"A Taste for Virtue" -Too

"But the King shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by Him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped." (Psalms 63:11) Fifthly, when it comes to "Yearning for God", there is no greater reason to be so in need of what God has to offer than the fact that we have no chance of obtaining it on our own. It is only because of what Jesus did on the cross that we can even consider having fellowship with God, which is what John explains in at least three different ways in 1 John; for God is Light, God is Righteous, and God is Love; and there is no other way for us to attain any of what God is without Jesus Christ having given us the way. What that means, just in case you weren't listening, is that we cannot fellowship with God if we are not of the Light, Righteous, and filled with His Love; all of these things are bestowed upon those that are children of God, and there is only one way that we can become children of God, and that is to be Born Again! Without getting overly persistent, let me repeat what the process requires: We were born once in the flesh, but spiritually dead; to be born again, requires a spiritual birth, while at the same time, the flesh is reckoned to be crucified with Christ; thus, the fleshly man is no longer, and the spiritual man is alive in Christ. Sixthly, 'a taste of virtue' is what we get, not because we are virtuous, but because Jesus allowed us to claim virtue in Him: Jesus not only paid the price for our sins, but He has given us a right standing with God; we can now have fellowship with a Holy God because we have been made holy! Seventh, I see this as being something that God presented at the very moment He said, "Let us make man in Our image; after Our likeness" (Genesis 1:26); because in order to be like God we must be holy and righteous, which was never even possible; especially, given the fact that temptation was always right there in the form of a forbidden fruit, smack-dab in the middle of the garden. It was only a matter of time, which God had already known, and He had already set out to provide the Way, long before the fall had ever even happened... "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. God has now revealed to us His mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill His own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ - everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan." (Ephesians 1:3-11) NLT