You owe the whole to sovereign grace!

(Henry Law, "Deuteronomy" 1858)

Believer! Only the grace of God makes
you to differ from the world around you!

You once were dead in trespasses and sins.

You moved as a living carcass with a lifeless soul.

Your every step was hellward.

Your every moment hurried you towards endless woe.

Your life was . . .
   ignorance,
   rebellion,
   slavery,
   disgrace.

But now the darkness is dispersed, and true light
shines. You see the cross! You stand in a new
world of spiritual delight. You are a new creation of  
  thought,
  affection,
  hope,
  desire.

You live for God; to God; with God; in God.

But whence the change?

Did it result your own resolve?

Did rolling years beget this wisdom?

Oh, no!

You owe the whole to sovereign grace!

God, of His own free will, looked down with favor
on your ruined soul. His grace gave you, as a jewel,
to His Son; and gave His Son to be your uttermost
salvation!

You owe the whole to sovereign grace!