Just imagine where we’d be if the opposite of this text were true. What if God repaid our sins and punished us all according to our iniquities? We couldn’t make it through one day! No one in this world could survive the just punishment of God. This conclusion is not based on human laws operating in this world but on the absolute justice of God’s kingdom, because not one of us is free from sin.
Then why does God look at us as if we were without sin? Truly, we are on the receiving side of one-sided love and grace. This amazing love and grace springs from God alone, not from us. It is only Jesus Christ who paid the price. He paid the full penalty for sins, not because of His own wrongdoing, but because of ours. This atoning grace is also a holy grace to us, transforming us as our lives go on to become pure as He is pure.
Now God’s one-sided love and grace call us into an eternal two-sided relationship. His faithful love evokes our belief in that love, and this trust forms and fuels our response of love to Him. [Jongwan, Busan, South Korea; second year student]