Here is the great beating heart of the gospel, and the ground of falsehood in every false religion, pagan practice, and cult which has ever been!! The gospel says that we are saved by the gospel, the grace of God through Christ, period. We bring nothing to the table, we add nothing to the mix, we contribute NOTHING!! There is no work which will add one speck of righteousness to us, no adherence to the law which will cause God to look upon us with favor, no act of sacrifice, no penance, no deed of heroism, fanaticism or obedience which can add to, shore up or replace the singular work of Christ. Paul says plainly, if that were the case, if the death of Christ is not our only hope, then Christ died IN VAIN!! The moment that we seek to put our work along side His, we completely deny the efficacy of His death and deny the Christ who is our only hope. There is no possibility of both/and when it comes to where our hope lies. Either we trust Jesus Christ and Him alone, OR we trust our own works, our labors, our saints, our missions, our giving, our whatever... but to trust those things is to be cut off from the hope of Christ. Beloved, we are already "all in", the only question is this; who are we all in with? Jesus, or everything else?