“There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ's sake, or we cannot be accepted at all. This is not true of us only when we believe; it is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be true as long as we live. Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing, nor does the nature of our relationship to him, or to God through him, ever alter, no matter what our attainments in Christian graces, or our achievements in behavior may be. It is always on his blood & righteousness alone that we can rest.”—B.B. Warfield
“The sinful nature still present within every believer tends toward a legalistic spirit as much as it tends toward sin. The sinful nature despises the righteousness that comes by faith in Jesus Christ as much as it despises the ethical righteousness that comes from obeying God's law. If we are going to serve in the newness of the Spirit, we must resist the legalistic spirit of trying to “live by the law” as vigorously and persistently as we do temptations to sin.”—Jerry Bridges
Never acceptable apart from Jesus, that is. We rest in Him.
We had a discussion with friends recently about how people (true christians) can have times when they doubt their salvation - you know, when times are really bad and some backsliding occurs. My husband had one of those moments of enlightenment that has lifted us all:
ReplyDeleteWe doubt our salvation when we think it has anything to do with us - it has everything to do with Him. That is where to lay our faith and never will doubt enter again.
The quotes here just fit right into that conversation!