Gold Tried in the Fire - Robert J. Wieland
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How can this be?<br />
If <strong>the</strong> Internal Revenue Service <strong>in</strong>formed us<br />
that we owe <strong>the</strong> government a sum equivalent to all<br />
our assets, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g every last penny we possess,<br />
would we call that good news? But that is precisely<br />
<strong>the</strong> state of our ledger account with God. So says<br />
<strong>the</strong> New Testament doctr<strong>in</strong>e of justification by<br />
faith; and it is good news! And it's not that our pie<br />
<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> sky or life after death is what we owe Him;<br />
for we owe Him for everyth<strong>in</strong>g we possess now, all<br />
that makes our life enjoyable <strong>in</strong> this world.<br />
How can this be good news?<br />
Very simply stated, <strong>the</strong> gospel discloses <strong>the</strong><br />
fact that every man would already be <strong>in</strong> his grave<br />
(and a hopeless one at that) if Christ had not first<br />
gone <strong>the</strong>re <strong>in</strong> his place. Our present life itself<br />
(forget heaven for a moment) is an undeserved<br />
dividend: It is <strong>the</strong> "salary" we have already<br />
received, and even every morsel of food we have<br />
ever enjoyed is <strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> goods we have<br />
"bought." When Scripture <strong>in</strong>sists that "all have<br />
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