. . . being justified freely by His grace . . . —Romans 3:24
The gospel of the grace of God awakens an intense longing in human souls and an equally intense resentment, because the truth that it reveals is not palatable or easy to swallow. There is a certain pride in people that causes them to give and give, but to come and accept a gift is another thing. I will give my life to martyrdom; I will dedicate my life to service— I will do anything. But do not humiliate me to the level of the most hell-deserving sinner and tell me that all I have to do is accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
We have to realize that we cannot earn or win anything from God through our own efforts. We must either receive it as a gift or do without it. The greatest spiritual blessing we receive is when we come to the knowledge that we are destitute. Until we get there, our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us as long as we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves. We must enter into His kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are “rich,” particularly in the area of pride or independence, God can do nothing for us. It is only when we get hungry spiritually that we receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the essential nature of God is placed and made effective in us by the Holy Spirit. He imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, making us truly alive. He takes that which was “beyond” us and places it “within” us. And immediately, once “the beyond” has come “within,” it rises up to “the above,” and we are lifted into the kingdom where Jesus lives and reigns (see John 3:5).
絕處逢生
如今卻蒙神的恩典……就白白的稱義。 （羅三24）
神恩惠的福音挑起人心靈強烈的強求，但同時又叫人產生同樣強烈的反抗，因為福音帶來的啟示，是難以下嚥的。人有一種自傲，就是寧可一味施予，但要近前來接受不太願意。我可以殉道舍生，可以獻上自己，可以做任何事，但不要把我貶卑至只配下地獄的罪人。告訴我除了接受耶穌基督的救恩外，別無他法。我們必須認識，人無法從神賺取或贏得什麽；我們若不肯接受神的禮物，就不要指望得著什麽。
屬靈最大的福氣，就是認識自己絕望；若未認識這一點，主就無能為力。我們若仍以為自己有所作為，他就無法為我們做什麽。我們一日自恃、獨立、自以為富足，神就一日無法有所作為。只有在我們感到屬靈的飢餓時，才能接受聖靈。神藉聖靈把他的本性賜給我們，把耶穌活潑的生命賜給我們，把那[超然的]放在我們裡面。那[超然的]一旦進入，就把我們提升至[天上]，我們就被高舉在主耶穌所活的國度裡了。 （約三5）。
祈禱◆噢，主啊，願你使我重新獲得敏銳的屬靈洞察力；願你藉著主耶穌基督豐富的恩典，將我舉起，進入你的光明中。在更多認識你和你的道路上，我是何等緩慢！
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