"Salvation is of the LORD." -Jonah 2:9

There are just two kinds of people in this world; those who justify themselves before God and those who are justified by God in Christ. Those who justify themselves are always condemned before God. Those who condemn themselves are always justified before the Lord by His grace ( Rom ans 3:24 & Titus 3:7 ) . In Luke 18 the Pharisee justified himself and was condemned. The publican condemned himself and was justified ( Luke 18:13-14 ) . Which one are you? Grace is for the guilty! “And H e said unto them ( the Pharisees ) , Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” ( Luke 16:15 ) . The Lord Jesus had the sharpest rebukes and the strongest warnings to those who went about to seek salvation by the deeds of the law. He never had a kind word of mercy or a word of grace to those Pharisees who stood on the ground of their merit and self-righteousness. He

“ For in HIM dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in HIM, which is the head of all principality and power.” -Colossians 2:9-10 [KJV] What a great and glorious message this is! All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all who are united in Him are complete in HIM! Christ is the fullness of all the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification ( holiness ), and redemption, God requires, and this is true of all who believe in Him, all who rest in the blessed fact that His righteousness alone entitles them to the whole inheritance of eternal life and final glory in Heaven. If all who believe in Him are complete in Him, and it is all based on the merits of His righteousness alone, then there is nothing left for believers to do in order to attain salvation. They have it completely, and it will never be lost. There is nothing for believers to do in order to be qualified, fit, or entitled to any part of etern