All true love to God is preceded in the heart by these two things - a sense of sin, and an assurance of pardon. There is no love possible - real, deep, genuine, worthy of being called love of God - which does not start with the belief of my own transgression, and with the thankful reception of forgiveness in Christ.
Alexander MaclarenRelated topics
christ deep heart pardon possible real sense sin start worthy thingsRelated quotes
It's an interesting fact that fewer than 17 % of Real cats end their lives with the same name they started with. Much family effort goes into selecting one at the start ("She looks like a Winnifred to me"), and the as the years roll by it suddenly finds itself being called Meepo or Ratbag.
Terry Pratchett
In order to receive forgiveness, we need to place our trust in Christ as our Savior and the Lord of our lives. But if we reject Christ, then we reject God's mercy and fall back on His justice. And you know where you stand there. If we reject Jesus' offer of forgiveness, then there is simply is no one else to pay the penalty for your sin – except yourself.
William Lane Craig
By experience; by a sense of human frailty; by a perception of "the soul of goodness in things evil;" by a cheerful trust in human nature; by a strong sense of God's love; by long and disciplined realization of the atoning love of Christ; only thus can we get a free, manly, large, princely spirit of forgiveness.
Frederick William Robertson