C. S. Lewis once said that the gospel was concerned to create "new people" not just "nice people." The human need is an inner transformation that makes us into new creatures. It is the warmth of the spirit of Christ that accomplishes this. This is not something we can do for ourselves; it is the New Testament insistence upon grace and gift, not work and merit. We cannot make ourselves into the sort of persons who are recognizable as sons and daughters of God; the heart of the Christian testimony makes this clear. Not even a courageous and serious understanding of the first fire, Christ's judgment, can remedy our impoverishment before God. It takes the second fire of Christ's spirit to inspire and sustain the growth of love and grace within us.