他既來了，就要叫世人為罪，為義，為審判，自己責備自己。《約翰福音16:8》
我們很少有人真正知道關於罪的定罪，我們知道因做錯事而心煩意亂的經歷。但聖靈叫人知罪，就抹去了地上一切的關係，讓我們只意識到一種關係——「我向你犯罪，唯獨得罪了你…」（詩篇 51:4）。當一個人以這種方式知罪、認罪時，他的良心完全知道神不敢赦免他。如果神真的赦免他，那麼這個人比神有更強的正義感。神的確赦免，但那付上的代價，是祂哀傷心碎，因着基督的死，使他能夠赦免。神恩典的偉大神跡就是祂赦罪，那是唯獨耶穌基督的死，才能使神聖本性能夠赦罪，並在赦罪同時保持忠於自身公義和慈愛的屬性。說因為神是愛，所以祂赦免我們，那是膚淺無稽之談。一旦我們知罪認罪，我們就絕不會再這樣說了。神的愛意味着加略山——沒有比這個表達更偉大了！神的愛清楚表明在十字架上，此外別無它處。神能赦免我的唯一根據就是基督的十字架。在那裡，祂的是非之心得到了滿足。
赦免不僅意味着我從地獄中被拯救出來，並被預備好進入天堂（沒有人可以接受這種程度的赦免）。赦免意味着我被赦免進入一種新造的關係，使我在基督里與神合一。救贖的神跡是神將我這個不聖潔的人，變成祂自己的標準，祂是聖者；祂是藉着把新性情放進我裡面，即耶穌基督的本性，而做到這一點。
來自章伯斯的智慧
向自己重新陳述你的信仰，然後儘可能地消除它，回到基督十字架的基石上。《竭誠為主》，11 月 25 日
1119 “When He Has Come”
When He has come, He will convict the world of sin… —John 16:8
Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned…” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.
Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Re-state to yourself what you believe, then do away with as much of it as possible, and get back to the bedrock of the Cross of Christ. —My Utmost for His Highest, November 25, 848 R