Damned by being self-righteous, by Charles Spurgeon. There is nothing more certain than this, that you cannot be saved and keep your sins, they must be parted with. No man can carry fire in his bosom and yet be safe from burning. While you drink the poison, it must and will work death in you. The thief cannot expect mercy while he keeps the goods he has stolen. Will you keep your sins and go to hell or leave your sins and go to heaven? Most men in their heart of hearts would like to have their sins and go to heaven also. But that cannot be. While God is just and heaven is holy and truth is precious, it cannot be. What if the man does not go to hell as a drunkard? It will not help him if he is damned by being self-righteous. So long as he is lost, I do not see that it materially matters exactly how he goes to hell. Many and many a man has given up outward sins and set up a self-righteousness of his own and said, these are my gods. And so he fled from a bear, and a lion slew him, he leaned on a wall, and a serpent bit him. All sin must be cast out of the throne of the heart, and whatever righteousness that is not Christ's righteousness must go with it. I would sincerely put the sword point to your heart, oh sinner, and say, give up all that opposes Christ. For if you do not give it up, your soul will be lost.
