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Category: Eternal Life
Is Eternal Life is a Gift That Can Be Obtained by Any Sinner Unconditionally?
Is eternal life a gift that can be obtained by any sinner unconditionally? According to the late George Jeffreys (1889-1962), who was one of greatest evangelists of the 20th Century, the answer is ‘no’.
The idea that eternal life is a gift that can be obtained by any sinner unconditionally is as false and unscriptural as the notion that it can be merited by works. The forgiveness of past sins is only granted to those who, by the grace of God, decide not to continue in sin. How utterly helpless and hopeless any earthly Government would be if it released all its prisoners and allowed them to continue as aforetime breaking the laws of the land. Civilisation—yea, the whole world—would soon be reduced to a state of irrevocable ruin. The sinner at conversion enters into a new life, which reveals itself in the changed deeds of his body. Before conversion he is a drunkard, after conversion a sober man; before conversion he is a thief, after conversion he is honest; before conversion his lips blaspheme, after conversion they praise God. The change is at once admitted because his body acts differently. The body is the medium through which the new life is made manifest. (Healing Rays by George Jeffreys)
How to Inherit Eternal Life
The bible teaches us that to inherit eternal life, we need to take the following 4 steps:
Step 1: Believe in Jesus Christ
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. (John 3:16, NIV)
For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. (John 6:40, NIV)
He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” (Acts 16:30-31, NIV)
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved… for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-10, 13, NIV)
Step 2: Repent / forsake all your sins
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:32, NIV)
But unless you repent, you too will all perish. (Luke 13:3b, NIV)
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:37-38, NIV)
Step 3: Be baptised
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:37-38, NIV)
Step 4: Lead a pure life (by constantly yielding to the Holy Spirit)
To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. (Romans 2:7, NIV)
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Romans 6:22, NIV)
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8, NIV)
Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. (1 John 3:15, NIV)
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (Ephesians 5:3-5, NIV)
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:19-24, NIV)
