30/10/2021
The Bible's Message is Good News:
Eternal Life is an Absolutely Free Gift
Jesus's Promise of Eternal Life
Jesus says in John chapter 6:
John 6:47
47 Verily, verily, (truly, truly) I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
In no uncertain terms, he says that if you "believe on" (trust) him, you have - present tense - everlasting life.
Why? How can he make that promise? How does that affect you, right now reading this, and where will go when you die as a result?
This article will answer those questions definitively by taking a look at a few very clear, very important verses from the Bible.
God allows bad things to happen for a reason
God chose to give human beings free will. In light of this, if God is a just creator, it's undeniable that he will judge his creation based on their decisions according to a law.
If he doesn't judge his creation, then it's true that he lets murderers, dictators, and terrorists get away with things when he could stop them. Not all criminals get caught or brought to justice. A God who would let abuse and injustice happen when he could prevent it, and never bring those responsible into judgement, is an incompetent, wicked God.
So there must be a judgement. And if you're going to judge someone by a law, you have to make that standard available to them, and tell them what the consequences will be for falling short of the standard. And that brings us to the statement in scripture:
Romans 3:23
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
In the Bible, sin is defined as the transgression of God's law (1 John 3:4). The clear statement is that every single person has transgressed the law that God has established, by which He will judge his creation. As a result of this, he looks over us and declares:
Romans 3:10
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Neither you nor I are righteous in the sight of God. This puts us in a bad position because he also says:
1 Corinthians 6:9
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
And another statement of scripture clearly condemns everyone:
Revelation 21:8
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
There are only two places that the Bible mentions in the afterlife - Heaven and Hell, and according to this, none of us are fit to enter Heaven. Also note that a single lie is enough to make you a liar, and what is the fate of a liar according to the verse above?
But how is that possible? How can the standard of judgement be so high that even a lie will send a person to hell?
The Standard - Jesus Christ
The standard is so high because we will be judged against the life of Jesus Christ:
Acts 17:31
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained (Referring to Jesus); whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
The Bible teaches that the second member of the Godhead came down to earth and took on a human body (John 1:14). The Bible teaches that he had no human father, he was born of a virgin. He allowed himself to be tempted in all points like we are, yet he never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). Thus, he did what no human being could do: He kept the law perfectly, and was completely blameless. Why is this significant?
The Payment
As you probably know, Jesus was delivered to the Roman government by the Jewish leaders, and was beaten, scourged, spat upon, and crucified. Of His death, the Bible says:
Romans 5:8
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus's death was an act of love from God to us. How does that demonstrate his love? What happened when Jesus died?
1 Peter 2:24
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree (referring to the cross), that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Because Jesus Christ had never sinned, he was able to literally bear the sins of every human being in his own body, and God's wrath was poured out on him for our sins when he was on the cross. In other words, God took upon himself the sins of us all in order to offer us a chance to be completely forgiven.
This is stated again in the Bible:
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For he (referring to God) hath made him (referring to Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Jesus Christ bled and died to pay for your sins, and only through that payment can you become righteous, spotless, and blameless before God. After Jesus was dead for three days, he rose from the dead, proving that the payment for every last one of your sins was completed. Now that the payment is made, does everyone automatically go to Heaven?
No, everyone does not automatically go to Heaven. God leaves you the choice of whether to accept his payment for your sins, or to reject it and try to be righteous on your own.
Accepting the Payment
The Bible says clearly that there is something that you have to do to accept the payment that Jesus Christ made for your sins:
Acts 16:30-31
30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
When the Bible says "saved" here, it is referring to being saved from the punishment for your sins, saved from Hell (Matthew 1:21). And what do you have to do? Be baptized? Reform your life? Go to church and pray and read the Bible and help others? None of that is required.
All that someone needs to do to accept the payment of Jesus Christ on their behalf is - forsake trusting in their own righteousness to justify themselves before God, and place all of their trust in Jesus Christ as their only hope of getting to Heaven.
All that he requires of you for you to enter Heaven is to acknowledge that you are sinner, that you can't pay for sins yourself without going to Hell to pay for them, and believe that Jesus Christ has paid for all of your sins.
"Surely, it can't be that simple. There must be more to it than that, we have to do something." No, that's really it. There are no works involved on your end, it's a free gift from God to you, accepted by simply humbling yourself by trusting in Christ alone to save you.
Remember how God views mankind on the basis of their own righteousness?
Romans 3:10
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Well, Romans 4:5 below shows how the unrighteous man can become righteous: by putting their faith in the only truly righteous being to ever walk the earth, humbly accepting the payment he made on your behalf. If you do so, God looks at you and sees a sinless, righteous man, as all of your sins have been paid for:
Romans 4:5
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Notice, the verse specifically excludes good works as the basis to becoming righteous. Good works cannot pay for or cancel out sin. The only thing that God accepts for payment for sin is blood atonement (Hebrews 9:22), and that blood is Jesus Christ's (Revelation 1:5, Hebrews 9:12).
An Absolutely Free Gift
The scripture is clear on this point - no effort whatsoever will be accepted as payment for sin. Eternal life is offered as a completely free gift only:
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
If our effort and obedience had a role in paying for our sin, we could boast about it. The Bible says that none can boast about getting to heaven because those who got there realized that it was either a free gift or an impossible task.
Here are some beautiful summary verses of God's entire operation:
John 3:16-18
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
So we see that God made it so easy to be saved. Based on the payment of Jesus Christ, we can have eternal life for free by simple faith in Him.
Also notice that baptism, good works, going to church, keeping the Law, living a good life - none of it is mentioned. All that is required is forsaking whatever junk you are trusting to justify you and instead trusting Jesus as your only hope of Heaven, the only payment for your sin.
Again, what does the Lord Jesus say?
John 6:47
47 Verily, verily, (truly, truly) I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
He says in so many words, "If you trust in me, you will have everlasting life, period." And that's where the sentence ends. Can he get any clearer? If there was even a single person who placed their trust in Jesus and didn't have everlasting life, this verse would make the Lord Jesus a liar. He is not a liar, and the only criteria he gives for receiving everlasting life is belief in Him.
Can this everlasting life ever be lost?
John 10:28
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Once you have eternal life, you can never lose it, otherwise it could not be called eternal life. If I had everlasting life at one point, and then lost it, then it wasn't everlasting because it didn't last forever. Once you are saved, you are always saved, because every single last one of your sins is paid for, past, present, and future.
If eternal life is called a gift (Romans 6:23), and in case there's any doubt, it's even called a free gift (Romans 5:15-16, 18), then it cannot have any strings attached. It's not a commitment or a contract or an exchange. It's a free gift paid for on the cross by Jesus Christ.
Adding to this, the Bible is clear in stating the once someone believes, they are sealed with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit until the day of the resurrection:
Ephesians 1:12-14
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Every believer is sealed and kept by God until a fixed point in time. There are many such proofs that a believer can never be lost.
What if a Christian lives a wicked life?
So, what happens if a Christian decides to live a very wicked life? They're obviously still going to Heaven, as eternal life can never be lost. But you should know:
Hebrews 12:6
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Remember, you're a child of God if you are saved (John 1:12), and if you decide to live a bad life, God will not cease to be a righteous judge.
Galatians 6:7
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
This is why it's ridiculous to claim that a Christian can lose their salvation by sinning. There's many things that can happen to a sinning Christian in scripture, including sickness and death (1 Corinthians 11:30), but going to Hell is never one of them. If Jesus Christ has already paid for my sins, and given me eternal life, how can I commit a sin that he didn't already pay for?
Also know, that at the end of our lives, we'll be judged at a different judgement from the unsaved, and it will be based on how we lived after we are saved, and the work that we did for the Lord. But this judgement, referred to as "the Judgement Seat of Christ", determines rewards, not salvation.
2 Corinthians 5:10
10 For we (believers) must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
1 Corinthians 3:14-15
14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward .
15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Welcome to the Family
If you've decided to trust Jesus as your savior, I'd be genuinely thrilled to hear about it, so feel free to contact me using the About & Contact tab. You should get baptized as a public symbol of your salvation, even though this has absolutely nothing to do with actually saving your soul.
There should be plenty of resources for you to grow on the site, but primarily you should start reading the King James Bible. Please see the Topical Articles tab for the reason that this is important as well as for other important doctrine. May God bless you and have a great day!