Eternal Life

Eternal Life

Eternal life is not a state that is future only; it begins in the now, and then continues. Conditional immortality states the human soul is naturally mortal, and that immortality is granted by God as a gift

Some believe that only God has immortality, and when a person dies, death is a state of unconscious sleep until the resurrection. They base this belief on biblical texts such as Ecclesiastes 9:5 which states “the dead know nothing”, and 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 which contains a description of the dead being raised from the grave at the second coming.

The Apostles’ Creed testifies: “I believe… the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.” One of the major speakers of eternal life was Jesus. Eternal life for the believer is the glorious, endless experience of our inheritance that we share with Jesus Christ, for we are “joint heirs” with Christ

For God so loved the world
That he gave his only begotten Son
that whosoever believes in him
should not perish but have everlasting life.

The Greek word most often translated as “eternal” is aionios. It means unending, but also focuses on the quality or characteristics of that which is age-long or eternal. Combined with the Greek Zoe for “life,” which indicates not only biological existence but a fullness or genuineness of life, “eternal life” includes both the ideas of quality and quantity of life.
Eternal life is not simply life that never ends, but a fullness of life that is unending. In fact, in many ways, eternal life really has nothing to do with time as it can be experienced apart from time as well as within time.

Eternal life turns on nothing more and nothing less than knowledge of the true God. Eternal life is not so much everlasting life as personal knowledge of the Everlasting One. Eternal life is the life everlasting in the presence of God. Eternal life is not a gift from God; eternal life is the gift of God.

Never confound eternal life with immortality. Eternal has reference to the quality of life, not to its duration. –Oswald Chambers

Prayer is the vital breath of the believer; not the thing that makes him alive, but the evidence that he is alive. –Oswald Chambers

We are born of God. Eternal life is not a gift from God, eternal life is the gift of God. Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost — not power as a gift from the Holy Ghost; the power is the Holy Ghost, not something which He imparts. If it is difficult to get right with God, it is because we will not decide definitely about sin. Immediately we do decide, the full life of God comes in. We have to keep letting go, and slowly and surely the great full life of God will invade us in every part –My Utmost For His Highest | More…