WORDS OF FAITH 1

Human nature is utter depravity and absolute insanity, because it thinks it can help JESUS out when it comes to taking away sins. Human nature wants to depend upon itself in some way or other for its own salvation; it imagines or conceives that eternal life can come from itself, or can be obtained by something it can do. Souls are not saved by self-inflicted miseries or penances. Human nature thinks that a little religion will fix things up with God. But every man by nature is exceeding sinful, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is only evil continually. Why? Because within you, you have an evil nature which God cannot look upon except with wrath and indignation. The excellence of human nature is altogether vanity; everything that is evil lurks within your heart. Your nature is evil, only evil, and evil continually. The world's message about the wonderful dignity of human nature is foolish talk.

Just one verse from the Law condemns every sinner: Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie to one another (Leviticus 19:11). Have you ever stolen from your employer via time card fraud; Have you ever dealt falsely, misled and cheated someone; Have you ever lied to another Soul? For whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is GUILTY of all (James 2:10). For by the Law is the knowledge of Sin. Leviticus 19:11 is sharper than any two-edged sword, and it will cut you wide open.

The Gospel is too hard for self-righteous human nature, because the Gospel is so easy to understand. The worst thing about human nature is that, though it cannot lift a finger to save itself, it thinks it can do its best and make it past the judgment to come in some other way besides JESUS. Human nature is so proud of itself that it would, if it could, be its own savior. For some odd reason, self-righteous human nature is constantly looking into itself for salvation. Only the sharp two-edged sword of the law can slay self-reliance, lead you to lie in the dust at the feet of the crucified and risen Savior, and call out to Him for mercy. The natural goodness of human nature is very dangerous and damning. The resolve of human nature is always this: We will not have this Man Christ Jesus to reign over us. The righteousness of Christ cramps your style, condemns your self-righteousness, and offends your devilish ego.

Human nature tries to make its own way to heaven, but winds up in hell. The soul who is trusting in the precious blood of Jesus only is entirely and eternally safe. JESUS loved your soul and bled to death for your sins. Turn, repent, and rest on JESUS' finished atonement. Human nature says, "How dare you think I'm not good enough to get to heaven?"

As a little child, humbly and prayerfully read the Holy Scriptures, trusting only the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth, which is Jesus Christ Himself (John 14:6). JESUS didn't come into the world to help sinners save themselves; this is man's religion, not the Gospel of Christ. The Lamb of God didn't bleed to death on the cross to help self-reliant sinners who intend to work their own way to heaven. Jesus didn't come to help those who want to be their own saviors. May the Holy Spirit keep pricking your conscience until you look with both eyes to what JESUS has done, confide only in the great atoning sacrifice of Christ heartily and thoroughly upon the cross, and trust solely in His redeeming, precious blood.

If there is anything to be done for a sinner's soul, JESUS must do it all—He is the author and finisher of precious faith. JESUS will not let you have a share of the finished work of salvation. The sinner's first business must be to take the finished atonement of JESUS CHRIST, give up all his own doings, and let the One who came down from heaven do the saving which He came to do all by Himself. It is not yours to interfere, but to simply let JESUS do His own work within your heart and soul. Christ didn't suffer the wrath of God on the cross to half-save sinners, intending when He had completed His part that He would leave the sinner to himself to do the rest. Eternal life never comes from a sinner, and life eternal never dies out. JESUS doesn't begin the saving work and leave the rest for you to finish. Christ Jesus is the real Savior who came to save real sinners; sham sinners don't need a real Savior. They that be whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick. Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Grievous, guilty transgressors need the real, merciful Savior, real blood, and a real atonement to take away real sins. Jesus suffered ALL that was due to your sins on the cross. Your despicable sins can only be remitted, blotted out, and forgiven by God for JESUS' sake, not because of anything you've done.

The atheist is like the ostrich: he sticks his head in the sand of Darwinism and thinks his sins against God are not real, or that he will not have to give an account of himself to God at the last day. Be wise: begin by trusting Christ Himself to be your personal Savior from your sins. Trust in God's tender mercy through the precious blood of the Lamb of God, God's dear Son. Have nothing else to rely upon but the fact that Jesus Christ Himself saves the sinful soul completely.

Remember now, even a lascivious glance of the eye is a sin in God's sight. You are what you really are when you're all alone, and no one is watching your thoughts and deeds, but God. Lascivious men always have a bad opinion of the morality of those around them, and hypocrites always think other people are hypocrites—why? Because they can see the reflection of their own faces. Any man who trusts so much as a single hair's breadth of his own righteousness is a lost, dead soul. The man who trusts to the least atom of human merit is doomed and must be lost. Trusting partly in your works and partly in the Savior is a damnable faith. If you have any goodness of your own, throw it overboard and let it sink into hell where it belongs. Never say to God you are good in any way, or your dead soul will receive no divine, eternal help from above.

Stop deceiving yourself with your own righteousness: it is JESUS you must rely on completely, not yourself at all. There is nothing you have, or can have; there is absolutely nothing you can do, or will do, that God will ever accept. Your soul must be saved by JESUS CHRIST alone. Leave off being anything: be wise, be NOTHING, and let Christ Himself be Everything. GOD'S BLOOD is the only effectual remedy for your deadly sin problem. Stage IV cancer is a small thing compared to your deadly sins, which have metastasized all through your heart, mind, thoughts, intents, words, and deeds. Your evil inward sin nature fuels all of your filthy thoughts and vile secret deeds. The plowing of the wicked is sin; whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Unless you've been born again of the Spirit of God, your soul is spiritually dead because of your sins, and up to this very day, you've never come into contact with God spiritually. This world and its nonsense have left you deluded, duped, and doomed.

Be wise, and trust your immortal soul to the Son of God's keeping. Your wisest course is to think much of JESUS, really look to Him now, and from your heart believe that JESUS died as your substitute, sincerely trusting only in GOD'S BLOOD that was shed by the Lamb of God. Simply trust to the crucified Creator's precious blood. If you are a troubled sinner, away with your self-righteousness, and look to JESUS for eternal peace, for all of your soul's eternal safety depends solely upon HIM.

The Son of God Himself lived, bled out His sinless life, died for the guilty, was buried, rose again the third day, ascended up to heaven, and sits at the right hand of God still today to plead for sinners. There is only one way for a filthy soul to get completely clean in God's sight, and that is through simple, childlike faith in the precious blood of the crucified Creator. Put all your dependence and confidence in JESUS' bloody sufferings and His righteous merits this very moment. This is of vital importance: genuine conversion, the real new birth, and regeneration inwardly from the Spirit of God. Never look at yourself; look to the wounds of Jesus and find all your salvation in HIM. Cease looking at your own doings, and look only to God Incarnate, Christ crucified for sinners. The substitute for sinners was nailed, bled, and died on the cross for your sins and soul. Escape to the cross while you may. Only Christ is worthy of being trusted with your immortal soul. The religion of DO is always slavery to some man-made system or human proxy; you will never actually get salvation, and you'll wind up perishing in your doings by looking to yourself.

As a lost, undone, bankrupt sinner, cast away all reliance upon your works, and look simply to the atoning sacrifice of JESUS for all your soul needs here in time and eternity. Have done with the whole rotten mess of religion. Your doings are all deadly quicksand that will swallow you up if you rest upon them at all. Jesus said, "Without ME ye can do nothing." Childlike trust in Christ's precious blood regenerates and changes the heart, and washes clean the sinful soul. Saved means to be rescued from perishing and eternal destruction, to be kept safe and sound forever, and to be restored to life and health. Saving faith is a trusting, reliant, depending trust upon the atonement of the Lamb of God.

Honor God the Father now by trusting His Son with your soul. Your own righteousness is a very damning and abominable thing that will surely damn you as much as your greatest blasphemy will do. The best thing to do with your own righteousness is to bury it and run away from it. Treat your self-righteousness as a deadly virus. JESUS is the perfect, precious substitute; He has finished the atonement for human sins, and the penalty and ransom are completely paid with GOD'S BLOOD once for all.

Salvation is not in yourself; it is the gift of God from above through JESUS CHRIST. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, rely upon HIM, and trust Him to save your soul. Trust to JESUS as completely as a drowning man trusts to the life-ring, the life-vest, and the life-guard. Your only hope of being saved from sin is trusting to someone outside of yourself. You are powerless to save your own soul, for all power is given to Christ by God; therefore, you must rely on JESUS completely to do the job. Rest wholly upon the Christ of God, and upon what HE has already done for you upon the cross. Trust JESUS here and now, and you shall be saved here and now. To believe is to trust, to confide, to rely upon, and to depend on: depend upon Christ, trust only HIM, and no soul ever relied upon JESUS and found Him to fail.

REAL RIGHTEOUSNESS

JESUS teaches all of us a great eternal truth in *Matthew 5:20* (For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven) is the absolute bankruptcy of human religious self-effort and the absolute necessity of the *divine, imputed Righteousness of Christ Jesus.

The scribes and Pharisees were the most outwardly moral, strictly religious, and meticulous conviction-followers of their day. They fasted, tithed, prayed publicly, and prided themselves on keeping every jot and tittle of the law. To the average Jew, they appeared outwardly to be the closest to God. Yet, Jesus drops these words on them to shatter their fatal illusion: their kind of righteousness will never get anyone into Heaven. Absolutely NONE of your righteousness will ever be accepted by God or allowed into heaven; forsake it ASAP.

Here is the deeper spiritual meaning of what Jesus was preaching:

* External Conformity vs. Internal Corruption

The Pharisees were trying their hardest to master outward religion, but their hearts remained filled with hypocrisy, pride, greed, deadness, and extortion. Their righteousness was merely skin-deep—polished on the outside, but full of dead men's bones on the inside. Jesus was preaching that God looks far beyond external religious performance; God looks on the heart. Human nature can clean the outside of the cup, but if the soul is still covered in the "spotted skin" of unrepented sins, you remain entirely unfit for the kingdom of heaven.

* The Impossibility of Self-Salvation

By setting the standard higher than the strictest religious men on earth, Jesus slammed the door shut on all human merit. JESUS is telling every Soul: If you think you can get to heaven by being good enough, keeping enough rules/convictions, or being more moral than your neighbor, your standard is way too low anyway—and even if you could match the Pharisees, it wouldn't be enough. Human righteousness is an utterly counterfeit currency in God's bank. 

You can never merit Salvation; you can never earn Eternal Life; you can never purchase the remission of your sins. You need a renewed heart deep within, not a renewed wardrobe; You need a regenerated Soul from the Holy Spirit, not just water baptism from your elder. If you try to help save yourself, you will lose your Soul forever. THE CROSS is the end of Me, Myself, and I; The LAMB OF GOD sacrificed Himself to remit your guilt - cancel your sins' deadly debt - take away your sins forever. God Almighty as the Supreme Judge of the universe takes the record of your crimes against Him, He expunges and blots them all out, and sends them completely away, so they can never be charged against your Soul again. Remission is the absolute lifting of your death penalty, the removal of the legal guilt from your Soul's criminal record, and the dismissal of your eternal death penalty case forever in Heaven's court of Law. Your Soul's Eternal Salvation must be freely obtained exclusively through the Person, Atoning Work, and Precious Blood Christ of THE LAMB OF GOD.

* The Need for Christ's Righteousness

Matthew 5:20 points us directly back to the ultimate Exchange of the Gospel of Christ. To enter the kingdom of heaven, every sinner needs a righteousness that does not originate from themselves at all. They need a real Righteousness that infinitely exceeds all human capability—*the very righteousness of God in Christ* (*2 Corinthians 5:21*).

When a sinner is brought to his senses by the Holy Spirit (quickened), and abandons his own self-righteousness, repents of his sins, and trusts solely in Christ Himself, that very moment, God clothes that guilty Soul in the spotless, perfect RIGHTEOUSNESS of His dear Son. CHRIST JESUS Himself is the only Righteousness that can satisfy divine justice, silence the law's condemnation, and freely open the door to the kingdom of heaven forever.

ETERNALLY VITAL ADVICE

This is the safest and eternally vital advice you can ever give to a lost sinner. The Holy Scriptures are absolute on this point: human righteousness is entirely bankrupt before the holy God (see Isaiah 64:6), and trying to earn salvation through works, morality, religiousness, or self-effort is the very delusion that keeps a soul bound in Sin.

To advise a sinner to disavow and reject his own righteousness forever, and to trust only in the living Person of Christ Jesus and simply receive His RIGHTEOUSNESS now, is at the very heart of the Gospel. It is the moment when a sinner stops leaning upon the broken reeds of self-justification, abandons every other hope, and rests his entire immortal soul solely upon the FINISHED Atonement of the Lamb of God—the PRECIOUS BLOOD OF GOD—and upon the spotless RIGHTEOUSNESS of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

The only thing that can damn a man's soul forever is his own righteousness, and the only thing that can save a man's soul from his sins is Christ's RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Why a Man's Own Righteousness Damns the Soul

The Bankrupt Currency: Human righteousness—whether it comes through moral efforts, religious rituals, good deeds, or self-justification—is described in Scripture as "filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). It is utterly incapable of satisfying the righteousness and justice of a holy God.

The Root of Rejection: Trusting in one's own righteousness is ultimately a rejection of THE CROSS. It says, in effect, that Christ's sacrifice of Himself was unnecessary, or that human effort can somehow contribute to satisfying divine justice. Therefore, clinging to self-righteousness means clinging to the very sins of pride and unbelief, leaving the soul exposed to eternal judgment with no Substitute to bear the wrath of God.

The self-righteous man goeth about to establish his own righteousness and hath not submitted himself unto the righteousness of God, which is found only in JESUS CHRIST (Romans 10:3).

Why Christ's Righteousness Saves the Soul

The Perfect Exchange: Salvation is entirely an act of divine grace in which the believer's sin is imputed to Christ, and Christ's spotless, perfect righteousness is imputed to the believer (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The Only Acceptable Covering: Nothing a sinner can do can wash away a single stain of guilt. Only the sinless life, atoning bloody death, and perfect RIGHTEOUSNESS of Jesus Christ Himself can satisfy Divine Justice.

When a soul abandons all self-reliance and receives Christ's Righteousness by faith in His Blood, that soul is clothed in the garment of perfection that Christ Himself finished and that God Himself accepts. In Christ, the believer has an eternal redemption that does not rest upon his own merit, but upon the finished work and perfect Righteousness of the Son of God.

In short, self-righteousness is the trap of human pride that condemns a sinner, while Christ's RIGHTEOUSNESS is the only Ransom provided by God that saves the soul forever.

Therefore, reject every confidence in your own righteousness. Do not attempt to make yourself worthy of Christ. Do not trust your morality, religious works, good deeds, or self-effort to make you acceptable before God. Look away from yourself and look wholly to JESUS CHRIST. Rest your immortal soul upon His finished Atonement, His Precious Blood, and His perfect RIGHTEOUSNESS.

The Lord Jesus Christ alone is all-sufficient. Jesus Christ alone is Righteous. The Lamb of God alone is the Substitute. Christ Jesus alone is the Ransom. And the Crucified Creator alone can save a sinner. Trust only God's Blood and God's Righteousness that is found only in The Precious Lamb of God.

*GOD'S BLOOD 2*

Religion's false way of salvation is a strange message of confusion and delusion, operating under the assumption that the Gospel is reserved for the good, respectable people of the community. Religionists do not live entirely without Jesus Christ—mentioning His name casually when they cuss and swear, attending services on Sundays, or acknowledging Him around Christmas time—yet their gospel theory remains a fatal mishmash. By mixing human effort with divine grace, believing that they save themselves partly while Christ saves them the rest, they ultimately fail to be saved at all and wind up dying in their sins. 

Now, understand this: Christ suffered for your sins, and Only the Holy Spirit can make you sense the evil and misery of your sins, perceive your guilt, need of the Savior, and the necessity of GOD'S PRECIOUS BLOOD. Only the Spirit of God can quicken your Soul that is dead in trespasses and sins, circumcise your Soul inwardly (Romans 2:29), and make you alive unto God.

To sum it all up in one: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; He was God and man in one person. Your sins against God have killed and ruined your soul, and you are condemned before God—but JESUS can save you from the hell you justly deserve.

The very marrow and sinew of the Gospel is this: Christ Jesus, as the sinless Sacrifice, Surety, Substitute, and Ransom, died in the sinner's stead. Christ died for the ungodly. He bore my sins in His own body on THE TREE; He suffered for my sins; He was chastised to take away my sins; He was wounded without the gate. And now my transgressions are forever remitted and expunged from God's books, and my sins are covered and washed away in GOD'S BLOOD, for JESUS' sake.

Ye must be born again. You must receive the Substitutionary Sacrifice, and take the Precious Blood to be your soul's only hope and confidence, for only the Precious Blood of Christ can calm and quiet a guilty conscience. God Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ—the offended One—suffered in the offender's place, bowing His head to vengeance and condescending from His eternal majesty on high to the shameful Cross of Calvary. And now, by JESUS, all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.

The Lord Jesus Christ is all your soul needs in one Person. Rely on the power of His arm, the preciousness of His blood, the love of His heart, the certainty of His promises, and the immutability of His holy character. Rest on Him—on JESUS alone. One believing glance of your heart's eye at the crucified Creator, and the simple reliance of your heart upon Him, and your soul is saved forever beyond all threat and risk.

With the Holy Spirit's aid, look to JESUS now. I beseech you in Christ's stead: Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, and be ye reconciled to God, made nigh by Faith in GOD'S BLOOD shed by the Son of God. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God—His name is Emmanuel, God with us.

This is the Sum: The very center of the Gospel is Christ Jesus crucified in the lost sinner's place. JESUS came to seek and save that which was lost. JEHOVAH sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through HIM. Eternal redemption and full ransom were obtained for us through the sinless life, bloody death, and glorious resurrection from the dead by the Lamb of God—all by Himself, without any of your help. Pardon by Precious Blood, Justification by JESUS' Righteousness, Regeneration by the Holy Ghost of God.

The one Good News for lost wretches is this: God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Be ye reconciled to God. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

The WORD was made flesh, born of a Jewish virgin at Bethlehem-Judah, nursed from the breast of a woman, and dwelt among us. He bore our sins and was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. In JESUS dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; He is God over all, blessed forever. Only The BLOOD of JEHOVAH Himself could alone for all my sins. This Man shall be the PEACE (Micah 5:6). Christ Jesus is the atoning Sacrifice, the love of the truth, the great plan of free grace through the suffering Mediator, rest for the weary, mercy for the guilty, and relief for the heavy-laden.

The eternal mission of the Messiah was not earthly conquest in His first coming, but divine Redemption. The Messiah (John 4:25-26) came to be the sinless Sacrifice, bearing the wrath of God in the sinner's place, shedding His Precious Blood on the Cross, and finishing the Atonement so that guilty souls could be legally cleared (remitted), forgiven, and quickened to eternal life.

For I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that JESUS is able to keep that which I have committed unto HIM against that day. This is the essence of precious saving faith: to believe on the living Redeemer. I know Him; I know He is God manifest in the flesh; I know my Redeemer liveth; I know that He died for my sins and has saved my soul. I have now received Him and His atonement, trusted my soul with Him, and committed my soul into His safekeeping.

Now no more do I dread God's wrath, for vengeance has smitten the LAMB in my stead. My legal claim is fully met simply because GOD'S BLOOD paid my sins' dreadful debt. If JESUS can't save and keep my soul, no one can—and I know that I can't.

The everlasting God unveiled Himself of His ineffable glory and took upon Himself the form of a man. The all-glorious Creator veiled His splendor in human form and was nailed to Calvary's TREE for my iniquities and transgressions, forsaken of the Father, crying out in anguish, shedding GOD'S BLOOD, and dying without a friend—all to make an atonement to the law of God.

Fix your faith upon JESUS now; bow your heart in humble prayer; sincerely ask the Holy Spirit to bring Faith to you: Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.

Insulted love and rejected mercy lead to the wrath of God. But this is the very essence and gist of the Gospel of Christ: Christ Jesus died for my sins. He was buried. He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. He died as the Substitute for us criminals. He died that our sins might be put away forever. He lives for evermore so that our Soul may live.

God has punished Christ instead of me, and now He cannot punish me; I am clear of the eternal death penalty I deserve. Christ has paid all my debts, the receipt is given, and I am set free and discharged. My sins, which are many, are forgiven frankly, for JESUS delighteth in mercy.

Look into Judges 13:15–23: Manoah and his wife offered the kid unto the LORD upon the rock, and it was consumed instead of Manoah and his wife. We shall not die, because the Victim has been consumed in our place. The fire will never burn us, for it has been spent upon the innocent sacrifice. The sacrifice went up in smoke, and the Angel did wondrously and ascended with it. The fire can never fall upon us to destroy us.

JESUS was fastened to THE CROSS and suffered untold agonies. The fiery wrath of God consumed JESUS instead of me. He rose from the sacred Fire in the resurrection from the dead, and then, after 40 days, ascended up into glory. The fire of JEHOVAH'S eternal wrath spent itself upon The Lamb of God, and now I shall never perish, for JESUS' sake. JESUS suffered and died instead of me. It can never be that JEHOVAH made JESUS suffer—the Just for the unjust—and then make me suffer too for the same sins. Atonement and Salvation have been FINISHED by THE LAMB OF GOD Himself.

Be wise now: Make sure JESUS is in your boat and at the helm of your heart, or you will never make it to Glory: As a poor, needy sinner, come to JESUS as a little child, and rest in GOD'S PRECIOUS BLOOD.