Do you believe God really loves you?

I am continuing Counsel from the Cross by Elyse Fitzpatrick. I enjoyed several chapters on the topic of God's love for us and how it impacts us.  She asks, do you believe God loves you?  Do you?  And then challenges others who think they make "Varsity Christian Squad."  You know those who have no doubt that God loves them because they are so good.  Is that you?  Either extreme misses out on the good news of the gospel for us. Here are some quotes on God's love and our response:
Love is the key to every sin problem in our lives both vertically, between ourselves and the Lord, and horizontally, between ourselves and others.
What will ignite a white-hot passion in our hearts? Only trusting in God's love for us. Only the gospel annihilates self-condemnation. Only love stimulates love...our love for God and our others is responsive in nature.
God places all our transgressions upon his Son, he pours out our punishment upon him, he transfers his perfect record to us, and then he does the most indescribably loving thing ever--he gives us himself in the personal presence of his Holy Spirit.
What do we need to know? What do we need to believe? Simply this: we need to know and believe that God loves us.
Do you wonder if God really loves you? Look at the cross! Do you think he might still be angry with you? You're not seeing Calvary!
When we don't see the depth of our depravity, it's easy to look down on and judge other people who don't conform to our practices and to give ourselves the proverbial pat on the back.
We all lower God's standards (His Law) to something we are able to accomplish.
For the gospel-centered Christian, the function of the law is to drive us to Christ and to make us continually more and more thankful for his perfect keeping of it in our place. It is to make use more and more dependent upon his righteousness, not our own. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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