No man was ever condemned for trusting in the Word of the Lord. Men have been condemned for trifling with it in unbelief, but no poor beggar was ever turned away who came to Him in faith. He turns the proud and haughty away, and scatters the mighty of the earth. But for those who come to Him simply, He receives them simply, and simply receives them.
Coming to God is not complicated. Come to Him as a gracious Savior and You will find how simple it is. Self-righteous men always want to make grace complicated, and they want to make the law, considered in itself, easy. This abstracted law is what they use to construct a ladder which they think will be the way to climb up into heaven. They want the law easy. But in order to make it easy they have to turn the grace and forgiveness of God into a complicated system that no man can really understand. The whole thing gets covered in smoke and darkness.
If you want this gladness and simplicity of heart, when it comes to the Scriptures, or the providences of God, or the decrees of God, then observe this one simple charge. Do not take anything from God in order to chop it up, or divide it into pieces. The grace of God encompasses everything—the garden and our expulsion from it, the law and the gospel, faith and works, love and hate. Receive this, and the Word, a two-edged sword, divides you, and arranges the pieces on the altar, and you ascend to God in the smoke of the consecration offering. And in receiving this death, the good Lord gives back life to you. He gives, always gives, thirty, sixty and one hundred fold.
So the grace of God really is simple. The kindness and forgiveness of the Lord is present. It is here today. The Holy Spirit invites you, simply, “Come.” The bride, the wife of the Lamb, the church of God, extends the same invitation. “Come.” There it is in one word. Come.