A Doozy for Today

I don't usually go too deep with my posts, but here is a thought from the Desiring God blog today:

"When the ground of justification moves from Christ outside of us to the work of Christ inside of us, the gospel (and the human soul) is imperiled. It is an upside down gospel."

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." -Ephesians 2:4-9

My sister (the one who's not 6) and I had a conversation yesterday about how sin in our lives is not so much each individual heinous act, but rather the condition we were born into, the condition we live in apart from Christ. Therefore, it was Jesus' work alone on the cross that justified us with God, because we would have been unable to do so even if we wanted to. Nothing I have done, am doing, or ever will do could bring me closer to God. In Christ alone my hope is found.