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a. when a believer dies. b. when a person trusts in Christ. c. when a person is baptized d. when a person is spiritually whole. 3. When many people hear the words eternal life they think of a future place called "heaven." But let us take a look at John 17:3. Jesus is praying and He says, Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3). According to this verse, eternal life is: a. spending forever in heaven. b. knowing God the Father and Jesus Christ. c. living with a high degree of peace. 4. Eternal life begins at the moment a person trusts in Jesus Christ. But when does it end? See John 10:27-30 for the answer. There Jesus says, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. According to these verses, eternal life will: a. never end. b. end when one commits an extremely serious sin. c. end when one commits a certain number of sins.
 III.
POTENTIALLY TERMINAL "Your illness is terminal unless we get going
with treatment right now." That is how the Bible describes our spiritual
condition. In Romans 6:23 we have a verse that describes God's punishment
upon anyone who has sinned against Him. It says, "The wages of sin is
death . . ." The first thing that comes to mind for most people when
they think of death is the death of our bodies. Certainly physical death,
according to God's Word, came into human experience as a consequence
of sinning against God. In the familiar Bible story about Adam and Eve,
God warned them that if they sinned against Him they would surely die
(Genesis 2:17). Sure enough, on the day they sinned, their bodies became
mortal like the ones we possess today.Most people have a one dimensional understanding of the word death. However, death, as presented in God's Word should be seen in "3D." The first dimension is physical death -- life going out from the body. The second dimension is spiritual death -- life going out of one's relationship with God. And the third is eternal death -- being banished from having a relationship with God forever. First, let's look more closely at this idea of spiritual death. On the day Adam and Eve sinned against God, they did not drop dead even though God told them you will surely die (Genesis 2:17). However, they did die in another dimension of the word. They died spiritually. In other words, the life went out of their relationship with God that day. The biblical author Paul wrote these words to some fellow believers: As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world . . . (Ephesians 2:1-3). He was not teaching that these people were physically dead and were now physically alive. He was saying that they were once spiritually dead and are now spiritually alive. Spiritual death is similar to a married couple with a disastrous relationship going to a counselor and having her figuratively say, "You may as well get divorced. Your relationship is dead." Spiritual death means that our relationship with God is dead. Having now considered physical and spiritual death, let us now think about the third dimension of death -- eternal death. We read about this third aspect of death in Revelation 20:14-15. The Scriptures say at the final judgment that those who died without faith in Christ were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. In other words, the people who do not personally know God will be cast into hell and be forever separated from the possibility of having a relationship with God. To understand the seriousness of our spiritual condition, we need to understand how all three dimensions of death are interrelated. The Bible teaches that a person dies physically while in a state of spiritual death will remain in that fixed state forever. That is what the Bible means when it says, The wages of sin is death . . . (Romans 6:23). And sadly, there is nothing in God's revelations to us that gives us any reason to hope for a second chance after our bodies die. Our illness is one we need to take seriously. After all, it is potentially, eternally terminal. Both the certainty and uncertainty of physical death behoove us to be sure that God will accept us into His heaven. The certainty of death behooves us in that we know that one day we will die and meet our maker. The uncertainty of death behooves us in that we do not know the day we will die. IV.
THE WRONG CUREEvery once in a while the media reports a bungled surgery. I recall hearing once of a wrong leg being amputated leaving the patient with the infected leg that was threatening his life. In Proverbs 14:12 it warns us of the potential of wrong treatment. It says, There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it only leads to death. The most horrible thing that could happen to a person would be to die and then learn that one is spiritually dead. After all, there is no second chance after death. And Jesus said that many people are going to have that experience. He said, Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?" Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" (Matthew 7:22-23). Suppose you were to die today and appear before God and He were to say to you, "Why should I let you into My heaven?", what would you say? You might respond in one of the ways that many people respond: "I'm a very good person." "I'm certainly not bad enough to go to hell." "I try to do good unto others." "I keep the 10 commandments." "I attend church." "I've been baptized." "I'm a very kind and helpful person." People with responses like these are basically trusting in their moral performance to win God's approval. But the Bible teaches that there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it only leads to death. While it may seem right for a person to try and win God's approval in this way, this approach will result in death -- death in all three dimensions. People expecting to win God's approval by their moral performance do not adequately understand that God is too holy to tolerate the slightest bit of sin. They also do no grasp they have repeatedly fallen short His standards of approval. But now we want to demonstrate from Scripture how trying to win God's approval on the basis of personal moral performance is the wrong cure. 1. Think about the following verses: Romans 3:20 - No one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law . . . (The law here refers to God's standards of moral conduct.) Galatians 2:16 - . . . by observing the law no one will be justified. Titus 3:5 - He accepted us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. Based on these verses, what are the chances of winning God's approval on the basis of our good deeds and moral character? 2. Look closely at Ephesians 2:8-9. There we read: It is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. First, think about the word saved. What are a few synonyms one might find in a thesaurus for the word saved? 3. In light of all that we discussed in Lessons 1-4, what does the word saved mean in Ephesians 2:8? From what is a person saved? 4. Now think about the word grace in Ephesians 2:8. Basically, grace is God giving us a benefit that we do not deserve. What benefit does God promise that we are unworthy of receiving? 5. Think about the phrase not from yourselves in Ephesians 2:8. What do you suppose it means in this verse when it says that being saved is not from yourselves? 6. Think about the phrase not by works in Ephesians 2:9. What do you suppose the verse means when it says that being saved is not by works? 7. Consider the phrase it is the gift of God in Ephesians 2:8. How is a gift different from a reward and a wage? The gift of eternal life is not something we can earn. We do not have to earn our admittance into heaven. Like all gifts, we either accept the gift or reject it. The Bible also teaches that it is possible for us to know for certain in the present that we have eternal life. At first glance to say "I know for certain that I have eternal life" appears to be a boastful statement. However, when we realize that we possess the gift of eternal life through no doing of our own we realize that there is no pride reflected in such a statement. That's why Ephesians 2:9 says that God's way to salvation is such that no one can boast. Elsewhere Paul asked, Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded (Romans 3:37). And as He wrote yet elsewhere, Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord (I Corinthians 1:27). Eternal life, properly understood, brings no glory to us and all the praise to our gracious and merciful God. Even though we cannot win God's approval by our good works, good works will come out of the life of a person who truly knows God. It is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10, emphasis mine). Clearly, we are not saved by our good works but we are saved to do good works. A person who has an eternal relationship with God will find that he or she experiences a life that is lived more and more consistently with the moral law of God. At the moment we experience eternal life we become God's workmanship. He now starts to work in our lives so that we become more and more like Jesus Christ in our deeds, words, motivations and attitudes. In this lesson, however, the most important thing for you to understand is that it is impossible for you to be cured of your spiritual illness by self administered treatments. Sadly, trying to win God's approval in this way will only keep us in a state of spiritual death. We want to make sure that we receive the right remedy. We want to be certain we undergo God's remedy. V.
GOD'S REMEDYThe possibility of being eternally condemned is a very uncomfortable thought. That discomfort is intensified by the fact that self administered treatments cannot rectify the situation. Only God can bring life back into a spiritually dead person. The good news is that because He loves us so much He has done everything necessary for us to be saved from spiritual death and to be reconciled to Him. Out of His love for the people He created He entered human history by sending His Son into the world to be our Savior. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son (John 3:16-18). Jesus Christ, who has existed forever, became a human being. In John 1:1-4, 14 it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. The Scriptures tell us that Jesus Christ came into the world through a woman named Mary. She was a virgin. The egg in her ovum was fertilized by a supernatural work of God. When an angel announced the birth of Christ to some lowly shepherds watching their flocks at night the angel said, Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11). 1. Now think of all that we have discovered in our previous lessons. What do you understand Luke 2:11 to mean by the words a Savior? As Jesus lived among us for thirty some years, He lived a sinless life as we might expect since He was God. It says in I Peter 2:22, He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. The Lord Jesus did innumerable miracles while He was among us. His miracles demonstrated that He, being God, had authority over nature, disease, demons and death. In John 20:30-31 we read, Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.  The
Lord's miracles brought attention to Jesus Christ as a messenger from
God. While He was among us, He revealed the message of God's truth to
us. He gave us truths to live by. At the end of His earthly ministry,
He was nailed to a cross. On that cross He shed His divine blood as
a payment for our sins. After He died, He arose from the dead. He arose
in an immortal body that would never succumb to death again. In I Corinthians
15:1-8, the writer Paul said: "Now, brothers, I want to remind
you of the gospel I preached to you . . . that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised
on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to
Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than
five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still
living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then
to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me . . . "As you can see from this passage, the heart of what Jesus did so we could be reconciled to God is die and rise again. Let's spend a few moments thinking about the death of Christ. 2. In Romans 5:8 we read, God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. According to this verse, what did God do to show His love for us? In several other verses of Scripture we can see that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. He died as our substitute. Consider the following two: Isaiah 53:6 says, All we, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. I Peter 3:18 says, Christ died for our sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God. As you can see from these verses, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins on the cross so that we wouldn't have to pay that penalty ourselves. That is good news! That is what God did in our behalf! That is God's remedy! It is like we have a debt to pay to God because of our sins. We can pay that debt ourselves by bearing the torment of being separated from God forever. Or we can allow Jesus Christ to pay our debt for us. In one sense it doesn't matter to God if we pay the penalty ourselves or allow Jesus to pay it for us -- the penalty must be paid as a debt must be paid. However, in another sense it matters greatly to God. After all, He loved you so much that He sent His Son to pay the price for your sins so that you wouldn't have to. 3. In your own words, what did Jesus do for you when He died on the cross? After spending 40 days among us in a resurrected body, the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven in the full view of His followers (Acts 1:8-9). At an unknown future date the Lord will return again to take his followers to their eternal home. While the earliest followers of the Lord watched Him ascend into heaven, two angels dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:10-11). Now look again at Romans 6:23: The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, the consequence of sinning against God is three-dimensional death but the gift of God is a relationship with God that will last forever. 4. Think about it: A gift is something for which someone else pays and offers to us freely. All that is required of us is to accept the gift. Who paid the price for us to be offered the gift of eternal life at no cost to ourselves? Every person desperately needs a savior. The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Savior that we need. In fact, He is the only real savior. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Jesus Himself said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6). 5. Do you know for certain that you have eternal life? Are you sure that you are not in a state of spiritual death from God's viewpoint? In our next lesson we explain how you can receive the gift of eternal life if you have not done so already. VI.
ACCEPTING GOD'S CUREUnderstanding God's cure is as simple as A-B-C. Undergoing His treatment is often difficult because of pride. To be saved requires a lot of humility. The first thing involved in receiving God's gift of eternal life is to admit that no matter how good you are, you will never be good enough to win God's approval without the Savior -- Jesus Christ. When we are able to humble ourselves in such a way, the Lord stands ready to show mercy and to welcome us. It says in Psalm 51:17, . . . "a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." The second thing involved in receiving the gift of eternal life is Believe in the Lord Jesus and that He died to pay the penalty for your sins. 1. Examine the following four verses of Scripture: John 3:16-18 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. John 3:36 - Whoever believes in the son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on Him. Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved . . . (Acts 16:31) Ephesians 2:8 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith . . . What common requirement does each of the above-mentioned verses state we must meet in order to have eternal life? To believe in Jesus does not mean to give mental agreement to the Bible facts about Jesus. Probably, the best English synonym for believe is the word "trust." To believe or trust in Jesus Christ is to have confidence in Jesus Christ. When it comes to this matter of being saved from spiritual death, trust in Christ is having such confidence in Christ that you are willing to bet your eternal destiny on His reliability to take you to heaven. 2. In light of this, write out John 3:36 in your own words trying to use good synonyms for the most important worlds in the verse. Again, John 3:36 says, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. The verses we have examined in this booklet are not referring to trusting Jesus with our finances, health, relationships, problems and so forth. The Scriptures we have examined refer to trusting Jesus Christ to deliver us from sin's death penalty. There are many different reasons people never come to know for certain that they have God's eternal approval. Many people never come to know for certain that they are acceptable to God because one such reason is that some people put partial trust in Christ and partial trust in their personal goodness. That is, they depend on Christ to save them to some degree and to some degree they depend on their moral performance. The problem is that the Bible teaches that no one can be saved by both personal performance and by God's grace. According to Romans 11:6 it is one or the other. If God's acceptance is by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. Therefore, we cannot be saved until we have forsaken trust in our moral achievements and trust in Christ alone. The third thing involved in receiving the gift of eternal life is call on the Lord Jesus to save you from the eternal condemnation you deserve. God promises that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13). The way we call out is in prayer. Do you remember the Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14) we examined in Lesson 1? The tax collector called out, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Jesus said of him, I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. 3. Would you like to receive God's gift of eternal life? 4. Is there anything preventing you from putting your trust in Jesus Christ as personal Savior right now? If so, what would that be? What issues do you feel that you still need to resolve before you could put your trust in Him? 5. Do you admit that you are sinful enough to deserve to be forever banished from the presence of God in heaven? 6. Do you acknowledge the fact that you could never be good enough to win God's approval? Do you recognize that you need Jesus Christ to save you from the condemnation you deserve? 7. Do you believe Jesus Christ paid the penalty for your sins on the cross so that you would not have to pay the penalty yourself? 8. Have you forsaken trust in your good character and do you trust exclusively in Jesus Christ and His death to save you? 9. Would you like to call on the Lord Jesus to save you from the eternal condemnation you deserve and to give you His offer of eternal life? If you are ready to call upon the Lord to save you, find a place where you can pray for a few minutes. Pray your own prayer similar to this model prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner. I ask you to be my Savior. You are my only hope of getting into heaven. I thank you that you loved me and came to earth to save me. I thank you that you died on the cross for my sins. Thanks to you I do not have to pay that penalty myself. Thanks to you I know that I have eternal life. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Help me express my gratitude to you by living each day of my life for you. Amen. 10. Did you call out to the Lord Jesus to save you? If so, welcome to the family of God. The Word of God says that you are now saved, forgiven of your sins, reconciled to God, a recipient of the gift of eternal life and much more! 11. Suppose you were to die today and appear before God and he were to say to you, "Why should I let you into my heaven?" what would you say? 12. If you were to die today, do you know for certain that you would spend eternity in heaven with God? Praise the Lord, we can know for certain in this life that we have a relationship with God that is going to last forever! It says in I John 5:12-13, He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (emphasis mine) Now that you know you have a relationship with God that will last forever, how can you make that relationship grow? We will answer this question in the next lesson.
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Last Updated: November 24,2005 |
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