The gospel is true whether you believe it or not, but it won’t do you any good unless you believe it. No one is going to force you to leave the jungle. The sole condition for receiving God’s gift of grace is you have to want it. The sinner must drop his guns and the saint must put down her offerings so that both may come with empty hands and faith-filled hearts to the table of his blessings.
The only thing that can render worthless the exceeding riches of God’s grace is unbelief. Unbelief prays, “God, please do this, and that, and the other thing,” but faith looks to the finished work of the cross and says, “Lord, you have done it all.” Unbelief gives—“Lord, look at what I’ve done/built/brought for you.”—but faith receives—“Look at what you have done for us.” Unbelief toils and accomplishes nothing; faith understands that everything comes to us by grace for free. Unbelief tries but faith trusts.
Paul Ellis
The Gospel in Ten Words, KingsPress, 2012, 9.
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