Justification by religious performances, and meritorious deeds, is nothing better than the old Pharisaism with a Christian name stuck upon it. . . That doctrine makes the Lord Jesus Christ to be practically a nobody; for if salvation be of works, then the way of salvation through faith in a Savior is superfluous, and even mischievous
Interpretation
The quote criticizes the belief that good deeds alone can achieve salvation, arguing that this undermines the significance of faith in Jesus Christ.
In this quote, Charles Spurgeon highlights the danger of relying solely on religious works or performances for justification. He likens it to Pharisaism, where outward actions are prioritized over genuine faith. According to Spurgeon, if salvation depends on human efforts rather than faith in Christ, it effectively negates the importance of Christ's role and the need for grace. This outlook not only trivializes Jesus but can lead individuals away from the true essence of salvation through belief.
In practice
In a sermon on the nature of salvation, referencing this quote can clarify the importance of faith over works.
Amusement should be used to do us good “like a medicine”: it must never be used as the food of the man...Many have had all holy thoughts and gracious resolutions stamped out by perpetual trifling. Pleasure so called is the murderer of thought. This is the age of excessive amusement: everybody craves for it, like a babe for its rattle.
When you see no present advantage, walk by faith and not by sight. Do God the honor to trust Him when it comes to matters of loss for the sake of principle.
It is far easier to fight with sin in public than to pray against it in private.
You will never glory in God till first of all God has killed your glorying in yourself.
After faith comes repentance, or, rather, repentance is faith's twin brother and is born at the same time.
["All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant."] The original Hebrew word that has been translated "paths" means "well-worn roads' or "wheel tracks," such ruts as wagons make when they go down our green roads in wet weather and sink in up to the axles. God's ways are at times like heavy wagon tracks that cut deep into our souls, yet all of them are merciful.
The point of literary criticism in anthropology is not to replace research, but to find out how it is that we are persuasive.
No one pays attention to these killings, but the secret of the world is hidden in them.
It does no harm to the romance of the sunset to know a little bit about it.
She tried to pray, but she had only ever prayed at night, and it seemed to her that the moons made poor protectors when angels chose to hunt by day.
Yes, it was too late, and Sabina knew she would leave Paris, move on, and on again, because were she to die here they would cover her up with a stone, and in the mind of a woman for whom no place is home the thought of an end to all flight is unbearable.
The lessons of the First Amendment are as urgent in the modern world as the 18th Century when it was written. One timeless lesson is that if citizens are subjected to state-sponsored religious exercises, the State disavows its own duty to guard and respect that sphere of inviolable conscience and belief which is the mark of a free people.
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