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Deep Breath

So you've hit a rough patch; all your pretended piety, it seems, is a big fat lie. It could be said in one moment or another that you neither love the truth, nor obey it. What now?

But God demonstrated his great love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

You know, the grave flaw in certain ideas about salvation is that it's so much about God that it can't speak to struggling people without encouraging them to presume upon his mercy. Somebody yells, "It is finished" a bunch of times, and you're just supposed to ignore St. John, St. James, St. Peter, and actually, some pretty big chunks of St. Paul. But then, OK, what do you do?

I used to get jumpy when critics of our theology would say, "You kill Christ again and again!" Well, no. It really is finished. But...yes. The Cross is brought into the present. Not back a long time ago, where it's only a memory. What is Christ saying to the struggling person?

Look! I would do it again, for you. I'll do it as many times as it takes, until your heart is one with Mine. Your sins are not, and have never been, bigger than My love.

 That's enough for you and me to go forward.
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