The Grace of God-02 Grandeur of Grace — William MacDonald

The Grace of God and the Need for Salvation

Well, we want to continue, perhaps even close today, our study on the grandeur of grace. We've been talking about the marvelous grace of God. Where does that all begin? Well, I went back in my mind to where it all began.

God looks down and He sees a world lost in sin. You don't believe it? Read the papers or watch the television. And He decided to do something about it. Now, that was grace. He didn't have to. He could have just left man to his own ruin.

He could have. He could have left humanity just wallow in its mire and end up in hell. God is a God of love, and God decided to do something about it. And His love demanded that He provide a salvation for all men that wanted it, for all people who wanted it.

Ah, but His holiness demanded that sin be dealt with. God couldn't take sinners home to heaven in that condition because heaven wouldn't be heaven. God couldn't tolerate sinful behavior in His presence, could He, for all eternity.

So here's on one hand His love, and His love really wants men and women to be with Him for all eternity in heaven, and His holiness says sin must be punished. How do you reconcile those two? Dear friends, there was only one possible way of salvation.

That was for a sinless substitute to die for ungodly sinners. And we saw that that substitute had to meet certain requirements, and we found that the only person in the universe who met those requirements was the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's marvelous. You talk about grace, that God would be willing to send the Son of His love down to this world to die on a cross of shame to shed His blood in order that the way of salvation might be made.

People were pretty bad, and that's what God did. And so God provided the only, I think about this all the time, the only way God could have only provided a way of salvation would be to give it as a free gift, the only way.

Because if He had put any conditions on it, men wouldn't have been able to meet them. Not every man would. There's no other conceivable salvation than just giving it as a free gift to people who would receive it, who would repent of their sins and receive it.

And that's what we mean by the gospel of grace. For by grace are ye saved, through faith you must receive it, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, that any man should boast.

John Newton and the Experience of Grace

Really tremendous. And we talked last week about how some people really had an amazing, had a wonderful concept of the grace of God. A man named John Newton, John Newton. He became, as a young man, he became a drunken, dissolute fellow.

John Newton went about as low in the human equation as anybody I've ever known. And he was a seafaring man, and he engaged in slave traffic between Africa and England. And he was so bad that even his friends couldn't tolerate him.

He eventually became the slave. He eventually became the slave of a black woman who was the wife of the slave trader. And then there was a terrible storm at sea, which God has often used to wake men up to their terrible condition.

And he cried out to God, and God saved him. And John Newton wrote those words, how amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a what? Wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.

And then that lovely hymn, Alas, and did my savior bleed, and did my sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred head for such a what? Worm as I. I mean, people who could write like that really appreciated the grace of God.

They really did. They really appreciated the fact that salvation isn't something you work for or earn, but something you receive from God, a gift of matchless grace. I was thinking about that hymn yesterday, the old rugged cross.

And I thought of this line, which was on that cross where the dearest and best, I like that, the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was laid. But I want to tell you, dear friends, Jesus is the dearest and best.

God gave him to die for us. And I'm glad when I run across people who really appreciate the grace of God. Last week at the close of the meeting, I mentioned that today I wanted to share with you a conversation between a man named Charles Simeon and another one named John Wesley.

Charles Simeon was what we call a Calvinist. That means a follower of John Calvin. And Calvinists, I'm not going to go into all the details, but generally they emphasize God's works in salvation. They emphasize, and John Wesley was what we call an Arminian.

That means a follower of a man named Arminius. And they emphasize man's part in salvation. Now that's oversimplifying, but never mind, that'll do. Simeon was a Calvinist, emphasizing God's part, and they were going to have a meeting.

Uh-oh, I mean, this is war, you know, and those two opposing sides have a meeting. And so Charles Simeon drew out his mental sword, and he was ready for the fray. And this is the way it went, and I think that you will rather like it.

Simeon, I understand that you are called an Arminian, and I have sometimes been called a Calvinist, and therefore I suppose we are to draw daggers. Oh, sorry, it's a dagger, not a sword. But before I consent to begin the combat, I want to ask you a few questions.

Do you feel yourself a depraved creature, so depraved that you would never have thought of turning to God if God had not first put it in your heart? Wesley said, yes, I do indeed. Simeon, and do you utterly despair of commending yourself to God by anything you can do, and look to salvation solely through the blood and righteousness of Christ?

Wesley said, yes, solely through Christ. Simeon, but supposing you were first saved by Christ, are you not somehow or other to save yourself afterwards by your own power? Wesley, no, I must be saved by Christ from first to last.

Simeon, suppose then that you were first turned by the grace of God, are you not in some way or other to keep yourself by your own power? Wesley, no. Simeon, then are you to be upheld every moment and every hour by God as much as an infant in its mother's arms?

Wesley, yes, altogether. Simeon, is all your hope in the grace and mercy of God to preserve you unto his heavenly kingdom? Wesley, yes, I have no hope but in him. Simeon was satisfied. He found no reason for combat.

He put his figurative dagger back into it. Both of those men agreed that salvation was completely, totally through the Lord Jesus Christ and through his... Listen, both of those men were standing firmly on the grace platform.

Not all their followers are, but never mind, they were. How can you tell salvation by works, people? How can you tell if a person is really not trusting the grace of God but trusting works? Their speech betrays them.

Salvation by Grace Rather Than Human Works

Their speech betrays them. A man says, I'm doing my best. I'm doing my best. The trouble here is your best is not good enough. All the best you have to offer God is only filthy rag. But you say, I'm not as bad as a lot of other people.

I'm not as bad as a lot of other people. That may be true, but you've fallen short of God's standards. God's standard is perfection and you need to be saved. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Somebody else says, I'm trying to be a Christian. I'm kind to my neighbors and I lead a good life. You can't become a Christian by trying. You become a Christian by trusting. It's by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ that you're saved for time and for eternity.

There's an old hymn that says, let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requires is to feel your need of him. That's very good. That's very good. Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream.

All the fitness he requires is to feel your need of him. Well, somebody says to me, isn't it enough that I am sincere? Well, a person can be sincere and sincerely wrong. Didn't you ever read about the story of the man who, he heard a noise during the night and he came downstairs into the living room downstairs.

He thought he had heard a robber. When he saw a movement in the living room, he drew his gun, killed his own daughter. He was sincere. He was trying to save his family, but he was horribly mistaken. Dear friends, you can be that in connection with the salvation of your soul.

You can be sincere and be sincerely wrong. Well, somebody says to me, I've always been a very religious person. You know, sometimes the worst thing about a person is his religion, because it hides from him his need of Christ.

You can be religious and lost. Warren Weersbe says this, like most religious people today, Paul had enough morality to keep him out of trouble, but he didn't have enough righteousness to get him into heaven.

Isn't that good? He had enough morality to keep him out of trouble, but he didn't have enough righteousness to get him into heaven. It was not bad things that kept Paul away from Jesus. It was good things.

He had to lose his religion to find salvation. Somebody says, well, I hope I'll get to heaven. Dear friends, not enough to hope. You have to know. You have to be certain. Perhaps your hope is wrong. Ah, but my grandfather was a minister.

You must remember that salvation is an intensely personal matter. Even if your grandfather was a born-again minister, that doesn't save you. I think I said last week, grace does not run in the genes.

Every person must make that decision for Christ in order to be saved. Salvation is not a matter of pedigree or a family tree. Somebody says, well, you really can't know until God brings out his scales and puts in your good works and your bad works.

Dear friends, if you're depending on your works, it'll be too late when God brings out the scales. You can know now if you have received the gift of God. You know when you've received the gift. Eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Somebody says to me, well, I think I have a good chance. And the answer to that is you have no chance at all. As long as you depend on yourself and reject the Savior. Very common when people say, well, isn't that presumption to say that you're saved?

Yes, if salvation were by works or by character, it would be presumption to say that you're saved. It would be very, very foolish. But when salvation is a gift of God's grace, it's not presumption. It's not presumption if you receive a gift.

God says in his words that those who repent of their sins and trust the Lord Jesus Christ are saved. Is it presumption to doubt the word of God? Is it a sense in which a Christian is wagering his whole eternity on the word of God?

Is it a sense in which a Christian is betting his whole eternity on the word of God and there's no risk involved? I have to clean up my life first, don't I? I can understand people feeling this way. Well, I think I'll just put on some clean clothes and squirt a little eau de cologne or evening of Paris on me and fix myself up, you know, before I get saved.

No, that's not the way at all. God invites men to come just as they are in all their sins. If you wait till you're better, you'll never come at all. God's not looking for good people or people who've tried to clean themselves up.

He's looking for ungodly people who will acknowledge that they're that and he can save and sanctify and glorify. Somebody says to me, well, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to hold out. See, all of these things that I've brought up before you, they're people who think that salvation is by trying, by doing their best, by good works or good character.

I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to hold out. Well, you never will be able to hold out until you realize that salvation is by grace. You, in your own strength, would never be able to hold out than you are to save yourself in the first place.

But, you know, the same wonderful Savior who gives you salvation as a free gift, he also gives you the power to live the Christian life. He's able to keep you from stumbling and present you spotless before the presence of his glory with exceeding.

God says, look, come with empty hands. That's what he says. The Lord Jesus says, come just as you are. In order to be saved, a person has to abandon any hope not only of saving himself, but even of contributing to his own salvation in any way.

I think of all the hymns, you know, anybody that knows me knows that I love hymns. Of all the hymns that I think of, one of the greatest is Rock of Ages. Why? Because it teaches salvation by grace. Rock of Ages cleft for me.

Of course, the Lord Jesus was a rock of ages cleft on the cross of Calvary. Rock of Ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. One of the other verses says, not the labor of my hands could fulfill thy laws demands.

Could my zeal no respite? No. Could my zeal just go on unabated through all of life? Could my zeal no respite? No. Could my tears forever flow? All for sin could not atone. Thou must say, thou alone. That's grace, dear friends.

In my hand no price I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Naked, come to thee for dress. Helpless, look to thee for grace. Foul, I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die. I tell you, you know the language of grace when you hear it, don't you?

Christ's Finished Work and the Place of Good Works

Another hymn writer named Proctor, he teaches very clearly that Christ finished the work for our salvation. And if he finished it, you don't have to. He says, weary, working, burdened one, wherefore toil you so?

Cease your doing. All was done long, long ago. Till to Jesus' work you cling by a simple faith. Doing is a deadly thing. Doing ends in death. Cast your deadly doing down, down at Jesus' feet. Stand in him, in him alone, gloriously come sleep.

It is finished. Yes, indeed. Finished every jot. Sinner, this is all you need. Tell me, is it not? That's the language. Somebody might listen to me and say, McDonald, what's the matter with works? You always say we're not saved by works.

Anything the matter with works? And I can see why there might be misunderstanding. When we say that we're not saved by works, we mean meritorious works. We mean there's nothing we can do to gain God's favor, no work that we can perform, no growth in character or anything like that to make ourselves fit for heaven.

Good to remember that. Actually, there is a sense in which faith is a work, but it's not a meritorious work. The Jews came to Jesus one day and they said, what good work must we do that we might work the works of God?

And Jesus said, this is the work of God that you believe on him whom he has sent down. So, in a sense, believing is a work, but it's not a meritorious work. I can't pat myself on the back and say, nice going, McDonald, you believe on Jesus.

That's not something to gain merit. That's the most sensible, sane, logical, reasonable thing a person can do is to believe on Jesus. What is more reasonable than the creature should believe his creator?

So, there's no boasting that I believed in Jesus. What I'm saying is I've accepted him. I was a guilty lost sinner. I believe he died for me, and I accept him as my Lord and Savior. The first good work that a sinner can ever do is to believe on Jesus.

That's really very, very important. Until he does that, all his works are bad works in God's sight. Boy, that's a rockbuster, isn't it? The first good work you can do is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Until you do that, all your works are bad works. Filthy rags, Isaiah calls them, filthy rags. The best you can offer to God is not a good work. But the minute you say whatever you do for the glory of God is a good work, your daily work, your secular occupation is a good work.

Anything you do to please him is a good work. Anything you do for the good of others is a good work. And God reckons it to be so. I think that's one of them. Good works are the fruit of salvation, not the root.

They're not the cause of salvation, they're the result of salvation. The Bible teaches that Christians should do good works. We're appointed to good works, but not in order to be saved, because we are saved.

The Bible says what God has joined together, let not man put asunder. You say, oh, I hear the wedding bells. Well, I hear more than wedding bells. God has put certain things together. He's joined together faith and salvation.

Don't separate them. He's joined together works and reward. Ah, after you're saved. What God has joined together, let not man put asunder. Faith and salvation, works and reward. Now, I'm going to ask Mike to come up and help me again with these overhead projectors.

I get tongue-tied if I have to talk. And thank you very much, Mike. Appreciate it. Way, way over. Good. And we're going to start there. What does that first one say? When you sin, when a believer sins, doesn't he lose his salvation?

Eternal Security and the Gift of Eternal Life

Yes. Very good. This is a question that comes up. Answer me this question. Okay, I trust the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. I'm saved by the grace of God through faith. Then what happens when I sin? Don't I lose my salvation?

The answer is no. And here we're going to give you some reasons why. First of all, salvation is a gift of grace. And, dear friends, when God gives a gift, he doesn't take it back again. My Bible says the gifts and callings of God are without reason.

God is not an Indian giver. Maybe that's not a politically correct thing to say. God is not an Indian giver. He doesn't give something and then take it back again. No. Salvation is a gift. Once you've got it, you've got it, dear friends.

Secondly, my Bible teaches that the same grace that saves also keeps. It would be a terrible thing if God saved me and then said, Okay, now you go on by yourself. See how you can do. I remember Spurgeon saying someplace that if God saved him, and then he got to the very gates of heaven, and God said, Okay, now walk over the threshold in your own strength.

He said, I would never make it alive. Which is kind of an exaggeration, kind of hyperbole in a way, but there's a truth there. The truth is that salvation depends on Christ from beginning to end. That's the truth.

And thank God for a salvation that not only saves but is able to keep us from stumbling, as we said, and present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Notice, the gift of God is eternal life.

The gift of God is eternal life. Eternal means forever. I don't know why people stumble over that. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life.

What kind of a life would it be if it were for three weeks? It wouldn't be much of a life. That's not everlasting life. Everlasting is everlasting. I feel like a kindergarten teacher getting up here and saying something like that.

But it's true, isn't it? Eternal means forever. Everlasting means forever. Then in John 10, 27, 28, Jesus said that no sheep of his would ever perish. He said that. John 10, 27, 28. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life.

And he said they shall never perish. Now, think about this for a minute. Supposing one sheep of Christ ever perished, what would be the consequence of that? The consequence of that for Christ would be he had said something that wasn't true.

He said no sheep of his would ever perish. Now, one has perished. That would mean he isn't God. It would mean he can't be trusted, and it would mean there's no gospel. There's no good news. So, we come to a verse of Scripture like that.

We say, thank God no sheep of Christ will ever perish. Next, when a person is saved, he becomes a child of God by the new birth. That's what we mean when we talk about being born again. When a person comes, repents of his sins, believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, believing that he died for his sins on the cross at Calvary, he's born again.

A birth takes place. A birth takes place. Dear friends, once a birth takes place, you can never undo it. It's forever. Take your birth, for example. Take Kirsten, that lovely little baby she's holding in her arms here.

Newborn baby. That baby was born the child of John and Kirsten. Nothing can ever change that. It's forever. You say, oh, but I could go out and disgrace my father. Yeah, you could. You're still his son.

Nothing you can do would ever change that. Think it through. That's the truth of the new birth. You're born a child of God, and you're his forever. Relationship is an unbreakable chain. Very important to see that.

Next, just as sure as you are justified, so sure it is that you will one day be glorified. That is, one day in heaven. It says in Romans chapter 8, whom he justified, them he also glorified. That's marvelous, you know.

Just as sure as a person is regenerated, saved, justified, it's absolute. He's as sure of heaven as if he were already there, but to the merits of Christ. Unanswerable, as far as I'm concerned. Next, the Holy Spirit indwells the believer forever.

Not just until he sins. When a person is saved, the Holy Spirit comes into his body. His body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit, and he stays there forever, the word of God says. You say, well, does he leave when a person...

No, he doesn't leave when a person sins. He never leaves. He's grieved when a believer sins, so he doesn't leave. Next, the Holy Spirit is given to the believer as an earnest or pledge of heaven. That expression is used of the Holy Spirit, earnest.

He's the earnest of our inheritance. And, as we've said before, it means that just as surely as a person has the Holy Spirit, so sure is it that he's going to get the full inheritance in heaven. When we were enemies, how much more will he keep us now that we're his friends?

If he went to such a cost to reconcile us when we were enemies of God, will he not much more want to keep us now that we belong to him? Dear friends, he paid too high a price to ever let us go. Marvelous, when you stop to think of it.

The believer, next, will never be condemned. Never be condemned. Who shall condemn us? Hall hurls out the challenge in Romans chapter 8. Who is he that condemneth? The answer is, nobody condemns. God has justified us.

And if God, the best authority, justifies us, who can ever condemn us? And God is no longer my judge. God is my Father now. And he says I'm fit for heaven through the merits of Christ. Not through Bill McDonald, I don't know.

But through the merits of Christ. Then the second, next you have the glorious truth that the Lord Jesus paid the penalty of my sin on the cross of Calvary. Okay, if he paid the penalty, I don't have to.

God doesn't demand payment twice. I want to tell you something. When you come and you bow the knee and you receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior, all the good of the work of Christ on Calvary's cross becomes yours, and the penalty of your sins is paid.

Now, would it be fair of God to demand you to pay it? No. That is known in law as double jeopardy. And even in our country, with justice at a low ebb as it is today, there's no double jeopardy. Once a debt has been paid, it's paid, dear friend.

You don't demand payment twice. And God doesn't demand payment twice. First at my bleeding, shorty hands, and then again at mine. Next, the Lord Jesus finished the work for our redemption. You can't add to a finished work, and you don't have to.

Those are glorious words that he uttered from the cross of Calvary. It is finished. Dear friend, we have the word of the Son of God that the work of redemption was finished. Imagine man coming along and trying to finish it.

Don't be ridiculous. He finished it. You don't have to. You couldn't, anyway. And then again, at the end of Romans chapter 8, Paul ransacks the universe. Now, think if he can say anything that would ever separate a believer from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, and he comes up dry.

I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Dear friend, that's security. That's security. Now, just let me say, it is true that there are a few verses in the Bible that seem to teach that a person can be saved and then lost. There are a few verses.

Let me just give you a few keys. First of all, some of those verses refer to people who weren't truly saved. They refer to people who were false professors. Never truly came to know the Lord Jesus as Savior.

I mean, they talked a good talk, but they didn't walk a good walk. It's not enough to talk the walk. You have to walk the talk. Don't you? Secondly, some passages deal with service, not salvation. Paul said, for instance, I buffet my body and bring it into subjection, lest, having to preach to others, I myself should be a castaway.

He wasn't talking about salvation there. He was talking about service. He didn't want to be put on the shelf as far as service for God was concerned. And in the famous passage on the vine and the branches, a branch can be cast out and burned by men, not by God.

Not by God. Burned by men. That passage doesn't have to do with salvation. It has to do with service, fruit-bearing for the Lord. And then there are some passages dealing with people who are known as apostates.

And these are people who were never saved, but who professed to be, and then they turned their backs on Christ and wanted nothing to do with him, and says it's impossible to renew them again unto repentance.

Sin, Fellowship, and the Believer's Daily Life

But supposing a believer does sin. I think this is important for us. Do I have some overhead projectors on this? Supposing a believer does sin. What happens when a believer sins? Well, we don't want to make it sound that it's not important when a believer sins.

It is important. It is important. First of all, his fellowship with God is broken. That's a very serious thing. Not his relationship now. His relationship is still the same. He's still a child of God.

But his fellowship with God is broken. God is still his Father, but communion is no longer there. That's a very dangerous position to be in. Not be walking in fellowship with God. And secondly, his fellowship with fellow believers is broken.

That's an interesting thing. You know, here's a man that grows cold in heart towards the Lord. He knows the Lord. He's saved, but he's been dabbling in sin, and he has to wait. He doesn't want to get hit.

Christians try to reach him, and he doesn't want to be reached. Have you ever noticed that? He's out of fellowship with him. He's out of fellowship. The happy family spirit is gone. Next, he loses the joy of his salvation.

Loses the joy. He doesn't lose his salvation. He loses the joy of salvation. That's why David, after his horrible, dastardly sin, cried out to the Lord, Restore unto me the joy of my salvation. And anyone who's backslidden from the Lord knows experientially what that means.

Next, he loses his power. His power for service. I mean, before he got away from the Lord, he spoke and then trembled. Now he's away from the Lord, his word has no power. His word has no power. He loses any effective testimony.

It's like Lot's sons-in-law, when he tried to warn them, you know, Get out of Sodom! He seemed to them as one who mocked. His words just fell lifelessly to the ground because he wasn't walking in fellowship with the Lord.

A person can still be fit for heaven through the merits of Christ, and yet unfit for service here on earth. And then, if his sin is of a public nature, it brings shame on the name of the Lord. David, if I can go back to David again, he caused the enemies of God to blaspheme.

Dear friends, when a Christian sins, the world is looking on. And you know what they say? He's a Christian, I'd rather have my dog. And they sit when they say it. Very, very serious. And of course, when a person is out of fellowship with the Lord, he's living a lie.

His actions cast doubt on the reality of his conversion. He talks cream, but he's living skim milk. As the world can see through that in a minute. He loses his access to God in prayer. And I have to hurry.

The heavens are dead. He loses his access to God in prayer. His works will be burned up, but not he himself. You read that in 1 Corinthians 3. His works will be burned up. All his life amounted to was wood, hay, and stubble, and it'll just go up in fire.

But he himself will be saved. He may lose his health. 1 Corinthians 11. He may lose his health. And he may even die under the discipline of God. For this cause some are weakened sickly among you, and some...

You know, I think one of the worst things about being out of fellowship with God is that the person is in danger of making shipwreck of his life. He could make a single decision at that time. He doesn't always, but he could make a single decision at that time and ruin the rest of his life.

You say, what do you mean? Well, he could marry the wrong woman, or the woman could marry the wrong man. But they could be saved. It doesn't make any difference. It doesn't always work that way. A single decision made out of the will of God can just wreck a person, his testimony, for the rest of his life.

And then, of course, he may lose rewards at the judgment seat. But thank God the position is not hopeless. If a person has sinned, if a Christian has sinned, all he has to do is come to the Lord and confess it.

And God is faithful enough to forgive his sin. It cleanses him from all unrighteousness. The unbeliever receives forgiveness of sin through faith in Christ. The believer receives forgiveness of sin through confession of his sin.

Confession and forsaking of his sin. God is faithful to forgive because he promised he would. He's just to forgive because he has a righteous basis in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But even here I want to add a word of caution, and with this I close.

Although my sin may be forgiven, my sin as a believer may be forgiven when I confess, and it is. Sometimes the consequences of my sin go with me through the rest of my life. Even for a believer. Yeah, even for a believer.

If one day a believer drank too much and stumbled home and tripped on a railroad crossing, and a train came and took off his left leg, he can be forgiven for overdrinking that time. He'll never get the leg back of his life.

The consequences of his sin go with him. Why am I saying that? Because you can't sin, really, and get away with it. You can't sin and get away with it. I wouldn't want anybody... We rejoice in the truth of eternal security.

We rejoice in that. But sin has its consequences just the same, in this life, and at the judgment seat of Christ. Shall we look to God in closing prayer? We haven't exhausted the subject of grace, and never will.

It'll be the theme throughout eternity. The wonderful grace of God. Shall we pray? Father, we do magnify your grace today. Who but you would have ever devised the scheme of salvation whereby your lovely Son would leave the heights of glory and come down to this sin-cursed planet and die as a substitute for people like me.