"By the death of Christ – God commendeth his own love towards us. By it the things which are of value in this live are dissolved, and yet it is by it that they are essentially established. By the death of Christ we are confronted by the absolute and not merely relative 'otherness' of God, and therefore by His indissoluble union with us. In manifesting the utmost limit of the wrath of God, it exposes His unfathomable mercy. Because in it the problem of God assumes its most bitter and unavoidable form, it provides His own answer to the problem. Here is Emmanuel, God with us; and God commendeth His love towards us while we were yet sinners. That is to say, apart from our capacity to receive it, apart from our competence to hear the communication and to accept His love. And indeed, our incompetence is obvious; for we have no eyes wherewith to see it, and no hears wherewith to hear it. God assures us of that whereof we cannot be assured. He speaks to us in virtue of that which we do not possess: Amore non provoctatus sponte nos prior dilexit – 'God first loved us without being first provoked thereto by our love' (Calvin). The glory of God (v.2), which is presupposed in the death of Christ, is not merely a new object; it requires a new subject. And this new subject – only by faith identical with me, a sinner! – is the new man, who with unquenchable certainty knows himself in Christ to be beloved of God."
Karl Barth. Romans. p.162.
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Awesome quote!
Awesome quote!