“Wherever there is true grace, there will be a consciousness of love towards Christ.
What, after all, is the great secret of loving Christ?
It is an inward sense of having received from Him pardon and forgiveness of sins.
Those love much who feel much forgiven.
He that has come to Christ with his sins, and tasted the blessedness of free and full absolution, he is the man whose heart will be full of love towards his Saviour.
The more we realize that Christ has suffered for us, and paid our debt to God, and that we are washed and justified through His blood, the more we shall love Him for having loved us, and given Himself for us.
Our knowledge of doctrines may be defective.
Our ability to defend our views in argument may be small.
But we cannot be prevented feeling.
And our feeling will be like that of the Apostle Peter:
“Thou, Lord, who knowest all things, Thou knowest my heart; and Thou knowest that I love Thee.”
–J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on John, Volume 3 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1873), 3: 323 Ryle is commenting on John 21:15-17.
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