One could also say that eternal life is to become what we were made to be........to joined or be one with Father, Son and Holy Spirit…..be one with God, just as Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one with each other.
What does it mean to have eternal life?
- Thread starter Buzzfruit
- Start date
-
Welcome to Christian Forums, a Christian Forum that recognizes that all Christians are a work in progress.
You will need to register to be able to join in fellowship with Christians all over the world.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!
One could also say that eternal life is to become what we were made to be........to joined or be one with Father, Son and Holy Spirit…..be one with God, just as Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one with each other.
Prentis
New Member
Amen to aspen and Buzzfruit!
Eternal life is to know him, that is, walk with him, and be one with him.
Eternal life is to know him, that is, walk with him, and be one with him.
After reading all the posts I believe Veteran has made some very wise and balanced comments. I also note that Prentis is moving closer to that same balanced understanding of salvation which is great to see.
The Apostle Peter certainly understood this OP in John 6:68 expressing an understanding of Jesus previously spoken in John 6:63
One must ask "What gave Jesus life" and the answer as Peter revealed is the implanted Word of God; that Word imported into our minds will one day bring life. If you go back to John 3:6 it is true that we will be Born of the Spirit (or Word as Jesus taught)...
So the question is where did Jesus get these Words of Eternal Life?
John 3:34,35,36 provides us the answer.
His Father...who alone possess immortality and power etc. 1 Tim 6:16
If I may impress on you all a fundamental lesson, one which appears to be losing ground in Christianity today - If the "Very Words" Spoken by Jesus Christ contained the power of Eternal Life - how important is it for us to have those exact same Words in us?
Just maybe that’s why Jesus said the following? Luke 9:44
Insight
The Apostle Peter certainly understood this OP in John 6:68 expressing an understanding of Jesus previously spoken in John 6:63
One must ask "What gave Jesus life" and the answer as Peter revealed is the implanted Word of God; that Word imported into our minds will one day bring life. If you go back to John 3:6 it is true that we will be Born of the Spirit (or Word as Jesus taught)...
So the question is where did Jesus get these Words of Eternal Life?
John 3:34,35,36 provides us the answer.
His Father...who alone possess immortality and power etc. 1 Tim 6:16
If I may impress on you all a fundamental lesson, one which appears to be losing ground in Christianity today - If the "Very Words" Spoken by Jesus Christ contained the power of Eternal Life - how important is it for us to have those exact same Words in us?
Just maybe that’s why Jesus said the following? Luke 9:44
Insight
Wehter we are saved or dammed we wil all ahve eternal live
The souls in heaven live an eternal life int eh presence of God.
The souls in hell live an eternal life without the prsence of God, though they have full knoweldge of God.
Either way they will aklll live forever.
Jesus said that all who believ ein him will have eternal life. John 3:16
And he also said in Mathew 7:23 that those would coem to him and say "Lord, Lord," and he would say "depart from my ye worker of iniquety."
He also said in Matthew 25:31-46 that those who perform the seven acts of mercy would be aved and those who did not would be dammed. It amkes it very clear that good deeds are neccassery for salvation as well as faith.
If we beleive but do nothing we will burn but if we believe and perform these acts we will live with God forever.
Maybe then those who do not believe will just die and not have to worry about Hell.
The souls in heaven live an eternal life int eh presence of God.
The souls in hell live an eternal life without the prsence of God, though they have full knoweldge of God.
Either way they will aklll live forever.
Jesus said that all who believ ein him will have eternal life. John 3:16
And he also said in Mathew 7:23 that those would coem to him and say "Lord, Lord," and he would say "depart from my ye worker of iniquety."
He also said in Matthew 25:31-46 that those who perform the seven acts of mercy would be aved and those who did not would be dammed. It amkes it very clear that good deeds are neccassery for salvation as well as faith.
If we beleive but do nothing we will burn but if we believe and perform these acts we will live with God forever.
Maybe then those who do not believe will just die and not have to worry about Hell.
That is not Biblical. There is no scripture in the Bible that says a person will have eternal life in Hell. The Bibles says eternal life is a gift that God gives but the wages for sin is death......death is not life, let alone eternal life.
If someone is consious and spends eternity in hell then surely they are alive. If they are dad then how can they be consiouse it is a matter of logic. So that if a person truly dies then the soul dies too and they have no more consiousness, nevither eternal pain and suffering nor eternal bliss and joy.
So jsutr believing is not enough. The RCC is right when it places importance on good works because to just believe and not to do good works will reulst in damnation bu to believe and to do good works will result in salvation and non-ne can deny what our lord said in Matthew 25:31-46. I don't believe he asted his breth saying it, he really means that believers who do nothing good will burn, it is so clear, so we must perform good works.
So jsutr believing is not enough. The RCC is right when it places importance on good works because to just believe and not to do good works will reulst in damnation bu to believe and to do good works will result in salvation and non-ne can deny what our lord said in Matthew 25:31-46. I don't believe he asted his breth saying it, he really means that believers who do nothing good will burn, it is so clear, so we must perform good works.
Prentis
New Member
Yes. Faith is also faithfulness.
We must follow the Lord, and 'he who perseveres to the end shall be saved'.
Remember also though, that the Lord says 'fear the one who can destroy body AND soul in hell'. I think of it not as 'heaven or hell', but as 'glory, life, shame, death'. In other words, I see 4 destinies, one for the holy, one for the righteous, one for the filthy, and one for the wicked.
A person can do good works but it may not do them any good.
1 Corinthians 13:3-8 (ASV)
[sup]3 [/sup]And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.
[sup]4 [/sup]Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
[sup]5 [/sup]doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil;
[sup]6 [/sup]rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth;
[sup]7 [/sup]beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
[sup]8 [/sup]Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.
Good works must be sincere….the Love of God must be the motivating factor.....which means that the individual does it because the Nature of God is in him or her so they love to do good.
They ahve to be sincere and without faith inChrit Jesus then good works will do nothing but not to do them doe snot show fruits of the spirit. T o not do them is not to live the Christian life and not to live as God wants us to. What I eman is that we can't jsut lay back and relax, expecting to just go to Heaven, but seriospuly good works will not earn anything but wee really ahve to do them.
God wants us to be a part of what He is doing now and forever......its one of the reasons why God made human beings.....we are His representatives, but not just in this life but forever to beings that are yet to be created.
Prentis
New Member
I agree with what you're saying Templar.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith without works is dead. Those two things must be understood together.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith without works is dead. Those two things must be understood together.
There's no other way of interpretting Matthew 25:31-46
Hence faith without works is not enough.
The Sheep and the Goats
[sup]31[/sup] “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. [sup]32[/sup] All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. [sup]33[/sup] He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
[sup]34[/sup] “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. [sup]35[/sup] For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, [sup]36[/sup] I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
[sup]37[/sup] “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? [sup]38[/sup] When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? [sup]39[/sup] When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
[sup]40[/sup] “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
[sup]41[/sup] “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. [sup]42[/sup] For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, [sup]43[/sup] I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
[sup]44[/sup] “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
[sup]45[/sup] “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
[sup]46[/sup] “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
If faith alone is enough why did our lord say the above?
Hence faith without works is not enough.
The Sheep and the Goats
[sup]31[/sup] “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. [sup]32[/sup] All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. [sup]33[/sup] He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
[sup]34[/sup] “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. [sup]35[/sup] For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, [sup]36[/sup] I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
[sup]37[/sup] “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? [sup]38[/sup] When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? [sup]39[/sup] When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
[sup]40[/sup] “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
[sup]41[/sup] “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. [sup]42[/sup] For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, [sup]43[/sup] I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
[sup]44[/sup] “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
[sup]45[/sup] “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
[sup]46[/sup] “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
If faith alone is enough why did our lord say the above?
Prentis
New Member
Yes.
It also shows that it is not about being a hearer of the law, but a doer. Even those who do not know Christ, if they follow righteousness (their conscience being a law to them) can be righteous as men can be, loving, and meek.
It also shows that it is not about being a hearer of the law, but a doer. Even those who do not know Christ, if they follow righteousness (their conscience being a law to them) can be righteous as men can be, loving, and meek.
I have no problem with that as long as they live in a jungle in Borneo or somewhere like that where they never had the cance to hear about Jesus but if they are athiests living in the west then there can't be much chance for them.
However, if they floow the consience that God ahs given them, wouldn't it not lead them to find out more aobut Jesus and grow in faith sicne worship and praise to God is natural?
However, if they floow the consience that God ahs given them, wouldn't it not lead them to find out more aobut Jesus and grow in faith sicne worship and praise to God is natural?
Prentis
New Member
Well, think about this.
As I'm sure you've read, 'the kingdom is not in word, but in power', and Paul says he didn't come in wise words, but in power.
If we speak as an angel, but are not sent of God, wouldn't people be right NOT to follow them? Unless we present the true Christ, it would be natural for them not to follow.
On the other hand, I DO believe that if someone truly seeks God, he will find him.
As I'm sure you've read, 'the kingdom is not in word, but in power', and Paul says he didn't come in wise words, but in power.
If we speak as an angel, but are not sent of God, wouldn't people be right NOT to follow them? Unless we present the true Christ, it would be natural for them not to follow.
On the other hand, I DO believe that if someone truly seeks God, he will find him.
Similar threads
