"Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness" (Romans 4:4,5).
It is quite easy for many to believe that they are ungodly, and even to acknowledge it; but for them to believe that God justifies them--that is too much.
And the reason why they cannot believe that God justifies them, is that they are so ungodly.
If only they could find some good in themselves, or if only they could straighten up and do better, they might have some courage to hope that God would justify them. Yes, they would justify themselves by works, and then profess to believe in justification by faith!
But that would only take away all ground for justification; for if a man can find good in himself, he has it already, and does not need it from anywhere else. If he can straighten up and do better of himself, he does not need any justification from anywhere else.
It is, therefore, a contradiction in terms to say that I am so ungodly that I do not see how the Lord can justify me. For if I am not ungodly, I do not need to be made righteous: I am righteous. There is no half-way ground between godliness and ungodliness.
But when a person sees himself so ungodly as to find there is no possible ground of hope for justification, it is just there that faith comes in. Indeed, it is only there that faith can possibly come in."
"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-6). [1]
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