Craving Clarity, We Attempt To Eliminate The

Won't The Awareness God Loves Us No Matter What Lead To Spiritual Laziness And Moral Laxity? Theoretically, This Seems A Reasonable Fear, But In Reality The Opposite Is True. . . . The More Rooted We Are In The Love Of God, The More Generously We Will Live Our Faith.

The Story Goes That A Public Sinner Was Excommunicated And Forbidden Entry To The Church. He Took His Woes To God. 'they Won't Let Me In, Lord, Because I Am A Sinner.' 'what Are You Complaining About?' Said God. 'they Won't Let Me In Either.

The Loss Of Transcendence Has Left In Its Wake The Flotsam Of Distrustful, Cynical Christians, Angry At A Capricious God, And The Jetsam Of Smug Bibilolatrists Who Claim To Know Precisely What God Is Thinking And Exactly What He Plans To Do.

When We Wallow In Guilt, Remorse, And Shame Over Real Or Imagined Sins Of The Past, We Are Disdaining God's Gift Of Grace.

The Saved Sinner Is Prostrate In Adoration, Lost In Wonder And Praise. He Knows Repentance Is Not What We Do In Order To Earn Forgiveness; It Is What We Do Because We Have Been Forgiven. It Serves As An Expression Of Gratitude Rather Than An Effort To Earn Forgiveness. Thus The Sequence Of Forgiveness And Then Repentance, Rather Than Repentance And Then Forgiveness, Is Crucial For Understanding The Gospel Of Grace.