Spurgeon Saturday

The Sweetness of Substitution

“I have always considered, with Luther and Calvin, that the sum and substance of the gospel lies in that word Substitution—Christ standing in the stead of man.

If I understand the gospel, it is this: I deserve to be lost forever; the only reason why I should not be damned is that Christ was punished in my stead, and there is no need to execute a sentence twice for sin.

On the other hand, I know I cannot enter Heaven unless I have a perfect righteousness; I am absolutely certain I shall never have one of my own, for I find I sin every day; but then Christ had a perfect righteousness, and He said, ‘There, poor sinner, take My garment, and put it on; you shall stand before God as if you were Christ, and I will stand before God as if I had been the sinner; I will suffer in the sinner’s stead, and you shall be rewarded for works which you did not do, but which I did for you.’

I find it very convenient every day to come to Christ as a sinner, as I came at first. ‘You are no saint,’ says the devil. Well, if I am not, I am a sinner, and Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Sink or swim, I go to Him; other hope I have none. By looking to Him, I received all the faith which inspired me with confidence in His grace; and the word that first drew my soul—‘Look unto Me’—still rings its clarion note in my ears. There I once found conversion, and there I shall ever find refreshing and renewal.”