OK. It seems Gal 6:10 could be rendered "while we have time". Or, "a period of time", which would convey the same idea in Luke 8:13.
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Are you taking the time to pray? Christ is the answer in times of need
https://christianforums.net/threads/psalm-70-1-save-me-o-god-lord-help-me-now.108509/
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Wearing the right shoes, and properly clothed spiritually?
Join Elected By Him for a devotional on Ephesians 6:14-15
https://christianforums.net/threads/devotional-selecting-the-proper-shoes.109094/
Saved by Grace Through Faith, Not by Works
- Thread starter Jim Parker
- Start date
chessman
Member
What's wrong with eternal life =(is) life that's eternal? Straightforward, unambiguous and without bias. I'm confused as to why people ask what 'eternal life' is and why all the various (and contradictory) claims coming from Christians as to what it is. It's simply the word life modifed by the adjective eternal. And it's a gift. Poof, easy.
Nathan
Member
I think you may have misunderstood the question. Romans clearly states that God gives us something that is(equal to) eternal life. If Paul wanted to mean that God gives us eternal life(in and of itself) he would have said that, but instead he states that God gives us something that is equal to it. There is a reason for that.
Nathan
Member
You asked;
I don't want to stray outside of Jim's request so I will stay within the bound - yet very close to the line.
God is specifically talking about a man's soul, not physical punishment. You should read the entire chapter 18 of Ezekiel for yourself, but here is where we understand the context of it;
Ezekiel 18:4
Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.
What God is stating is that a man does not "receive" eternal life(in its eternal form) until the time of the end. When we put on immortality, that's when we are changed from limited to eternal beings. That is what eternal life is.
chessman
Member
Yes. That's my point. The idea (the original meaning) in the Greek does not always come to the English in direct 1:1 (word for word) equivalence.
Every example in the parable had an 'opportunity/time' to bear fruit after receiving the word. Only one understood the word and only one bore the fruit to prove it.
Tying my point to the OP:
Right. Adam passed a death cursed nature down to his son, grandson, ..., you and me.
We have a death problem. (Yes we have a sin problem too, but we fundamentally have a death problem.)
The solution is found in what???
Yep, Eternal life (living forever).
Think about it. God sowed seed into four examples (types) of ground. This ground is Cursed ground. Ground that has the curse of death laid upon it in Gen 3:
Adam and Eve (via the serpent's influence) disobeyed God's word. God cursed the serpent, then He cursed Eve and then He cursed the ground and cursed Adam to a number of days of life (i.e. Not eternal days), saying:
Genesis 3:17-19 (NASB) Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
In the parable of the sower (parable of the four types of "ground") all four types of ground are cursed with death prior to their receiving the word. Each have an opportunity (a time) to avoid the curse of death (as soon as they receive the word). Only one type (the good soil) understood the word and thus avoids death (via eternal life) because of it. And proved it by bearing fruit.
Matthew 13:23 (NASB) And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
All ground (all men) is cursed.
Ground (men) that does not hear the word remains cursed.
Ground (men) that does not understand the word remains cursed.
Understanding that it is the Word of God that saves men is the only way to remove the curse.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Eternal life is know Jesus Christ; joined to Christ, in which we are reconciled to God, who is One with Christ.
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. John 17:3
Those who have Christ have life.
We don't have eternal life apart from Christ.
That's why eternal life is not a gift just handed out to people to have, who are not joined to, or connected to Christ.
Paul qualified who would and would not receive eternal life at the beginning of Romans.
God, who “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;
but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath,
Romans 2:6-8
- eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
- but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath
JLB
You have been shown, plainly.
24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. John 5:24-28
Those who believe, present tense, have eternal life.
On the Day of Judgement, at the resurrection, each one will be judged "according to his deeds".
- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Same thing Paul taught -
God, who “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;
but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath,
Romans 2:6-8
- eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
- but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath
- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
JLB
True, but how do we understand this relationship?
27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
1 John 2:27
The New Covenant was "earmarked" as such, that it was God teaching us directly, and He would "know us".
Knowing Him is eternal life. John 17:3
31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that 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. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 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 will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jeremiah 31-34
- Peter demonstrated this New Covenant revelation knowledge, coming directly from God.
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:17-19
JLB
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Jethro Bodine
Member
It is a quality of life as much as it is a never ending life:
"I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10 NASB bold mine)
"19storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed." (1 Timothy 6: NASB bold mine)
And this quality of life is conditional. Which I suspect is a big reason why so few Christians find it.
"12“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
13“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matthew 7:12-14 NASB bold mine)
Another big reason is because it is simply not taught in our churches.
Please cite the verse being referred to in Romans about "something that is "equal to" eternal life.
Rom 6:23 doesn't say "equal to". It says in a very straightforward way, "the gift of God is eternal life".
Jesus taught that those who believe HAVE (as in the present tense) eternal life in John 5:24. That's plain and straightforward. It is something we HAVE now. But the term "eternal life" can refer to our life in eternity as well.
It's always helpful to rightly divide the Word of God (2 Tim 2:15).
Nathan
Member
Its interpretation. If I said, "I am giving you $10" and then give you a check for $10, did I give you $10?
Yes, I understand what you've explained and thanks. But I still believe that the second soil, like the third soil, were saved.
I believe that because in the metaphor, the seed (Word of God) produced actual plants (regeneration). Only the first soil had no plants to produce, because of Satan stealing the seed from the soil. iow, the seed didn't result in life (plants).
Nathan
Member
Do you suppose Ezekiel misunderstood God when he wrote the 18th chapter?
I haven't seen anyone arguing against this.
If anyone is able to receive eternal life from "patient continuance in doing good", salvation is by works. And we know that is impossible because Paul was very clear about the fact that no one can do that. In fact, in 3:9 and 3:23 he plainly states that all have sinned. That means no one has "by patient continuance has done good". No one.
And 3:20 is equally clear that no one is justified by observing the Law (continuance in doing good).