“The Doctrine of justification by faith—a biblical truth, and a blessed relief from
sterile legalism and unavailing self-effort—has in our time fallen into evil company
and been interpreted by many in such a manner as actually to bar men from the
knowledge of God. The whole transaction of religious conversion has
been made mechanical and spiritless. Faith may now be exercised without a
jar to the moral life and without embarrassment to the Academic ego. Christ may
be “received� without creating any special love for Him in the soul of the receiver.
This man is “saved,� but he is neither hungry nor thirsty after God. In fact, he is
specifically taught to be satisfied and is encouraged to be content with little. God is
a person, and in the deep of His mighty nature He thinks, wills, enjoys, feel, loves,
desires, and suffers as any other person may. The continuous and unembarrassed
interchange of love and thought between God and the soul of the redeemed man
is the throbbing heart of New Testament religion. The relationship between God
and the soul is known to us in conscious personal awareness. It is known to the
individual and it is conscious: it does not stay below the threshold of consciousness
and work there unknown to the soul.’�
The thought of the things I keep from God was very sobering in that moment. I have
been seeking intimacy with the Father but have been missing something. I want
to be able to love Him better and love Him more. I want to actively respond to His
pursuit of my heart.
We have been “rescued by love’s hands. Forged by fire, not cheaply made. This love
he has for you cannot be slain!�
