Forgive me!

Beware the pleasant view of the Fatherhood of God--God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That sentiment has no place whatever in the New Testament. The only ground on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. To put forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. God can forgive sin and reinstate us in His favor [only] through the Cross of Christ, and in no other way.

     Never build your preaching of forgiveness on the fact that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. It is untrue to Jesus Christ’s revelation of God; it makes the Cross unnecessary; and the Redemption “much ado about nothing.” God could forgive men in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted to be Saviour because of His death.

           Oswald Chambers quoted in The Berean Call, December 1992