Here’s a great article I read in one of the Facebook groups I read. I’ll not comment, I’ll just let the writer say it himself:

I used to believe if God forgave me and let me completely off the hook, he’d be forfeiting his strongest bargaining chip in his struggle to get me to love him and love others the way he knew I should.

“If God’s going to send his only son to die for me at such a high cost to himself,” I reasoned, “then He’s gotta be smart enough to hold something back, thereby managing his risk and hedging his huge investment against too great a loss. Gods no fool,” I thought.

He’s gotta keep some fear creating mechanism in place, some anxiety producing displeasure, to keep me and my behavior in check.

Forgiving me all at once rather than piecemeal, one sin at a time, at the expense of his priceless son, would not only be risky, it would be foolish.

Forgiving me without reservation and letting me know I’ve arrived with him once and for all would spoil Gods whole plan for me to get me to do what’s right and would only cause me to abuse his generosity,” I told myself.

Forgiving me all sins in advance, to use a term of psychology, God would be the ultimate “enabler!”

So I eagerly listened to preachers who told me as long as I tried my best to sin less and promised to follow God, I could be forgiven…one sin at a time.

Yet, as long as I felt forgiveness was withheld until I cleaned up my act, I was deprived of enjoying and exploiting Gods gift of right relationship with him and my enslavement to sin was only prolonged and empowered.

Then I heard Gods amazing grace and I discovered, though man delights in withholding Gods forgiveness from me, God held back nothing.

You heard me right…nothing!

And God delighted in giving “all” in advance, knowing it was the only way I could be brought into right relationship with him.

I learned God sent his son to die and to rise from death for the very reason of lavishing his infinite generosity on me…and on you.

In sending Jesus to die, God did not hold back from you and from me a single ounce of his forgiveness for you and for me.

God didn’t wait for you or me to sin less, or ask us to promise to do better when he sent his son to die.

And even after we receive Jesus sacrifice as ours, and begin loving the things he loves, the startling thing is he will never receive a return on his investment.

Never!

I also learned, God’s not interested in a bunch of people who know the difference between right and wrong.

So he’s not waiting for us to do either before he pronounces us “forgiven!”

Without placing a single demand on us to change in any way before God says we’re forgiven, he invites us to simply believe Jesus’ death and resurrection perfectly accomplished our secure reconciliation to God.

In rising from death, God is able to give his own eternal life to anyone who simply believes the death and resurrection of Christ did everything necessary to bring him securely to God.

This may sound strange to you but it is Gods good news of grace through his son.

It was only when I heard the good news of Gods grace that I discovered God wasn’t requiring I produce a quality of life in exchange for his forgiveness, did I grasp that Grace is not, as many believe and teach, a license to sin, but rather, that grace is the greatest motivation to love God and love others I would ever know.

Before I realized God held back nothing from me but instead, that he gave freely, I would not know the power of Christ within.

Thank God I received the savior and his death forgave me once and forever.

Then I learned being forgiven is the very doorway to life with God, not the hindrance to life I thought it was.

Jesus living in me is the single greatest motivation to love God and love others I will ever know.

I can not get over Gods amazing forgiveness of me and neither will I tire of realizing my need of Christ’s successful life in me.

And I am happy acknowledging God gets all the credit for completely saving me.

“…the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me,” Galatians 2:20c