Jesus? Do I depend upon Him alone for
the salvation of my soul? If so, I am a child of God, whether I feel
it or not.

Answer 3. In John i. 11--13, it is written of the Lord Jesus: "He came
unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received
Him, to them gave He power (or the right or the privilege) to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God." The question here again is simply this, Have I
received the Lord Jesus, i.e., Do I believe in His name? If so, I am
born of God, I am a child of God, else I should never have believed
in the Lord Jesus; for none but the children of God do believe in Him.

III. Question. How may I know that my sins are forgiven? Have I to
wait till I feel that they are forgiven, before I may take comfort
concerning this matter? Or, must I wait till I have in some powerful
way a portion of the word of God applied to my mind, to assure me of
it?

Answer. This point is again only to be settled by the word of God. We
have not to wait till we feel that our sins are forgiven.--I myself
have now been a believer for more than nineteen years (i.e. in the
year 1845). How long it is, since I have had no doubt whatever about
the forgiveness of my sins, I cannot tell with certainty; but this I
am quite sure of, that ever since I have been in England, which is
now about sixteen years (in 1845), I have never once had a single
moment's doubt that my sins are all forgiven; and yet I do not
remember that I even once have felt that they were forgiven. To know
that they are forgiven, and to feel that they are forgiven, are two
different things.--The way to settle, whether our sins are forgiven,
is, to refer to the word of God alone with reference to it. In Acts
x. 43, it is written concerning the Lord Jesus, "To him give all the
prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him
shall receive remission of sins." All the prophets speaking under the
immediate power of the Holy Spirit, bore testimony, that through the
obedience and sufferings of the Lord Jesus, whereby He becomes our
Saviour or is our Jesus, all who believe in Him for salvation, who
depend upon Him and not upon themselves, who receive Him to be the
one whom God declares Him to be, should receive the forgiveness of
their sins. The questions therefore to be put to ourselves are simply
these: Do I walk i