A Blow at Self-Righteousness

Spurgeon attacks self-righteousness on three fronts: the plea is self-contradicting, since claiming to be without sin is itself a sin (making God a liar), and any claim to comparative righteousness is really a guilty plea in disguise, since a single sin makes one fully guilty before a God who demands a perfect and unblemished righteousness — just as one crack spoils a costly vase entirely. The self-righteous man condemns himself in his own conscience, since deep down every boaster knows his claims are false, as proven by the fact that pride requires noise to drown out conscience's verdict, and at the deathbed and certainly at the Last Judgment the grandest self-defense collapses into speechless horror before the face of God. He closes by showing that self-righteousness in any form — whether crude ("I deserve Heaven"), refined ("I'm better than most"), despairing ("I cannot come until I feel enough"), or even pious ("I trust my faith or my repentance") — is equally fatal, since the only ground of salvation is Christ himself, not any degree of human preparation, and the moment a sinner simply trusts Christ, that sinner stands before God as fully accepted as Christ himself, all sin having been laid on him and all righteousness freely given.Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on December 16th, 1860.