His once-idolized righteousness

Back to "An Alarm to the Unconverted"

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Before conversion, man seeks to cover himself with his 
own fig-leaves, and to make himself acceptable with God 
by his own duties. He trusts in himself, sets up his own 
righteousness—and does not to submit to the righteousness 
of God. But conversion changes his mind; now he counts his 
own righteousness as filthy rags. He casts it off, as a man 
would the verminous tatters of a nasty beggar! Now he is 
brought to poverty of spirit, complains of and condemns 
himself; and all his inventory is, 'I am poor, and miserable, 
and wretched, and blind, and naked!' He sees a world of 
iniquity in his holy things, and calls his once-idolized 
righteousness but filth and loss; and would not for a 
thousand worlds be found in it! Now he begins to set a 
high price upon Christ's righteousness. He sets himself 
down for a lost undone man without Him. Before, the 
gospel of Christ was a stale and tasteless thing; but 
now—how sweet is Christ! In a word, the voice of the 
convert is, 'None but Christ!'