Referring to Colossians 3:3, William Gadsby writes:
Then, says the poor soul, where is it hid? “With Christ in God.” O the wonders of matchless grace! Hid with Christ in God! Out of the reach of Satan or sin! Who then can destroy it? Honors crown the brow of the eternal Three-One-God! This blessed, spiritual, everlasting life can never be lost, unless Satan, men or sin be capable of storming heaven and plundering the heart of God; for it is hid with Christ in God, and the Lord declares that “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory. For a manifestation of this glorious life, so as to be able feelingly to say, “Because Christ lives, I shall live also,” the quickened soul is daily thirsting and daily wrestling, often in his feelings saying, “O that I did but know that the Lord had pardoned my sins; that Jesus was in very deed my salvation.” A self-righteous trumpet-sounder may say, up and be doing; get holiness, get Christ, get God, get sanctification, and all will be well; but all this only increases the fetters and bondage of the soul, who really feels he has no might nor power, but is in very deed lost to all self-hope and self-help. If ever the Lord were to bring these up and be doing characters, in a spiritual sense, to the Rea Sea, with the Egyptians close at their heels, crying, “We will overtake, we will destroy,” and with insurmountable mountains on each hand, law and justice, and the red gulf before them, that would be the time to try their up-and-be-doing strength. Let a poor sinner be brought into these straits, where nothing but destruction appears behind and before and on each hand, and let him feel as though he were forgotten of God, or only remembered of him to be abhorred by him and plunged into misery; this would try his free-will strength. In this state the poor soul pants, sighs, groans, and thirsts for mercy, rich and free mercy; and here the glorious Lord will appear, and exhibit to view a new and living way, give the soul a dead lift, lead him to Christ, or bring Christ to his conscience, bring him out of his dreadful troubles, set his feet on sure ground, namely, the Lord the Lamb, the Rock of Ages, put a new song into his mouth, even glory to the Lord, and cause him feelingly to know a sweet measure of the power of the glory of grace” (William Gadsby; bold emphasis mine–CD).
http://gracetruthministries.com/wgadsbyglorygrace.html
In a similar manner to that of the Puritans, William Gadsby fails to realize that the false humility that cries out, “O that I did but know that the Lord had pardoned my sins; that Jesus was in very deed my salvation” IS a “self-righteous trumpet-sounder” who is ignorant of the sole ground of pardon (Romans 10:1-4). Gadsby too, is ignorant of the sole ground of pardon since he believes that at least some true Christians must seek to establish their own righteousness that they may “but know” that their sins were pardoned. Like the Puritans, Gadsby does NOT believe such passages as Hebrews 11:1, Romans 8:15-16, and 2 Corinthians 4:4-6. Gadsby’s insidious explication would have this latter passage read:
“O that I did but know that the brightness of the gospel of the glory of Christ had dawned on me. O that I did but know that the brightness of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ had been shown in my heart” — the EXACT OPPOSITE of what 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 actually says.
Obviously, the GLORY OF CHRIST has NOT dawned on Gadsby (2 Corinthians 4:4). For if God had in fact shown this glorious gospel light into his heart, then he would KNOW that the “brightness of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6) is shown into every believer’s heart upon regeneration.
Agrammatos 