Eternal Life

But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.   (Romans 6:22-23)

^{How do we receive this eternal life? John’s Gospel states:} 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.   (John 3:16)

We must believe in Jesus and his sacrifice for our sins on the cross. This belief is not mere speculation, however. We can know that we have eternal life now, provided we understand just what that life is. Jesus defines this life for us in John:

And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.   (John 17:3)

The key to eternal life is knowing God. As Jesus has said, knowing God is the definition of eternal life. The Apostle Paul writes:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.   (Philippians 3:10-11)

If we know God, our souls cannot die. Jesus said to Martha:

“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”   (John 11:25-26)

We must begin our eternal life now by spending time with God, getting into his Word, worshipping him, and listening to his still small voice through prayer. We do not want to be the ones whom he does not know.

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’   (Matthew 7:22-24)