It is so often assumed that, because the hallmark of Paul’s gospel is grace, therefore millions must believe it. The assumption is that most people trust grace. The reality is that, when it comes to God, the majority of humanity simply cannot believe that a powerful Deity lets bad behavior go. Not even the horrific death of the Son of God on the cross can, in the self-righteous mind of humanity, atone for ALL their sins.

Is it self-righteousness or self-deprecation? Are people just too damn proud to let God do everything for them, through Christ, or are they just so down on themselves that they don’t think God could possibly love them, flaws and all? It would probably require a whole team of psychologists to figure that one out.

As for you and me, we refuse to become occupied and distracted by self at all. That’s what Satan would have us do, and we don’t really like Satan. We like God better, and God says that we’re justified in His sight. As we consider those horrible six hours suffered by His Son on the cross—the sacrifice that purchased our justification—only a truly damaged soul could say, “it wasn’t enough.” This is commonly referred to as, “the snare of the cross” (Galatians 5:11).

The snare of the cross is its completeness.