To utterly despair of oneself is infinitely more difficult for a man than to invent some kind of good works.generated self-salvation project. Human beings irresistibly gravitate toward a works or karma-based system because it gives man the false hope that his redemption is within his own reach. But a salvation that is all of grace, a gift earned by Someone else, is so utterly offensive to human nature, so humbling to our pride, that only a supernatural work of grace will bring a person to yield to it.
Contrary to popular and cultural concepts of God, the Bible declares that trusting (even partly) in our goodness, merit or works for salvation is one of the the greatest causes of man's damnation. Instead the Bible teaches that God came into the world as a flesh human being to satisfy the righteous requirements of the law and absorb the penalty we deserve for sin on Himself in order to redeem all who, by the grace of God, come to Jesus Christ in faith. And when Jesus died on the cross he actually nailed the ordinances of the law that stood against us to the cross; in the second chapter of Colossians we read that he blotted them out (Colossians 2:14). Yes Jesus actually fulfilled the law and satisfied the penalty of sin from our side. He didn't come to destroy the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). This means he did for us what we were unable to do for ourselves. We can do nothing to achieve salvation or add to His work (partly or fully).
This means that when we trust in following the rules, even if we are zealous for God in order that God would save us, we spurn God and His only means of forgiveness for us. It is to declare independence from God's way and establish ones own righteousness (Rom 10:1-4). But the salvation of God is based solely upon His accepting us in His Son Jesus Christ. It is not that God does not want us to be moral. No, He does. But He does not want us to make a savior our of morality. It is because of Him that we are in Christ Jesus (1 Cor 1:29, 30). Therefore when a person trusts in Jesus Christ they cannot boast in anything: not their faith, and not their works.... because He accepts them by grace because of the work of Jesus unto faith and good works. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." In other words, God accepts us by grace alone that He might mold and create children who, by His Spirit, walk after Him.
To those who are in Christ, our record of our wrongs have been nailed to the cross and He has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the Saints. Now we can walk without fear of condemnation and can behold the face of Jesus and gaze into His beauty, knowing that one day, because of Him, we will be like Him.
"Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains." John 9:41