God Loves… Himself

As newness of life is necessary, so it is as necessary that we should put ourselves into the hands of God for it. It is this sense and conviction which brings us to him hungering and thirsting, and casts the soul upon him with all the strength of its desire, for that change when he alone can work in it. It is the knowledge and belief of this, which makes Gospel mercy and Gospel power so welcome and seasonable a relief to us. It is the hearty persuasion and inward feeling of our helpless state in sin, which constitutes the very life and spirit of prayer; and if it is not working at the bottom of all our prayers, they will be no better than a fruitless, dead formality, and can never work us one jot nearer to God, “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Little children are without strength and without knowledge, weak and ignorant, have every thing to learn, receive what is taught them with undisputing simplicity, and are incapable of thinking, acting for, and governing themselves. Just thus we should judge of ourselves. We are mere children in respect of any knowledge we have of our proper happiness, or ability to attain it. And this child-like, humble disposition is our necessary preparation for receiving the salvation of God—so called, because it is all his gift and his work. And neither the book of our own heart nor the book of Scripture has been opened to us, till we are brought to this conviction—“that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” (Thomas Adam, Sermons)

Matthew 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

For the Gospel of grace alone to be truly grace alone, it must be a pure grace (unmixed) from beginning to end and nothing but that pure grace. This Gospel of grace alone is grace alone regarding the humbling of the soul, to regeneration, and then of all aspects of the Gospel. The hungering for God is God’s work in the soul. The conviction of sin is God’s work in the soul. The recognition and then deep brokenness of heart over the inability of the soul is the work of God in the soul.

For some reason in our own day we think of God having provided some grace for us and the rest of the labor and work is up to us. Even if a person has a creed that states something different, people do not hear that their regeneration, their faith, and their repentance are the works of God and all of those works as well are by grace alone. In other words, people are taught to look to themselves for something because they are not told how helpless they are in sin and the extent that grace has to reach to save them.

When the Scriptures are so clear about these things it is hard to understand why people appear to make efforts at hiding these truths from people. It is almost like we are ashamed to go against the flow of Arminianism and Pelagianism and simply tell people that they are dead in sin with no ability at all in the spiritual realm and that the whole of salvation is by grace alone. We seem somewhat eager to tell people that they must repent and believe, but we are far from eager to tell them that a repentance and faith that comes from them is simply another way for them to work dead works. Unless the dead soul is enlivened with the life of God the soul simply exchanges the open sin of pride and self for the religious acts of pride and self.

It seems rare for us to take the words of Christ seriously and think that He gave His statement of the absolute need for a person to be converted and become like a child. Apart from a person becoming like a child that person cannot enter the kingdom. The word “cannot” is a word of ability (can) and strength. No one has the strength or ability to enter the kingdom in his own work and his own ability. This must come to the soul from the outside and the soul must look to Christ alone for this work. The text tells us what must happen (be converted and become like a child), but it does not tells us that we must do this work ourselves.

This very basic teaching has been virtually lost in the modern day. The proud heart is opposed by God rather than given grace. It is only by the grace of God that a heart is humbled to where it will see and long for grace. It is only the work of grace in the soul that will convert that soul and make it like a little child. It is only that soul that has been made to be like a little child that will look to grace alone rather than to something of self and grace to make up the lack that it can do rather than grace alone. The glory of the Gospel of grace alone is not something that can be understood by the intellect alone, it must be taught to sinners in the heart by God Himself.

Galatians 1:6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

As newness of life is necessary, so it is as necessary that we should put ourselves into the hands of God for it. It is this sense and conviction which brings us to him hungering and thirsting, and casts the soul upon him with all the strength of its desire, for that change when he alone can work in it. It is the knowledge and belief of this, which makes Gospel mercy and Gospel power so welcome and seasonable a relief to us. It is the hearty persuasion and inward feeling of our helpless state in sin, which constitutes the very life and spirit of prayer; and if it is not working at the bottom of all our prayers, they will be no better than a fruitless, dead formality, and can never work us one jot nearer to God, “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Little children are without strength and without knowledge, weak and ignorant, have every thing to learn, receive what is taught them with undisputing simplicity, and are incapable of thinking, acting for, and governing themselves. Just thus we should judge of ourselves. We are mere children in respect of any knowledge we have of our proper happiness, or ability to attain it. And this child-like, humble disposition is our necessary preparation for receiving the salvation of God—so called, because it is all his gift and his work. And neither the book of our own heart nor the book of Scripture has been opened to us, till we are brought to this conviction—“that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” (Thomas Adam, Sermons)

Matthew 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

The sinfulness of man is not just an easy fix as it appears that so many believe. It is thought that as long as man stops his outward sin and starts doing some good things or becomes religious that that is all that can be expected. However, Scripture teaches something totally different. The Scriptures teach us that man is dead in sin (spiritually dead) and completely unable to do one thing spiritual or pleasing to God in his own strength. The Scriptures tell us that something dramatic must happen to man and that it must be done by God rather than man. While so many tell men to believe today as if men could do that in their own strength, men must know that God must work His work in them so that they can believe. It is only in this way will men know that they are saved by free-grace alone.

Without the converting work of God men will not be changed and they cannot believe because they have an unbelieving heart. They need a new heart in order to have a believing heart. This is set out in Matthew 18 (above) and it starts off with the word “except” in the KJV and “unless” in the NAS version. Both of these set out the same point. Something must happen to the sinner or that sinner cannot and will not enter the kingdom of heaven. What the text tells us must happen is that the sinner must be changed or turned or converted and become like a little child or that person will not enter the kingdom. The disciples were asking about who was the greatest in the kingdom, but Jesus severely rebuked them and told them that they must become like a little child to even enter the kingdom.

While there are several things that stand out in this text, one thing that stands out is that sinners must be changed by an external power. The power to change them cannot be caused by them as they have no capacity to change themselves from a proud heart to a humble heart. Sinners have no ability to turn themselves from seeking greatness out of pride to seeking His glory out of a humble heart. Sinners have no ability to turn themselves from trusting themselves to trusting in Christ alone.

What we see with great clarity, then, is the hand of sovereign grace working according to His people and His own glory. All are born dead in sin and by nature are children of wrath, so only a Divine hand can change the heart of those people and cause them to be born from above and make them children of the living God and children of love. This can only happen by a grace that cannot be helped, merited, or earned in any way, shape, form, or fashion. It is free-grace that takes sinners and converts them and makes them children who rest in Him and His grace. This does not deny the use of means, but it does say that it is His work alone that can do this and He will only do this by grace alone.

Galatians 1:6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

As newness of life is necessary, so it is as necessary that we should put ourselves into the hands of God for it. It is this sense and conviction which brings us to him hungering and thirsting, and casts the soul upon him with all the strength of its desire, for that change when he alone can work in it. It is the knowledge and belief of this, which makes Gospel mercy and Gospel power so welcome and seasonable a relief to us. It is the hearty persuasion and inward feeling of our helpless state in sin, which constitutes the very life and spirit of prayer; and if it is not working at the bottom of all our prayers, they will be no better than a fruitless, dead formality, and can never work us one jot nearer to God, “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Little children are without strength and without knowledge, weak and ignorant, have every thing to learn, receive what is taught them with undisputing simplicity, and are incapable of thinking, acting for, and governing themselves. Just thus we should judge of ourselves. We are mere children in respect of any knowledge we have of our proper happiness, or ability to attain it. And this child-like, humble disposition is our necessary preparation for receiving the salvation of God—so called, because it is all his gift and his work. And neither the book of our own heart nor the book of Scripture has been opened to us, till we are brought to this conviction—“that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” (Thomas Adam, Sermons)

The Gospel of grace alone is the same thing as the Gospel of God. The term “Gospel of God” is used eight times, though there are other ways that it means the same thing. The Gospel is the good news of God and that is the same Gospel as the Gospel of Christ alone or the Gospel of grace alone. The Gospel is the Gospel of the glory of God as seen in the face of Christ. This should teach us that the very heart of the Gospel is the character of God. The Gospel of free-grace or the Gospel of the sovereign grace of God is the same thing as the Gospel of God. The living God is the truth of the Gospel and it is only good news when we understand who God is in Christ.

The modern idea is that Christ has done all He can do to pacify and angry God and the rest is up to us. The biblical truth is that God loved sinners and sent His Son to die in their place. This great love of God was such that He sent His Son to actually accomplish salvation, to procure salvation, and then to so fully procure their salvation that it will most certainly be applied at the good pleasure of God. The Gospel of the grace of God stands firmly against all the merit of men and all the contributions that men think that they can make. The Gospel of God or the Gospel of the grace of God means that every single thing that can possibly be done has been done by Christ. The true God stands serene and need absolutely and utterly nothing from man to save man. This is quite hard for men to swallow and they cannot humble themselves deep enough to submit to this. This too is the work of God.

It is God who calls sinners to Himself and He does that by the grace of Christ. As long as men are not deeply and thoroughly humbled in heart, they will not understand the wonder and glory of a free-grace. As long as men do not understand that the Gospel is really the good news of who God is as opposed to what fallen man thinks He is, they will not understand how deeply they must be humbled and what the true nature of the grace of God is. The selfish hearts of men and the proud hearts of men oppose and fight the deep humiliation and the deep breaking of the heart that God works in men in order to prepare them for the true Gospel. Men are blinded to this and as such they are satisfied with the mere doctrine of things and of a simple intellectual belief of these things.

When the Scriptures tell us that we must become like little children in order to enter the kingdom, we must take this seriously. When the Scriptures tell us that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble, we must inquire with humble prayer seeking to know the mind of God as to what these things mean, what they really are, and for Him to work them in our proud and stubborn hearts. There is nothing so fruitless and hopeless in the universe as men who think that they can do anything to convert themselves or to help God convert them. God has never put any amount of grace in the hands of men to dispense to themselves or others as they please. Men are utterly and totally in the hands of God to show grace as He pleases. This is precisely what the natural man hates and as such he will develop a religion that will allow him to use the language of Scripture and yet keep his heart that is like the Pharisee.

Galatians 1:6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

As newness of life is necessary, so it is as necessary that we should put ourselves into the hands of God for it. It is this sense and conviction which brings us to him hungering and thirsting, and casts the soul upon him with all the strength of its desire, for that change when he alone can work in it. It is the knowledge and belief of this, which makes Gospel mercy and Gospel power so welcome and seasonable a relief to us. It is the hearty persuasion and inward feeling of our helpless state in sin, which constitutes the very life and spirit of prayer; and if it is not working at the bottom of all our prayers, they will be no better than a fruitless, dead formality, and can never work us one jot nearer to God, “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Little children are without strength and without knowledge, weak and ignorant, have every thing to learn, receive what is taught them with undisputing simplicity, and are incapable of thinking, acting for, and governing themselves. Just thus we should judge of ourselves. We are mere children in respect of any knowledge we have of our proper happiness, or ability to attain it. And this child-like, humble disposition is our necessary preparation for receiving the salvation of God—so called, because it is all his gift and his work. And neither the book of our own heart nor the book of Scripture has been opened to us, till we are brought to this conviction—“that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” (Thomas Adam, Sermons)

Adam makes a comment on prayer which is very telling regarding the nature of prayer. It could apply to the unconverted soul that sees itself as empty and helpless and so it is the type of prayer that one is to seek God with. It is also at the heart of all true prayer of the believer. The unconverted person needs grace for conversion and has nothing with which to move God and nothing with which to obtain life with. This person is cast utterly and totally upon the mercy and grace of God. That person (as all should be) should have the deep persuasion and the inward feeling of utter helplessness and in that the person can truly pray for grace. If the person is not truly helpless and in some way looks to self or what self has done, that person is not looking to Christ for pure grace.

The believing person that was converted by grace alone still has nothing within self to come to God with. The believer also has no righteousness before God and has nothing to obtain righteousness with. We must always know that in prayer we are coming to the throne of grace and we can expect nothing but grace. Only the truly humbled heart can truly pray, though anyone can say religious words and call it prayer. The Gospel of grace alone is deserted when we try to offer a prayer based on our own righteousness in any way or based on what we have done in any way. The Gospel of grace alone should teach us a deep humility and that we should never look to anything but grace in our pre-conversion and post-conversion life.

Adam says that if this (hearty persuasion and inward feeling of our helplessness in sin) “is not working at the bottom of all our prayers, they will be no better than a fruitless, dead formality, and can never work us one jot nearer to God.” This is a tremendous, tremendous statement and should be meditated upon. If we are not convinced and deeply know and feel our helplessness in spiritual things and sin, then our prayers are fruitless and are dead formality. This may sound harsh to some, but this really gets at the heart of it. Apart from Christ we can do nothing, that is, nothing spiritual and nothing that will bear spiritual fruit. The unbeliever must recognize that and seek the Lord in utter emptiness of self knowing that s/he has nothing but sin. The believer must seek the Lord in prayer based on Christ and Christ alone. This is also one difference between religious activity and the life of Christ in the soul.

It is crucial for the soul to be brought to the low state where it will look to Christ for all things regarding spiritual life. It is crucial for the soul to look for all things it needs and look for it on the basis of grace alone. The proud self will fight and try to insert itself in the prayer, but this ruins the prayer unless Christ shows even that grace. Our prayers will never bring us closer to God unless we are emptied of self-sufficiency and the proud self and look to come to God through Christ alone by grace alone. The grace that saves sinners is also the grace that sinners are to live by day in and day out. Oh how free-grace should reign at all times and in all ways.

Galatians 1:6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

As newness of life is necessary, so it is as necessary that we should put ourselves into the hands of God for it. It is this sense and conviction which brings us to him hungering and thirsting, and casts the soul upon him with all the strength of its desire, for that change when he alone can work in it. It is the knowledge and belief of this, which makes Gospel mercy and Gospel power so welcome and seasonable a relief to us. It is the hearty persuasion and inward feeling of our helpless state in sin, which constitutes the very life and spirit of prayer; and if it is not working at the bottom of all our prayers, they will be no better than a fruitless, dead formality, and can never work us one jot nearer to God, “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Little children are without strength and without knowledge, weak and ignorant, have every thing to learn, receive what is taught them with undisputing simplicity, and are incapable of thinking, acting for, and governing themselves. Just thus we should judge of ourselves. We are mere children in respect of any knowledge we have of our proper happiness, or ability to attain it. And this child-like, humble disposition is our necessary preparation for receiving the salvation of God—so called, because it is all his gift and his work. And neither the book of our own heart nor the book of Scripture has been opened to us, till we are brought to this conviction—“that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. (Thomas Adam, Sermons)

The Gospel of grace is the Gospel of grace alone or the Gospel of free-grace or the Gospel of sovereign grace. It is therefore the Gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ. This should always be kept front and center when one thinks of the Gospel or any other doctrine. The problem we find today, however, is that there is great confusion as to the distinction between believing the Gospel of grace alone as a doctrine and believing in Christ alone in reality. Any scholar or student of the Bible, whether secular or not, can come to the belief that Christ saves sinners by grace alone. However, there are things about the Gospel and that run parallel with the Gospel that the secular person is simply blind to. Is the Gospel really preached when there is nothing preached that the unbelieving mind cannot grasp and comprehend?

The Gospel message is nothing more than a rational doctrine that a rational man can readily see is taught in the Bible unless the Spirit works in the heart of man and gives the person a hunger and thirst and even a desire or longing to truly be saved in this way. The soul that the Lord is working in will be moved to the point where the soul is seen as extremely sinful and utterly helpless before God. The soul that the Spirit convicts of sin and brings to the point of conversion will utterly despair of any help from itself. This is the soul that God teaches in the inner man how desperately it needs the work of Christ for it to have life. This is the soul that the Spirit shows it that it is dead and how life cannot come apart from the grace of God in giving it life. This soul has been taught by the Spirit the depths of its sin and inability and it willingly and with strong desires (sometimes) will look to Christ alone for all things regarding salvation. It knows that regeneration is beyond its own powers and that God must do it.

It is only the soul that has been taught of God that it has nothing but sin on its account and nothing but inability in terms of power will look to Christ alone. It is this soul that will gladly look to Christ alone for faith itself or newness of life or a new and believing heart because it knows that there is no hope in self or anyone or anything else. It is this soul that has been broken by the kindly work of Christ by His Spirit that will look to grace alone and do so gladly. It looks to itself as nothing but darkness and with no power to help it, so it is good news to look to Christ alone. It is also good news to look to Christ alone for grace since the soul knows that it deserves nothing but eternal misery for its own sin. Oh how gladly this soul will look upon the omnipotent hand of God for the power of the Gospel that saves sinners.

Here we see and will see more again how it is the kindness of God to break the hearts of those He draws to Himself and leave them with nothing to hope in but Himself. Here we see the inward working of the Spirit who brings conviction and leaves the soul without any hope in itself at all. Here we see something of the working of God that cannot be seen by the unbeliever and certainly will not be felt. When so many today think of the Gospel of grace alone as a doctrine to be believed, the Bible teaches us that the Gospel of grace alone is all about the Lord Jesus and how sinners are really and truly saved by His power. It is not just an intellectual belief, but it is a change of heart that He works. Sinners are really and truly changed.

Galatians 1:6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

As newness of life is necessary, so it is as necessary that we should put ourselves into the hands of God for it. It is this sense and conviction which brings us to him hungering and thirsting, and casts the soul upon him with all the strength of its desire, for that change when he alone can work in it. It is the knowledge and belief of this, which makes Gospel mercy and Gospel power so welcome and seasonable a relief to us. It is the hearty persuasion and inward feeling of our helpless state in sin, which constitutes the very life and spirit of prayer; and if it is not working at the bottom of all our prayers, they will be no better than a fruitless, dead formality, and can never work us one jot nearer to God, “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Little children are without strength and without knowledge, weak and ignorant, have every thing to learn, receive what is taught them with undisputing simplicity, and are incapable of thinking, acting for, and governing themselves. Just thus we should judge of ourselves. We are mere children in respect of any knowledge we have of our proper happiness, or ability to attain it. And this child-like, humble disposition is our necessary preparation for receiving the salvation of God—so called, because it is all his gift and his work. And neither the book of our own heart nor the book of Scripture has been opened to us, till we are brought to this conviction—“that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. (Thomas Adam, Sermons)

While the Gospel is often thought of as apart from regeneration, part of the good news is that God works a new heart in His people. All the promises of the Gospel cannot be brought about apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. When we are told that all the promises of the Gospel come to those who believe, we must ask ourselves and seek the truth of what that really means. Regeneration precedes faith and as such people must be born from above in order to believe. This is vitally important for those who are dead in sin in reality and when they come to realize that, all things are hopeless in fact and in their own eyes unless God grants them a new heart.

When we teach men that they are dead in sins and trespasses and press that upon them, then we must know that the Gospel we preach to them must answer the problem or we are offering them no hope at all. If the lost sinner understands just how deep his or her inability really is and what it means to be by nature a child of wrath, then that lost sinner will know that s/he cannot come up with faith on his or her own. The lost sinner should ask (if not taught this) where this life is to come from and on what basis it is to come. Should the lost sinner seek for faith from him or herself or should the lost sinner seek the Lord and put him or herself in the hands of the Lord and look to Him for a new heart that is a believing heart?

If the Gospel is indeed a Gospel of grace alone then the answer is very obvious. Men should seek a new heart from God in order that they may believe. The new heart does not come to sinners based on their own ability to believe and their exercise of that belief, but instead they are to look to God to give them a believing heart in the new birth. This is not just some minor distinction, but the very Gospel of grace alone rests upon this. The Gospel is either based completely and exhaustively upon the character and grace of God or it is not. If the Gospel is indeed based completely and exhaustively upon the character and grace of God, then there is not one work of man and there is nothing that man can do to move God to save him or her.

Adam makes a great point in the first sentence of the quote at the top of this page. “As newness of life is necessary, so it is as necessary that we should put ourselves into the hands of God for it.” This is really at the heart of the Gospel of grace alone. Jesus was so clear that the new birth is absolutely necessary for a person to enter the kingdom. If Jesus taught that, then it is an absolute fact that a person must be born from above to enter the kingdom. This newness of life comes to the sinner in the new birth. If that newness of life is to come to the sinner by grace alone, then in accordance with that grace it is just as necessary for the sinner to quit trusting in him or herself and simply look to God alone to receive that new life at His good pleasure. While the message of the Gospel in our day is full of works and things we do, the true message of the Gospel of grace alone is that we are to be broken from our self, our works, and our pride and look to God to give it based on grace alone.