What you long for when you get up in the morning, throughout the day, and in the evening, is what you really are. The child of God seeks after Christ, His purity and truth and Spirit. By the Spirit of God, seek to purify your private life and work ethic. Old sinful habits are hard to break off and give up. The religious worldling knows facts about Jesus or God in his head, but he has never from the heart believed on, yielded to, or received Christ Jesus Himself. God's acceptance of Christ is my acceptance with God. Salvation through faith in the sin-forgiving Precious Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is most needful. I fully deserve to rejected by God, but now only for Jesus' sake am I accepted by God.
Stoop to be saved by Jesus' merits and blood. You must turn away from your enmity to Christ and His Gospel. You can't find something good about yourself; you can't prepare yourself to come to Jesus, or clean yourself up. You are a sinner who must be saved by the mercy and grace of God, for Jesus' sake. Hubris and delusions leads a man to reject Christ and wind up in the Lake of Fire. Be wise - Believingly yield yourself up to Jesus completely, unreservedly, for He is God manifest in the flesh who died to pay for your sins, trusting-worshipping-loving-obeying Him. Give up trying to please God by your own efforts; give up your works and ways, both good and bad. Make your confession of your sins before God very frankly, sincerely, and explicitly. There is nothing that you can hide from God - He sees and knows everything about you, from your childhood up to this very moment. He already knows your guilt, but He wants you to know it. God bids you to come and confess your sins and your need of His dear Son. Acknowledge your sins before God: get rid of all your excuses and alibis.
To depend entirely upon the sinner's Savior is the sinner's salvation. God only accepts unworthy sinners into His family for Jesus' sake, only because of what Jesus did for sinners. The needy, guilty soul seeks the Savior. If you sense your sinfulness, believe in Jesus, that is, trust in the Substitution and bloody Sacrifice of Christ Jesus. Simple faith in Christ's Finished Work alone. Christ Jesus is Perfect, He will only give you His Righteousness freely now, without works. You gain acceptance before God because of Christ alone, for Jesus' sake. Cast your weary, heavy laden soul upon the infinite merit and Atoning Blood of the Great Substitute. Trust Him to take your sins and blot them out forever; trust Christ entirely, and you are forgiven this very moment; you are saved this very instant, and being justified by faith you'll have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Earthly religions prey on the superstitious and self-righteous nature of men. But my only hope of Heaven is in the Atoning Blood of Jesus Christ the LORD.
