Now, if thou wouldst inherit righteousnes
And so sanctificati
In body, soul, and spirit, then thou must
To Jesus fly, as one ungodly first;
And so by him crave pardon for thy sin
Which thou hast loved, and hast lived in;
For this cannot at all forgiven be,
For any righteousnes
Because the best thou hast is filthy rags,
Profane, presumptuous
Of flesh and blood, which always cross doth lie
To God, to grace, and thy felicity.
Then righteousnes
Thee from that guilt and punishment to save
Thou liest under as a sinful man,
Throughout polluted, and that never can
By any other means acquitted be,
Or ever have true holiness in thee.
The reason is, because all graces are
Only in Christ, and be infused where,
Or into those whom he doth justify,
By what himself hath done, that he thereby
Might be the whole of all that happiness
The sinner shall enjoy here, and in bliss.
Besides, if holiness should first be found
In those whom God doth pardon, then the ground
Why we forgiven are would seem to be,
He first found holiness in thee and me;
But this the holy Scriptures will refute,
And prove that righteousnes
Without respect to goodness first in man;
For, to speak truth indeed, no goodness can
Be found in those that underneath the law
Do stand; for if God goodness in them saw,
Why doth he once and twice say, There is none
That righteous be; no, not so much as one;
None understandet
His ways they have not known, but have abode
In wickedness, unprofitably
Must needs appear to be then every way.
Their throats an open sepulchre, also
Their mouths are full of filthy cursings too;
And bitterness, yea, underneath their lips
The asp hath poison. O how many slips
And falls in sin must such poor people have!
Now here’s the holiness that should them save,
Or, as a preparation,
To move God to do for them less or more?
No, grace must on thee righteousnes
Or, else sin will for ever thee undo.
Sweet Paul this doctrine also doth express,
Where he saith, Some may have righteousnes
Though works they have not; and it thus may stand,
Grace by the promise gives what the command
Requireth us to do, and so are we
Quitted from doing, and by grace made free.
(John Bunyan)
More Poetry from John Bunyan:
John Bunyan Poems based on Topics: Man, God, Sin, Christianity, Jesus Christ, Soul, Happiness, Law & Regulation, Reasoning, Body, Promise- Of Hell And The Estate of Those Who Perish (John Bunyan Poems)
- From Mount Ebal (John Bunyan Poems)
- The Sinner and The Spider (John Bunyan Poems)
- To The Reader (John Bunyan Poems)
- Of Love To God (John Bunyan Poems)
- Introduction To A Pilgrim's Progress (John Bunyan Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Man Poems, God Poems, Soul Poems, Christianity Poems, Happiness Poems, Jesus Christ Poems, Sin Poems, Law & Regulation Poems, Body Poems, Reasoning Poems, Good & Evil PoemsBased on Keywords: refute, imputed, brags, acquitted, unprofitably, requireth, understandeth, sanctification