Divine grace meets human nature. Again.
However, the amazing thing about Jesus is that he has triumphed over sin. This kind of legalism, petty cruelty and selfish fear falls firmly into the category of sin - so in other words, even if we feel overwhelmed by the hard-heartedness we can see in the church, society or even ourselves, there has to be hope. People can change. Look at John Newton (the author of Amazing Grace) - he was for many years the captain of a slave ship, but in his later life he campaigned for abolition. God can melt the hardest heart.
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