Do you have eternal life? Do you want eternal life? Do know what eternal life is? Usually, when people think or talk about eternal life, they have the idea of a life that goes on forever, without end. But that is not what the Bible is talking about when it speaks of eternal life in Christ. All of us will live forever. The wicked and unbelieving will live forever in hell, suffering the terrible vengeance of God's wrath eternally. The righteous, those who believe on Christ and are made righteous in him, shall live forever in the presence of God, in the eternal bliss and glory of heaven. But we will all live forever. Eternal life does not refer so much to the quanity of life as it does to the quality of life in Christ. It refers not to the duration of our life, but to the divinity of our life in Christ. This is what our Lord said, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). Eternal life is a living and true knowledge of God in Christ. Peter tells us that in the new birth, divine regeneration, we who believe have been "made partakers of the divine nature" (II Pet. 1:4). Eternal life is the life of Christ himself being implanted in our hearts by God the Holy Spirit. Here are four facts about eternal life which are plainly revealed in Holy Scripture.
None of us do. What does the Bible say? "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6.23) All men are under the Just and righteous sentence of death, because all have sinned against God. All men deserve eternal condemnation. All men are condemned already by reason of sin. And no man has the power and ability to lift himself out of condemnation. All men since the fall of Adam are sinners, guilty and condemned. We are sinners by birth, sinners by nature, sinners by choice, and sinners by practice. "All are under sin. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Rom. 3:9-12). None of us deserve eternal life.
2. ETERNAL LIFE IS THE GIFT OF GOD.
This is what I am saying - If I continue in my sin, rebellion, unbelief, and rejection of Christ as my Lord and Savior, death is a condition that I deserve. It is my responsibility. It is my wages. But if I am saved, if I am taken to glory and live forever in God's glory and holiness, it is the work of God. Death, eternal separation from God, is the result of deliberate effort on my part. But salvation and eternal life is the result of deliberate effort on God's part. Condemnation is the wage of my guilt. Eternal life and salvation is the free gift of God's grace in Christ. There is nothing that keeps a man out of heaven but his own unwillingness to bow to Christ and receive him as Lord and Savior. Nothing keeps a man out of heaven but his own will. Israel entered not into the land because of unbelief. But there is nothing that will keep a man out of hell but God's will. Eternal life is the gift of God.
3. ETERNAL LIFE IS IN CHRIST.
Eternal life is a living union with the living Lord. It is the gift of God bestowed upon men in Christ. All the mercy of God is in Christ. We are loved in Christ, chosen in Christ, redeemed in Christ, forgiven in Christ, Justified in Christ, called in Christ, sanctified in Christ, and glorified in Christ. And eternal life is in Christ. Get Christ, and you get life. Reject Christ, and you reject life.
4. ETERNAL LIFE IS ETERNAL.
The Lord Jesus Christ gives his sheep eternal life; and he never takes it away. Those who are born of God shall live forever in Christ and forever with Christ. He says, "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall NEVER PERISH!"
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