Wow!

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On Fri, 30 Aug 1996 20:38:30 -0400, you wrote:

>1 John 5:13 says "I write these things to you who believe in the 
>name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal 
>life."

>I have heard a number of sermons on this verse (and the many like
>it), and find it comforting to know that I have eternal life in
>Christ... so long as I do not leave Christ (but that's another
>discussion ;-)  But it seems to me, all I ever hear on this list
>are additions to this.  New rules stating that you also need this,
>that and the other, in order to be saved.  

Your question correctly invites a defintion of believing and the
results of belief which incoorporate the fullness of the experience
and deliverance which the scriptures detail.

The Apostles preached Jesus. Their gospel and power was to convey Him
in a transforming reality of His Sonship and divinity and not in
mental or emotional content alone.

An encounter with some chemicals used by chemotherapists today can
cure some cancers. Believing that the treatments and chemicals are
workable and safe is essential to going forward, but until the
treatment come sout of the container and is applied, there will be no
cure. One cannot hang a bottle of vitamin C from the rear view mirror
and expect to be resistant to colds. There is a process of
incorporating the power within the object of belief into your life.. 

To do so is known as faith. Any idea of faith which does not, as
Abraham RESPOND to the word of promise, is not Bible faith.

Ye, the Bible describes tongues as the evidence of the baptism of the
Holy Ghost. Yes the Bible maps the path to salvation as repentance,
baptism for the remission of sins in Jesus' name, and the infilling of
the Holy Ghost. Yes, the Bible clearly imparts the message "without
holiness, no man will see God". Yes the Bible describes a fervent and
victorious relationship displaying signs and wonders, and overcoming
power ongoing, and every day for the believer. But ALL these things,
like the simple benefit of healing, is predicated on FAITH.

Without FAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God. 

Ultimately one will not be able to say that they have BELIEVED the
gospel, unless they are found to have traversed the path which the
gospel illuminates. 

The message of the scripture is not contradictory: to believe on the
Lord is to see sufficient authority in His word so that one FOLLOWS
it. The word of the Apostles *IS*  the Word of God. This is eternal
life, to believe on His name. That name has POWER to remit sin. In the
old testament we read of blood, shed to anticipate the propitiation
for sin, on Calvary. This was fulfilled and the power of that blood is
resident in His name. The Apostles describe clearly how to apply that 
name to receive the promises of God. This is believing, to make Jesus
Lord.