the means for giving your utmost for His highest‏

My Utmost for His Highest reminded me again today that God is more kind than I often think Him because I am worse than I often realize.

In Him we have . . . the forgiveness of sins . . . —Ephesians 1:7

Beware of the pleasant view of the fatherhood of God: God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That thought, based solely on emotion, cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. The only basis on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. To base our forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy.The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.

Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid.Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive— He would contradict His nature if He did.The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm.

Compared with the miracle of the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is small. Sanctification is simply the wonderful expression or evidence of the forgiveness of sins in a human life. But the thing that awakens the deepest fountain of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven his sin. Paul never got away from this. Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.

Could I possibly bold and underline more of the above?

Yes, but then you wouldn’t have had the chance to point it out like a big, fat jerkwad.

But I digress…

The most motivated, diligent and faithful servants of God are those who realize the degree to which God loves them in Christ crucified. I know you don’t want to think again bloody thoughts of Jesus being hammered to a tree. I know it is gross and unpleasant and all things considered, you would rather think about hope and love and rainbows and angels. All of those are beautiful and images that should give us great joy and comfort.

But only if Christ died!  

Do not miss Chambers’ point:

God CANNOT FORGIVE you unless Jesus DIED FOR you.

This is the beauty and comfort of penal substitutionary atonement. The punishment (penal) we deserved was paid in full (atonement) by Jesus (our substitute).

Do not miss Chamber’s conclusion:

Only those who get this live in love and confidence before God. Knowing this produces wellsprings of joy and faith to move us toward God and away from sin, toward good works and away from lazy, self-absorbed apathy. 

Does the Christian, on occasion, sin or get lazy? Certainly.

What makes you a Christian is not your ability to follow Jesus, but your desire to follow Him and knowing that even when desire fails, His faithfulness succeeds. This is fueled the Holy Spirit reminding you of Jesus’ death on your behalf and the love of God, our gracious Father, fighting for you.