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The love of God, Paul said, is demonstrated beyond a doubt by the once-for-all sacrificial death of Christ. The crucifixion is the last word on love. The mic drop. The end-all, be-all. The irrefutable proof. It would be extremely rare for anyone to offer to die for another person, even a righteous or good one. But someone did die for love. And so that we're not confused about whether we might have deserved that kind of love, Paul is brutally blunt: we did not. We were powerless, ungodly sinners when God poured out his love on us. He loved us out of the perfection of his heart, in spite of the obvious flaws of our own.
Why is this such good news? Because it means God's love for me rests on God's character, not mine. On God's goodness, not my own. On God's strong, pursuing love, not my weak, wavering imitation of it. If I didn't earn his love by my good behavior, I won't lose it when I behave badly - and sometimes I do. When I place my faith in the finished work of Christ's death and resurrection, I am on solid ground with God. His love for me is not iffy.
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