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Repentance
19
the same way. But he felt his need of a Saviour and came to God
with his load of sin and shame. He asked for God’s mercy. His heart
was open for the Spirit of God to come in and set him free from the
power of sin.
Then Jesus told about a Pharisee who thanked God that he was
not like other men. The Pharisee’s prayer showed that his heart was
closed against the Spirit of God. Because he was a long way from
God, he did not see how sinful he was. He did not compare his life
with God’s holiness. He felt no need, and he received nothing.
[27]
If we see that we are sinful, we must not wait to make ourselves
better. We must not think that we are not good enough to come to
Christ. Can we expect to become better by just trying, in our own
strength? “Can people change the color of their skin, or a leopard
remove his spots? If they could, then you that do nothing but evil
could learn to do what is right.”
Jeremiah 13:23
.
God is the only one who can help us. We must not wait for
someone to beg us to change or for a better chance or until we gain
control of a bad temper. We can do nothing of ourselves. We must
come to Christ just as we are.
Our heavenly Father is a God of love and mercy. But we must
not think He will save us if we turn from His grace. The cross of
Jesus shows how terrible sin is. When people say that God is so kind
He will not cast off the sinner, they should look at the cross. Only
through Christ’s sacrifice can we be saved. Without this sacrifice we
could not escape from the power of sin. Without it, we could not
share heaven with the angels. Without it, we could not have spiritual
life.
To save us, Christ took our guilt on Himself and suffered in our
place. The love, suffering, and death of the Son of God show us how
terrible sin is. They also tell us that the only way to escape from sin
is to come to Christ. Our only hope for a life in heaven is to give
ourselves to the Saviour.
[28]
Sinners sometimes excuse themselves by saying of people who
claim to be Christians, “I am as good as they are. They do not act
any better than I do. They love pleasure as much as I do. They love
to please themselves.”
In this way sinners make the faults of others an excuse for not
doing their own duty. But the sins and weaknesses of others do