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Those who have received Jesus - in other words those who believe in His name - have received eternal forgiveness and have become children of God.
But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
(John 3:16)
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Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)
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Eternal life is believing that Jesus has already accomplished everything. We should put all our doubts in God's hands. When Jesus was crucified two thousand years ago, all of the sins of mankind were wiped out on the cross. Since that time, God has no longer addressed man directly as He did with the Jews in Old Testament times: He has looked at man through Jesus' blood. When God looks at us through the blood of Christ, all our sins are forgiven. This is the covenant established with blood. This blood provides forgiveness for our sins.
I can sing now the song
Of the blood-ransomed throng
In my soul there is peace, rest and calm;
I am free from all doubt, and I join in the shout,
I'm redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.12
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For as long as we are living in this world, we confess our sins to God. God's children have the authority to confess their faith to the world. On those occasions when we are criticized for our faith, we might be comforted by considering that people criticize us because they do not know. If they come to know this truth, they will probably say the same thing that we are saying.
When a person claims to be working hard in God's service, it may be that he is actually defiling the name of God. When Jesus, the Son of God, shed His blood that one time, He provided eternal forgiveness for the sins of all mankind. This is the blood that He shed for us eternally. No more blood can be shed and no more blood needs to be shed.
When this truth of eternal redemption through the cross is denied and a different gospel is preached, the very essence of Christianity is changed. If you are not careful, you might end up believing in a God whose love is limited and miserly, rather than the God of eternal love. That is why a person may sing the hymn that says, "It [God's love] shall forever more endure, the saints' and angels' song,"13 and yet be a long way from knowing what these words really mean.
There are even preachers who sing the lines, "Oh love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forever more endure, the saints' and angels' song," and then make statements that contradict this. They might say that it is not enough just to believe and that you also need to make a great effort and work hard.
12 Tr. By John T. Underwood,
I Can Sing Now the Song, 1988
13 Frederick M. Lehman (1868-1953),
The Love of God is Greater Far
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