Its great that you mention this because God brought something to my attention the morning before while I was reading Romans 7 & 8 and just a couple of hours ago.
All my sins, from the least to the greatest of them (regardless when I sin), have been crucified on the cross. And because I've accepted Christ and Lord and Savior, I too have been crucified with Him. I don't have to try to do anything to earn His forgiveness nor heaven. Although I still see to it that I do right (since the bible says that no one born of God sins because His seed is in him/her), all I have to do now is rest and live by faith. God, through His spirit, does the rest. My actions does not now nor will they ever save me (since the whole message of the cross is to exclude all boasting in self), but sure enough is evidence of my living faith in Christ.
It seems so amazing to me because all this time I thought I had to do stuff to get God's attention and do what He promised. But little did I realize that all that He promised was right there under my nose and all I had to do was grab hold of it. And I said to myself "God.....is it really that simple? I don't have to do anything anymore except rest and believe?" And at first, it was hard for me to fully accept that, cuz all this time I was, in all actually, depending upon my own works for the promise and to be justified. But Christ did it all already not only for me, but for everyone. All we have to do is believe. To even think that we have to do something to earn God's grace and all His promises is...wrong, in a number of ways! None of us can do any greater than what Jesus already did. Isn't that what the bible teaches and aint this what the gospel is? While your actions don't save, nor entitle you from anything, they are proof of just how much faith you have in Christ (we should remember this when we interact with people, especially) And genuine faith, in Him, can't be dead to morality or barren to good works.
I guess because of God helping me out with this, spreading the gospel won't be as difficult now. Cuz its kinda hard to share something you don't even understand, yourself. Right?
