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View Full Version : Without Denying Self No One Can Love the Lord



Parture
06-17-2011, 02:02 AM
For the showing, I say, of his [God's] righteousness at this present season: that he [God] might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus. Romans 3.26.


The more that people see sin through God’s enlightenment, the more they are sorrowful for their sins, and the more they appreciate the grace of forgiveness. Yet there are people who always fear that God will not forgive because of the greatness of their sins, both in number and in gravity. Nay, they even go so far as to surmise that forgiveness will be too cheap should God really forgive them. All who embrace such wrong attitudes need to know the trustworthiness of forgiveness, for it is not without firm foundation.

Grace never reigns by itself, it reigns through righteousness (Rom. 5.21). Grace does not come directly to us, it comes to us indirectly through the cross. God does not forgive our sins because He pities us when He sees us repent, express regret, exhibit sorrow, and weep. No, God can never forgive on that basis. He must first judge our sins and then He forgives. A common notion held by many is that “grace and righteousness cannot both be preserved.” Yet all who have been taught by grace will declare that in forgiving our sins God has kept both grace and righteousness intact.

So what's the problem? Without denying self, no one can love the Lord.