Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
All. Not just people like him who were Jews. Not just men. Not just white people. Not just free men. Not just good people.
Imagine if America suddenly decreed "All people have the right to become Americans." Libyans, Iranians, Mexicans, Nigerians, Afghanistanis, Serbians, Yemeni, Sudanese, Somali pirates, Ghaddafi's thugs, war criminals from Bosnia, Nazis who fled to Argentina, pedophiles, rapists, murderers. Everybody.
That is the offer of Jesus. No-one is too bad to be saved and no-one is so good as not to need saving.
The qualification? Those who receive him, who believe in his name. It means those who recognize him as God, who trust that his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead have paid for all their felonies and misdemeanors, their slightest sins and their most severe ones.
Why is that not you? Are you too proud to be a dependent? Must you do it your way? Do you imagine that this life is all there is and that when you die you rot? What if you are wrong? Where did you ever get a better offer than this? Is it too good to be true? Try it and see. What do you have to lose?
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