You Can't Have One Without the Other

Acts 1-2, Proverbs 16

Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided. Proverbs 16:6

There are two great gifts God gives to us – forgiveness and the power to change. The one is experienced as we trust God enough to bare our souls and expose our guilt. The other comes as we recognized the power and authority of God and bend our wills to him. We need both—to experience his love and fear his power. You cannot have one without the other. The one absolves our past; the other drives us forward.