"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He has saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Titus 3:5
Have you ever thought how nice it is to get upon Sunday morning and go to church? I tell my congregation all the time that I would rather get up and go to church, than to get up and go to jail or to the hospital. Now which one would you rather do? Now going to church leads to salvation for most who go and salvation can only happen when the Holy Spirit calls you to Christ Jesus our Lord. And Paul said, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and so count them but dung, that I may win Christ. (Phillippians 3:7-8) What does Paul mean by loss? He means that good things are bad things if they become a substitute for the best thing. Suppose you were on a plane trip. The plane is going down and you grab your knapsack instead of your parachute and jump out. Is the knapsack bad? No, it just not the best choice to save your life! The worst form of badness may be human goodness when that human goodness becomes a substitute for the new birth. No knapsack full of "works of righteousness" will save you. Cast yourself completely upon the work of redemption - the work of the cross. You cannot add to what Jesus did.
Have you ever thought how nice it is to get upon Sunday morning and go to church? I tell my congregation all the time that I would rather get up and go to church, than to get up and go to jail or to the hospital. Now which one would you rather do? Now going to church leads to salvation for most who go and salvation can only happen when the Holy Spirit calls you to Christ Jesus our Lord. And Paul said, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and so count them but dung, that I may win Christ. (Phillippians 3:7-8) What does Paul mean by loss? He means that good things are bad things if they become a substitute for the best thing. Suppose you were on a plane trip. The plane is going down and you grab your knapsack instead of your parachute and jump out. Is the knapsack bad? No, it just not the best choice to save your life! The worst form of badness may be human goodness when that human goodness becomes a substitute for the new birth. No knapsack full of "works of righteousness" will save you. Cast yourself completely upon the work of redemption - the work of the cross. You cannot add to what Jesus did.
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