|
Living Forever?
Is there such a thing as eternal life and if so how can one obtain it? Eternal life is the hope of every Christian who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. God wants all of us to have eternal life and to be with Him forever in Heaven. "The Lord... [is] not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (II Peter 3:9) The Bible tells us how one can know for certain that one has eternal life and will go to be with God in Heaven. It says in I John 5:13, "These things I have written to you... that you may know that you have eternal life." Eternal life is a gift : "... the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) And because living eternally in heaven is a gift, like any other genuine gift, it is not earned or deserved. Therefore, no amount of personal effort, good works, or religious deeds can earn a place in Heaven for us. The apostle Paul makes this very clear when he states "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." [Ephesians 2:8-9]
But what about people like mother Teresa who devoted their whole life to helping the poor and the needy? Don’t they deserve a place in heaven?
Maybe yes or maybe no! Heaven is a place for righteous beings who are totally united and reconciled to God. Since man’s fall in the garden of Eden, "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" [Romans 3:23]. Each person has at some point or another transgressed God’s law [=sin] which leads to spiritual separation from God.
Unless we are able to keep every single law and commandment given by God, we will not make it to Heaven. { This is true if we still lived under the old testament law. } "Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." (James 2:10)
What should we, then, do?
Recognize That We Are Sinners and Separated From God Recognition leads to the realization that there is a need for punishment. However, "the wages of sin is death" [Romans 6:23]. God is just, and therefore He must punish sin. He says, "... I will by no means clear the guilty..." (Exodus 34:7) and "The soul who sins shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4) Realize that God Loves Us and Wants Us To Have Eternal Life "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." [John 3:16] Also, "God commended His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." [Romans 5:8]. Jesus Christ came to earth and lived a sinless life, but while on earth, he died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins and rose from the grave to purchase a place for us in Heaven. "All of us like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6) God hates our sin, but because of His love for us, He has placed them all on His Son. Christ bore our sins and our infirmities in His body on the cross. Jesus Christ offers us eternal life (Heaven) as a gift. Therefore, we need to
Repent of Our Sins "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel." [Mark 1:15] Repent means to turn from our sins. The Greek word METANOIA indicates a literal change of mind or thinking. When we make that first step of change in our lifestyle or thinking and confess our sins to God, "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."[1 John 1:9]. Our next step then is to Receive Christ Into Our Heart, Mind and Life We receive Christ into our hearts and minds and live by faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Again, Paul reminds us "that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." [Romans 10:9-10] One may receive Christ as Savior by faith through prayer. "For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. …[and] whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." [Romans 10:11, 13] How to Pray To Receive Christ Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and I need your forgiveness. I believe that you paid the penalty for my sins by dying on the cross for me and that you were resurrected on the third day. Today, I am making a commitment to turn away from my sins and I am trusting you to cleanse me from every unrighteousness and transform me through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come into my heart, mind and life Jesus, as my Savior and my Lord. Amen!
Security of the Believer If one makes such a prayer in an honest manner, Jesus promises the gift of everlasting life. [John 6:47] Because, " as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God "[John 1;12] After hearing the gospel of salvation and placing one’s trust in the Lord Jesus Christ one is sealed with the Holy Spirit [Ephesians 1:13]. In scripture a seal signifies [a] a finished transaction [Jer. 32:9-10, John 17:4, ]; [b] ownership [Jer. 32:11-12, 2 Tim. 2;19 ] and [c] security [Dan. 6:17, Eph. 4:30 ].
Further yet, the Lord himself has made this promise to believers who like sheep hear his voice and follow him to " give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone pluck them out of [his] hand. [John 10: 28-29]. If we are born of God [ "born again" or "born from above" ], we shall overcome the world and finish the race victorious [1 John 5:4-6 ].
Therefore, do not be fooled and let anyone rob you of
the joy and security that you will have once you make
the commitment to Christ. Ensure that you join a Bible
teaching church and delve into the Word as often as
possible. My advice is that one starts with the
New Testament if one wants to make sense of the Old
Testament. The letters of Paul, in particular, should
provide you with a lot of answers to many of your
questions. As you are growing spiritually, it is
of vital importance that you do not forget how you were
saved to begin with. You were saved by grace and not of
works. Therefore, be ware of those well meaning
Christians that are busy re-introducing legalism through
the back door so to speak. There is nothing new
about this for it was happening way back in the days of
the apostles. Remember that there was absolutely nothing
that you or I did to deserve our salvation! God was
never lost and thus, we did not find Him! He found us and
we accepted His invitation to become His adopted sons or
daughters. Our salvation is a gift bought at a
high price with the precious blood of our Savior Jesus
Christ. He died for us once and for all of our sins
past, present and future. We did nothing to earn
our salvation and we can do nothing to lose it. When
Jesus says that no-one can pluck us out of His hand, He
means NO-ONE and that includes you and I. Be on
high alert when you meet fellow Christians who have
fallen victims to new heretical ideas that their
churches are propounding. When you see a long list of
do's and don't's, take cover unless you want to lose
your joy of salvation. If you listen to them, you will
never feel secure and you ''ll go through life feeling
like a backslider and not knowing if you are truly
saved. These are churches which, in many cases, are controlled by
small minded and highly egotistical pastors who will use
the Bible out of context in an effort to maintain
control of the faithful. Even, though, you know it and I
know it that you were saved by grace and grace alone,
they will give you a long list of rules that you need to
follow in order to maintain your salvation. I beg
of you not to fall for this lie! They will use the fact
that your knowledge of the Bible is minimal and,
therefore, they will give you bits and pieces and obscure
quotations which are no longer valid or at least they do
not apply to the church age in order to convince you of
the truth of their beliefs. Pray fervently and
study daily and let no man or angel beguile you! You
were saved by grace and you will want to do good works
and be fruitful because of your love for Christ and the
price He paid for you. Your
works will be indicative of your spiritual maturity. The
more you listen to the guidance and voice of the
gentle Holy Spirit who lives in you, the holier and
God-pleasing your works will be! To be perfectly
clear, at times, you will be tempted and you will sin
and fall and you will know it. If anything, the Evil one
will be the first to accuse you and tell you how
unworthy you are. Don't despair, get up and ask the Lord
for forgiveness and He will be faithful to do so .
Ask the Lord to help you meet the right people who will
make a positive influence in your life, pray fervently
and expect that He will answer each one of your prayers.
You simply need to trust Him, even, when everything is
falling apart around you! Live each day as if it
is your last and look forward to the blessed hope of eternal life " and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ." [Titus 2:13]
John Costouros
|
|
|
Scripture Moment |
