Eternal Life is God’s kind of
life. It is eternal because He is eternal. Nothing
will ever separate the believer in Christ from the
One who loves us. He gave us His free gift of
eternal life the very moment we were born
spiritually, and it can never be lost (John 3:15-16,
36; 6:47; 10:28). It is a life without end, and no
one can ever take it from you. There are no final
boundaries to eternal life.
We enter into that life
transforming vital union with Him when we responded
to His love and believed on Him (1 John 5:11).
The beauty of this new life in
Christ is that Christ has so joined Himself to us
that we are to go on receiving this life He gives in
increasing abundance throughout eternity. The
Scriptures tell us that God has promised to enlarge
our spiritual capacities until the full life of the
infinite Christ is reproduced in us. We are
gradually being conformed to His image and likeness.
The life God gives us the
moment we believe in Christ is the same life that we
will be living with Him in eternity. God has already
imparted to the believer in Christ the life of the
age to come. Eternal life is already a present
blessing available to everyone who submits to Christ
(2 Cor. 5:17). The new life is life “in the Spirit,”
or “in Christ.” Jesus used metaphors to describe
this new life He gives (Jn. 4:14; 6:35-40; 11:25-26;
15:5, etc).
Eternal life or spiritual life
is a state of regeneration and fellowship with God
(Jn. 3:15-16, 36; 5:24; 6:47). The relationship is
eternal, not temporal.
Jesus defined it when he said,
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have
sent” (Jn. 17:3). It is knowing God and having
fellowship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Eternal life is knowing the
only true God personally through His Son. It is
having a personal intimate continuous relationship
with Him through faith in Christ. We do not earn
eternal life; it is a free gift received when we
admit we are sinners, repent and believer in Christ
alone.
The opposite of this life in
Christ is to be “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph.
2:1). To be in the need of eternal life is to be in
the state of being unsaved, lost, and condemned.
However, those who have eternal life are saved and
they have eternal assurance of this salvation (John
3:15-16, 18, 36; 5:24; 10:9, 28-30; 1 Jn. 5:12-13).
When do you take possession of
eternal life? Eternal life, even for the elect of
God, is a gift which becomes yours when you exercise
faith in Christ (Eph. 2:1, 5). It is identified with
the new birth or regeneration. When we believe in
Christ as our Savior we receive this new life in
Christ.
Therefore, eternal life is the
work of the Holy Spirit at the moment of faith in
Christ (Jn. 3:3-7; Titus 3:5). It is to be
identified with the life which is in Christ (Jn.
5:21; 2 Cor. 5:17; 1 Jn. 5:12).
Eternal life is imparted to us
as a new birth (Jn. 1:13; 3:3). It is also described
as a spiritual resurrection (Col. 3:1; Rom. 6:13;
Jn. 5:25). “Old things have passed away; behold all
things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Our new life
has a new nature. The very nature of eternal life
and the new birth forbid the reversal of the
spiritual birth. You cannot become unborn
spiritually because God performs it. Once
accomplished it continues for eternity. You cannot
cease to be His child.
We receive a new supernatural
life when we become children of God by means of the
new birth. The origination of the eternal life comes
into the believer at the moment of faith in Christ.
In that moment there is an instantaneous change form
a state of spiritual death to a state of eternal
spiritual life.
The apostle Paul wrote in
Ephesians 2:5, God has “made us alive together with
Christ.” The reception of eternal life is all
together a supernatural act of God in response to
the faith of the individual.
How do you live this eternal
life today? You live it in the power of the Giver of
life. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is
no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20). That life in Christ
is available to you in all its purity and strength
if you will feed upon Him.
Eternal life is given only to
those who respond to His love and grace. Have you
believed on Him? Will you receive His free gift of
life right now?
Because we were all dead in
trespasses and sins, God sent Jesus Christ to give
us new life. Jesus bore the penalty of our sins on
the tree. Your gift has already been paid in full.
This is why all you need to do is receive it by
faith in Christ.
Wil is a graduate of William
Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist
Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific
University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador
and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as
missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily
expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100
countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek
opportunities to be personally involved in world
missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown
daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor
and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
Bible
word studies for sermon preparation, messages,
devotions and personal Bible studies with abiding
principles and practical applications.
Reports on what God is doing through Bible
believing evangelical Christians in
Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru,
India
and Ecuador. Jesus said, "If you abide in
Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever
you wish, and it shall be done for you"
(John 15:7).