Nuggets from "An Urgent Call to a Serious Faith" by Dave Hunt - Mercy vs. Works

Nuggets from “An Urgent Call to a Serious Faith” by Dave Hunt – Mercy vs. Works - 

Nothing could be clearer than God’s rejection of any human effort to buy salvation or His favor. If man is to be accepted by God, it must be solely by God’s grace and provision, not by any human work. Man’s self-effort and self-righteousness are utterly rejected by God.

Yet in defiance we see man’s flagrant repudiation of God’s prohibition against self-effort and his arrogant attempt to build a tower that would enable him to climb by steps of his own making into heaven itself. At Babel we meet the first attempt at a world government united with a world religion. Church and state were one: “Go to, let us build us a city [government] whose top may reach unto heaven” (Genesis 11: 4). It was rebellion in the highest form and will be realized again under Antichrist.

God’s instructions for worshiping Him were explicit. If the ground was too rocky to gather up a mound of earth for an altar, stones could be heaped together – but they could not be cut, fashioned, or polished with a tool. Nor could the altar be elevated (Exodus:20:24-26 [24] An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. [25] And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. [26] Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
See All...). Not one step must be climbed to reach it. There must be no illusion that man could contribute anything by his own efforts to his salvation.

God himself is the only One who can save man, and salvation can only be a gift of His grace. Such is the gospel consistently preached from Genesis to Revelation (Isaiah:43:11I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
See All...; 9:7; Matthew:1:21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
See All...; Romans:8:8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
See All...; Ephesians:2:8-9 [8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.
See All...; Titus:3:5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
See All...; Romans:3:24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
See All...; 11:6).