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Eternal Living! Pastor Bill Taylor A publication of My Father's House, inc. Volume 5//Issue 4 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Rom5:10) It’s 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 for me. (Gal 2:20) Everyone who reads the bible to serve their own purposes instead of God’s comes out with their own heretical version of “christianity.” The only way to understand the bible correctly is to ask, “Jesus, teach me what you mean by Your Word!” Only the Spirit who wrote it can interpret God’s Word correctly and you must look for God’s purposes not your own if you’re to properly understand His Word. Concerning God’s purposes, Paul says, “I’ve been separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,” (Rom1:1,2) Also, “Now to Him who’s able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith”- (Rom16:25,26) In both these verses Paul teaches the gospel is revealed in the scriptures. But what many churches and Christians don’t understand is there was no New Testament when Paul said that. So the gospel had to be revealed in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament God prophesied what the gospel would be. But today many people are trying to define the gospel by what the New Testament says, who are perverting the New Testament scriptures to say things different than what God purposed the gospel would be in the Old Testament. So they’ve come up with a heretical gospel because their doctrine isn’t agreeable to the prophetic scriptures. The New Covenant is only understood correctly when it agrees with the prophecies of what it was promised to be. The New Covenant can only be orthodox if it agrees with what the Old Testament says it should be. Otherwise the Jews were right to reject Christianity and say it doesn’t agree with the scriptures. But the first century church proved that New Covenant Christianity was a fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures. And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He (Jesus) expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Lk24:27) For he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. (Act18:28) And concerning the New Covenant itself, “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I’ll make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-- not according to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” says the Lord. “But this is the covenant I’ll make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the Lord: “I’ll put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I’ll be their God, and they’ll be My people.” (Jer31:31-33) “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying; ‘Know the LORD’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” says the LORD. “For I’ll forgive their iniquity, and their sin I’ll remember no more.” (Jer31:34) I’ll put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you’ll keep My judgments and do them. (Ezek36:27) Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it. (Ps119:5,35) The psalmist prays for God to cause him to walk in His statutes. God’s answer to his prayer is “I’ll cause you to walk in My statutes.” (Ezek36:27) And this is fulfilled in true New Covenant Christianity. In the New Covenant God gave us the Holy Spirit so we’d not just know what we’re to do but have the power to do it and even be “caused” to do it. To truly be in New Covenant Christianity after you repent and are forgiven of your sins you must receive the Holy Spirit so you can walk in a way that’s pleasing to God. This doesn’t mean you’ll never sin again. You may occasionally stumble and repent but generally speaking, you should be doing your best to attain to perfection. One thing that’s obvious from the New Testament is Jesus will never sin, the Spirit of God will never sin and there’s no way possible for you to sin while you’re in the Spirit. (1Jn3:5,6;5:18) You have to be out of the Spirit to sin. So the goal of any true Christian is to stay in the Spirit who’ll cause you to walk in obedience to God and be sinless. Walk in the Spirit, and you’ll not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (Gal 5:16) Whoever’s born of God, doesn’t sin. (1Jn3:6) Therefore the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies as to what New Covenant Christians should be is they’ll be a people filled with the Holy Spirit in such a way as to know the will of God, do the will of God, be led by the Spirit of God and they’ll be a holy people who are predominantly without sin for God’s Spirit will cause us to walk in His statutes. Sin is only accidental to a true New Testament Christian. But another problem caused by misunderstanding the scriptures is many churches today think when you begin the race you’ve already attained to eternal life in the sense of immortality. Those who follow this error believe when you agree to Jesus being the Son of God, then you’re saved and have eternal life. And once you’re “saved” you can’t lose eternal life because after all it’s eternal! This heresy is actually very contrary to what the whole of the scriptures teach. Sound biblical doctrine requires every believer even after he’s “saved” to be diligent to attain entrance into God’s Kingdom, (2Pt1:10,11) whereas the false assumption of believing you’ve already attained produces a lukewarm behavior and a lack of diligence. “Why do I have to strive to get what I already have or be diligent to keep what I can’t lose?” So such doctrines produce the very thing Jesus rebukes when He says to the Laodiceans, “I’m going to spit you out of my mouth, if you don’t repent and become zealous for the things of God.” (Rev3:15-19) Jesus requires us to be hot or cold. He won’t accept lukewarm. (Rev3:15,16) Any doctrine that contradicts what Jesus requires isn’t orthodox. It’s a false doctrine and a heresy. Doctrine affects behavior. Good doctrines cause good behavior in those who believe them. Bad doctrines cause bad behavior just as a bad tree produces bad fruit. (Mt7:17) On that basis we can prove “once saved/always saved” is bad doctrine since it tends to produce a behavior that’s careless about sin when people think they can continue in sin and not lose their salvation, whereas Jesus teaches, If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it’s more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it’s more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. (Mt5:29,30) According to Jesus you better cut off your sin if you want to go to heaven but the “once saved/always saved” people don’t believe that. Since they think their salvation can’t be lost then there’s no need to cut the sin off. Also because of their false security the “once saved/always saved” believers tend to be lukewarm and Laodicean instead of “pressing toward the prize” as Paul teaches. (Phil 3:12) God wants His people to be diligent to make their calling and election sure. (2Pt1:10) They must be zealous, fervent in Spirit, (Rom12:11) and careful to maintain their good relationship with God. The bible teaches it’s not those who merely begin the race that win. It’s not the one who boasts when he puts his armor on but the one who can rejoice when he takes his armor off. (1Kng20:11) It’s the one who wins the fight who has a right to glory! It’s the one who wins the race that attains the prize. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. (1Cor9:24) It’s not how you start the race but how you finish it. And this is what Paul teaches, “That I may finish my race with joy.” He has a right to celebrate at the end of the race (2Tim4:7) Though earlier he says, “I don’t count myself to have attained.” (Phil 3:12) How very different Paul’s attitude is from these “once saved/always saved” Baptists! There’s a mystery concerning eternal life which most contemporary christians don’t understand, that in the scriptures “eternal life” is not always used to mean “immortality.” When the scriptures speak of eternal life, in some cases, they’re speaking of a way of life. There are places where the bible does use “eternal life” to mean immortality and that must be discerned from where it doesn’t. Jesus alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light. (1Tim6:16) So when Jesus says, He who believes in Me has eternal life.” (Jn5:24) He doesn’t mean immortality. You and I don’t yet have immortality and that’s obvious as in; For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. (2Cor5:2-4) We groan looking for the immortality we don’t yet have. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that’s seen isn’t hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? (Rom8:24)We have a hope of immortality but we don’t actually have immortality yet. The redemption of our body is immortality. This is what Paul talks of when he says, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. If, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil 3:14,11) The resurrection is immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1Cor15:54) Immortality is a goal we’ve yet to attain. Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. (1Cor9:24) And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. (How does “once saved/always saved” agree with this? If you don’t run and continue to run properly you won’t attain “immortality” and that means you won’t be saved in the end.) Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. (1Cor9:25) Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. (1Cor9:26) Paul hasn’t finished the race yet but he knows what he’s running after: “immortality.” And he knows how to run to win. But people who already think they’ve won the race have lost their reason to run. If they’ve already won as in “once saved/always saved” there’s nothing left to run for. Because we know we haven’t won the race yet is why we run in such a way as to win! So those who think they can’t lose their salvation won’t keep their salvation. But believers who know “I can lose my salvation if I’m not careful” will guard it and keep it unto immortality. The “once saved/always saved” lie undermines the Truth that you must live your life and run your race in such a way as to attain if you hope to arrive at the final goal of salvation which is immortality! So Paul says, I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I’ve preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. (1Cor9:27) It’s obvious Paul doesn’t consider salvation to be something that can’t be lost. He’s strongly showing here that even he, an apostle, can lose his salvation if he doesn’t live right. Also, No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he’s not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. (2Tim2:4,5) Again Paul teaches salvation is a warfare and a race that must be run carefully – meaning there are rules to be kept. If you’re to win the race and attain to immortality you must compete accordingly! But Jesus says, “If you believe on Me you have eternal life.” (Jn3:15) To properly interpret this scripture you must qualify the word “believe” because you must believe on Jesus in the way God interprets believing and not according to what men say believing means. The devils “believe” and tremble but they don’t have eternal life. (Jms2:19) So there’s a kind of “believing” Jesus talks about which makes you obedient to Christ unlike, Why do you call Me Lord and not do the things that I say? (Lk6:46) For if He’s really your Savior, if you really believe He’s your Lord you’d do the things He says. If anyone loves Me, he’ll keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and We’ll come to him and make Our home with him. (Jn14:23) This is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who doesn’t have the Son of God doesn’t have the life. (1Jn5:11,12) You’ll have eternal life only if you love Jesus and keep His commandments. That’s the kind of “believing” that gives eternal life! You abide in His love, and He’ll abide in you only if you keep His commandments. (Jn15:10) He who has the Son has the (eternal) life. (1Jn5:12) But eternal life, as it’s spoken of here, isn’t immortality. Eternal life is Jesus living His life in you. It’s a way of life that comes from Christ’s eternal Spirit causing you to live a Christ-like life that leads to immortality. It’s a way of living that’s focused on the will of God and eternal things as opposed to temporal life which focuses on this world and temporary things like pleasures of the flesh, necessities, pride, worldly success and such. Everything in this world is temporal and will end and things which end, in a sense, die. Therefore if you’re life is all about temporal things that are dying your “life” is really “death,” as in, She who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. (1Tim5:6) She’s living in death even though she seems to be alive because the things she serves will all end in death and she’s going to end with them. You can’t live the eternal kind of life and be serving temporal things. You can’t serve God and mammon. (Mt6:24) So in this sense eternal life is a way of living. It’s a life that proceeds from the living Christ’s eternal Spirit. The Spirit of eternal life will cause you to live in such a way as is pleasing to our eternal God. He’ll put the interests of eternity into your heart and give you grace to live so your attentions are focused on eternal things that lead to immortality. Whereas the spirit that’s in the temporal life leads people to hell. It’s not from God, but it’s from death and it leads to death. That which was from the beginning, which we’ve heard, which we’ve seen with our eyes, which we’ve looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life--the life was manifested, and we’ve seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- (1Jn1:1,2) John’s speaking here of Jesus, not in the resurrected body but “from the beginning” which means in His mortal body. He’s not speaking of immortality but the life he saw Jesus live. And he says what they saw in Jesus was a kind of life that’s eternal, as in, That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. (Jn1:9) In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (Jn1:4) Jesus lived a life for God, even in His mortal body. (To die on the cross He had to be in a mortal body.) The life He lived was not at all concerned with earthly or temporal purposes. The life Christ lived was completely for eternal Heavenly interests. Of course Heavenly interests are eternal because Heaven is eternal, the Word of God is eternal, the love of God is eternal and all the things that pertain to the life that’s lived unto God – for God – and unto the Spirit of God are eternal. And if you live a life concerned mainly with eternal things the proper reward would be immortality. But the wages of sin is death and if you choose to live a temporal life serving things that end and aren’t eternal and aren’t of God then the proper reward of that temporal life which must come to an end is death. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Rom8:5,6) The one who believes in Jesus according to God’s definition of “believing” lives for the eternal things Jesus lives for – thus that one has eternal life and is living the Jesus kind of life that leads to “immortality.” Who’ll render to each one according to his deeds; eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality. (Rom2:6,7) The one who truly “believes” in Jesus lives the kind of life Jesus lives. And, “He who believes in Me, though he may die, yet he shall live.” (Jn11:25) Your body may die but Jesus will give you a new body. He’ll take you into immortality because your life was lived unto godly and eternal things so He’ll reward you with a suitable reward which is immortality. When Jesus says, “He who believes on Me has eternal life.” He means true believers have entered into a way of life founded in the love of God, the eternal will of God, the service of God and the eternal Word of God. So when someone says, “I’m saved because I believe on Jesus” it’s right to ask, “But what kind of life are you living? Are you living a temporal life?” If you are that’s not the Spirit of Christ in you and to be carnally minded or living the temporal life is death, (Rom8:5,6) because even though you say you believe on Jesus you aren’t living for Jesus nor living the kind of life Jesus lives. (Gal 2:20) But if you claim to have eternal life and you are living for Jesus then your life should be lived in the way Jesus lived; as He is so are we in this world. (1Jn4:17) Because the eternal life that’s in Him is the life that must be in us. And that life is a way of living. It’s not how long we live but how we live and what we live for. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.” (Act5:19,20) Eternal life is living for eternity! This is the gospel according to Jesus. Eternal life is the way we live; living for eternal things. Our interests aren’t down here, they’re not temporal. Our interests are in Heaven. Seated in the Heavenlies in Christ Jesus. (Eph2:6) Our life is hid with Christ in God. (Col 3:3) We’ve set our affections on things above where Christ is – the things important to Him. That’s the essence of eternal life. Whereas those who live their life for earthly or temporal things don’t possess eternal life because if they had it they’d be living it. It’s a fundamental truth of the gospel that if you have eternal life you’ll live for the things of eternity, not to live forever per se but to live for eternal purposes which lead to the reward of immortality. Because if you’re living to serve the interests of an immortal God He’ll reward you by taking you into His immortal home! What John means when he says, “We declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us!”(1Jn1:2) is we’ve seen that kind of eternal life in Christ, And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He’s righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. (1Jn2:28,29) Practicing righteousness is living the eternal kind of life. And, Don’t marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we’ve passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. (1Jn3:13,14) He’s talking about a way of existing that’s life as opposed to a way of existence that’s death. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever doesn’t practice righteousness isn’t of God, nor is he who doesn’t love his brother. Not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous. (1Jn3:10,12) Cain asks, “Am I my brothers keeper?” Jesus says we should be our brother’s keeper! “Abel was your younger brother, Cain and you should have watched over him, you should have helped him! You did something terrible when you killed him.” If eternal life is abiding in you, you won’t hate people or help the devil kill people because eternal life is the opposite of death and works to overcome death. God calls death our last enemy, and soon death will be destroyed. (1Cor15:26) How can people who love life serve death? How can people who love life cooperate with or be allies with death? They can’t. If you hate or desire to kill someone then you’re a co-worker with death. People who have “eternal life” must be opposing death. Death works together with sin. Death has the right to strike a sinner. For the wages of sin is death. (Rom6:23) Therefore death will be done away with when sin is done away with. Death can’t be done away with until sin is done away with because death is the enforcer to remove sin (disobedience to God) from the universe. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1Cor15:26) Before God destroys death He must destroy sin. Jesus has come to destroy the works of the evil one. (1Jn3:8) That means He’s come to destroy sin. When Jesus destroys all disobedience to God death will no longer serve a purpose. There’ll be no reason for death because there’ll be no sinners to kill. When everyone is obedient there’s no more sin and there’s no one to put to death. Now is death your enemy? Yes. But if death is your enemy how do you overcome him? By having a healing service? That won’t really do it because as long as sin is around death will be around. To get rid of death you must get rid of sin. So if eternal life is in you, what’s working in you is getting rid of sin. Get rid of sin in you, get rid of sin in the brethren, and get rid of sin in the universe. If you get rid of sin God will get rid of death. If eternal life is in you, that kind of life wants people to live in such a way as they won’t die. You want people to live eternally, because eternal life is the foremost enemy to death. So before you can put death to death you must put sin to death - reveal sin - cause people to repent of sin - work to get people to stop sinning - show them the way of God, the way of faith, the way of the Holy Spirit - when we’ve put sin to death, God can put death to death! If your interests are in sinning then we know death abides in you, not eternal life. If your interests are against sin then we know eternal life abides in you. What’s the purpose of love? Love wants to save. But if you want to save people you must get rid of their sin. If you love and want to heal people, get the sin out of their lives. So love works to eliminate sin because love wants to save. Nobody who hates his brother has eternal life in him. We know we’ve passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who doesn’t love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (1Jn3:14,15) Is John talking about how long you live or is he talking about how you live? John knows, He who believes on Jesus has eternal life. But eternal life manifests in the way you live. So we can see in the way you live whether you have eternal life or not. You can’t just say you have it but you must live it in a way we can see it! The life was manifested, and we’ve seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. (1Jn1:2) We can see what isn’t of life, for example, one who hates his brother doesn’t have eternal life because he’s looking for his brother’s destruction whereas life would be trying to save the brother. And anyone who’d lie to his brother doesn’t have life because, The devil is the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. (Jn8:44) Even though lies may spare feelings, they destroy souls. Lies have nothing to do with eternal life. Lies are of death! And in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called for weeping and for mourning, for baldness and for girding with sackcloth. But instead, joy and gladness, (God sent judgment upon Jerusalem but instead of repenting the people partied) slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” Then it was revealed in my hearing by the LORD of hosts, “Surely for this iniquity there’ll be no atonement for you, even to your death,” says the Lord GOD of hosts. (Is22:12-14) The spirit that says, “We’d better live it up now because we’re going to die.” that spirit is death! The Spirit who says, “We don’t have to live it up now. We have forever to enjoy our lives with God. So we can suffer now. We can put pleasures aside to do more important things because we’re going to live with God eternally so we’ll have plenty of joy later!” That’s the Spirit of eternal life. These are two opposite spirits! The person who has faith God is giving him a place in eternity believes, “I don’t need to take my reward now. I’ve plenty of time to enjoy my reward later.” The person who says, “I’d better get my enjoyment now,” believes there’s no reward where he’s going. The spiritually dead have a “faith” they’d better live it up now because this is all they’re going to get. And they act upon that “faith” which is why they try to live it up now. Because they know where they’re going they won’t be able to live it up then. But the elect, the true believers, know where they’re going there’ll be a lot more joy than there is here and there’ll be a great reward in our future. So because of my faith and knowledge that Heaven’s where I’m going, I can give up my temporal pleasures to live for eternal rewards. And that illustrates a major difference between the two spirits. So the Word of God shows us the gospel is being misinterpreted today when people think, “believe on Jesus and you have eternal life” means they’ve attained to a future immortality. Then they act as though there’s nothing more to do because they’ve already got it, whereas, in reality, we’ve a race to run. Believing on Jesus opens a way of life to us that focuses on eternal values but we must then live that life in such a way as to attain immortality. Eternal life leads to immortality in the same way as the temporal life leads to death. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1Tim6:11,12) In this case laying hold on eternal life means to become “sealed” permanently in the Christ-life which then of course would guarantee us immortality. Only if we enter permanently into living the kind of life that’s eternal, can we have a certainty of immortality. For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2Pt1:11) God will render to each one according to his deeds: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality. (Rom2:6,7) Patient continuance in doing good leads to the reward of immortality. God gives eternal life to those who desire to continually do good because they have it in their hearts to live in such a way as to attain to immortality! Thus to be saved you must live the eternal kind of life – obeying the Spirit of Christ! And in this Jesus has answered for us the prayers of Old Testament saints; “Oh, that my ways were directed To keep Your statutes!” (Ps119:5) He gives us the Holy Spirit so we can live in the Spirit, patiently continuing to do good and thereby attain to the reward of immortality. If, in the manner of men, I’ve fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead don’t rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” (1Cor15:32) Paul quotes this from “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” (Is22:13) If there’s no eternal life it’s foolish to live as though there is! If there’s no immortality to come we ought to be enjoying what we have because this is all we get, and it would be foolish to give up today’s pleasures for nothing. But there is a resurrection and there is an immortality to be gained and there is a spirit of eternal life which is a certain evidence of the immortality to come – and those who have faith are willing to sacrifice this vain and temporal life to attain to the resurrection and immortality to come which their faith has taken hold of. So here again we can see the difference between those who have faith that immortality is our reward if we’ll live rightly, versus those who don’t believe. And to attain to immortality we must sacrifice this temporal life and live for eternity. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (Lk17:33) The reason we sacrifice and don’t live for this temporal life is because there’s a better life being offered to us and if we have faith in Christ we can attain to it. Whereas those who don’t have such faith, who don’t believe there’s a resurrection; have no reason to give up this life if they can’t believe there’s a better one to come. Just live this life to the full because that’s all you have! This defines the two spirits. You have people who are trying to live it up because this is all they believe there is. Then there’s a people who see there really is a Heaven to be gained and a gift of immortality to be granted us if we’ll live in a way that pleases God! Now if there’s no better life it doesn’t make sense to sacrifice this one but there is a better life, because if there wasn’t an immortal life there couldn’t be a Spirit of eternal life leading us to live for it. So at this time two spirits exist! The temporal life spirit exists and is leading people to death and hell. But the Spirit of eternal life also exists and He’s leading us to immortality and Heaven. Neither of the spirits is a fiction. They are both real spirits but one has an end and the other doesn’t. They both have a destination, but one is destined to end in death, and the other will continue forever in life. If you follow the spirit that will end you’ll end with it. If you follow the Spirit of life you’ll continue on with Him to immortality! Those who believe following the temporal life spirit is the only way are believing a lie because there’s another way. The lie is that they don’t believe there’s another way. When people who claim to be “christians” follow the spirit of death it proves they’re without faith. That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Gal 3:14b) They don’t want to give up this life because they aren’t really sure of the next. But on the other hand because they have a hope of heaven they don’t want to reject the Lord. They’re trying to have it both ways but it doesn’t work. A double minded man will receive nothing. (Jms1:7,8) You can’t serve God and mammon. (Mt6:24) You won’t get into Heaven without faith. Faith appropriates the truth that there’s a Heaven to be gained and decides God’s promise of immortality is worth so much I’m willing to sacrifice everything in this temporal life to receive it. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (Lk17:33) The temporal life will be lost anyway. That’s an utter and absolute truth. Everybody knows it. Sinners know it. Since the temporal life will be lost anyway why not invest it, give it to God, use it for His glory which is your reasonable service, (Rom12:1,2) and start living as though you’re in eternity already with your interests on things that are eternal – the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever? (1Pt1:23) Set your affections on things above, (Col 3:1,2) the love of God, saving souls, fulfilling prophecies, the glory of God; all the things that pertain to living for God. Then when someone looks at you they may say, “When I see you I see Jesus because you live the way Jesus lives.” And if they’re seeing Jesus, they’re seeing eternal life – God’s kind of life in you. In the true believers people can see a life that’s lived in the way of God’s Kingdom, a life that’s lived for the glory of God and the purposes of eternity and they’re seeing God when they see that. So we “believers” become the manifest presence of God on the earth – God’s life – a temple of the Holy Spirit. He’s also called the eternal Spirit (Heb9:14) because He lives eternally and will lead us to live for eternity in the same way as Christ! Eternal life is a way of life that leads to immortality. It’s a way of life that can be seen and identified. And you can recognize those who have eternal life by the way they live, by what’s important to them, by the things they’ll sacrifice and put aside – the weights and the sin that so easily besets us. (Heb12:1) Until you understand eternal life much of the bible doesn’t make sense. That’s why so many people think, “If I have eternal life, how can I lose it?” They don’t understand having eternal life doesn’t mean you have immortality. Eternal life is a way of living that leads to immortality but you must live the life and continue in it to the end. To attain to the resurrection you must put off every weight, lay aside your sin, and run your race with endurance. (Heb12:1) You have to make your calling and election sure, you must be diligent! (2Pt1:10) You must draw near to God (Jms4:8) and hold fast to Christ. (Col 2:19) You must love the Lord, love His Word, love the things He wants to do and let Him live thru you, then He’ll put His eternal life in you and He’ll live in a way that expresses His eternal life thru you and He’ll bring forth fruit unto eternity thru you so your treasures will be in Heaven. (Lk16:9) If you’re living the eternal kind of life you’ll have friends in Heavenly places and Jesus will say to you, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me...Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” (Mt25:34-36,40) Because you’re living for the saints, you’re living for the Kingdom and that’s the kind of eternal life that agrees with the scripture: He who believes on Me has eternal life! (Jn3:15) For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Rom5:10) Most so called “christians” believe we’ve been saved by Christ’s death. The truth is we’ve been reconciled to God by His death so we may be saved by His life – which is the eternal kind of life. And that’s the life Christ lives in us. His death won’t save us unless we receive His life and it’s only if He lives His eternal kind of life in us that we can really be saved. So I’ve been crucified with Christ; It’s 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 for me. (Gal 2:20) If Christ is living His life in me then it’s His eternal life that abides in me – and it’s in His eternal life that I’m “seated in the Heavenlies in Christ Jesus.” (Eph2:6) And it’s by the eternal life that He’s living in me, that I’m being saved and being led to immortality. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. (1Jn5:20) Are you crucified with Christ? Is Christ truly living His life through you so the life you live isn’t your own but it’s Christ in you, your hope of glory, (Col 1:27) so as He is so are you in this world? (1Jn4:17) Then and only then are you “saved” for, This is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who doesn’t have the Son of God doesn’t have the life. These things I’ve written to you…that you may know that you have eternal life. (1Jn5:11-13) If you have eternal life then live it in such a way that you may attain to immortality. But what things were gain to me, these I’ve counted loss for Christ…that I may gain Christ and be found in Him…if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Phil 3:7-11) The kind of life you live in Christ is eternal life but the reward you get for living the Christ life to the end – that’s immortality!”
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