profess Christ with the mouth; but to confess Him with the heart, as Peter, to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, the alone Mediator, that is above flesh and blood. Many call Christ, Savior; a few know Him so. To see grace and salvation in Christ, is the greatest light in the world. None can do that, but at the same time they shall see that glory and salvation to be theirs. Thomas Willcox

The words we say can be different than what we believe or have in the heart. We can know the right things to say and say them, but that is a far different thing than saying these things from the depths of the heart. It is a far, far different thing to say that one is a sinner and even believe that one is a sinner, but it is quite a different thing to realize and know that one is such a sinner by nature and actions that one needs mercy for the next breath. It is beyond the power of nature to say from the depths of the heart that “I” am such a sinner that I have nothing that I can do and nothing that I am to move God to answer my prayer or do the least good to and for me.

2 Corinthians 4:13 But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE,” we also believe, therefore we also speak.

Within Christendom we have a terrible problem of people deceiving others and even themselves because of words. The Gospel does not instruct people to say words or even to agree that certain things are true, but it tells them that they must be born from above and become new creatures. The biblical teaching of faith is not that it is an act of the human will, but is in fact a gift of God. Faith does not come because a person convinces himself/herself that s/he must believe it, but it is something that comes from a regenerate heart when the person is united to Christ. It is not just that the person believes something as true and says that s/he is looking to Christ, but instead the person must look to Christ and receive by grace what a person believes.

It is so easy for people to say words that they believe Christ and to profess Christ by words, but to really believe Christ and to really profess Christ is a far different thing. How utterly beyond human ability to arrive at the point of the abnegation of self from the throne and to die to pride and confess from the heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and the only Mediator between God and man. But to truly be delivered from all self-righteousness and to look to Christ alone as my hope for being in the presence of God is beyond the power of self. The self will always look to self for something or for some causation or something of self to make self acceptable in the sight of God. It is one thing to say the words of a creed that Christ is the only Mediator, but to truly rest in Him as such is a far different thing. It is a Divine work in the human soul and done by grace alone.

So many speak of Christ as their Savior, but what does that mean if it is only words? What does that mean if the human soul has just made a decision and based on that decision utters words that Christ is his or her Savior? Has Christ really saved the soul from trusting in itself at that point? Has Christ given the soul free-grace so that the soul is saved from its bondage to free-will? Has Christ taken away the darkness of the soul so that it now has the light of life? Has Christ taken away the bondage of sin so that the soul delights in true life? Is Christ the life of the soul rather than the life of self? It is a far different thing to have Christ as Savior than is thought in our day.

As can readily be seen from what has been written above, it is the heart that must be examined and no our words only. While it is true that even our careless words will be brought into judgment, so will the desires, intents, and loves of the soul. The things of the soul are open before God and He sees those things and not just our words. If we try to convince others, ourselves, and even God that Christ is our Savior by our words, He will see that our words are nothing but lies and deception. The heart has nothing to look to but Christ. The heart has nothing to trust in but Christ. So we must examine our hearts while crying out to God to deliver us from the bondage of our own hearts. We must have grace or we perish. We must have grace or we will look to self.

Self-righteousness, self-sufficiency, are the darlings of nature, which she preserves as her life. That makes Christ seem ugly to nature, to all nature’s glorious interests. Let nature but make a gospel, and it would make it quite contrary to Christ; it would be to the just, the innocent and the holy; Christ made the gospel for you; that is, for needy sinners, the ungodly, the unrighteous, the accursed. Nature cannot endure to think the gospel is only for sinners; it will rather choose to despair than to go to Christ upon such terrible terms. When nature is but put to it by guilt or wrath, it will go to its old haunts of self-righteousness and self-goodness. An infinite power must cast down those strongholds. None but the self-justified stands excluded from the gospel; Christ will look to the most abominable sinner before him; because to such an one Christ cannot be made justification; he is no sinner. Thomas Willcox

It is so vital to grasp the last sentence in this paragraph because in it the true nature of man and the true nature of Christ and the Gospel shine forth. There is no one but the self-justified sinner that is excluded from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Gospel of the glory of God and the Gospel of grace alone. The self-justified sinner is excluded from the Gospel because the Gospel is all about Jesus Christ and not about the sinner that has tried to justify self. The self-justified sinner is excluded because the Gospel is all about the glory of God and is not about the glory or righteousness (even though s/he has none in fact or reality) of the sinner. The self-justified sinner is excluded because the Gospel of grace alone is all about how God saves by grace alone rather than because of anything that the sinner has done. The self-justified sinner denies his nature of sin and the nature of grace as well.

How fresh is the teaching of grace as opposed to all the forms of legalism that abound in our day, some even in the name of freedom. What we must shout from whatever heights or depths we are in is that the self-justified are the only ones excluded from any hope in Christ. The vilest of sinners can have hope if they look to Christ and look to His grace alone to save them from themselves and their sin, but as long as the sinner has any hope in self to do anything to contribute to his salvation/justification that sinner is excluded from the Gospel. What a glorious message of grace that this is to sinners and the worst of sinners, but what a message of condemnation to all who want to justify themselves to any degree.

Rom 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.

What music this is to the ears of the one who has been freed from hoping in self. Righteousness is what is credited or reckoned to sinners and is not what the sinner can possible do for self. The one who works for righteousness (whether for enough or for even part of it) is trying to come up with a wage as what is due to him or her instead of looking for grace alone. The Scriptures are so clear that the Gospel of grace alone in giving sinners a free and alien (to them) righteousness teaches them not to work for any or all of their righteousness. It teaches them to believe (have faith in) God who justifies the ungodly. Christ came to save sinners and no one else. God justifies the ungodly and no one else. The Holy Spirit regenerates the helpless and those who are unable to save themselves and look to God for grace alone.

There can be no mixing of grace and works in theory or practice. The heart must be broken from all hope in itself and all hope of what it can do. The heart must be broken from trusting in itself for all righteousness, much righteousness at all, and any righteousness at all. The heart must simply lay down were it is with no hope and no ability and look to Christ alone for grace alone to save. The Lord Jesus does not need the smallest act of righteousness to save a sinner, He has provided a complete and perfect righteousness. The Lord Jesus does not look to the sinner for any ability, but instead He is all-sufficient to save sinners by Himself and grace alone. Sinners must not look to their sinful nature for one act or desire of anything good, but instead they are to look to Christ alone to give them a new heart. Oh how we must examine our hearts while looking to Christ to teach us about our hearts and to give us grace to change our heart and grace to give us a perfect righteousness of His making. He is all-sufficient, but we are no sufficiency or ability in ourselves. Grace alone.

Self-righteousness, self-sufficiency, are the darlings of nature, which she preserves as her life. That makes Christ seem ugly to nature, to all nature’s glorious interests. Let nature but make a gospel, and it would make it quite contrary to Christ; it would be to the just, the innocent and the holy; Christ made the gospel for you; that is, for needy sinners, the ungodly, the unrighteous, the accursed. Nature cannot endure to think the gospel is only for sinners; it will rather choose to despair than to go to Christ upon such terrible terms. When nature is but put to it by guilt or wrath, it will go to its old haunts of self-righteousness and self-goodness. An infinite power must cast down those strongholds. None but the self-justified stands excluded from the gospel; Christ will look to the most abominable sinner before Him; because to such an one Christ cannot be made justification; he is no sinner.    Thomas Willcox

The natural man or even a true believer in a moment of weakness will resort to the natural way at times and return to the old ways of self-righteousness and self-goodness. The religious but natural man can be very religious and never really turn from the ways of self-righteousness and self-goodness, but will be deceived into thinking that s/he believes in a good creed while in fact that the heart leans on and trusts in self-righteousness. It is true that faith will result in good works, but just because a person does good works does not mean that person has true faith. It is also true that a person can have a intellectual belief in justification by grace alone and still trust in self to believe in that, but also think of the religious works of self as evidence of that faith. Oh how deceptive the natural heart is and even the true believer to self-righteousness.

What this should teach us, as Willocox points out, is that the natural man cannot overcome his love of self-righteousness and self-goodness. The natural man has no greater power in himself to overcome the natural man as he will always act according to that natural nature. The soul must be born from above and by the Spirit (same thing) in order to be a spiritual man, but even then the soul can be dragged down into a form of self-righteousness. The natural man can put on a veneer of religiosity by joining a church and adopting a creed, but that can be nothing but a way to hide his own heart from him. Nothing but an infinite power can overcome the nature of the natural man and deliver him from self-righteousness and self-goodness. The natural man loves his self-righteousness and self-sufficiency far too much to willingly leave them but then again as long as self rules that man has nothing else he can or will turn to. Christ Himself must come and dwell in that heart and reign in that heart in order that self with be overthrown. It takes the power of the cross of Christ and the application of His blood to a soul for the natural man to be overcome.

This is part of the pride and religiosity of man that hides the true Gospel of grace alone from man and puts up a form of religion that the self and the pride of man can live with. There is “none but the self-justified” who stand “excluded from the gospel.” The self-justified are all those who look to self and depend on self to trust in Christ and to live in the sufficiency of self and self-righteousness even though they have a good creed to hide their wicked hearts from. The glorious doctrine of justification by grace alone rests upon a very fine edge and people fall off in many directions. It does not take but a little watering down for the Gospel of grace alone to be something different than grace alone. It does not take but a drop of self-righteousness to make the Gospel of grace alone as something less pure than grace alone.

“None but the self-justified stands excluded from the gospel; Christ will look to the most abominable sinner before Him; because to such an one Christ cannot be made justification; he is no sinner.” This is a very important sentence in terms of the light it brings to the Gospel of grace alone. Those who are self-justified, whether by all of self or a little of self, are excluded from the Gospel. This is why it is so important for us to come to God and seek Him to pour light into the soul that we may see ourselves for who we really are. The person who is self-justified does not need Christ alone to be justified, because that person justifies self to some degree and will not have Christ alone for justification. The Lord Jesus will look to the most abominable sinners instead of the self-righteous because those who are abominable sinners in their own eyes have no hope in self or in the sufficiency of self. They are content to give up the illusion of self-righteousness and simply ask Christ to save them from beginning to end. Oh how we must beware of the least hint of self-righteousness and self-sufficiency.