The Most Important News!

These are not merely the breaking news of the day. They are much more
than that! These news refer to the essential needs of each one of us, and they are:

To be unconditionally loved and accepted by somebody, no matter what

being just as we are... and that it will always be and remain so, as long as we
wish that;
In other words, that this does not change even when our mistakes and
falls continually happen, that we will not be left alone or abandoned, but will
instead be sure that no matter what, (notwithstanding all that) somebody will
always be there for us and remain by our side, and that we will always have his
unconditional acceptance and love no matter how bad we may be;
To be sure that we have been forgiven from the bottom of the heart even be-
fore we ask for forgiveness, which should by no means be misinterpreted as not
requiring personal request for forgiveness; not only because forgiveness without
direct asking for it is neither complete, nor legally valid (before justice and law),
but also because it is impossible for anybody who is truly repenting and regret-
The Most Important News

ting for all the bad things he had done, to show this to the person whom he had
harmed, unless he personally asks for pardon and forgiveness in an open and
direct way. Thus, it represents only our open expression of true repentance and
regret for the injustice, pain and suffering we had caused, but not our attempt of
persuasion or even worse than that, our attempt of supplication, to take pity of
us, have mercy and forgiveness for us, and love us and accept again;
That in spite of all bad things which we do or how wicked we are, there
exists someone who always sees the best of what we can be and truly and un-
reservedly believes that we will become such persons and that something good
will become of us. That through the understanding, compassion, acceptance and
unwavering loyalty and commitment, someone will openly take our side, even
when all other people condemn us, reject us, write us off and consider us irrepa-
rable and hopeless. Even if we think like that of ourselves! And that someone
will believe in us with such an extent, that because of his convictions he is ready
to risk everything and even fully sacrifice himself because of his love for us;
That we are fully convinced that because of this unconditional love and
acceptance we will be cleansed of all evil and completely transformed in char-
acter;
That we are quite sure that we will always be and remain loved and ac-
cepted for no special reason, not because of our qualities, but because of the
firmness and quality of love of the one who loves us; that we are free from the
need to be worthy and special in order to be loved; that we are loved just as
we are, not because somebody needs us and thinks we are indispensible, but
because he loves us because of ourselves;
People who are loved and accepted just as they really are, can and are
ready to give themselves away and surrender to the one who have such love
towards them; and only such love can change them, heal them... and help
them to achieve permanent happiness and life filled with joy and meaning.

If you agree with what was said above and believe that the unconditional
acceptance and love are at the same time the only way for a person to overcome
his/her mistakes and shortcomings, and to achieve a life filled with happiness
and purpose, - if you believe that overcoming own mistakes can only a person
who knows that he/she is unconditionally loved and accepted while making
them, then we are convinced that this site is the true place for you that it will
help you to find forever such love, forgiveness, acceptance and the person who
gives them, and that you will not regret one moment of your time spent.

2
 Significance of the News Some
Psychological and Practical Reasons

We have already mentioned our belief regarding importance of uncon-

ditional love and acceptance on the home page of the site, so it will not be
repeated here. As one of the numerous confirmations of this fact, words of
some eminent experts who have been studying this issue will be cited here,
followed by a touching story as an evidence for all of it in real life.
Dr Ross Campbell in his books on parenting the children and establish-
ing healthy relationship with them from their earliest age to the past-teenage
years, speaks of unconditional love and acceptance given by parents to their
children and reasons why the children need them. They are equally needed
by all other generations, because it is simply a universal need.

Some of the Quotations:

Even in their unacceptable behaviors, including acting out their anger, chil-
dren are asking, Do you love me? Do you love me enough not to give up on me?

3
The Most Important News

And then parents, in their feeling of frustration, they often fail to give
unconditional love and acceptance to their children at the very time they
most need it...
If I do my part as a parent and love them despite their childish behavior,
they will be able to give up their childish ways.
If I love them only when they please me and convey my love only at these
times (conditional love), they will not feel genuinely loved. This will make them
feel insecure, and will prevent them from moving on to more self-control. There-
fore, their behavior and development is my responsibility as much as theirs.
If I love them unconditionally, they will feel good about themselves and
be comfortable with themselves. They will then learn to control their anxiety
and also their behavior.
If I love them only when they meet my requirements or expectations, they
will feel incompetent. They will believe it is useless to do their best, because it
will never be enough. They will be plagued by insecurity, anxiety, and low self
esteem. Therefore, their total growth is as much my responsibility as theirs.
Children are like mirrors. They reflect love much more than they initiate
it. If love is given to them, they return it. If none is given, they have little or
none to offer...
When parental love is unconditional and constant, children can look
into the mirror of that love and see themselves as they are today and also as
they want to be in the future.
... If he is convinced he is of low worth, a child will place little value on
what he says or does .... If this kind of low self-esteem has been programmed
into a person, it is difficult, and in some cases almost impossible, for that
person to feel beloved of God, accepted by Him, and of worth to Him in His
kingdom and service.
Although they could not explain it clearly, children know their need of
full acceptance and unconditional love. Without these, they cannot grow and
develop properly.
When your relationship with your children is based on conditional love,
you will find it impossible to really understand your children or to give them
proper guidance. You will also find parenting to be a very confusing enterprise.
But when your relationship with them is built on unconditional love,
you can be confident in your parenting. With your love as a guiding light, you
will be able to meet your childrens needs.
Focused attention means spending time with a child in such a way that
she feels she is the most important person in the world to you.

4
 Significance of the News

Just as a car needs gas and oil to run properly, and a furnace needs fuel,
and your body needs healthful foods to function as it should, so your child
needs your unconditional love, demonstrated in many ways, to become what
he or she wants to be, can be, should be.
If your child has to wonder from day to day, or even hour to hour, if your
love is constant or conditional, and if there is any point in trying to please
you, that child will be discouraged from trying and will feel unsure of his or
her own worth.
The degree to which you are loved unconditionally will determine your
level of self-esteem.1 The same is true for your child.
Unconditional love has two fundamental qualities: (1) It is given
without regard for the objective value of the person or thing which is
loved; (2) It is given without any strings or conditions attached .... Thats
the kind of love which can turn your life around and raise your self-esteem
level to new heights. When you find love like that, you are set free to become
the person you were meant to be in all your uniqueness. And when you ex-
perience yourself in the middle of that kind of freedom, you cant help feeling
good about who you find yourself to be .... We want to be loved for no good
reason at all.2 (just as he/she really are note of the site editor).
Dr. Warren suggests that you know you have found this kind of love
when you are sure that nothing you could ever do would separate you
from the love the other person has for you. Such a love frees you from
what Carl Rogers calls conditions of worth. You no longer have to be any-
thing in particular in order to be loved. You can begin the journey toward
self-discovery with no preset destination. In each moment you can simply
be authentically yourself.3
To become who they are demands that your children have a strong sense
of self. A strong sense of self comes from the freedom of unconditional love.
It is in your home that your children are learning how much they mean
to you, to God, and to themselves. Please help your children to know that
they mean all the world to you, by your actions as well as your words.

All what was said above, is illustrated by the following story from the
real life, only one story from many. It vividly describes an example of uncon-

1 Neil Clark Warren, Making Anger Your Ally (Colorado Springs: Focus on the Family
Publishing, 1990), page 123.
2 Ibid, page 123-124.
3 Ibid, page 125.
5
The Most Important News

ditional love and acceptance and why we all need that, not only in our secular,
but also in our spiritual life. But before the story is told, we would like to point
out the very essence of the most important news, which is found on the next
page of the site under the title Right in the Center!

The quotations given here are taken from the book of dr. Ross Campbell Kids in
Danger, edition 1999, chapter Your Childs Need for Unconditional Love, and which is
published here with generous permission of English publisher of Campbells book, pub-
lishing house David C Cook.
Dr Ross Campbell was a world acclaimed author of the books on this subject. During
the former Soviet Union, at the time of great tensions with the USA, his book How to
Really Love Your Child was officially bought by the government, printed and distributed
in most Soviet homes. This practice was later continued by the Russian state, but only par-
tially because of worsened economic situation. This very fact, among others, confirms the
value of his books, and of the opinions and experiences contained therein, especially if
we have in mind that he was an American and that the American writers were not exactly
popular in the Soviet Union, and are even less so in todays Russia.

6
 Right in the Centre!
This news cannot leave indifferent anybody who thoroughly contem-
plates on what they really mean and what consequences they may have on
ones life. For each one of those people, nothing will be the same as before.
The deeper their understanding of same, the stronger their response will
be: they will either become more fervent supporters, or ever stronger op-
ponents.
Here is the most important news without its explanation on this page. A
more detailed argumentation can be found on following pages of the site (5
and 6) for all those who will be able to read the following few sentences to the
end, accept and believe that this news is really so good. We therefore ask you
to read slowly and contemplate:
The One mentioned in the introductory words, who unconditionally
loves and accepts us and forgives us from the bottom of His heart, transform-
ing us through His love, is God Himself! Notwithstanding the fact that most
people have a completely different and opposite picture of Him, Gods love
and His acceptance are fully unconditional! What does it mean?

7
The Most Important News

It simply and literally means that it does not depend on your goodness
and your works, on what you are and what you do. He accepts you as you re-
ally are, whatever you are and whatever you do (which does not mean that He
accepts things you do), because He loves you because of yourself. Because of
love for you He has a goal not to leave you the same but to change you and
save from eternal perdition if you agree to that. Only unconditional love and
acceptance can make the change, and not the other way round.
Or to say it more directly, your sins are not and cannot be the cause of
Gods rejection of you as long as you do not reject Him and come to Him for
healing you should distinguish it from the fact that they can easily become
the cause of your rejection of God if you continue to cherish them deliber-
ately and persistently. They will not alienate God from you, but rather they
will alienate you from God. They will not affect Gods attitude toward you, but
rather your attitude toward Him.
In other words, there is no condition on Gods side, only on human side.
That is, this Gods unconditional love and acceptance one can stop to ac-
cept, although that is inheritable gift of salvation (birthright that everyone
receives).
For understanding and accepting all that was said, it is of utmost im-
portance to distinguish already mentioned fact that Gods unconditional love
and acceptance do not mean that He accepts what we do, but that He uncon-
ditionally accepts us who are doing it. To comprehend love fully among other
things means that one should make distinction between a person and what
that person is doing. This is because love is a attitude toward (relationship
with) another person as a being, and not with all its individual wishes and be-
haviors. And just because of this distinction it is possible to love a person and
condemn some of its doings at the same time. It is like the parents who do not
accept some of their childrens doings which they consider dangerous exactly
because they love them. Many people, however, misinterpret non-acceptance
of somebodys actions as non-acceptance of the person who is doing them.
More precisely, they perceive this non-acceptance of certain types of behavior
as conditioning, opposition and non-existence of unconditional love, which
is completely wrong. (Remember: not accepting somebodys behavior and
some of ones actions does not at all mean, and is not equal to rejection of that
person as a human being.)
Shocking? Hard to believe? God says so, but humans distorted it, be-
cause they cannot believe in something like that as it sounds too good to
be true. We have been taught ever since we were born that favor, mercy and

8
 Right in the Centre!

love must be earned and deserved, so that we continue applying this wrong
premise even to Gods love and acceptance, and most people find it difficult
to unlearn it. Check the arguments in favor of the above, in Holy Scriptures,
as quoted on the pages to follow. For those who are able to do so, lets go on:

To conclude from the above Our good works, faithfulness, obedi-

ence, behavior... are not the cause (reason) for Gods love and acceptance, His
mercy towards us and forgiveness; nor are the cause of our justification, rec-
onciliation, salvation... All this is only the consequence of His unconditional
love, acceptance, mercy, and forgiveness, as well as of our understanding and
accepting of that fact. And all this by means of faith, i.e. by becoming familiar
with God through everyday personal relationship with Him.
Gods grace (mercy and favor) can in no way be earned or deserved (it is
undeserved). It is not a reward for proper actions, nor a pay for obedience. We
cannot make ourselves good enough for it, nor it is based upon anything we do.
It is based exclusively on what Jesus did. It is already ours by birth, and it is free!
Our personal (subjective) justification and reconciliation with God
does not depend on what we are like and what we do, but on what we believe
do we believe that God has already justified us and reconciled us with Him
(salvation from sin accomplished for the whole humanity objective salva-
tion) while we were still helpless, godless, sinners and enemies of Him. It
depends on whether we believe that we have already received salvation as the
right acquired by birth (birthright), instead of doing things to earn or deserve
it (Holy Scriptures, Rom. chapter 5).
Salvation is an inherited gift everybody obtains by birth, but it is later
rejected for various reasons (deceitfulness of sin and love of it, pride, godless-
ness, disloyalty to God...). It is upon us to stop rejecting our inherited right to
salvation by cherishing faith which is also a gift from God.
Repentance is a gift and we should not wait to approach God till we
repent (as we will then never approach Him), but we should come to Him
such as we are in order to receive that gift and thus be able to repent. We do
not repent so that God would love and accept us, He unconditionally loves
and accepts us as to enable us to repent. It is the very love of God that leads
us to repentance, and not the other way round. It is not us who take the first
step and seek God, but just the opposite: He takes the first step and seeks us
(described in Holy Scriptures, Luke, chapter 15).
Tax collectors and sinners mentioned in the above chapter did not wait
to sincerely repent before approaching Christ, but came to Him such as they

9
The Most Important News

really were, with all their sins and flaws. This proves the fact that Christ with
immense joy accepts His lost children who are coming back to Him such as
they really are, with all their sins and weaknesses, although He knows that
there are many among them who still havent truly repented. Why? Not be-
cause love is sentimental and blind, and justify unrecognized sins and over-
looks unrepented sins, but because true love is unconditional (asking nothing
for itself) and because true love knows that only unconditional acceptance
can lead a sinner to sincere repentance, and not vice versa. There is no other
way.
Should they truly appreciate and stop to reject it, His love will lead them
to repentance and it will change them. If not, their persistent rejection of His
love and His principles based on love will gradually make them ever more
corrupt and less willing to readily accept and choose Gods will instead of sin
which they have come to love and with which they have become so familiar.
In that case they will once (and maybe after several departures and returns)
finally go away forever.
By Christ`s substitutionary sacrifice, our sins, guilt and condemna-
tion were ascribed (and transferred) to Him; and His merits His righteous-
ness, perfect life and obedience were ascribed to us. It means that although
we are aware of our present sinfulness and human weaknesses, God always
sees us as fully righteous, just like Christ was, as if we have never sinned and
fallen. It also means that God sees us as completely obedient, like Christ has
been, although it is not how we see ourselves.
By doing all this, the eternal (unchanging, self-sacrificing, unselfish,
compassionate, caring, patient, faithful...) Love not only covered our sins to
make us officially (in the face of law) righteous, while we continue to sin; no,
all this was done that we might be made righteous, that in real life we could be
free from sins and the desire to continue doing them. And all this is possible
through gradual transformation of character that God will do in a life-long
process (consecration), provided we come to Him daily and allow Him to do
it; to persist in knowing Him better every day; to stop trying to free ourselves
from His hands and permit Him to abide in our mind. Only this part is what
belong to us and what God asks of us and expects from us. And for all time,
our mistakes and falls are covered by Christs merits which the unmeasurable
love had attributed to us.
Truly, no one has ever start walking without falling. Every human par-
ent, who really loves his or her child and wants him or her to start walking,
does not count his or her falls, nor love him or her less every time him or her

10
 Right in the Centre!

falls down, let alone God who considers us all His children. Gods love has
full understanding and immeasurable patience for our failures and falls on
the way of growing up. For it is impossible to have a sincere relationship
with somebody who loves and accepts us only as long as we do things of
which he or she approves. It is not love, but interest, selfishness, sort of
blackmail relationship. The relationship of love cannot exist where mu-
tual love is constantly examined and has to be proven again and again; if
all the time we have to ask ourselves whether what we are and what we do
is good enough to be loved and accepted. In such a relationship there can
be no real acceptance, intimacy, sincerity, openness, gratitude, progress,
joy, peace, happiness, safety, stability... but only a lasting anxiety, sense of
guilt, remorse, lies, alienation, feeling of being not accepted and rejected,
lack of gratitude, uncertainty, uneasiness, suffering, sadness, lack of con-
fidence and self respect... Simply, we will be discouraged in our efforts
and live in constant fear that we will be rejected and abandoned because
of our failures and mistakes, and because of what we are and what we do.
This can hardly be called life, but it isnt death either. This is a terrible torture
and gradual deterioration, life of utter distress and misery. God knows it well
and does not wishes it even to His worst enemies. To those who distorted His
unconditional love and acceptance to such an image of a tyrant, to millions
who live in bitter agony, waiting for Him to end it mercifully, the present
news is in fact Gods effort to end that agony by showing Himself in real light.
The fear that Gods unconditional love and acceptance can lead the per-
son who sincerely accepts them to misuse the freedom and betray His mercy
and confidence is unfounded. It is simply impossible for anyone who really
accepts and appreciates somebodys unconditional love and acceptance to re-
main unchanged, especially if we talk of Gods unconditional love and ac-
ceptance. If the person persists in its unity with Christ, sooner or later his
or her sin will cease (be defeated). As long as the unity with God exists, that
relationship of love has its inherent protection from the abuse of freedom.
The deeper our community with Christ, the farther we are from the misusing
of freedom. We should all be grateful to God for the way Christ treated those
who had deliberately sinned. This gives hope and consolation to each believer
who is fighting and growing.
This point leads to all that follows:

Our justification before God does not depend on our sanctification

(consecration), i.e. our life (our correct acts and good works) but only on

11
The Most Important News

Christs merits (substitutionary life). Our good works are only the conse-
quence, the fruit of our justification and salvation, and not their cause.
Our position before God and peace with Him are not based on our
present circumstances, nor on our spiritual progress (sanctification), nor on
our works (the fact that we no more do some things we had done before
or they happen to us again). Our position before God and peace with Him
are based exclusively on the already established fact, and that fact is accom-
plished by the substitutionary death itself of Jesus Christ for all of us.
To be under Gods grace does not mean that we must not commit sin
again. We may sin (occasionally?) without losing Gods grace because His
undeserved mercy and favor have never depended on our ability to do the
right thing. Grace is poured upon us regardless the fact that we still are, or
have been the sinners.
We are justified only and exclusively by faith, but not only intellec-
tually (consciously accepting approving Gods reconciliation, which is an
inherited gift), but also by faith which works through love. In this case faith
is a verb, and not a noun.
Our struggle is not fighting with sin, character flaws, inherited or ac-
quired inclinations... Our struggle is the struggle of faith, struggle of believ-
ing Him, of surrendering Him (constantly?), and giving Him permission to
abide in us, to let Him enter our minds. Our struggle is to believe that fighting
with our sins and flaws, as well as the responsibility for its outcome, are upon
Christ, and not upon us, and that consequently we constantly surrender to
Him our right to fight with our sins and flaws. The point is that God in us
resists sin, and not we alone with His help.
More precisely said, our struggle to constantly surrender our sins to
Him, believing that they have already been conquered; and to reach for His
righteousness expressed in Gods moral law, believing that this righteousness
has already been gifted to us in abundance. Because the ten Gods command-
ments have originally been given as Gods promises to His people which He
would realize through them if they believe Him, and not as a set of prohibi-
tions which they should obey by their own power. Then God will abide in us
and the justice of the law will be fulfilled in us, because God will by his pres-
ence in us, resist the sin, and not we alone with His help only.
In other words, our struggle is to surrender Him our will and yield to
His will all the time.
We should believe (Our struggle is to believe/keep belief) that Christ has
overcome it all instead of us, that in Him we have victory over that all, that

12
 Right in the Centre!

the victory is already ours and that He will, abiding in us, manifest it through
Holy Spirit.
It takes time for developing character and producing lasting fruits of
faith? love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temper-
ance... What does it really mean?
Although these fruits of faith are there every time we permit God to
abide in our mind, it takes time to make these instantaneous fruits perma-
nent and lasting, for we need time to learn to constantly allow God to abide
in us.
This process of spiritual growth (i.e. sanctification) is the process of
changing habits, i.e. of developing and transforming of character. Character
consists of thoughts and habits, so that a momentary change of thoughts or
one act that differs from usual habits, do not signify both temporary and per-
manent change of habits or character, for in that case our habits and character
would change several times during the day. A continuous and persistent pro-
cess of repeating an action is necessary for it to become a new habit, and con-
sequently a part of character. Also, it is necessary a continuous and persistent
process of not repeating some action in order that it will cease to be a habit or
a part of character. In order to make some action a habit it is necessary that it
becomes constant, i.e. that it is repeated several times and again, that takes
time. More on that subject and on serious mistakes which are made in this
connection can be found in the book Victory through Jesus by Bill Liver-
sidge (in e-form on the Site), especially in the chapter New spiritual habits.
The soul is not immortal by birth but conditionally. So, those who re-
ject Gods grace (undeserved mercy and favor) should not expect eternal tor-
ture in the flames of hell, but merciful destruction and end of their life after
paying for their sins, the penalty that Christ has already paid for all, but they
have willfully and actively rejected that inherent gift of pardon and salvation.
Those who have been saved are aware of the fact that they had been
saved exclusively by Gods undeserved mercy and favor shown in Christs sac-
rifice of reconciliation, and not by any of someones works, merits or personal
achievements, so that all gratitude and glory belong to God only!
The concepts discussed so far are not final and they will grows with bet-
ter understanding of Gods unconditional love and acceptance, so, the con-
tents of this Site will be dynamic subject to constant additions.

13
 The Most Important News
in Everyday Life

And now an example of what unconditional love and acceptance can

do in the lives of those who had lived chaotically and in discord with their
own selves and with those surrounding them; whose life had been tragically
deranged, and loaded with problems. At the end of the story (taken from the
book 95 Theses on Justification by Faith by Morris Venden, as thesis 46) a
comparison is made with Gods unconditional love and acceptance and its
significance for our transformation and spiritual growth:

Theses 46.
One reason we keep sinning is that we dont believe we are
forgiven (that we are unconditionally loved and accepted even
while we continue making mistakes on our way of growth).
Assurance leads to victory. Uncertainty (in unconditional love
and acceptance) leads to defeat.

14
 The Most Important News in Everyday Life

In a church I pastored several years ago, one family adopted a little five-
year-old girl. Born to a junkie mother, the child had already experienced
more of the ugly side of life than most people do in a lifetime. She had learned
to survive, but she didnt know how to live. She knew how to hate, but not
how to love. In many ways she seemed an impossible case.
A series of foster homes lay behind her. She would speak in passing of
Mother Karen, and Mama Becky, and Mommy Ann. All of them had let
her down. Now she had been adopted by a Christian family and promised
a permanent home. But she didnt know about permanence. All she under-
stood was temporary and she was not about to let herself be hurt again.
She was so sure that she was going to be abandoned, that she did every-
thing she could to hurry p the process. She was a master at disrupting a house-
hold. Because she had been abused beyond belief from babyhood, no punish-
ment could control her. At times her new family despaired of ever reaching her.
As long as she remained convinced that her bad behavior was going
to result in her rejection, she continued to rebel. The breakthrough came
for her only when she finally understood that no matter how bad she was,
she was still going to be accepted. (Just what dr Neal Warren pointed out
and we cited (reffered) on page 2 of the site) you know you have found
this kind of love when you are sure that nothing you could ever do would
separate you from the love the other person has for you (note of the Site
editor) Only when her new family finally communicated unconditional ac-
ceptance to her was she able to begin to heal.
Only then did she discover that disobedience was no longer necessary.
One of the things that helped was for her to clearly understand the con-
sequences of certain actions. The consequences were fair, not harsh. But she
was not allowed to misbehave for free. At the same time, she slowly came
to understand that the consequence of disobeying was not to be rejected and
sent away. For as long as she was willing to remain in the household, her place
was secure.
Sometimes we have looked at God in the same way this child looked at
her new parents. We have been so sure that He was going to reject us because
of what we are, that we keep on being what we are! We keep on sinning be-
cause we dont believe we are forgiven. We remain defeated because we have
no assurance that He accepts us even while we grow (see endnote with more detailed explana-
tion)
.
Does this mean that sin is OK, that we can break His law and go unpun-
ished? No, wrongdoing does have consequences. But being rejected by God

15
The Most Important News

doesnt happen to be one of themas long as we remain in the family and

continue to come to Him for healing and forgiveness and power.
Steps to Christ, page 52, puts it this way: Some seem to feel that they
must be on probation, and must prove to the Lord that they are reformed,
before they can claim His blessing. But they may claim the blessing of God
even now. They must have His grace, the Spirit of Christ, to help their infir-
mities, or they cannot resist evil. Jesus loves to have us come to Him just as
we are, sinful, helpless, dependent. We may come with all our weakness, our
folly, our sinfulness, and fall at His feet in penitence. It is His glory to encircle
us in the arms of His love, and to bind up our wounds, to cleanse us from all
impurity.
First John 3:2 says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not
yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall
be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Our part is to make sure that now we continue in relationship with Him
as His sons and daughters. His part is to insure that whatever needs to be
done to make us like Him, will be done in time.
Jesus loves to have us come to Him just as we are, for that is the only
way we can come. He sets no limits on the number of times we can come and
still be accepted. He loves us because we are His children, not because of any
good in us. And when we finally come to understand that we are loved and
accepted by Him, we will begin to heal. Accepting His acceptance makes the
difference (Or more precisely, our stopping rejection of His acceptance note
of Site editor)

Since God also unconditionally loves and accepts us such as we really

are in spite of what we are doing (which does not mean that He accepts what
we are doing), can anybody among us consider himself/herself smarter than
Him and act differently, i.e. to set conditions either to others or to himself/
herself. Certainly, as already said in the beginning, the aim of unconditional
love and acceptance in both humans and God is not to leave us such as we
are, but make us change, correct our mistakes and achieve happiness and life
filled with joy and meaning, as the story of the adopted little girl tells us in
practice.
The result of transforming power of unconditional love and acceptance
is the change of character into the form ever more like this unconditional
love. There are countless examples in life for this, though their number is
never sufficient. What the unconditional love and acceptance have done for

16
 The Most Important News in Everyday Life

many people who experienced them, and what it looks like to have this expe-
rience, is told us in the words of the song: Everything Im because you loved
me, sung by Celine Dion. The author of the lyrics dedicated them to her
father, but they are applicable to all who unconditionally loved and accepted
us while we grow up; We ourselves would primarily dedicate them to God, as
they give a fine description of Him.
Since the understanding of conditionality of love and acceptance, not
only by humans but also by God Himself, as well as of the feeling of rejec-
tion, hopelessness, anxiety... that appear as its consequence, is the cause of
almost all emotional, mental, spiritual and most physical problems, we
would now like to warmly recommend the book Belonging Overcoming
Rejection and Finding the Freedom of Acceptance by dr. Nancy and dr. Ron
Rockey in collaboration with dr. Kay Kuzma.
In our modest opinion, this book, together with texts on this site and
following brochures and books, makes a complete whole as regards emotion-
al, psychological and other aspects of unconditional love and acceptance, or
more precisely, detecting and eliminating of problems created by the lack of
fulfilment (partial or total) of this most important human need.
(Brochures: TheGodforsaken God byDwight Nelson, TheWord That
TurnedtheWorld Upside Down, TheNearness of Your Savior by Robert J.
Wieland, Thegood newsin anutshellby JackSequeira;
Books: Thegood news is betterthan you think, Powerful Good News, In
Search of the Cross, From Jesus with LovebyRobert J. Wieland, Overcoming
Through Jesusby Bill Liversidge).
Other books later mentioned on this site only make an addition to all
of this, in other words enable wider understanding of this subject seen from
other angles historical, medical...something like advanced course.

Theses 46 that is in full given here, is taken from the book of Morris Venden 95 Theses
on Righteousness by Faith: Apologies to Martin Luther, first edition (1987), and which
is published here with generous permission of English publisher Pacific Press publishing
house.
One reason we keep sinning is that we dont believe we are forgiven.
What does it mean? That we do not trust God, that we do not believe that He uncondi-
tionally accepts and loves us such as we really are, that He will never abandon or leave us
in spite of all our sins which we may be repeating over and over again, so that we are still
afraid that we will not be loved, but rejected if we sin, and then in fear and insecurity, we
do make mistakes. It means that we still believe in bad news, instead of in the good one,
and then this fear and this disbelief in good news (Gospel) block us and lead into erring.
17
The Most Important News
Because if someone lives in constant fear and uncertainty that he/she will make a mis-
take (will not succseed) and will for this reason be rejected, he/she will start erring more
and more. From frightened person living in constant dread and fear that he/she will err
and fail, it can be expected nothing else but succumbing to their negative anticipations,
foreboding, fears unpleasant feelings and entering into the vicious circle. This is believ-
ing in bad news, for the person is not sure that he/she is loved and accepted because of the
constancy of love of the One who loves him/her. The way out is in certainty of acceptance
believing in good news. When somebody lives in complete belief (faith) that he/she is
unconditionally loved and accepted, only in that case he/she will have the possibility and
capacity to stop erring and sinning exactly because he/she is now living in certainty,
security and immeasurable power of unconditional love and acceptance. And then he/she
does not deal his/her fears but only thinks about love and gratitude.
That is the difference between believing in bad and in good news.
Bad news is based on the picture of cruel, merciless, unfeeling God who only waits for us
to make mistake so that He can angrily punish us with pleasure and without mercy. The
cause of this bad image is the already mentioned lack of certainty in Gods unconditional
love and acceptance, the fact that He will never leave or abandon us (it is the humans
who leave and abandon Him first, and never vice versa). In all of us exists this image, and
those who still believe in it, and in whom it is deeply rooted in their subconsciousness,
have fear of God and feel unsafe and rejected. As opposed to them, those who believe that
God unconditionally loves and accepts them have no fear of Him who died in their place
in order to save them and they have full certainty. Certainly, all this requires personal
and close experience with God and His love and acceptance, and experience takes time.
It also took time to the adopted little girl to understand that and personally experience it
together with her new parents. Why should anyone be an exception to this? For this rea-
son we should not be discouraged if it appears to us that time is passing too slowly and in
vain simply, some learn faster, some slower and the only thing that matters is to persist
and never abandon the relationship (communion) with God all the rest is up to Him.

18
 The news is completely reliable
This 5th chapter of the brochure, named The news is completely reliable
1, and the following 6th, named The news is completely reliable 2, are an at-
tempt of a detailed theological reasoning on the bases of the Holy Scripture,
that the Gods love toward people, as well as their acceptance from God, are
unconditional. Those two chapters of the brochure/web page for now exist
only in Serbian language.

19
 Whom is Bothered by the News?
There are two kingdoms between which there is a life-lasting war, war
until one of them disappear. There is a permanent disagreement between the
laws under which the two kingdoms function. All humans are without excep-
tion born in the kingdom of this world, i.e. in the kingdom of conditional love
(where conditional system of values rules) and only by free choice can opt for
the other kingdom which is distinguished by unconditional love. Most peo-
ple in their families and surroundings are raised and gradually poisoned by
regulations of the first kingdom and thought that love must be deserved and
not given away without any merit. Each one of us remembers the words: Be
good and you will get this or that or, conversely: Youll never be somebody,
look how good he/she is. Such system of value (such aproach) has different
impact on people of varying sensibilities.
Broad-minded and sincere individuals, who in their growing up, due to
various reasons, acquired certain courage, encountering this system in their early
youth, develop an open rebellion against it, and are frequently identified as rebels.
Such people are prevalently those disobedient, problematic, opportunistic, etc.

20
 Whom is Bothered by the News?

Broad-minded and sincere individuals, who under the influence of vari-

ous factors become disheartened persons, in encounter with this system
while still very young, develop an inward pain, grasping the values by which
people live, and this may lead them to mental diseases or at least into a per-
manent apathy.
Insincere individuals, narrow-minded and lacking sympathy for free-
dom of thought, in encounter with the system of conditional love develop
chameleonic (hypocritical, deceptive) forms of behavior which enable them
to successfully fit into the kingdom they live in. This kind of persons have
great success in external adjusting to the system of values in earthly kingdom
and they are recognized by others and declared as the most cultivated neigh-
bors, the most regular debt payers, the best students (with some honorable
exceptions), while at the same time the values they stand for never really
reach their hearts.
In a family having three children, where an average value system pre-
vails, the worthiest child will be the one with least oscillations in behavior
and highest success in achieving what the family deems desirable, while on
the other hand the most criticized one will be the unruly (baulky) child, dif-
ficult to approach. This is the reason why in this world the most esteemed,
most influential and most successful people are often those who are top hyp-
ocrites, chameleons and poltroons, who during their growing up acquired
ability to ingratiate i.e. to adjust the requirements of their environment and
achieve fulfilment of the outer form. Such persons are most often great op-
ponents of freedom and true love which is unconditional.
In the kingdom of God, the aim is that the subjects have the law of the
kingdom in their minds i.e. hearts, the law that they have accepted with their
free will i.e. by choice, inspired by love they have undeservedly received,
while in the earthly kingdom the aim is to have the subjects satisfy the outer
form, in spite of possibly being against it in their hearts.
Based on what was said above, for whom the news of Gods uncondi-
tional love and acceptance, was the most important and happiest news, and
for whom was it just the opposite?
In this selfish (sinful) world, where the ruling understanding and the
law by which, if one wants to be loved and accepted, he/she must have certain
qualities beauty, wealth, ability, wisdom... (conditioned system of values or
the system of conditional values), it is clear that without it one will be of no
value and significance to anybody one will be unaccepted, i.e. rejected, un-
loved... In short, everything is reduced to the existence of value (value condi-

21
The Most Important News

tion), even if it was being just an outward attraction and glamour. People are
loved and accepted only if they have some value.
Appearance of Gods Son with the message that Gods love and accep-
tance are unconditional (the only condition being on the side of humans
not to reject that), was the most important and happiest news for all those
who longed to be loved and accepted for no special reason. Not because of
their achievements or values, but for their real selves as being persons, re-
gardless of their social status either coming from the margins of society or
from the esteemed and respected circles. And the fact that God gave Himself
as a sacrifice for the whole world while we were still godless, helpless and en-
emies to Him, was the best confirmation of unconditionality of His love and
guarantee of its unchangeability.
That was the news (and still is) for two groups of people all those re-
jected by the society, who in the eyes of that society had no value whatsoever,
people living on the edge. But it was also the news for the people coming
from quite the opposite world all those respectable persons, renowned and
esteemed for their virtues, talents and wealth, who were tired of the prevail-
ing idea that love has to be deserved, acquired by proper actions and achieve-
ments and who were fed up (tired) with general selfishness, hypocrisy and
corruption.
It is clear that this was not a good news for those who considered them-
selves better, smarter... more valuable than the others, quite outstanding and
exceptional... It was just them who were the greatest and most ardent oppo-
nents of the good news. They were the Pharisees and other persons of similar
convictions, self-righteous and haughty, who believed in conditional love and
acceptance.
Generally speaking, who are the biggest supporters of the conditional
system of values? It is those whom this system makes the most prominent,
promoting them. Those who have the best abilities and talents, who believe
that in life everything has to be earned and deserved and it is just them who
can do it and for this reason they want to make themselves famous, promi-
nent and distinguished above all. Glorifying their qualities, the conditional
system of values raises them as persons above all other people, separating
them from others and thus, flattering their haughtiness and vanity... enables
them to incorporate their selves, their achievements, their ego, their big I in
the salvation (see endnote with detailed explanation).
The example of Pharisees from chapter 15 of Gospel according to Luke,
who yelled at Christ because He accepted sinners, is an evidence that they

22
 Whom is Bothered by the News?

considered that a person can be loved and accepted only if he/she has value
of some kind. And since they regarded these rejected social cases as worth-
less, it is not surprising that they reacted so fiercely to Christs unconditional
love and acceptance. It simply humiliated their haughtiness and ruined their
self-opinion of their own value, specialty, and exceptionality.
So was is then, so it will be now, and so it has always been. For this
reason, the good news about Gods unconditional love and acceptance has
always been best accepted by those whom the world regards as wretches and
orphans of life, people who have no value whatsoever in their eyes. But it was
Christ who in His speech on the Mountain of blessings confirmed that such
people who realize that they as such have no value, are the most valuable ones
in Gods eyes and that God can do the most through them by introducing His
life and real values. Blessed are poor in spirit, i.e. those who are conscious
of their spiritual poverty.

Certainly, nobody is against success, not even God Himself, if it is not aimed at raising
itself above others. Certainly, the abilities should by no means be underestimated, as they
have their significance and value in some parts of life, but not in the domain of salvation.
There are several reasons for that for if they had the value regarding salvation then it
would mean that since not everybody has the same abilities-gifts, that some will be more
eligible to be saved than the others, which would be unjust and unfair from God. Also, all
our abilities are poisoned by selfishness, and that is perhaps the most important reason in
addition to the one already mentioned.
For the salvation, it is only important to be able to respond with gratitude to Gods love,
which again is a gift that can either be cherished and developed, or neglected, and to con-
stantly get to know God through study of the Holy Scriptures and daily personal experi-
ences with Him. This is what strengthen the faith in His unconditional love, acceptance,
grace that cannot be deserved, affection, goodness...

23
 Instead of the Conclusion
If someone saved our life, even if that had not cost him any effort, trou-
ble or strain, but was done from pure goodwill, we would be grateful to him
as long as we live. If that had required from him effort, trouble or strain, we
would be even more grateful. And if he risked his life to save ours, our grati-
tude would be immense. If he gave his life for ours in full consciousness, our
gratitude would be hard to describe in words. And if he gave his life to save
us while we were still his adversaries and enemies, our gratitude would be
inexpressible.
How much gratitude we should have for the fact that God gave His di-
vine life for us when we were still godless, helpless, sinners and His enemies?
(See Romans, chapter 5)
And He not only gave His life for us and because of us, but because of us
He, the Creator, accepted to come among us the creatures He made, as one of
us. Beginning His life same as we do born as a helpless baby, but in the most
modest circumstances and surroundings as a child of poor people with hard
and uncertain future, in a not exactly odorous and clean stable. Exposed to the

24
 Instead of the Conclusion

same weaknesses and living in the incomparable harder circumstances and

temptations, exposed to dangers of failure and eternal loss. Replacing the com-
pany of countless angels who adored Him with an extremely harsh and hostile
company of the people full of misunderstanding, ungrateful, sneer, mockery,
derision, contempt, suffering their open hatred, opposition and rejection. Peo-
ple who took every opportunity to make things bitter for Him and take His life
away. And finally ending his life by a shameful death, with complete contempt,
hatred and rejection of the great majority of those whom He came to save. Ac-
cepting in spite of all to drink the incredible agony of guilt and sin of the whole
world, to experience death equal to the eternal one and sense of eternal separa-
tion from joy, life, Father, and everything nice all for our sake.
Can we ask for a greater proof of Gods love, undeserved mercy and af-
fection than all that?
If someone gave you a precious gift, your most natural response would
be to say a fervent thank you. And, further, according to the value of the gift,
your most natural response would be a desire to demonstrate your gratitude
to the friend for what he did. This capacity for glad, thankful response is built
into your human nature, a part of the package that is you. It is almost instinc-
tive. Dozens of times a day we will catch ourselves saying thank you for kind-
nesses done, and as often will we find ourselves watching for opportunities
to respond.
This simple, unaffected, uncomplicated response of our humanity is all
that God has ever asked from anyone. Christ gave Himself for us on the cross.
And when we see what happened at Calvary, something does begin to move
us.
We cannot but to express to Him with the grateful heart, shouting with
all our being: But God forbid that I should glory, save the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ! (Galatians 6,14)
Further, there is a modest attempt to show Him at least a little piece of
our gratitude. Our sincere wish is that the statements of gratitude that follow
will turn your look from the harsh reality of life, full of problems, and raise it
to the cross on which our Redeemer and Saviour has been crucified.
Because only the look at the cross eliminates all uncertainty and doubt
in Gods unconditional love and acceptance, the fact that He will never leave
or abandon us, regardless of all our mistakes, sins, falls, faults... regardless of
all that we are or what we do.
And further, because the cross is not only the guarantee of Gods un-
conditional acceptance of us, the sinners, but also the pledge that He will not

25
The Most Important News

leave us such as we are, but transform us and our fallen character to the form
and character like His, if we persist in everydays habit of looking at the cross
and crucified Saviour on it. For His wounds are ever fresh, and He ever lives
to make intercession before God for us.
Our wish is that the statements of gratitude provoke in you that same
feeling of indescribable joy which we experience every time we say to Him:
Thank You! for all that He has done for us. And direct you to join us in that,
with your hearts filled with immense joy, filling you with peace which sur-
passes all understanding. And to God who is able to do far more abundantly
than all that we ask or think, be the praise and glory for ever and ever.

Statements of Gratitude
This page is based on the chapter Faith Statements from the book
Overcoming Through Jesus by Bill Liversidge.

1. Thank You God, because you made me to realize and feel that I was
very special to Jesus and that all I need to do is to come to the cross daily
and thank Jesus for what He has done for me by taking on my sins, pleading
guilty on my behalf, therefore making me innocent and righteous in Your
eyes. What a wonderful gift! Thank you that every doubt of assurance in my
salvation is lifted.

2. Thank You God, because you save me from wrong understanding

and prayer:
Lord help me fight, help me defeat Satan.
Thank You God because I realize for the first time that Jesus had already
defeated Satan for me and that I didnt need to fight with him.
Thank You God because you taught me that the enemy is only deceiv-
ing every one of us into thinking that this is a struggle between us and him,
because he knows that the real struggle was between Christ and him and
he lost that struggle. He doesnt want us to find that out ever, so that we will
continue to feel that somehow now, we have to meet him and take him on.
But we dont have to.
Thank You God because you taught me that I simply need to start to
belief you.
Thank You God because all the fear and the agony in the back of my
mind was gone. Praise God for all He has done for every one of us through
Christ death!

26
 Instead of the Conclusion

3. I praise You God each day for the gift Jesus gave on the cross, and for
sending His Spirit to dwell in me and sanctify and teach me. Now I can tell
others about it.

4. I praise You God, because statements of faith help me much to re-

move the focus from myself. I know what a terrible person I am..., but Im
going to focus on what a beautiful person You are even if I dont deserve this
beauty. Thank You!

5. Thank You God, because You hear our need to live by faith in the
Christs victory and in His love for us to walk with assurance in our heart
and mind that He loves us with an unconditional love that He is willing and
faithful to overcome all the sins and character defects in our lives by living in
us through the Holy Spirit!

6. Thank You God, because You make us victorious, because You make
us experience a new life in our walk with Christ, that we are once again re-
stored to a faith that with Christ all things are possible, and because You make
us experience every day true and lasting freedom in face of all circumstances,
through an ever-deepening relationship with Him.

7. Thank You God, because through the good news about free mercy,
I feel hope for the first time! For the first time in my life, I actually feel hope
that I might be saved from sin i.e. selfishness in any of its forms. Ive just seen
how gracious God is!

8. I praise You God, because You fill me with enthusiasm again and
again, when every day I realize that I am liberated and truly free in Jesus.

9. Thank You God, for Your gift of repentance. I praise You because
through confession of guilt Your grace has come into my life. Thank You be-
cause I could be sincere and open with You, because Im enjoying a relation-
ship with Christ and I dont keep secrets from somebody with whom I want
a healthy and close relationship.

10. Thank You God, because we can never say emphasize enough that
Your grace and favor come to us as a free gift. We cannot earn it. We cannot
deserve it. We cannot work for it. We cannot make ourselves good enough

27
The Most Important News

for it. We cannot do anything so that we have it. Its ours, free! Thank You for
that relief and good news!

11. Thank You God, because You simply revealed to us that we have al-
ready received salvation instead of doing things in order to earn or deserve
it.

12. Thank You for wonderful experience to get us to a place where we

finally realize there is not a single thing that we can do with our merits to
be saved.

13. Thank You God, for the good news that Your grace:
- Cant be earned.
- Cant be done anything to deserve it.
- Is not a reward for doing right.
- Is not a payment for obedience.
- Is not based on anything we do!
- Is based exclusively on what Jesus did. Its ours even if we dont de-
serve it.
Thank You God, because You dont wait to see if we will obey and do
good before You give us the free gift of grace.

14. Thank You God, because being under Your grace does not mean that
I can no longer make a mistake. Thank You God, because I could actually
make a mistake, and yet I would not lose your grace.
Thank you for telling us: My grace has never depended on your ability
to do the right thing. It is given to you even if you are, and while you were yet
a sinner.

15. Thank You God, because You do not ask from me to be Jesus. Thank
You for You just ask me to believe in Jesus.

16. Thank You God, for giving me hope back in such a way that you
focus me on what a beautiful person You are and sacrifice You have offer on
Golgotha, instead letting my focus be on my own human performance, or
even worse, on somebody elses performance.
In another words, thank you God, because you gave back to me hope
and happiness in life by making me not to think any more about my merits,

28
 Instead of the Conclusion

achievements, works that are imperfect, which means my weaknesses, self-

ishness, unbelief, but you make it so I can dwell on unconditional love, ac-
ceptance of One that is perfect and His merits, achievements, works, i.e. His
unselfishness, power, faithfulness because of which, He will never abandon us
nor leave us regardless of everything that we are and do, as long as we desire
so.

17. Thank You God, for even if Im not capable of even one pure thought,
one generous action, one unselfish desire, and theres nothing I could ever do
to convince You to feel better toward me, You loved me and accepted me such
as Im. And through Christ death You justified me and reconciled me with
You, while I was yet sinner, while I was yet helpless, and while I was yet Your
enemy. Thank You because Christ died for us.

18. Thank You God, because when I ask You: How could You continue
to love me like this? You replied: Because, My love is not based on whether
or not you always do the right thing. I just love you. I loved you when you
were yet a sinner, when you were rebellious, when you were an enemy, when
you were helpless! I love, because I AM love. I love you not because youve
done something good. The truth is, if youve done something good, it really
isnt you, anyway! Its Me!

19. How Im grateful to You God even dough I admit fact that I am a
worm, You dont consider me worthless! You see value in every one of us.
Thank You because despite of our fallen condition You desire to have an inti-
mate union, the closest love relationship with us.
Thank You God, because Your yearning for us is so great that You even
sacrificed Your Own Son in order to mend our sin-broken relationship!

20. Thank you God, on understanding that Your grace never depended
on how good we are, because by our very nature we are not good!

21. Thank You, because even weve never been able to earn Your grace, to
buy it, or to do something to deserve it, it is absolutely free!

22. Thank you God, for we dont have to convince You to feel better to-
ward us, and because Your love for us is NOT based on our performance,
because through Christ You have already given everything You could give!

29
The Most Important News

23. Thank you God, for our peace with You is not rooted in our current
circumstances, nor in our spiritual growth, nor in the fact that now were not
doing some things we used to do or they are still being repeated.
Thank You that our peace does not depend on us.
Thank You that our peace with You is rooted in an accomplished fact,
and that fact has everything to do with the substitutional death of Jesus Christ.

24. Thank you God, because when we remove our focus from ourselves
and we just get out of the way long enough to see how gracious You have been
to us through the death of Jesus then we can embrace it and say, Praise to
You, God!

25. Thank You that by understanding of the size of Your sacrifice through
Your death on the cross, You open us the door for all that we can and shall be.

26. Im amazed because God, in His infinite mercy, has accepted one
Man in lieu of this whole world.

27. Im amazed while I look at the cross, because God has given me
the most incredible evidence of His love! Hes declared me righteous! Thats
meaning of the word justification declared righteous. He has reconciled
me to Himself. Ive done nothing to deserve it and I couldnt!

28. Thank you God, because You have given us not just the privilege of
being justified it is an established fact but much more than that You are
offering us the privilege of receiving Christ life here and now!

29. Thank you God, because we are growing up into holiness and maturity
in Jesus because You are directing us to look at Christs cross daily, appreciat-
ing fact that You declared us to be righteous through the obedience of Jesus.

30. Thank you God, because Im depending not on my own obedience

and goodness but in Pauls words, on the obedience of the one man Jesus
Christ.

31. I thank You God, because Christ lived the life of perfect obedience,
and because His life and death, You accepted as the basis, so that I may be
declared and made righteous!

30
 Instead of the Conclusion

32. Hallelujah! God, Youve declared me righteous! Thank You for the
obedience of the one Man Whom You have accepted totally and completely
as me!

33. Glory to You God, that salvation is a matter of faith but not of our
own works because You are satisfied that One human being has already lived
a life totally obedient to You, and its such a remarkable and perfect life that
You are willing to accept it in the place of the lives lived by everyone else!

34. Hallelujah! God, Jesus lived the life that I would have been expected
to live. Hes already lived my future life! So from now on Im going to live by
putting Him on every day. Im going to have Jesus living, walking, talking,
thinking, breathing, deciding, acting, and ministering through me! Im not
planning to get better, to become more holy by receiving regular injections of
goodness from Jesus. Instead, Im going to give Him the privilege of bringing
into my life the very life Hes already lived.

35. Thank You for the hope of the Gods glory i.e. Your promise that You
will not only declare us righteous but will make us righteous.

36. I thank You God because, while I was not in a position to offer You
any reason to believe that I was deserving of anything, You gave me Your
grace by sending Your Own Son, and gave me the privilege of justification,
totally apart from myself. I was not involved. I did not contribute. In fact, I
was in my lost and sinful condition when You gave me Your grace. You God
gave Your Own Son to live a godly life, to lay that life down, and then to be
resurrected to make it available to anybody who truly believes that You could
have been this generous! Allelujah!

37. Praise to God! Even in my ungodly condition, God loved me enough

to lay down His life, to reconcile me, to justify me, by letting my death fall
upon Jesus, who became sin for me so that I might have grace now available
to me. Jesus lived a totally obedient life so that I might be made righteous,
because He wanted to earn the right to offer me that very life.

38. Thank You, Father! You must have loved me a great deal to ask Jesus to
do all this for me to look at me in my ungodly state, to take my death and my
tendency to try proving that Im not so bad, to ask Jesus to take all those things

31
The Most Important News

upon Himself and declare me righteous so I can be set free to enjoy a rela-
tionship with Him and receive His life imparted to me daily through the Spirit.

39. Thank You, God, because this morning, through the death of Jesus, I
praise You that You are looking at me as a righteous man.

40. Thank You, Father, that You are considering me today to be recon-
ciled unto You through the death of Jesus.

41. Thank You, Father, that through the death of Jesus, I am no longer
considered to be an enemy of Yours.

42. Thank You, Father, this morning, that through the obedience of the
One, You are looking at me as if I had never sinned.

43. Thank You Father, because prayer of faith i.e. coming to You in faith
does not make coming before You to offer You something, but to receive what
You have already given us through Christs death and resurrection, all that
blessings.

44. Father, I give you the privilege of coming into my mind.

45. Thank You, Father, because in allowing Jesus to become sin for me,
You now see my wretched, sinful self as being absolutely righteous in Your
sight.

46. Im a wretched, sinful person, yet You let Jesus become sin for me.
And now You see me as sinless, righteous, and just!.

47. I am a wretched, sinful man, and Im so grateful this morning, as I look

at the cross, that You allowed Jesus to become sin for me, because now I have
the assurance that in Your sight, for another day, I am as perfect as Jesus was.

48. I praise You and celebrate You God, for the gift of Your Son on Cal-
vary.

49. I praise You God, that despite the acknowledgment of our utter help-
lessness and sinfulness, we are not lived without hope; I praise You, God,

32
 Instead of the Conclusion

because You have seen value in us to the point that You are sacrificed Your
Own Son, knowing what sin had done to us.

50. Through the death of Jesus Christ the following facts also arise as the
basis for the statements of faith:
Ive been justified declared righteous. Romans 5:9.
I was reconciled to God. Romans 5:10.
God has demonstrated His love toward me. Romans 5:8; 1 John
3:16.
God has made peace, reconciling all things including me to
Himself. Colossians 1:20.
I was redeemed bought back and forgiven. 1 Peter 1:18, 19;
Revelation 5:9; Ephesians 1:7.
I was crucified with Christ. Romans 6:5-7; Galatians 2:20.
He became sin for me, and died as me. 2 Corinthians 5:14, 21;
Isaiah 53:4-7.
My sin has been put (or taken) away. Hebrews 9:26; John 1:29.
I have been released from my sins. Revelation 1:5.
I can consider myself to be dead to sin. Romans 6:11.
I have no second death (a reference to eternal death in contrast to
physical death in the grave, which Jesus called sleep) in my future,
because Hes already died that death for me. Hebrews 2:9; Revela-
tion 20:6; John 11:11-15.
I have been freed from my enemy, Satan hes been defeated he
is powerless over me. Hebrews 2:14.
I am free from the fear of death, from slavery to sin and the devil.
Hebrews 2:15.
I am what else?
I have been perfected forever, even while I am in process of being
sanctified by Christ! Hebrews 10:14.
I was healed. 1 Peter 2:24.
Im no longer condemned. Romans 8:1.
Why? Because my condemnation fell on Him.
Praise to You God, because all of these things, I have, despite the fact that
I am helpless, sinful, and wicked. All these blessings, I have, and theyre all
mine on the basis of the death of Jesus!
For I can simply say, Thank You, Father. Theres no second (everlasting)
death, no hellfire, in my future. I want to glorify and praise You for that today,

33
The Most Important News

because Jesus has already gone through all this and has suffered for me to an
incomparably greater measure, who has died my second death.

51. Thank You, Father, because even though I have felt as if I were on
death row, bound by sin, (because I believed in a conditional system of values
by which love, grace, affection ... earn/deserve), I am not condemned in Your
sight, because You graciously allowed my condemnation to fall on Jesus.

52. Thank You, Father, that I dont have to spend today in ignorance of
Your love, because You have demonstrated Your love toward me in sacrificing
Your Son to die in my stead, and I want to rejoice in that love today.
Thank You.

53. Thank You, Father, that despite awareness of my own sinfulness and
humanity today, as I look at the cross, Im just in awe of the fact that You see
me just as perfectly righteous as Jesus, because though He knew no sin, He
permitted Himself to be made sin on my behalf and to suffer the death that
I deserve, all this agony! Thank You, Father. 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:9.

54. Thank You Father, because Jesus even though He never sinned per-
sonally agreed to became sin, because of us. Thank You, because He agreed
to suffer turning of Your face away from Him, to be rejected in our behalf,
because in Him You saw us hanging there. Jesus took my sin on Himself and
I thank Him forever!

55. Thank You God, because Christ agreed to die by death which is equal
everlasting death, the death of a guilty, forsaken sinner. Thank You, because
He agreed to endure fear and horror of eternal rejection and death, because
he did not hesitate in front of it although everything in him was trembling in
face and during that indescribable agony that he bore for me, because He ac-
cepted to take even my weakest, darkest, most horrible thoughts, actions, and
attitudes on Himself. And it killed Him! With gratitude I allow You, Christ, to
take up completely what I am, that on the cross, You be completely Me.
Thank you for the immense grace!

56. I glorify you God, for Christs death in my statements of faith not
because You give me right to all heavenly blessings, as it is said in Ephesians
1,3, but because it shows me how much You love me, how much I am pre-

34
 Instead of the Conclusion

cious to You, valuable, essential that you gave Yourself for me while I was
still helpless, godless, sinner, and Your enemy. I simply desire to glorify and
praise You because you are so merciful and generous, and because You love
me regardless of all.

57. Im thanking You this morning, Father, because through the obedi-
ence of the one Man Jesus Christ, who was obedient unto death, shameful
death on the cross, You see me as totally obedient.
Thank You, Father! Because when I look in the mirror, thats not what
I see, but Im praising You, because thats what You see and it gives me the
courage to press on in Jesus Christ.

58. Thank You, Christ, because You was treated as we deserve, that we
might be treated as You deserve.
You were condemned for our sins, in which You had no share, that we
might be justified by Your righteousness, in which we had no share.
You suffered the death and horrors of agony which was ours, that we
might receive the life and joy which was Yours.

59. Thank You Father, because we were freed from guilt and condemna-
tion, for You loved us enough to let Jesus experience it in our stead. That is
grace. Thats love.

60. I truly believe that the death of Jesus was actually my death to sin
taking place in Him. Im prepared to accept that it was my sin, not His, that
killed Him. It was my death that He died, and Im so grateful, God, that You
allowed Him to bear that instead of me.

61. Thank you God, because You showed us the greatest proof of your
unconditional love and undeserved grace and affection, that You Creator
came among us, your creation, being one of us. You started your life the same
way, exposed to same weaknesses, living under much harsher circumstances
so that at the end you would finish by shameful death in total contempt, hate
and rejection from majority of those that you came to save.
You accepted, that regardless of all of this, to drink unimaginable agony
of guilt of sin from the whole world, to feel the death equal to eternal, to feel
eternal separation from joy, life, Father, and everything beautiful, because of
us.

35
The Most Important News

62. Thank You God, because the answer to our question how much You
love us, is: so much that for us and instead of us, You died with the death
equal to eternal, drinking that unimaginable agony of guilt of sin of whole
humanity, even while we were helpless, godless, sinners and Your enemies.
Thank you because it is only one of the countless answers that keep our
soul in eternal thankfulness, and that we discover anew every day, through
studying and prayer, as well as through personal experience with You.

63. Thank You God, because one more from the countless answers about
how much you love us is: so much that You will never leave us or abandon us,
if, and until we desire so, regardless of all mistakes, sins, falls, i.e. everything
bad that we are and we do on our way of spiritual maturing.

64. Thank You God, because you accepted to suffer our death that we
may have Your life.
Thank You because You gave up Your eternal life so that we might have
it.

The National Library of Serbia, Belgrade

The MOST Important News. - 1st ed. - Belgrade : B. uri, 2017

ISBN 978-86-920741-6-5

36