Damned by being self-righteous!
(Charles Spurgeon, "North and South"#1007)
There is nothing more certain than this:
that you cannot be saved and keep your
sins--they must be parted with.
No man can carry fire in his bosom and yet be
safe from burning.
While you drink the poison,
it must and will work death in you.
The thief
cannot expect mercy while he keeps the goods
he has stolen.
Will you keep your sins and go to
Hell--or leave your sins and go to Heaven?
Most men in their heart of hearts would like
to have their sins, and go to Heaven too. But
that cannot be! While God is just, and Heaven
is holy, and truth is precious--it cannot be!
What if the man does not go to Hell as a
drunkard--it will not help him if he is damned
by being self-righteous. So long as he is
lost,
I do not see that it materially matters how
he goes to Hell.
Many and many a man has given up outward
sins and set up a self-righteousness of his
own, and said, "These are my gods!" And so
he fled from a bear, and a lion slew him;
he leaned on a wall, and a serpent bit him.
All sin must be cast out of the throne of the
heart, and whatever righteousness that is not
Christ's righteousness must go with it.
I would sincerely put the sword-point to your
heart, O sinner, and say, "Give up all that
opposes Christ!" For if you do not give it up,
your soul will be lost!