You can never come to Christ at all, unless you first see that he will not accept of you the more readily for anything that you can do. You must first see, that it is utterly in vain for you to try to make yourselves better on any such account. You must see that you can never make yourselves any more worthy, or less unworthy, by anything which you can perform.
If ever you truly come to Christ, you must see that there is enough in him for your pardon, though you be no better than you are. If you see not the sufficiency of Christ to pardon you, without any righteousness of your own to recommend you, you never will come so as to be accepted of him. The way to be accepted is to come not on any such encouragement, that now you have made yourselves better, and more worthy, or not so unworthy but on the mere encouragement of Christ's worthiness, and God's mercy.
Excerpt taken from a sermon by Johathan Edwards titled "Pardon for the Greatest Sinners" from the book Sermons of Johathan Edwards © 2005 Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.
1 comment:
Amen Jonathan Edwards! This is very true. We are not righteous because of our own works, because they are like filthy rags. We are made righteous through God's gracious offering of His Son Jesus Christ.
This is something about true Christianity that still mystifies the world. How can they believe they are filthy sinners, yet still obtain Heaven? It's because Jesus Christ is whom we place our Faith, not ourselves. :)
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