The Futility of Human Effort

I don’t care how strong your religion is, or how strong your church life is, I don’t care how strong your morality is. On that day of judgment God will tear it down and it will wilt. Whenever humans declare themselves to be righteous they are doing it by contrasting themselves with other humans who are worse. And you can get away with that, but when your righteousness is contrasted with the righteousness of God there is nothing but to throw yourself down and declare your morality to be dung. ~Paul Washer

There is one great common denominator between all religions outside of Christianity—they all believe that a right standing with God is based upon obedience, personal merit, or some ability to please God. Christianity stands alone in declaring that man is hopelessly and helplessly lost. He cannot improve his standing before God, he cannot obey God, he cannot please God. If he is to be saved, God alone must save him. It is this truth that fallen man hates most of all, for it requires him to humble himself before God, acknowledge his sin, and ask for mercy! God is righteous and man is a lawbreaker, therefore he is no more inclined to seek God than a criminal at large is inclined to seek an officer of the law. ~Paul Washer – ‘The Truth about Man’