CHARACTERISTICS OF AGAPE LOVE

1. Gods Love is unselfish (1 Corinthians 13:5) SAAN A NAIMUT WENNO NALAKA NGA AGPUNGTOT

Love does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of
wrongs. (1 Corinthians 13:5)

Gods love is not self-seeking. It is giving without expecting any self-gain. It does not seek its own
(NASB); does not demand its own way (NLT); isnt always me first (Message); not selfish (NCV). Sincere
Faith and unselfish Love in the individual are the most important result of a love relationship with God.

Most of the people who say they love you may just be tolerating you. The rest of them probably have
ulterior motives. As humans, we do things for others so that we can get things done for us. If it is one
thing that the world needs now is a big dose of genuine love.

Yet He did create. Why? He wanted so much to manifest His love that He first created the angelic hosts
and later the human race so that he might communicate Himself to them, give of Himself for them, and
bestow His very best on them for their benefit and blessing. Our love is often selfish and demanding.
Gods love is pure and unselfish. Because He is love, He loves to give. Jesus said He gives good things to
those who ask Him (Mathew 7:11). James went so far as to say that every good gift finds its source in
Him (James 1:17). Since God is love, we can expect Him to give of Himself. Romans 8:32 says He who
did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously
give us all things? Knowing the God of love can help to make us more loving and giving persons. Not
only will getting to know Him more intimately cause us to become more like Him, but resting secure in
the assurance that He loves us will keep us from making demands of others and free us to reach out
unselfishly and minister to them for their benefit alone. It is vitally important that we understand how
much God loves us.

2. Gods Love Is Unconditional (John 3:16)

God's love for you is unconditional and undeserved. He loves you in spite of your disobedience, your
weakness, your sin and your selfishness. He loves you enough to provide a way to abundant, eternal life.
From the cross Christ cried out, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing." If God
loved those who are sinners that much, can you imagine how much He loves you -- His child through
faith in Christ and who seeks to please Him?

One of the most amazing things about Gods love is that it is extended to us when we do not deserve it
and continues steadfast and strong even when we do not respond to it. In other words, His love is
unconditional. That certainly is different from our love. We have a tendency to show more love to the
people who obviously love us and less love to the ones who do not. We express our love to our spouses
and our children when they perform to our expectations and we withhold it from them when they
displease us.

God is not like that. The best-loved verse in the Bible says, For God so loved the world, that is, the
whole world. That does not refer to the materials out of which our planet is constructed, but to the
world of people. It does not mean the whole mass of humanity generally; it refers to each individual
sinful person. The Bible categorizes all of them as Gods enemies, people who have willfully set
themselves against Him (cf. Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:21). God even loves His enemiesall of them.

There is not one good thing in any of us that merits Gods love. He does not love us because we are so
lovable or because we can somehow make ourselves worthy of His love. We are totally unworthy, yet
He prizes us highly and showers His very best on us. It is His love for us that gives us our worth. God
finds great delight and receives great glory when we respond to His love, enter His fellowship, and do
His will. In fact, He made us for that purpose. But whether or not we ever return His love, He keeps on
extending it to us. There is nothing we can do to make Him love us anymore, and nothing we ever do
will cause Him to love us any less. He loves us perfectly and completely regardless of how we perform.
His love is unconditional.

God is Love, and His love is very different from human love. God's love is unconditional, and it's not
based on feelings or emotions. He doesn't love us because we're lovable or because we make Him feel
good; He loves us because He is love. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He
sacrificed His own Son (who also willingly died for us) to restore that relationship.

Paul prayed that the believers in Ephesus would be able to comprehend the length, width, depth, and
height of God's love. He desired that they know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, so that
they would be filled with the fullness of God (Eph 3:16-19). The wide expanse of God's love has been the
theme of the gospel throughout the ages, for to know His love is to know Him. Therefore, any
consideration of His love is highly important and must be based upon His revelation of Himself rather
than upon the imagination of men.

Our love is not only conditional, it is also mercurial. We love based on feelings and emotions that can
change from one moment to the next. Can anyone really comprehend "unconditional" love? It seems
the love that parents have for their children is as close to unconditional love as we can get without the
help of God's love in our lives. We continue to love our children through good times and bad, and we
don't stop loving them if they don't meet the expectations we may have for them. We make a choice to
love our children even when we consider them unlovable; our love doesn't stop when we don't "feel"
love for them. This is similar to God's love for us, but as we shall see, God's love transcends the human
definition of love to a point that is hard for us to comprehend.

3. God's Love is Steadfast and unchangeable

Nothing changes God's love for His children. There are three things that remain -- faith, hope, and love --
and the greatest of these is love

In a world of frequent and often disturbing, even devastating, change, it is the believer's great comfort
that he knows and serves the unchangeable God. I am the LORD, I change not (Mal. 3:16). Whatever
is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens He
never changes or casts a shifting shadow" (James 1:17),

If you study the Bible you will find that the love of God is unchangeable. Many who loved you at one
time have perhaps grown cold in their affection, and turned away from you: it may be that their love is
changed to hatred. It is not so with God. It is recorded of Jesus Christ. John 13:1 furnishes a beautiful
illustration. That very night one of the apostles would say, "Show us the Father"; another would deny
Him with cursings; all of them would be scandalized by and forsake Him. Nevertheless " "having loved
His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end" (John 13:1). " The Divine Love is as
powerful as death; passion is as strong as death itself. It bursts into flame and burns like a raging fire.
Water cannot put it out; no flood can drown it. But if any tried to buy love with their wealth, contempt is
all they would get." (Song of Solomon. 8: 6, 7). Nothing can separate from it: Romans 8:35-39.

God's love is not like man's love. God's love does not change, ever, under any circumstances or
conditions. Having loved us from eternity, he will never call back his love in time. There is nothing we
can do to destroy, or even lessen, the love of God for us (John 13:1). We did nothing compel God to love
us; and we can do nothing to repel God's love. The love of God is not dependent upon, or regulated by
our condition (Mal. 3:6).

He knew that one of His disciples would betray Him; yet He loved Judas. He knew that another disciple
would deny Him, and swear that he never knew Him; and yet He loved Peter. It was the love which
Christ had for Peter that broke his heart, and brought him back in penance to the feet of his Lord. For
three years Jesus had been with the disciples trying to teach them His love, not only by His life and
words, but by His works. And, on the night of His betrayal, He takes a basin of water, girds Himself with a
towel, and taking the place of a servant, washes their feet: He wanted to convince them of His
unchanging love.

We have another passage more wonderful still in John 17:23. " I in them and you in meso that they
may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them
even as you have loved me. This is one of the most remarkable sayings that ever fell from the lips of
Jesus Christ. There was no reason why the Father should not love Him. He was obedient unto death; He
never transgressed the Father's law, or turned aside from the path of perfect obedience by one hair's
breadth. It is very different with us; and yet, notwithstanding all our rebellion, disobedience and
foolishness, He says that if we are trusting in Christ, the Father loves us as He loves the Son. Marvelous
love! Wonderful love! That God can possibly love us as He loves His own Son seems too good to be true.
Yet that is the teaching of Jesus Christ.

It is hard to make a sinner believe in this unchangeable love of God. When a man has wandered away
from God he thinks that God hates him. We must make a distinction between sin and the sinner. God
loves the sinner; but He hates the sin. He hates sin because it mars human life. It is just because God
loves the sinner that He hates sin.

4. Gods Love Is Unfailing

God's love is not only unchangeable, but unfailing. In Isaiah 49:15, 16 we read:

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your
walls are ever before me."
Now the strongest human love that we know of is a mother's love. Many things will separate a man
from his wife. A father may turn his back on his child; brothers and sisters may become inveterate
enemies; husbands may desert their wives; wives, their husbands. But a mother's love endures through
all. In good repute, in bad repute, in the face of the world's condemnation, a mother loves on, and
hopes that her child may turn from his evil ways and repent. She remembers the infant smiles, the
merry laugh of childhood, the promise of youth. Death cannot quench a mother's love; it is stronger
than death.

You have seen a mother watching over her sick child. How willingly she would take the disease into her
own body if she could thus relieve her child! Week after week she will keep watch; she will let no one
else take care of that sick child.

Can you imagine loving someone as hard as you can, regardless of how many times they may have hurt
your feelings or let you down time and time again? Would you still love that individual if the only time
that you heard from him was when he needed something? Better yet, can you entertain the notion of
loving someone who doesnt even know you at all? Yes, Gods love is unfailing. Never underestimate His
awesome power. Never forget His unfailing love. Never think that the things that you do for Him and His
Kingdom go unnoticed. Never take your eyes off of Him; He never takes His eyes off of you. Never. Give
thanks to the Lord because he is good, because his faithful love lasts forever! Psalm 107:1

5. Gods Love Is Immeasurable and unending

God says in Jeremiah 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing
kindness.

That everlasting love reaches into eternity past. He knew us and loved us before He made us, when we
were but a thought in His mind. And He will love us for eternity to come, for, as Paul assured us, nothing
shall be able to separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:39). The love of an eternal God must be an
eternal love.

How can we ever exhaust the love of God! The love of an infinite God must be infinite love. Paul called it
a love that surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:19), far greater than our finite minds can grasp. He also
called it a great love (Ephesians 2:4). He referred to its breadth, its length, its depth, and its height
(Ephesians 3:18), but it is obvious that he was speaking of dimensions that defy measurement: breadth
and length which encompass the whole world, a depth which reaches to the lowest sinner, a height
which exalts us to the loftiest Heaven. Gods love has no limit.

6. Gods Love is Perfect and Holy

Gods love is not regulated by feeling or sentiment, but by principle. Just as His grace reigns not at the
expense of it, but "through righteousness" (Rom. 5:21), so His love never conflicts with His holiness.
"God is light" (1 John 1:5) is mentioned before "God is love" (1 John 4:8). Gods love is no mere amiable
weakness, or effeminate softness. Scripture declares, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son." (Heb. 12:6). God will not wink at sin, even in His own
people. His love is pure, unmixed with any maudlin sentimentality.

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in
us. I John 4:12

The Love of God is a perfect and pure. It is not like the imperfect human love. It would be vain to search
for perfect and holy love in any human relationship. There would always be flaws and disappointments
in human love. The only place to find perfect love is in the Love of God. It is only in Gods love that the
perfections of Love can be experienced. But if anyone obeys his word, Gods love is truly made
complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: (I John 2:5)

When some people hear that Gods love is self-giving, sacrificial, unconditional, eternal, and infinite,
they get the idea that it is merely soft, sloppy sentimentality, that God is an indulgent Father who gives
us everything we want and conveniently turns His head the other way when we sin. But that is not the
case. Everything God does is done in the totality of His being, so His love must always be consistent with
His other attributes. Since God is holy, then His love must be a holy love that encourages holiness in
those loved. The evidence is overwhelming! For example, in the same context in which Paul explains
that we in love were predestined unto the adoption of sons, he states Gods purpose for choosing us. It
is that we should be holy and without blame before Him (Ephesians 1:4). Love and obedience
consistently go together in Scripture: For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments; and
His commandments are not burdensome (1John 5:3; cf. also John 14:15; 15:10).

God will use every loving means at His disposal to encourage our obedience. He does that because He
loves us. We discussed discipline when we studied Gods holiness, but we cannot overlook it here. The
writer to the Hebrews encouraged us not to regard Gods discipline lightly. It is the evidence of His love
for us (Hebrew 12:5-6). He knows that obedience to His Word will be for our greatest happiness, so He
takes steps to help us want to obey Him. If He did not love us, He would not care about our happiness.

What kind of loving parents would we be if we let our children do anything they pleased, such as put
their hands in the fire, ride their tricycles on the freeway, or play superman on the roof of the house?
The society would probably declare us to be unfit parents. Our love constrains us to discipline in order to
insure the kind of behavior that will bring our children future happiness. And that is exactly what our
loving heavenly Father does.

He does not enjoy inflicting pain any more than we do. Before my father spanked me as a child, he used
to say, This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you. That was difficult for me to believe at the time,
and I never understood it until I became a parent myself. Then it became all too clear. It wasnt my hand
that hurt; it was my heart. God says the same thing. Concerning His people, In all their affliction He was
afflicted (Isaiah 63:9). He feels our pain because He loves us. Dont chafe under His disciplinary hand.
He knows best what we need, and He always administers it in love for our best interests. We can
respond to His holy love by bringing our lives into conformity to His Word. Bible says There is no fear in
love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not
made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18
7. Gods Love is Caring and Cheering

I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child
to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them. Hosea 11:4

Throughout generations, parents have cared for their children, doing their best to provide an enriched
environment. Parents want their children to achieve great success and, ultimately, happiness. Even in
their old age, parents are delighted to hear their children have accomplished something wonderful for
themselves, the fruit of their lifetime of sacrifice. The love and favor of our heavenly father are
inseparable. This is clearly brought out in Romans 8:32-39. What that love is from which there can be no
"separation," is easily perceived from the design and scope of the immediate context: it is that goodwill
and grace of God which determined Him to give His Son for sinners. That love was the impulsive power
of Christs incarnation: "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). Christ
died not in order to make God love us, but because He did love His people, Calvary is the supreme
demonstration of Divine love. Whenever you are tempted to doubt the love of God, go back to the cross
of Calvary.

Some children would give everything they have for someone who loves them and cares enough for them
to set limits on their behavior and administer loving discipline when they violate those limits. That would
mean more to them than all the material things in the world because it is the evidence of true love, and
true love brings security and comfort. They know that someone who loves them enough to endure the
unpleasantness of administering discipline will do everything in his power to take care of them, and that
brings them genuine consolation. When we grasp the reality of Gods love, we will no longer seek our
security in jobs, bank accounts, investments, houses, husbands, wives, friends, or health. We will rest in
the Lord, free from all fear, secure in the assurance that He is going to provide all that we need and
protect us from everything that will not be for our good.

Listen to the Apostle John again: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear
involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love (1 John 4:18). God never punishes
His children. He laid all the punishment for our sins on His Son. He disciplines us in love for our benefit,
but even that is nothing to be afraid of. Understanding Gods love eliminates all fearfear of Gods
discipline, fear of what tomorrow holds, fear of losing a loved one, fear of losing a job, fear of natural
catastrophes, fear of global war, fear of suffering, fear of death, fear of being alone, fear of rejection.
God loves us! There is nothing to fear. His love is comforting, caring and cheering.

8. Gods Love is influential and Life-Changing

No one can have an intimate relationship with God and remain unchanged. As we begin to understand
who He is, our love for Him grows and motivates us to radical obedience. Our experiences with Him
teach us that He is faithful and can be trusted. Recognition of the wisdom and goodness of His plans
prompts willing submission to His leadership. And before long, time spent with Him becomes the best
part of each day. Instead of watching the clock, well want to stay longer because His presence satisfies
our souls as nothing else can.

This kind of passion for the Lord is contagious and influences others. My mother was a very prayerful
woman who knew God intimately. She used to get up very early morning 4 a m for prayer and bible
reading, her love and deep desire to know the Lord captured my heart and shaped the direction of my
life from my childhood. I didnt change overnight, but today the most powerful and awesome
experience I have is being in the presence of God in prayer and studying His word, sensing oneness
between His Spirit and mine.

Most of us long to be loving people, able to give love to our spouses, our children, our fellow believers,
our unsaved acquaintances, and, most of all, to the Lord Himself. But we find it so difficult. It is nearly
impossible for us to love others unless we are genuinely convinced that we ourselves are loved. Some of
us are hard, callused, insensitive, and unloving people because we are not convinced we are really
loved. We are saying unconsciously, Why should I love others when nobody shows me any love? Gods
love can change that. We can find all the acceptance and affection we crave in Him; then with the
confidence that we ourselves are loved, we can extend love to others. We love, said the Apostle John,
because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

It really is trueGod loves us. Jesus said it plainly: For the Father Himself loves you (John 16:27). It is
to our advantage to know and believe the love that He has for us (1 John 4:16). We may never be able to
grasp it fully with our human understanding alone, but God is ready to make it real to us if our hearts
are open and receptive to His Word. Then, secure in His love, we shall be able to reach out in love to
others, unselfishly, sacrificially, unconditionally, and inexhaustibly. It will profoundly influence our
relationships with those around us.

A world-renowned theologian that ever lived, Karl Barth, was asked to be a guest lecturer at the
University of Chicago Divinity School. At the end of a captivating closing lecture, the president of the
seminary Announced that Dr. Barth was not well and was quite tired, and though he thought that Dr.
Barth would like to be open for questions, he shouldn't be expected to handle the strain. Then he said,
"Therefore, I will ask just one question on behalf of all of us."He turned to the renowned theologian and
asked, "Of all the theological insights you have ever had, which you consider to be the greatest of them
all?

It was the perfect question for a man who had written literally tens of thousands of pages of some of
the most sophisticated theology ever put into print. The students held pens right up against their writing
pads, ready to take down verbatim the premier insight of the greatest theologian of their time. Karl
Barth closed his tired eyes, and he thought for a minute, and then he half smiled, opened his eyes, and
said to those young seminarians, "The Greatest theological insight that I have ever had is this: His
answer was, Jesus loves me. This I know; for the Bible tells me so. Believe it, friends. God loves you!
It's a love that never stops shining.
9. Gods Love Is Incomparable and Sacrificial

Romans 8:32 says He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us allhow will he not also,
along with him, graciously give us all things?

Not only does Gods love motivate Him to give, but it motivates Him to give when it costs Him dearly.
That too is different from our love. We hesitate to do anything for others that will cost us too much or
inconvenience us too greatly. But Gods love cost Him the very best that He hadHis only Son. That is
the message of the greatest love text in the Bible: For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). Gods
giving His Son involved more than merely allowing Him to leave Heavens glory and enter earths history.
It meant allowing Him to die in our place and pay the awful debt of our sins. God proved His love
conclusively and irrefutably by sending His Son to the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (Romans
5:8; 1John 4; 9-10). That is sacrificial love.

Jesus Christ made the supreme sacrifice for us when He died in our place. He was falsely accused,
beaten, spit on, crowned with thorns, nailed to a cross, and left to die the most excruciating death
known to man. The infinite curse of sins penalty, the Fathers just punishment for the whole worlds
guilt, was laid on Him as He hung on that cross. He possessed the power to walk away from it unscathed,
yet He voluntarily stayed there and bore that suffering for us. There simply is no greater love (John
15:13).

Whenever we are tempted to think that nobody loves us, we need to think of the cross. Jesus bore that
shame and suffering because He loves us. He values us so highly that He was willing to make the
ultimate sacrifice to secure for us eternal joy. That is the essence of love. Knowing Him intimately will
motivate us to make some sacrifices for the good of othersfor our spouses, our children, and other
members of the body of Christ. It will help us give up what we want in order to minister to their needs.

10. Gods Love is Unfathomable and Rewarding

The most beautiful and powerful motivation to love God is that God Himself is our highest reward! God
said to Abraham "I am your exceeding great reward (Genesis 15:1) But as the Scriptures say, No one
has ever seen, no one has ever heard, no one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who
love him.(I Corinthians 2:9) Hosea 11; 4 describes that, The Love of God is a Rewarding love. It meets
our need. Gods loving provision is not only for this world but for all eternity. His love provides our needs
while we live in this world. His Love has also prepared great blessings and treasures for us to enjoy
throughout all eternity

In 1 John 3:1 says See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of
God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
John has no words to express the worth, height and depth of Gods love. Thats why he just describes
this love with so. In his epistle he says, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us
1John 3:1. The Love of God is a strong powerful love. It is not a weak love that can easily be destroyed.
The Lord has redeemed us with His precious blood and we are extremely precious and valuable in His
sight. He would not allow anyone to snatch us out of His hand. The value of one human soul is greater
than that of the whole world. The love of God is an everlasting love which is willing to make any
sacrifices for us. Bible says But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right
to become children of God, (John 1:12). God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in
them? (1 John 4:16)

In order to live a victorious Christian life Jesus promised the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in Matthew 7:7-
11 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For
everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a
snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more
will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

And finally every believer is going to meet the Lord one day. Hence the greatest investment we can
make in this life is a wholehearted pursuit of a deep personal relationship with Him. The immediate
earthly rewards are greater than any sacrifice, but the treasure awaiting us in heaven is beyond words
can describe. Eternal life begins the moment we are saved, and the Bible gives a very interesting
description of it: This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
You have sent (John 17:3). Our eternal life is now. Dont wait for heaven; get to know your amazing
Lord today.

What makes heaven attractive? Is it the pearly gates or the golden streets? No. Heaven will be
attractive, because there we shall behold Him who loved us so much as to give His only-begotten Son to
die for us. What makes home attractive? Is it the beautiful furniture and stately rooms? No; So what
makes heaven attractive is the thought that we shall see Christ who has loved us and given Himself for
us.

If you ask me why God should love us, I cannot fully comprehend. I suppose it is because He is a true
Father. It is His nature to love; just as it is the nature of the sun to shine. He wants you to share in that
love. Do not let unbelief keep you away from Him. Do not think that, because you are a sinner, God does
not love you, or care for you. He does! He wants to save you and bless you. "When we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6).

Is that not enough to convince you that He loves you? God sent Him to die for the sins of the whole
world. If you belong to the world, then you have part and lot in this love that has been exhibited in the
cross of Christ. He brings deliverance for the past, the present, and the future. He has delivered us from
such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to
deliver us, (2 Corinthians 1:10).

If you can convince a man that you love him you have won his heart. If we could really make people
believe that God loves them, how we should find them crowding into the kingdom of heaven! The
trouble is that men become victim& deceived by his own thoughts. His concept about God is wrong and
when concept is wrong then his conclusion also will be wrong hence they are all the time running away
from Him. When we wish to know the love of God we should go to the cross of Calvary. Can we look
upon that scene, and say God did not love us? That cross speaks of the love of God. Greater love never
has been taught than that which the cross teaches. What prompted God to give up Christ? What
prompted Christ to die? if it were not love? "Greater love hath no man than this; that a man lay down
his life for his friends" (John 15:13). Christ laid down His life for His enemies; Christ laid down His life for
world; and the spirit of the cross, the spirit of Calvary, is love. When they were mocking Him and
deriding Him, what did he say? "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
That is love. He did not call down fire from heaven to consume them; there was nothing but love in His
heart.

God wants you to experience that love more than you can imagine, so much that He sacrificed the One
He loves the most for you - His one and only Son, Jesus. The reason we are missing that love is because
we've pushed God out of our lives with our sin. We've lived our way instead of God's way, over and over
again. That has left us separated from God and from His love with a death penalty on our heads, but
God lavished His love on you by sending Jesus to die in your place. You will miss this love your heart
wants so much until you respond to it by placing all your trust in Jesus Christ to remove the sin-barrier
and give you eternal life.