Nothing cuts to the nerve of the desire to pursue holiness as much as a sense of guilt …

‘To the degree that we feel we are on a legal or performance relationship with God, to that degree our progress in sanctification is impeded. A legal mode of thinking gives indwelling sin an advantage, because nothing cuts the nerve of the desire to pursue holiness as much as a sense of guilt.

On the contrary,  nothing so motivates us to deal with sin in our lives as does the understanding and application of the two truths that our sins are forgiven and the dominion of sin is broken because of our union with Christ.’ Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace: God’s Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness