O Self-Reliance

By

John Orlando


In class I took, we were tasked to preach a sermon to ourselves wherein we addressed what we thought were our own self-besetting sin. I chose the sin of self-reliance to preach against:

O Self-Reliance! Look at you! Because of you, I say that God is sovereign. I say that I am utterly helpless without God. I am quick to quote the Lord’s words, “without Me you can do nothing…” (John 15:5). Yet I, through your subtle whisperings I go about my day as if everything depended upon my own strength, intellect, and abilities. On account of your deceitful ways, I have no problem saying those things are God-given, yet I am far to quick to act, far to slow to pray and when I do pray, it is not energized with the sense of urgency, or even real belief that I really can do nothing apart from Christ.

So look at that, O Self-Reliance! Through your craftiness, I can tell others about faith in Christ, but I myself have none, because my faith is ultimately grounded in myself. I can point others to Christ, but I point myself to myself. Through your arrogant proddings, I secretly believe that whatever success I enjoy is due largely to my ingenuity, and when the applause of men comes my way, I say in false humility, “thank you friend; but you know, to God alone be all of the glory!” Yeah, right. Who are you fooling, O Self-Reliance? Trust me; God is neither fooled, nor is He impressed.

O Self-Reliance! You obscure so much and cause me to miss so much of what the Gospel is! Why did Jesus lived and died? Was it merely to secure a place in Heaven for me? As grand a thing as that is, and much as I know that He did do that, there is so much more that Jesus has won and holds out for me in His Gospel. But even if that were all, what does that teach me? Does it not demonstrate that I, O Self-Reliance, am utterly helpless in and of myself in the most significant of all ways; namely, to be in a right relationship with my Creator?

Yet, how is it that I forget so quickly that the reason I am utterly helpless to be in a right relationship with God is directly due to the radical corruption of my heart, wherein you reside O Self-Reliance? O-Self Reliance, you devious trickster! You would have me forget that the whole essence of who I am--my mind, body, emotions, and will--has been devastated to the core by sin.

That's right, O-Self- Reliance! The Bible is manifestly clear! My heart; the essence of who I am as a person, is “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it…” (Jer 17:9). The imaginations of my heart are only evil continually (Gen 8:21). And you can't beguile me into thinking that this was something that I grew into because of my environment, or because of the work of Satan. No my friend…I was “brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me…” (Ps 51:5). Wickedness has defined my existence from the very moment that I was conceived, O Self-Reliance! The very nanosecond I was conceived, I was a God-hater; and, as much as you hate it, O Self-Reliance, I remain utterly dependent upon God for every beat of my heart, and every breath that I breathe.

That’s right, O Self-Reliance! As a result of sin, both that which I was born into, and that which I constantly commit in word, thought and deed, I was the sworn enemy God, cut off from His blessed presence, a child of wrath that was only storing up for myself more of God’s wrath for the day of judgment. I was indeed without Christ, having no hope and without God in the world (Eph 2:12). But God Himself solved my dilemma by securing and providing a great way of salvation: justification by grace alone through faith alone, in and because of the finished work of Christ alone, and now I can experience a personal relationship with the King of kings and Lord of lords for all eternity.

And notice, O Self-Reliance; this is what God alone has accomplished, and it comes to me solely by God’s grace through faith in what Christ alone has done. In order to gain right standing with God, God did all of the work, and promises eternal life to all those who simply trust in Jesus Christ alone!

That's right O Self-Reliance! God did not ask me to climb Mount Everest! God did not say that I had to give a billion dollars to my favorite charity! God did not require me to make a religious pilgrimage to Mecca. God did not require me to fast, or to go to church every Sunday, or to pray 2 hours a day, or to read one chapter of the Bible every day. God did not require me to give just 1 cent per year to the church. Nope.

Of course, God does require something far more difficult, and impossible, than any of those things, or a billion other things you could conjure up with your fertile imagination. That's right O Self-Reliance! God has required something infinitely more difficult; God has required perfect obedience to His Law in word, thought, and deed...He has required the impossible! And, seeing the impossiblity of that, God sent His Son, the infinite God-Man, to do what I could never do, and to pay the penalty that I could never pay. That's right, O Self-Reliance! Where I was, and am, unable to obey God perfectly in word, thought, and deed, Jesus, my substitute, has obeyed perfectly on my behalf, and His perfect obedience has now been credited to my account! And the sentence of Divine Justice that was due to me was poured out on Him who knew no sin! Now what, O Self-Reliance! You would point me to any number of ridiculous things to try to gain heaven. But now, on the basis of the perfect and finished work of Jesus Christ alone, God simply says to me, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” (Acts 16:31).

Of course, something even as seemingly simple as that I was totally unable to do! O Self-Reliance! You stupid fool! You would make me forget that sin had so wrapped its darkness over my soul, that not only was I alienated from God, but, I even lacked the ability to exercise saving faith! But thankfully, O Self-Reliance, by God’s grace I was brought to spiritual life, and God gave me the gift of faith and enabled me to renounce myself so that I could place all of my trust in the works and merits of Christ alone to get me to Heaven.

But O Self-Reliance, how resilient you are! In light of all of these things, you rear your faithless head, and shout your Godless mantras into my soul that would have me live my life trusting and resting in and upon my own strength. And when I allow you to reign in my heart, I am far removed from my Lord and Savior. I am trusting in myself, and not in Christ. I am not taking hold of the fact that God has indeed forever declared me righteous by clothing in the righteousness of Christ. I have moved away from the only thing that can give me victory in my daily life in my battles with the world, the flesh, and the devil.

As I alluded to, Christ did not live and die for me just to ensure my safe passage to Heaven. That is just a part of the story! The life and death of Christ were intended to do more than that! Christ lived and died for me so that when He brought me to Himself, He would begin to conform me to His image on a daily basis. And you see, O Self-Reliance, that happens the same way as when God first saved me. It happens by grace alone, through faith alone, in and because of the finished work of Christ alone. God, through the Gospel, has justified me. And now God, through the Gospel alone, is going to put you to death in the process of my sanctification.

That’s right, O Self-Reliance! The Gospel isn’t only for unbelievers, but it is for believers as well! By God’s grace and power I am taking the Gospel off of the shelf, because ultimately it alone is the power of God unto salvation…all of salvation, to include my sanctification.

I am to work out my salvation with fear and trembling, and the only means by which I can do that is in the context of the Gospel, not by trying to pull myself up by my bootstraps, which is your vain philosophy, O Self-Reliance! Away with that bondage! It is for freedom that Christ has set me free…free from guilt, free from shame, free from the yoke of trying to earn His favor, free from you, O Self-Reliance!

I am taking hold of that glorious Gospel of the Living Christ, and setting my eyes upon it everyday, and preaching it to myself everyday!

Christ is the only solid rock upon which I can ever stand. I am going to fix my eyes fully on Jesus, the author and the finisher of my faith. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus’ Name! Amen.


By God's Grace and For His Glory,

John Orlando