Replies

"...we are saved because God first loved us."

Oh dear bb,I am undone!

"What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?"
"Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord"
"I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
"make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall"
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

Amen!!! One of the ways I know that this is the Gospel is because if it WERE left up to man to merit eternal life, the Son of God would have never had to come to earth to suffer like He did. If being as holy as God requires to enter heaven was within the capability of any human, then we would NEVER have the need for God's grace. Grace means that we get what we do not deserve. Mercy is not getting what we DO deserve. Our sinfulness separates us from God and Revelation 21:27 says that in heaven:

And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

EVERYONE is guilty of telling a lie sometime in their life. In James 2:10 says:

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Without the mercy and grace of our great God and Savior we would ALL be condemned and doomed to eternity in hell separated from God because ONLY by the shed blood of Christ can our sins be paid and removed from us.

So, like you reminded us dear brother in Christ, we are given assurance that "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." Praise His wonderful name!