“The gospel learning I may give you in a few sentences, namely, these: that, inasmuch as through man’s sin, the way of obedience is for ever closed, so that we—none of us—can ever pass by it to a true righteousness, God has now determined to deal with men in a way of mercy, to forgive them all their offences, to bestow upon them his love, to receive them graciously, and to love them freely.  He has been pleased, in his infinite wisdom, to devise a way by which without injury to his justice, he can yet receive the most undeserving sons of men into his heart, and make them his children, and can bless them with all the blessings which would have been theirs had they perfectly kept God’s law, but which now shall come to them as a matter of gift and undeserved grace from himself…”

Spurgeon continues to comment on if our works or God’s grace is responsible for our salvation:

“It is a blessed thing never to muddle in your head the doctrine of working, and the doctrine of receiving by grace, for there is an essential and eternal difference between the two.  I hope you all know that there can be no mixing of the two.  If we are saved by grace, it cannot be by our own merits, but if we depend upon our own merits, then we cannot appeal to the grace of God, since the two things can never be mingled together.  It must be all works or else all grace.  Now, God’s plan of salvation excludes all our works.  ‘Not of works, lest any man should boast.’”

Charles Spurgeon said this in a sermon entitled, “Justification by Faith” that was based on Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

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