Boasting of Merit, Doubting His Grace
The sermon emphasizes the struggle to believe in free grace due to our natural inclination towards self-righteousness and the idea of earning salvation.
C.H. Spurgeon emphasizes the struggle of humanity to accept the concept of divine grace, as our natural inclination is to rely on our own merits and works for salvation. He points out that self-righteousness is deeply ingrained in our hearts, leading us to doubt the free gift of grace that God offers. Spurgeon illustrates how even after conversion, we often revert to a mindset of earning salvation, forgetting that it is a gift from God. He reassures us that God has bound us to His promises, affirming that His grace is true and unwavering. Ultimately, Spurgeon calls us to trust in God's grace rather than our own efforts.
Text
...our nature runs so cross to the whole system of divine grace that we need much assuring before we can believe it. We are always for working, deserving, and earning. Phariseeism is the religion of nature. We boast of our merit and yet we are as meritless as Satan himself. The idea of working and deserving appears to be ingrained in our nature; and as certain as the blood is red, so sure is the heart self-righteous. We cannot divest ourselves of the idea of salvation as payment for work done: that it is a gift, a free gift of grace, it is hard to make us believe. Even after conversion the old tendency betrays itself; we steal away from Jesus to Moses as often as we get opportunity, and then begin to doubt free grace.
Therefore the Lord has fettered and bound us down to believing with golden chains of promise and oath. "It must be so," saith he, "the grace that I have revealed is indeed true, for I have sworn by myself."
From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Strong Consolation For The Lord's Refugees," delivered April 29, 1877.
Sermon Outline
- The Nature of Self-Righteousness
- The Problem of Merit
- The Assurance of Free Grace
- The Lord's promises and oaths assure us of His grace
- We must trust in the Lord's character and promises
Key Quotes
“The idea of working and deserving appears to be ingrained in our nature; and as certain as the blood is red, so sure is the heart self-righteous.” — C.H. Spurgeon
Application Points
- We must be aware of our tendency towards self-righteousness and the idea of earning salvation.
- We must trust in the Lord's promises and oaths to assure us of His free grace.
- We must recognize that our merit is meritless and that salvation is a free gift of grace.