This is an excerpt from today’s “With God” devotional by Skye Jethani.

“The sufficiency and finality of Jesus’ sacrifice is sometimes difficult for us to grasp. Many Christians still feel some obligation to atone for their sins through giving, serving, attending church services, offering prayers, or other acts of contrition. By themselves, there is nothing wrong with these practices as a way to express our devotional and gratitude to God, but if done to alleviate guilt or to atone for our sins we are actually declaring to God that the sacrifice of his Son wasn’t enough. Through our attempts at self-justification, we are diminishing the value of the cross. Jesus’ death was the last sacrifice, therefore nothing we do can ever add to or diminish what he achieved for us.”