![](\"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/images\/67450.jpg?w=700\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Disclaimer: I don’t own the following material. All rights go to their respective owners.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
SALVATION BY WORKS, A CRIMINAL DOCTRINE Source:\u00a0http:\/\/www.spurgeongems.org\/vols25-27\/chs1534.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n
\nNO. 1534
\nA SERMON
\nDELIVERED ON LORD\u2019S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 18, 1880,
\nBY C. H. SPURGEON,
\nAT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
\n\u201cI do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.<\/em>\u201d
\nGalatians 2:21.
\nTHE idea of salvation by the merit of our own works is exceedingly insinuating. It matters not how
\noften it is refuted, it asserts itself again and again and when it gains the least foothold it soon makes
\ngreat advances. Hence Paul, who was determined to show it no quarter, opposed everything which bore
\nits likeness. He was determined not to permit the thin end of the wedge to be introduced into the church,
\nfor well he knew that willing hands would soon be driving it home. Hence when Peter sided with the
\nJudaizing party and seemed to favor those who demanded that the Gentiles should be circumcised, our
\nbrave apostle withstood him to the face. He fought always for salvation by grace through faith and contended
\nstrenuously against all thought of righteousness by obedience to the precepts of the ceremonial or
\nthe moral law. No one could be more explicit than he upon the doctrine that we are not justified or saved
\nby works in any degree, but solely by the grace of God. His trumpet gave forth no uncertain sound, but
\ngave forth the clear note.
\n\u201cBy grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.\u201d Grace meant
\ngrace with him and he could not endure any tampering with the matter, or any frittering away of its
\nmeaning.
\nSo fascinating is the doctrine of legal righteousness that the only way to deal with it is Paul\u2019s way.
\nStamp it out. Cry war to the knife against it. Never yield to it, but remember the apostle\u2019s firmness and
\nhow stoutly he held his ground, \u201cTo whom,\u201d says he, \u201cwe gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour.\u201d
\nThe error of salvation by works is exceedingly plausible. You will constantly hear it stated as a selfevident
\ntruth and vindicated on account of its supposed practical usefulness, while the gospel doctrine of
\nsalvation by faith is railed at and accused of evil consequences. It is affirmed that if we preach salvation
\nby good works we shall encourage virtue\u2014and so it might seem in theory, but history proves by many
\ninstances that as a matter of fact, where such doctrine has been preached, virtue has become singularly
\nuncommon and that in proportion as the merit of works has been cried up, morality has gone down. On
\nthe other hand, where justification by faith has been preached, conversions have followed and purity of
\nlife has been produced even in the worst of men. Those who lead godly and gracious lives are ready to
\nconfess that the cause of their zeal for holiness lies in their faith in Christ Jesus, but where will you meet
\nwith a devout and upright man who glories in his own works?
\nSelf-righteousness is natural to our fallen humanity. Hence it is the essence of all false religions. Be
\nthey what they may, they all agree in seeking salvation by our own deeds. He who worships his idols
\nwill torture his body, will fast, will perform long pilgrimages, and do or endure anything in order to merit
\nsalvation. The Roman Catholic Church holds up continually before the eyes of its votaries the prize to
\nbe earned by self-denial, by penance, by prayers, or by sacraments, or by some other performances of
\nman. Go where you may, the natural religion of fallen man is salvation by his own merits. An old divine
\nhas well said, every man is born a heretic upon this point and he naturally gravitates towards this heresy
\nin one form or another. Self-salvation, either by his personal worthiness, by his repentance, or by his resolves
\nis a hope ingrained in human nature and very hard to remove. This foolishness is bound up in the
\nheart of every child and who shall get it out of him?
\nThis erroneous idea arises partly from ignorance, for men are ignorant of the law of God and of
\nwhat holiness really is. If they knew that even an evil thought is a breach of the law and that the law
\nonce broken in any point is altogether violated, they would be at once convinced that there can be no
\nrighteousness by the law to those who have already offended against it. They are also in great ignorance
\nconcerning themselves, for those very persons who talk about self-righteousness are as a rule openly\u00a0chargeable with fault. And if not, were they to sit down and really look at their own lives, they would
\nsoon perceive even in their best works such impurity of motive beforehand, or such pride and selfcongratulation
\nafterwards, that they would see the gloss taken off from all their performances and they
\nwould be utterly ashamed of them. Nor is it ignorance alone which leads men to self-righteousness, they
\nare also deceived by pride. Man cannot endure to be saved on the footing of mercy\u2014he loves not to
\nplead guilty and throw himself on the favor of the great King\u2014he cannot stand to be treated as a pauper
\nand blessed as a matter of charity. He desires to have a finger in his own salvation and claim at least a
\nlittle credit for it. Proud man will not have heaven itself upon terms of grace, but so long as he can, he
\nsets up one plea or another, and holds to his own righteousness as though it were his life. This selfconfidence
\nalso arises from wicked unbelief, for through his self-conceit, man will not believe God.
\nNothing is more plainly revealed in Scripture than this\u2014that by the works of the law shall no man be
\njustified, yet men in some shape or other stick to the hope of legal righteousness. They will have it that
\nthey must prepare for grace, or assist mercy, or in some degree deserve eternal life. They prefer their
\nown flattering prejudices to the declaration of the heart-searching God. The testimony of the Holy Spirit
\nconcerning the deceitfulness of the heart is cast aside and the declaration of God that there is none that
\ndoes good, no, not one, is altogether denied. Is not this a great evil? Self-righteousness is also much
\npromoted by the almost universal spirit of trifling which is now abroad. Only while men trifle with
\nthemselves can they entertain the idea of personal merit before God. He who comes to serious thought
\nand begins to understand the character of God, before whom the heavens are not pure and the angels are
\ncharged with folly\u2014he, I say, that comes to serious thought and beholds a true vision of God, abhors
\nhimself in dust and ashes, and is forever silenced as to any thought of self-justification. It is because we
\ndo not seriously examine our condition that we think ourselves rich and increased in goods. A man may
\nfancy that he is prospering in business and yet he may be going back in the world. If he does not face his
\nbooks or take stock, he may be living in a fool\u2019s paradise, spending largely when on the verge of bankruptcy.
\nMany think well of themselves because they never think seriously. They do not look below the
\nsurface and hence they are deceived by appearances. The most troublesome business to many men is
\nthought\u2014and the last thing they will do is to weigh their actions, or test their motives, or ponder their
\nways to see whether things are right with them. Self-righteousness, being supported by ignorance, by
\npride, by unbelief, and by the natural superficiality of the human mind, is strongly entrenched and cannot
\nreadily be driven out of men.
\nYet self-righteousness is evidently evil, for it makes light of sin. It talks of merit in the case of one
\nwho has already transgressed and boasts of excellence in reference to a fallen and depraved creature. It
\nprattles of little faults, small failures, and slight omissions and so makes sin to be a venial error which
\nmay be readily overlooked. Not so faith in God, for though it recognizes pardon, yet that pardon is seen
\nto come in a way which proves sin to be exceeding sinful. On the other hand, the doctrine of salvation
\nby works has not a word of comfort in it for the fallen. It gives to the elder son all that his proud heart
\ncan claim, but for the prodigal it has no welcome. The law has no invitation for the sinner, for it knows
\nnothing of mercy. If salvation is by the works of the law, what must become of the guilty and the fallen
\nand the abandoned? By what hopes can these be recalled? This unmerciful doctrine bars the door of
\nhope and hands over the lost ones to the executioner in order that the proud Pharisee may air his boastful
\nrighteousness and thank God that he is not as other men are.
\nIt is the intense selfishness of this doctrine which condemns it as an evil thing. It naturally exalts
\nself. If a man conceives that he will be saved by his own works, he thinks himself something and glories
\nin the dignity of human nature. When he has been attentive to religious exercises he rubs his hands and
\nfeels that he deserves well of his Maker\u2014he goes home to repeat his prayers and before he falls asleep
\nhe wonders how he can have grown to be so good and so much superior to those around him. When he
\nwalks abroad he feels as if he dwelt apart in native excellence, a person much distinguished from \u201cthe
\nvulgar herd,\u201d a being whom to know is to admire. All the while he considers himself to be very humble
\nand is often amazed at his own condescension. What is this but a most hateful spirit? God, who sees the
\nheart, loathes it. He will accept the humble and the contrite, but He puts far from Him those who glory
\nin themselves. Indeed, my brethren, what have we to glory in? Is not every boast a lie? What is this selfhood
\nbut a peacock feather, fit only for the cap of a fool? May God deliver us from exalting self, and yet\u00a0we cannot be delivered from so doing if we hold in any degree the doctrine of salvation by our own
\ngood works.
\nAt this time I desire to shoot at the very heart of that soul-destroying doctrine, while I show you, in
\nthe first place, that two great crimes are contained in the idea of self-justification. When I have brought
\nforth that indictment, I shall further endeavor to show that these two great crimes are committed by
\nmany and then, thirdly, it will be a delight to assert that the true believer does not fall into these crimes.
\nMay God, the Holy Spirit, help us while meditating upon this important theme.
\nI. First, then, TWO GREAT CRIMES ARE CONTAINED IN SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. These
\nhigh crimes and misdemeanors are frustrating the grace of God and making Christ to have died in vain.
\nThe first is the frustration of the grace of God. The word here translated, \u201cfrustrate,\u201d means to make
\nvoid, to reject, to refuse, to regard as needless. Now, he that hopes to be saved by his own righteousness
\nrejects the grace or free favor of God, regards it as useless, and in that sense frustrates it. It is clear,
\nfirst, that if righteousness come by the law, the grace of God is no longer required. If we can be saved by
\nour own merits we need justice, but we certainly do not want mercy. If we can keep the law and claim to
\nbe accepted as a matter of debt, it is plain that we need not turn suppliants and crave for mercy. Grace is
\na superfluity where merit can be proved. A man who can go into court with a clear case and a bold countenance
\nasks not for mercy of the judge and the offer of it would insult him. \u201cGive me justice,\u201d he says.
\n\u201cGive me my rights\u201d and he stands up for them as a brave Englishman should do. It is only when a man
\nfeels that the law condemns him that he puts in a plea for mercy. Nobody ever dreamed of recommending
\nan innocent man to mercy. I say, then, that the man who believes that by keeping the law, or by practicing
\nceremonies, or by undergoing religious performances, he can make himself acceptable before
\nGod, most decidedly puts the grace of God on one side as a superfluous thing as far as he is concerned.
\nIs it not clearly so? And is not this a crimson crime\u2014this frustration of the grace of God?
\nNext, he makes the grace of God to be at least a secondary thing which is only a lower degree of the
\nsame error. Many think that they are to merit as much as they can by their own exertions and then the
\ngrace of God will make up for the rest. The theory seems to be that we are to keep the law as far as we
\ncan and this imperfect obedience is to stand good, as a sort of compromise, say a shilling in the pound,
\nor fifteen shillings in the pound, according as man judges his own excellence. And then, what is required
\nover and above our own hard-earned money, the grace of God will supply\u2014in short, the plan is every
\nman is his own savior and Jesus Christ and His grace just make up for our deficiencies. Whether men
\nsee it or not, this mixture of law and grace is most dishonoring to the salvation of Jesus Christ. It makes
\nthe Savior\u2019s work to be incomplete, though on the cross He cried, \u201cIt is finished.\u201d Yes, it even treats it as
\nbeing utterly ineffectual since it appears to be of no avail until man\u2019s works are added to it. According to
\nthis notion, we are redeemed as much by our own doing as by the ransom price of Jesus\u2019 blood and man
\nand Christ go shares, both in the work and in the glory. This is an intense form of arrogant treason
\nagainst the majesty of divine mercy\u2014a capital crime which will condemn all who continue in it. May
\nGod deliver us from thus insulting the throne of grace by bringing a purchase price in our own hand as if
\nwe could deserve such peerless gifts of love.
\nMore than that, he who trusts in himself, his feelings, his works, his prayers, or in anything except
\nthe grace of God virtually gives up trusting in the grace of God altogether. For be it known unto you
\nthat God\u2019s grace will never share the work with man\u2019s merit? As oil will not combine with water, so neither
\nwill human merit and heavenly mercy mix together. The apostle says in Romans 11:6, \u201cIf by grace,
\nthen it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more
\ngrace: otherwise work is no more work.\u201d You must either have salvation wholly because you deserve it
\nor wholly because God graciously bestows it, though you do not deserve it. You must receive salvation
\nat the Lord\u2019s hand either as a debt or as a charity\u2014there can be no mingling of the ideas. That which is a
\npure donation of favor cannot also be a reward of personal merit. A combination of the two principles of
\nlaw and grace is utterly impossible. Trusting in our own works in any degree effectually shuts us out
\nfrom all hope of salvation by grace, and so it frustrates the grace of God.
\nThere is another form of this crime, that when men preach up human doings, sufferings, feelings, or
\nemotions as the ground of salvation, they take off the sinner from confidence in Christ, for as long as a
\nman can maintain any hope in himself he will never look to the Redeemer. We may preach for ever and
\never, but as long as there remains latent in any one bosom a hope that he can effectually clear himself\u00a0from sin and win the favor of God by his own works, that man will never accept the proclamation of free
\npardon through the blood of Christ. We know that we cannot frustrate the grace of God\u2014it will have its
\nway and the eternal purpose shall be fulfilled. But as the tendency of all teaching which mixes up works
\nwith grace is to take men off from believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, its tendency is to frustrate the
\ngrace of God and every act is to be judged by its tendency even if the Lord\u2019s divine power prevents its
\nworking out its natural result. No man can lay another foundation than that which is laid, but inasmuch
\nas they try to do so they are guilty of despising the foundation of God as much as those builders of the
\nolden time who rejected the stone which God had chosen to be the head of the corner. May the grace of
\nGod keep us from such a crime as this, lest the blood of other men\u2019s souls should crimson our garments.
\nThis hoping to be saved by our own righteousness robs God of His glory. It as good as says, \u201cWe
\nwant no grace. We need no free favor.\u201d It reads of the new covenant which infinite love has made, but
\nby clinging to the old covenant it puts dishonor upon it. In its heart it murmurs, \u201cWhat need of this covenant
\nof grace? The covenant of works answers every purpose for us.\u201d It reads of the great gift of grace
\nin the person of Jesus Christ and it does despite thereto by the secret thought that human works are as
\ngood as the life and death of the Son of God. It cries, \u201cWe will not have this man to save us.\u201d A selfrighteous
\nhope casts a slur upon the glory of God since it is clear that if a man could be saved by his
\nown works, he would naturally have the honor of it, but if a man is saved by the free grace of God, then
\nGod is glorified. Woe unto those who teach a doctrine which would pluck the crown royal from the head
\nof our sovereign Lord and disgrace the throne of His glory. God help us to be clear of this rank offense
\nagainst high heaven.
\nI grow warm upon such a subject as this, for my indignation rises against that which does dishonor
\nto my Lord and frustrates His grace. This is a sin so gross that even the heathen cannot commit it. They
\nhave never heard of the grace of God and therefore they cannot put a slight upon it. When they perish it
\nwill be with a far lighter doom than those who have been told that God is gracious and ready to pardon
\nand yet turn on their heels and wickedly boast of innocence and pretend to be clean in the sight of God.
\nThis is a sin which devils cannot commit. With all the obstinacy of their rebellion, they can never reach
\nto this. They have never had the sweet notes of free grace and dying love ringing in their ears and therefore
\nthey have never refused the heavenly invitation. What has never been presented to their acceptance
\ncannot be the object of their rejection. Thus, then, my hearer, if you should fall into this deep ditch you
\nwill sink lower than the heathen, lower than Sodom and Gomorrah, and lower than the devil himself.
\nWake up, I pray, and do not dare to frustrate the grace of God.
\nThe second great crime which self-justification commits is making Christ to be dead in vain. This is
\nplain enough. If salvation can be by the works of the law, why did our Lord Jesus die to save us? O, You
\nbleeding Lamb of God, Your incarnation is a marvel, but Your death upon the accursed tree is such a
\nmiracle of mercy as fills all heaven with astonishment. Will any dare to say that Your death, O incarnate
\nGod, was a superfluity, a wanton waste of suffering? Do they dare think You a generous but unwise enthusiast
\nwhose death was needless? Can there be any who think Your cross a vain thing? Yes, thousands
\nvirtually do this and in fact, all do so who make it out that men might have been saved in some other
\nway, or may now be saved by their own willings and doings.
\nThey who say that the death of Christ goes only part of the way, but that man must do something in
\norder to merit eternal life\u2014these, I say, make this death of Christ to be only partially effective and in yet
\nclearer terms, ineffectual in and of itself. If it is even hinted that the blood of Jesus is not price enough
\ntill man adds his silver or his gold, then His blood is not our redemption at all and Christ is no Redeemer!
\nIf it is taught that our Lord\u2019s bearing of sin for us did not make a perfect atonement and that it is ineffectual
\ntill we either do or suffer something to complete it, then in the supplemental work lies the real
\nvirtue and Christ\u2019s work is in itself insufficient. His death cry of, \u201cIt is finished,\u201d must have been all a
\nmistake, if still it is not finished. And if a believer in Christ is not completely saved by what Christ has
\ndone, but must do something, himself to complete it, then salvation was not finished and the Savior\u2019s
\nwork remains imperfect till we, poor sinners, lend a hand to make up for His deficiencies. What blasphemy
\nlies in such a supposition that Christ on Calvary made a needless and a useless offering of Himself
\nif any man among you can be saved by the works of the law.
\nThis spirit also rejects the covenant which was sealed with Christ\u2019s death. For if we can be saved by
\nthe old covenant of works, then the new covenant was not required. In God\u2019s wisdom the new covenant\u00a0was brought in because the first had grown old and was void by transgression. But if it is not void, then
\nthe new covenant is an idle innovation and the sacrifice of Jesus ratified a foolish transaction. I loathe
\nthe words while I pronounce them. No one ever was saved under the covenant of works nor ever will be
\nand the new covenant is introduced for that reason, but if there is salvation by the first, then what need
\nwas there of the second? Self-righteousness, as far as it can, disannuls the covenant, breaks its seal, and
\ndoes despite to the blood of Jesus Christ which is the substance, the certificate, and the seal of that covenant.
\nIf you hold that a man can be saved by his own good works, you pour contempt upon the testament
\nof love which the death of Jesus has put in force, for there is no need to receive as a legacy of love that
\nwhich can be earned as the wage of work.
\nO sirs, this is a sin against each person of the sacred Trinity. It is a sin against the Father. How could
\nHe be wise and good and yet give His only Son to die on yonder tree in anguish if man\u2019s salvation could
\nbe worked by some other means? It is a sin against the Son of God\u2014you dare to say that our redemption
\nprice could have been paid somehow else and therefore His death was not absolutely needful for the redemption
\nof the world. Or if needful, yet not effectual, for it requires something to be added to it before
\nit can effect its purpose. It is a sin against the Holy Spirit and beware how you sin against Him, for such
\nsins are fatal. The Holy Spirit bears witness to the glorious perfection and unconquerable power of the
\nRedeemer\u2019s work and woe to those who reject that witness. He has come into the world on purpose that
\nHe may convince men of the sin of not believing in Jesus Christ and therefore if we think that we can be
\nsaved apart from Christ we do despite to the Spirit of His grace.
\nThe doctrine of salvation by works is a sin against all the fallen sons of Adam, for if men cannot be
\nsaved except by their own works, what hope is left for any transgressor? You shut the gates of mercy on
\nmankind. You condemn the guilty to die without the possibility of remission. You deny all hope of welcome
\nto the returning prodigal, all prospect of Paradise to the dying thief. If heaven is by works, thousands
\nof us will never see its gates. I know that I never shall. You fine fellows may rejoice in your prospects,
\nbut what is to become of us? You ruin us all by your boastful scheme.
\nNor is this all. It is a sin against the saints, for none of them have any other hope except in the blood
\nand righteousness of Jesus Christ. Remove the doctrine of the atoning blood and you have taken all
\naway. Our foundation is gone. If you speak thus you offend the whole generation of godly men. I go further\u2014work-mongering
\nis a sin against the perfect ones above. The doctrine of salvation by works would
\nsilence the hallelujahs of heaven. Hush, you choristers, what meaning is there in your song? You are
\nchanting, \u201cUnto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.\u201d But why do you sing
\nso? If salvation is by works, your ascriptions of praise are empty flatteries. You ought to sing, \u201cUnto
\nourselves who kept our garments clean, to us be glory for ever and ever.\u201d Or at least, \u201cUnto ourselves
\nwhose acts made the Redeemer\u2019s work effectual be a full share of praise.\u201d But a self-lauding note was
\nnever heard in heaven and therefore we feel sure that the doctrine of self-justification is not of God. I
\ncharge you, renounce it as the foe of God and man. This proud system is a sin of deepest dye against the
\nWell-Beloved. I cannot endure to think of the insult which it puts upon our dying Lord. If you have
\nmade Christ to live in vain, that is bad enough, but to represent Him as having died in vain! What shall
\nbe said of this? That Christ came to earth for nothing is a statement most horrible, but that He became
\nobedient to the death of the cross without result is profanity at its worst.
\nII. I will say no more concerning the nature of these sins, but in the second place proceed to the solemn
\nfact that THESE TWO GREAT CRIMES ARE COMMITTED BY MANY PEOPLE. I am afraid
\nthey are committed by some who hear me this day. Let everyone search himself and see if these accursed
\nthings are not hidden in his heart and if they are, let him cry unto God for deliverance from them.
\nAssuredly these crimes are chargeable on those who trifle with the gospel. Here is the greatest discovery
\nthat was ever made\u2014the most wonderful piece of knowledge that ever was revealed and yet you
\ndo not think it worth a thought. You come now and then to hear a sermon, but you hear without heart.
\nYou read the Scriptures occasionally, but you do not search them as for hidden treasure. It is not your
\nfirst object in life to thoroughly understand and heartily to receive the gospel which God has proclaimed\u2014yet
\nsuch ought to be the case. What, my friend, does your indifference say that the grace of
\nGod is of no great value in your esteem? You do not think it worth the trouble of prayer, of Biblereading,
\nand attention? The death of Christ is nothing to you\u2014a very beautiful fact, no doubt\u2014you
\nknow the story well, but you do not care enough about it to wish to be a partaker in its benefits? His\u00a0blood may have power to cleanse from sin, but you do not want remission? His death may be the life of
\nmen, but you do not long to live by Him? To be saved by the atoning blood does not strike you as being
\nhalf as important as to carry on your business at a profit and acquire a fortune for your family? By thus
\ntrifling with these precious things, you do, as far as you can, frustrate the grace of God and make Christ
\nto die in vain.
\nAnother set of people who do this are those who have no sense of guilt. Perhaps they are naturally
\namiable, civil, honest, and generous people and they think that these natural virtues are all that is needed.
\nWe have many such in whom there is much that is lovely, but the one thing needful is lacking\u2014they
\nare not conscious that they ever did anything very wrong. They think themselves certainly as good as
\nothers and in some respects rather better. It is highly probable that you are as good as others and even
\nbetter than others, but still do you not see, my dear friend, if I am addressing one such person, that if you
\nare so good that you are to be saved by your goodness, you put the grace of God out of court and make it
\nvain? The whole have no need of the physician, only they that are sick require his skill, and therefore it
\nwas needless that Christ should die for such as you because you, in your own opinion, had done nothing
\nworthy of death. You claim that you have done nothing very bad and yet there is one thing in which you
\nhave grievously transgressed, and I beg you not to be angry when I charge you with it. You are very bad
\nbecause you are so proud as to think yourself righteous, though God has said that there is none righteous,
\nno, not one. You tell your God that He is a liar. His Word accuses you and His law condemns you,
\nbut you will not believe Him and actually boast of having a righteousness of your own. This is high presumption
\nand arrogant pride and may the Lord purge you from it. Will you lay this to heart and remember
\nthat if you have never been guilty of anything else, this is sin enough to make you mourn before the
\nLord day and night? You have, as far as you could by your proud opinion of yourself, made void the
\ngrace of God and declared that Christ died in vain. Hide your face for shame and entreat for mercy for
\nthis glaring offense.
\nAnother sort of people may fancy that they shall escape, but we must now come home to them.
\nThose who despair will often cry, \u201cI know I cannot be saved except by grace, for I am such a great sinner.
\nBut, alas, I am too great a sinner to be saved at all. I am too black for Christ to wash out my sins.\u201d
\nAh, my dear friend, though you know it not, you are making void the grace of God by denying its power
\nand limiting its might. You doubt the efficacy of the Redeemer\u2019s blood and the power of the Father\u2019s
\ngrace. What! The grace of God not able to save? Is not the Father of our Lord Jesus able to forgive sin?
\nWe joyfully sing\u2014
\n\u201cWho is a pardoning God like Thee?
\nOr who has grace so rich and free?\u201d
\nAnd you say He cannot forgive you and this in the teeth of His many promises of mercy? He says, \u201cAll
\nmanner of sin and of blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men.\u201d \u201cCome now and let us reason together,
\nsays the Lord: though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like
\ncrimson, they shall be as wool.\u201d You say that this is not true. Thus you frustrate the grace of God and
\nyou make out that Christ died in vain, at least for you, for you say that He cannot cleanse you. Oh say
\nnot so. Let not your unbelief give the lie to God. Oh, believe that He is able to save even you and freely,
\nat this very moment, to put all your sin away and to accept you in Christ Jesus. Take heed of despondency,
\nfor if you do not trust Him, you will make void His grace.
\nAnd those, I think, commit this sin in a large measure, who make a mingle-mangle of the gospel. I
\nmean this\u2014when we preach the gospel we have only to say, \u201cSinners, you are guilty. You never can be
\nanything else but guilty in and of yourselves\u2014if that sin of yours is pardoned, it must be through an act
\nof sovereign grace and not because of anything in you or that can be done by you. Grace must be given
\nto you because Jesus died and for no other reason and the way by which you can have that grace is simply
\nby trusting Christ. By faith in Jesus Christ you shall obtain full forgiveness.\u201d This is pure gospel. If
\nthe man turns round and inquires, \u201cHow am I warranted to believe in Christ?\u201d If I tell him that he is warranted
\nto believe in Christ because he feels a law-work within, or because he has holy desires, I have
\nmade a mess of it\u2014I have put something of the man into the question and marred the glory of grace. My
\nanswer is, \u201cMan, your right to believe in Christ lies not in what you are or feel, but in God\u2019s command
\nto you to believe and in God\u2019s promise which is made to every creature under heaven that whosoever
\nbelieves in Jesus Christ shall be saved.\u201d This is our commission, \u201cGo you into all the world and preach\u00a0the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.\u201d If you are a creature, we
\npreach that gospel to you. Trust Christ and you are saved. Not because you are a sensible sinner, or a
\npenitent sinner, or anything else, but simply because God, of His free grace, with no consideration rendered
\nto Him on your part, but gratis and for nothing, freely forgives all your debts for the sake of Jesus
\nChrist. Now I have not mangled the gospel\u2014there it is with nothing of the creature about it but the
\nman\u2019s faith and even that is the Holy Spirit\u2019s gift. Those who mingle their \u201cifs,\u201d and \u201cbuts,\u201d and insist
\nupon it, \u201cYou must do this and feel that before you may accept Christ,\u201d frustrate the grace of God in a
\nmeasure and do damage to the glorious gospel of the blessed God.
\nAnd so, once more, do those also who apostatize. Do I speak to any here who were once professors
\nof religion\u2014who once used to offer prayer in the assembly\u2014who once walked as saints, but now have
\ngone back, breaking the Sabbath, forsaking the house of God, and living in sin? You, my friend, say by
\nyour course of life, \u201cI had the grace of God, but I do not care about it. It is worth nothing. I have rejected
\nit, I have given it up. I have made it void. I have gone back to the world.\u201d You do as good as say, \u201cI did
\nonce trust in Jesus Christ, but He is not worth trusting.\u201d You have denied Him\u2014you have sold your
\nLord and Master. I will not now go into the question as to whether you ever were sincere, though I believe
\nyou never were, but on your own showing such is your case. Take heed lest these two terrible
\ncrimes should rest upon you\u2014that you do frustrate the grace of God and make Christ to be dead in vain.
\nIII. On my third point I shall carry with me the deep convictions and the joyful confidences of all
\ntrue believers. It is this, that NO TRUE BELIEVER WILL BE GUILTY OF THESE CRIMES. In his
\nvery soul he loathes these infamous sins.
\nFirst of all, no believer in Christ can bear to think of frustrating of the grace of God or the making it
\nvoid. Come, now, honest hearts, I speak to you. Do you trust in grace alone or do you in some measure
\nrest in yourselves? Do you even in a small degree depend upon your own feelings, your own faithfulness,
\nyour own repentance? I know you abhor the very thought. You have not even the shadow of a hope
\nnor the semblance of a confidence in anything you ever were, or ever can be, or ever hope to be. You
\nfling this away as a foul rag full of contagion, which you would hurl out of the universe if you could. I
\ndo avow that though I have preached the gospel with all my heart and glory in it, yet I cast my preaching
\naway as dross and dung if I think of them as a ground of reliance. And though I have brought many
\nsouls to Christ, blessed be His name, I never dare for one moment put the slightest confidence in that
\nfact as to my own salvation, for I know that I, after having preached to others, may yet be a castaway. I
\ncannot rest in a successful ministry or an edified church, but I repose alone in my Redeemer. What I say
\nof myself I know that each one of you will say for himself. Your almsgivings, your prayers, your tears,
\nyour suffering persecution, your gifts to the church, your earnest work in the Sunday school or elsewhere\u2014did
\nyou ever think of putting these side by side with the blood of Christ as your hope? No, you
\nnever dreamed of it. I am sure you never did and the mention of it is utterly loathsome to you, is it not?
\nGrace, grace, grace is your sole hope.
\nMoreover, you have not only renounced all confidence in works, but you renounce it this day more
\nheartily than ever you did. The older you are and the more holy you become, the less do you think of
\ntrusting in yourself. The more we grow in grace the more we grow in love with grace\u2014the more we
\nsearch into our hearts and the more we know of the holy law of God, the deeper is our sense of unworthiness
\nand consequently the higher is our delight in rich, free, unmerited mercy\u2014the free gift of the
\nroyal heart of God. Tell me, does not your heart leap within you when you hear the doctrines of grace? I
\nknow there are some who never felt themselves to be sinners, who shift about as if they were sitting on
\nthorns when I am preaching grace and nothing else but grace\u2014but it is not so with you who are resting
\nin Christ. \u201cOh, no,\u201d you say, \u201cring that bell again, sir! Ring that bell again. There is no music like it.
\nTouch that string again, it is our favorite note.\u201d When you get down in spirits and depressed, what sort
\nof book do you like to read? Is it not a book about the grace of God? What do you turn to in the Scriptures?
\nDo you not turn to the promises made to the guilty, the ungodly, the sinner, and do you not find
\nthat only in the grace of God and only at the foot of the cross is there any rest for you? I know it is so.
\nThen you can rise up and say with Paul, \u201cI do not frustrate the grace of God. Some may, if they like, but
\nGod forbid that I should ever make it void, for it is all my salvation and all my desire.\u201d
\nThe true believer is also free from the second crime\u2014he does not make Christ to be dead in vain.
\nNo, no, no. He trusts in the death of Christ. He puts his sole and entire reliance upon the great Substitute\u00a0who loved and lived and died for him. He does not dare to associate with the bleeding sacrifice his poor
\nbleeding heart, or his prayers, or his sanctification, or anything else. \u201cNone but Christ, none but Christ,\u201d
\nis his soul\u2019s cry. He detests every proposal to mix anything of ceremony or of legal action with the finished
\nwork of Jesus Christ. The longer we live, I trust, dear brethren, the more we see the glory of God
\nin the face of Jesus Christ. We are struck with admiration at the wisdom of the way by which a substitute
\nwas introduced\u2014that God might smite sin and yet spare the sinner\u2014we are lost in admiration at the
\nmatchless love of God, that He spared not His own Son. We are filled with reverent adoration at the love
\nof Christ, that when He knew the price of pardon was His blood, His pity never withdrew. What is more,
\nwe not only joy in Christ, but we feel an increasing oneness with Him. We did not know it at first, but
\nwe know it now, that we were crucified with Him, that we were buried with Him, that we rose again
\nwith Him. We are not going to have Moses for a ruler, or Aaron for a priest, for Jesus is both King and
\nPriest to us. Christ is in us and we are in Christ and we are complete in Him and nothing can be tolerated
\nas an aid to the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord. We are one with Him and being one
\nwith Him we realize more every day that He did not die in vain. His death has bought us real life. His
\ndeath has already set us free from the bondage of sin and has even now brought us deliverance from the
\nfear of eternal wrath. His death has bought us eternal life, has bought us sonship, and all the blessings
\nthat go with it which the Fatherhood of God takes care to bestow. The death of Christ has shut the gates
\nof hell for us and opened the gates of heaven. The death of Christ has worked for us mercies, not visionary
\nor imaginary, but real and true\u2014which this very day we do enjoy and so we are in no danger of
\nthinking that Christ died in vain.
\nIt is our joy to hold two great principles which I will leave with you, hoping that you will suck marrow
\nand fatness out of them. These are the two principles. The grace of God cannot be frustrated and
\nJesus Christ died not in vain. These two principles I think lie at the bottom of all sound doctrine. The
\ngrace of God cannot be frustrated after all. Its eternal purpose will be fulfilled, its sacrifice and seal
\nshall be effectual\u2014the chosen ones of grace shall be brought to glory. There shall be no failures as to
\nGod\u2019s plan in any point whatever. At the last, when all shall be summed up, it shall be seen that grace
\nreigned through righteousness unto eternal life and the top stone shall be brought out with shouts of,
\n\u201cGrace, grace unto it.\u201d And as grace cannot be frustrated, so Christ did not die in vain. Some seem to
\nthink that there were purposes in Christ\u2019s heart which will never be accomplished. We have not so
\nlearned Christ. What He died to do shall be done\u2014those He bought, He will have\u2014those He redeemed
\nshall be free. There shall be no failure of reward for Christ\u2019s wondrous work. He shall see of the travail
\nof His soul and shall be satisfied. On these two principles I throw back my soul to rest. Believing in His
\ngrace that grace shall never fail me. \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you,\u201d says the Lord and so shall it be.
\nBelieving in Jesus Christ, His death must save me. It cannot be, O Calvary, that you should fail. O Gethsemane,
\nthat your bloody sweat should be in vain. Through divine grace, resting in our Savior\u2019s precious
\nblood, we must be saved. Joy and rejoice with me and go your way to tell it out to others. God bless you
\nin so doing, for Jesus\u2019 sake. Amen.
\nAdapted from The C. H. Spurgeon Collection, Version 1.0, Ages Software.
\nPLEASE PRAY THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL USE THIS SERMON
\nTO BRING MANY TO A SAVING KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.propreacher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/18-Spurgeon.jpg?resize=960%2C960\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"