All Of Grace (Moody Classics)

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

it is not the object of this book to ask anything of you, but to tell you that salvation is all of grace, which means, free, gratis, for nothing.

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. It is a very surprising thing, a thing to be marveled at most of all by those who enjoy it. I know that it is to me, even to this day, the greatest wonder that I ever heard of that God should ever justify me. I feel myself to be a lump of unworthiness, a mass of corruption, and a heap of sin apart from His almighty love. I know and am fully assured that I am justified by faith which is in Christ Jesus, and I am treated as if I had been perfectly just and made an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ. And yet, by nature I must take my place among the most sinful.

The Law is for the self-righteous, to humble their pride; the Gospel is for the lost, to remove their despair.

Bold shall I stand in that great day, For who aught to my charge shall lay? While by my Lord absolved I am From sin’s tremendous curse and blame. —Zinzendorf

Faith is believing that Christ is what He is said to be and that He will do what He has promised to do, and then to expect this of Him.

Faith saves us because it makes us cling to God and therefore brings us into connection with Him. I have often used the following illustration. Years ago a boat was upset above Niagara Falls. Two men were being carried down the current when persons on the shore managed to float a rope out to them. Both seized it. One of them held onto it and was safely drawn to the bank. But the other, seeing a great log come floating by, unwisely let go the rope and clung to the log, for it was bigger and apparently better to cling to. The log with the man on it went right over the vast abyss, because there was no union between the log and the shore. The size of the log was of no benefit to him who grasped it; it needed a connection with the shore to produce safety. So when a man trusts to his works or to sacraments or to anything of that sort, he will not be saved, because there is no junction between him and Christ. But faith, though it may seem to be like a slender cord, is in the hands of the great God on the shore side; infinite power pulls in the connecting line and thus draws the man from destruction. Oh, the blessedness of faith because it unites us to God!

Faith in its natural form is an all-prevailing force which enters into all manner of human actions. Possibly he who derides faith in God is the man who in an evil form has the most faith; indeed, he usually falls into a credulity which would be ridiculous if it were not disgraceful. God gives salvation to faith, because by creating faith in us He thus touches the real mainspring of our emotions and actions. He has, so to speak, taken possession of the battery and now He can send the sacred current to every part of our nature. When we believe in Christ, and the heart has come into the possession of God, then we are saved from sin and are moved toward repentance, holiness, zeal, prayer, consecration, and every other gracious thing. “What oil is to the wheels, what weights are to a clock, what wings are to a bird, what sails are to a ship, that faith is to all holy duties and services.” Have faith, and all other graces will follow and continue to hold their course.

Certainly faith does for us what nothing else can do; it gives us joy and peace, and causes us to enter into rest. Why do men attempt to gain salvation by other means? An old preacher says, “A silly servant who is told to open a door, puts his shoulder against it and pushes with all his might; but the door stirs not, and he cannot enter, whatever strength he uses. Another comes with a key, easily unlocks the door, and enters immediately. Those who would be saved by works are pushing at heaven’s gate without result, but faith is the key which opens the gate at once.” Will you not use that key? The Lord commands you to believe in His dear Son. Therefore you may do so, and in doing so you shall live. Is not this the promise of the gospel, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16)? What can be your objection to a way of salvation which commends itself to the mercy and the wisdom of our gracious God?

“While we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” He laid down His life for men while as yet they were not believing in Him, nor were able to believe in Him. He died for men, not as believers but as sinners. He came to make these sinners into believers and saints, but when He died for them He viewed them as utterly without strength. If you believe that Christ died for the ungodly, your faith will save you, and you may go in peace. If you will trust your soul to Jesus who died for the ungodly, even though you cannot believe all things or move mountains or do any other wonderful works, yet you are saved. It is not great faith but true faith that saves, and salvation lies not in the faith but in the Christ in whom faith trusts. Faith as a grain of mustard seed will bring salvation. It is not the amount of faith but the sincerity of faith which is the point to be considered. Surely a man can believe what he knows to be true; and as you know Jesus to be true, you can believe in Him.

Some truths which are hard to explain in words are simple enough in actual experience. There is no discrepancy between the truth that the sinner believes and that his faith is wrought in him by the Holy Spirit. Only folly can lead men to puzzle themselves about plain matters while their souls are in danger. No man would refuse to enter a lifeboat because he did not know the specific gravity of bodies; neither would a starving man decline to eat till he understood the whole process of nutrition. If you will not believe till you can understand all mysteries, you will never be saved at all; and if you allow self-invented difficulties to keep you from accepting pardon through your Lord and Saviour, you will perish in a condemnation which will be richly deserved. Do not commit spiritual suicide through a passion for discussing metaphysical subtleties.

They trusted to themselves for that running, and so they stopped short. Beware of mixing even a little of self with the mortar with which you build, or you will make it untempered mortar, and the stones will not hold together. If you look to Christ for your beginning, beware of looking to yourself for your ending. He is Alpha. See to it that you make Him Omega also.