(Spiritual) Bankruptcy

So, what is the new currency? Hardly some other human capacity or some inherent token of worth, but “faith in Christ” — the acknowledgement that the only thing of value is Christ himself. Faith is not an alternative human achievement nor a refined human spirituality, but a declaration of bankruptcy, a radical and shattering recognition that the only capital in God’s economy is the gift of Christ crucified and risen. Faith directed to, and centered on, Christ recognizes, under the impact of the good news, that there is no element of value locatable in the human being. It invests everything in the only capital that counts: Christ.—J. M. G. Barclay, Paul and the Gift, 383–84