Do not be afraid; only believe.—Mark 5:36.
You cannot atone for your past sins; you cannot change your heart and make yourself holy. But God promises to do all this for you through Christ. You believe that promise. You confess your sins and give yourself to God. You will to serve Him. Just as surely as you do this, God will fulfill His word to you. If you believe the promise—believe that you are forgiven and cleansed—God supplies the fact; you are made whole, just as Christ gave the paralytic power to walk when the man believed that he was healed. It is so if you believe it. Do not wait to feel that you are made whole, but say, “I believe it; it is so, not because I feel it, but because God has promised.”—Steps to Christ, 51.
The law reveals to us our sins, but it provides no remedy. While it promises life to the obedient, it declares that death is the portion of the transgressors. The gospel of Christ alone can free them from the condemnation or the defilement of sin. They must exercise repentance toward God, whose law has been transgressed; and faith in Christ, their atoning sacrifice. Thus they obtain “remission of sins that are past” and become partakers of the divine nature. They are children of God, having received the spirit of adoption, whereby they cry: “Abba, Father!” . . .
In the new birth the heart is brought into harmony with God, as it is brought into accord with His law. When this mighty change has taken place in sinners, they have passed from death unto life, from sin unto holiness, from transgression and rebellion to obedience and loyalty. The old life of alienation from God has ended; the new life of reconciliation, of faith and love, has begun. Then “the righteousness of the law” will “be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:4.) And the language of the soul will be: “O how love I Thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97.) . . .
Without the law, people have no just conception of the purity and holiness of God or of their own guilt and uncleanness. They have no true conviction of sin and feel no need of repentance. Not seeing their lost condition as violators of God’s law, they do not realize their need of the atoning blood of Christ. The hope of salvation is accepted without a radical change of heart or reformation of life. Thus superficial conversions abound, and multitudes are joined to the church who have never been united to Christ.—The Great Controversy, 467, 468.
From Homeward Bound - Page 104
Homeward Bound