...for those who have repented and trusted in Christ's substitutionary atonement for their sins.
Just thought I better add that, cornman. :o)
Well they must believe He is the Son of God. John 3:16-:18. That is the key. If you define repentance as “Never sin again” then that is not required. That would be a contradiction to the substitution atonement you correctly point to.
God bless and have a great day.
________________________________________________________
No, the legalisms of the Old Testament were not fulfilled, let me explain before you jump all over me.
Because of Adams Sin and because the law is that no imperfect being can be in the presence of God and because Adam died and we are his descendants we too must die.
God instituted a law of sacrifice to pay for our sins. It is our sin that makes us imperfect, it is Adams Transgression that makes us mortal.
the law of sacrifice has always been that God would send a perfect Son to earth and He would take our punishment for our sins. Because He did not deserve any punishment, He was perfect He could take our punishment for us.
the law of sacrifice of animals was not to forgive sin, not at all it was simply to remind us of the Gift that God would be giving to man. To say the law is fulfilled only means that the law of sacrifice has been completed, or that the sacrifice has been made. The law for instance that God gave Moses on Sinai is still in place and we are bound by it.
If we accept Christ and then break the law we are not blameless. we can beg Christ to forgive and keep us His but it means truly repenting to be able to have that “Grace” that allows Him to apply His punishment to our debt. If we break the law over and over then we have not really repented and that Grace will not apply to us because we are liars. Lying is against Gods law. Breaking that law has consequences, lying to God has horrible consequences.
We no longer have to count how many steps we take on The Sabbath but there still is law we must obey.
Yes. Total atonement on the Cross— a free gift if only you accept as true Jesus as the Son of God.