1208 神公正無偏的權能
因為他一次獻祭，便叫那得以成聖的人永遠完全。《希伯來書10:14》
如果我們以為得赦免是因我們為自己的罪懊悔，那麼我們就是在踐踏神兒子的寶血。我們的罪蒙神赦免的唯一原因，以及祂不記念那些罪此應許之無比深廣，那是因耶穌基督的死。我們的悔改只是我們個人認識到神為我們預備基督十字架替我們贖罪的結果。「…神又使祂成為我們的智慧，公義，聖潔，救贖。」（哥林多前書 1:30）。一旦我們意識到基督為我們成為這一切時，神無限的喜樂就在我們裡面開始了。哪裡沒有神的喜樂，死亡判決就仍然有效。
無論我們是誰或是什麼，神都只能憑藉耶穌基督之死來恢復我們與祂自己的正確關係。神這樣做，不是因為耶穌懇求祂這樣做，而是因為耶穌的死。救恩不能通過努力賺取，只能被接受。所有故意忽視基督十字架救恩的懇求都是無用的，那是在敲耶穌已經開啟的門之外的另一扇門。我們抗議說：「但我不想走那條路。被當作罪人來接受，太羞辱了。」神的反應透過彼得說：「…除祂以外，別無拯救；因為在天下人間，沒有賜下別的名，我們可以靠著得救。」（使徒行傳 4:12）。神起初看似無情，但實際上卻是祂內心的真實表達；祂的道路沒有限制入口。「我們藉這愛子的血得蒙救贖…」（以弗所書 1:7），認同耶穌基督的死意味着我們必須向一切與祂無關的事物死去。
神在拯救那些本是壞人時是公正的，是因為祂使他們變好。當我們都錯的時候，我們的主不會假裝我們都對。基督十字架上的贖罪是神用來使不聖潔者成為聖潔、平息神對罪震怒的手段。
來自章伯斯的智慧
我們都有這樣說話的技巧：但願我不是在如今這個環境中！但願我沒有與這些人一起生活！如果我們的信仰或宗教在我們所處的光景中不能幫助我們，我們要麼還需要經歷進一步的掙扎，要麼我們最好放棄那種信仰和宗教。《痛苦的陰影》
1208 The Impartial Power of God
By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. —Hebrews 10:14
We trample the blood of the Son of God underfoot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only reason for the forgiveness of our sins by God, and the infinite depth of His promise to forget them, is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the result of our personal realization of the atonement by the Cross of Christ, which He has provided for us. “…Christ Jesus…became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Once we realize that Christ has become all this for us, the limitless joy of God begins in us. And wherever the joy of God is not present, the death sentence is still in effect.
No matter who or what we are, God restores us to right standing with Himself only by means of the death of Jesus Christ. God does this, not because Jesus pleads with Him to do so but because He died. It cannot be earned, just accepted. All the pleading for salvation which deliberately ignores the Cross of Christ is useless. It is knocking at a door other than the one which Jesus has already opened. We protest by saying, “But I don’t want to come that way. It is too humiliating to be received as a sinner.” God’s response, through Peter, is, “… there is no other name…by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). What at first appears to be heartlessness on God’s part is actually the true expression of His heart. There is unlimited entrance His way. “In Him we have redemption through His blood…” (Ephesians 1:7). To identify with the death of Jesus Christ means that we must die to everything that was never a part of Him.
God is just in saving bad people only as He makes them good. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement by the Cross of Christ is the propitiation God uses to make unholy people holy.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We all have the trick of saying—If only I were not where I am!—If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion. The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L