Love God, Love One Another Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord we are entered into and obligated by a holy contract, stated very clearly in Ephesians 2:8, 9 & 10.  We are to become "His workmanship."  We are to live our lives accordingly. We must maintain a right relationship with God and our fellow human beings through Jesus the Christ.   Our eternal assurance is a done deal.  Life everlasting is guaranteed.   Our sins are forgiven forever...but we can't escape penalties for our continued sins here on Earth. Jesus commanded that we are to "love God, and love one another."  He said that was "the sum of all the Commandments," and it is.  That is the whole 10 Commandments in one simple statement.  The first 4 Commandments have to do with our relationship with God, and the last 6 are about our relationships with one another. The love that Jesus was talking about is a charitable love not a selfish one. Ephesians 4:32 reads, "Be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us." When we sin, we are to immediately confess our sin to God the Father in Jesus name, sincerely repenting of those sins and asking His forgiveness.  "And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." (I John 1:7) Jesus is faithful and just and will forgive us if we confess our sins to God the Father in His holy name, we are truly repentant, and we ask for His forgiveness, honestly trying to sin no more.  And sins are any offense to God or to any man, woman, boy or girl.     God does not protect Christians from all evil here on Earth just because our souls are saved from condemnation when these bodies die. We must do our best to maintain a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ and with other people. Sometimes God will allow what we love most to be taken from us when we don't fulfill our end of that eternal agreement. (Ephesians 2:8, 9 & 10)  And sometimes we pay heavy, almost unbearable penalties here on Earth for our disobedience, rebelliousness and sins. Always remember...if it's good, it's from God, the author of goodness, love, mercy, grace, salvation and eternal life; if it's evil, it's of the Devil, the author of deceit, lies, all sin, condemnation, death, and eternal damnation.  "And it is appointed unto man once to die, but after that the judgement." (Hebrews 9:27) "For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:14) "For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his (or her) body, according to that he (or she) has done, whether it be good or bad," (II Corinthians 5:10) "For the Father judges no man (or woman), but has committed all judgement unto the Son of God." (John 5:22) One day, when we pass from this life through death into eternity, we are all going to stand before the judgement seat of Jesus the Christ. How will you stand, saved or condemned?  Let's all get ready for that great judgement day.  Like the Boy Scout's motto, Let us all "be prepared."