For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8).
“Remember Martin Luther’s way of cutting the devil’s head off with his own sword. ‘Oh,’ said the devil to Martin Luther, ‘you are a sinner.’ ‘Yes,’ said Luther, ‘Christ died to save sinners.’ Thus he smote him with his own sword. Hide in this refuge and stay there: ‘In due time Christ died for the ungodly.’ If you stand on that truth, your blasphemous thoughts, which you do not have the strength to drive away, will go away by themselves, for Satan will see that he is achieving nothing by plaguing you with them.”
Charles Spurgeon, All Is Grace,
p. 77 |
| European Starling |
“Remember Martin Luther’s way of cutting the devil’s head off with his own sword. ‘Oh,’ said the devil to Martin Luther, ‘you are a sinner.’ ‘Yes,’ said Luther, ‘Christ died to save sinners.’ Thus he smote him with his own sword. Hide in this refuge and stay there: ‘In due time Christ died for the ungodly.’ If you stand on that truth, your blasphemous thoughts, which you do not have the strength to drive away, will go away by themselves, for Satan will see that he is achieving nothing by plaguing you with them.”
“That which is necessary to salvation is not continuous
thought but a simple reliance upon Jesus. Hold onto this one fact: ‘In due time
Christ died for the ungodly.’ This truth will not require you to do any deep
research or profound reasoning or convincing argument. There it stands: ‘In due
time Christ died for the ungodly.’ Fix your mind on that, and rest there.
“Let this one great,
gracious, glorious fact lie in your spirit until it permeates all your thoughts
and makes you rejoice even though you are without strength. Rejoice that
the Lord Jesus has become your strength and your song—He has become your
salvation. According to the Scriptures, it is a revealed fact that in due time
Christ died for the ungodly when they were yet without strength. Maybe, you
have heard these words hundreds of times, and yet you have never before
perceived their meaning. There is a wonderful thing about them. Jesus did not die for our righteousness,
but He died for our sins. He did not come to save us because we were worth
saving, but because we were utterly worthless, ruined, and undone. He did not
come to earth out of any reason that was in us, but solely and only because of
the reasons which He took from the depths of His own divine love.
“In due time Jesus died for those whom He describes not as
godly but as ungodly, describing them
with as hopeless an adjective as He could have selected. Even if you think
little, fasten your mind to this truth,
for it is fitted to the smallest capacity and is able to cheer the heaviest
heart. Let this text lie under your tongue like a sweet morsel till it
dissolves into your heart and flavors all your thoughts.”
Charles Spurgeon, All
Is Grace, pp.71-72, emphasis mine
