USING BIBLE TENSES BIBLE WAY (PART 3)

It is important to know that eternal life was God's master plan for man right before man was created.

Titus 1:2(NKJV)

In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

Eternal life is the life of God, a life that has no end. The quality of this life is that it is the very life of God. God intended this life to be infused into the very being of the man he would make, and this would have been achieved had man partaken of the tree of life instead of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3:22(NKJV)

Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever."

Jesus came in the flesh a few millennia later and made an inference about being the source of life from the very beginning—an allusion of being that tree of life.

John 6:53–54,58(NKJV)

53. Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.

54. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

58. This is the bread which came down from heaven--not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever."

To the same Jewish audience, he made it clear that eating to receive eternal life is metaphorical; it is a symbolism for believing.

John 6:40,47(NKJV)

40. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

47. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

So we can understand that God was indirectly imploring Adam to eat of the tree of life.

Genesis 2:9,16–17(NKJV)

9. And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

16. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;

17. but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

This is contrary to some beliefs that Adam once had eternal life and lost it because of disobedience. On the contrary, Adam was offered eternal life but he chose death by disobedience.

Adam chose the opposite. God promised life to man but death came instead.

Romans 5:12(NKJV)

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.

That cleared, Jesus came to save mankind from this problem by taking the death upon himself. And by rising from the dead, he defeated death in an eternal victory and life was made available for man freely once again. Some of the subsequent verses in same Romans 5 sum this up:

Romans 5:17,20–21(NKJV)

17. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

20. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,

21. so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hebrews 2:9,14–15(NKJV)

9. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

14. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

15. and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

So Adam was never the perfect picture of the man God wanted. He never had the life of God in him. Thus, salvation in Christ Jesus did not bring us to the state of Adam. Never! Rather, the sacrifice of Jesus made available to mankind the choice that Adam once had. If one chooses rightly by believing in Jesus, he receives eternal life for free—the very life of God—that Adam never had. [For a better understanding of this subject, listen to the teaching, The New Covenant series (2018).]

So every child of God has eternal life already. It is not going to be received in the future. Eternal life is received ON EARTH; that is what qualifies a person to reign with Christ in heaven.

(Note that eternal = everlasting; both stem from the Greek word, aiōnios. The alternation in use is linked basically with KJV and NKJV for no explicitly defined reason. Most other translations stick with one of the pair for they mean just the same.)

So eternal life is received on earth. If you do not have eternal life yet, that means you are not saved yet. If you are saved, it is because you have eternal life in you. So it is not something to be received in the future; it is a present reality.

Jesus in a few instances used these words in a way that is suggestive of a futuristic implication.

Matthew 25:46(NKJV)

And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

It is important to note, however, that eternal life was not available at this point as he had not yet died and conquered death by rising from the dead. Besides, Jesus’ use of these words in his teachings was to disprove the false teaching of the Sadducees (Matt. 22:23) and to make it clear that there is such a thing as “life after death” or after the end of the world, as the case may be, and it would be forever. Some will be condemned eternally. Some will be in bliss forever—this, Jesus called eternal life, and rightly so, of course.

However, on the premise of faith in the sacrifice of Christ, the reality of eternal life is a present tense reality not future tense. Apostle John, with this understanding, was unique in his gospel account and epistles. He was deliberate about presenting Jesus’ emphasis on the present reality of eternal life in every child of God.

John 3:36(NKJV)

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life.” Not “will have” but “has” already.

John 5:24(NKJV)

"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.

John 6:47(NKJV)

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

Do you believe the words of Jesus? If you are a child of God, you have eternal life in you already.

However, there are certain expressions used by Paul the Apostle that seem to mean otherwise.

1 Timothy 6:12(NKJV)

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.

1 Timothy 6:17–19(NKJV)

17. Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

18. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,

19. storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

“Lay hold on eternal life.”

It is important to note first that Paul had earlier in the same letter made it clear that eternal life is received by faith alone. And that was how he got saved.

1 Timothy 1:15–16(NKJV)

15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

16. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

Paul’s epistles to Timothy, his son in the faith (1:2), were replete with instructions for Christian living. The instruction to “lay hold on eternal life” was to fellow believers who had eternal life already—Timothy (6:12) and rich believers (6:17–19). He was definitely not attempting to contradict himself. The bedrock of every instruction found in this letter was “Christian warfare” (1:18; 6:12), hence his use of such a strong word, epilambanomai. The entire context has to do with doctrine. He was simply admonishing them to “take a stand” for the life they had received against things that could stand against it. [For a comprehensive understanding of this letter, listen to The War of Faith: Examining the Church in the First Century AD (2019).] For Timothy, he should defend Christian faith against false doctrines and man-made philosophies. And for the rich Christians, they should set their hearts on this faith which has an eternal relevance and not on riches which are fleeting. This is what it means to lay hold on eternal life. Many other translations read, “Lay hold of the eternal life.”

In Paul's letter to another son in the faith, he wrote,

Titus 3:7(NKJV)

That having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

This appears to suggest that eternal life is still futuristic. However, that's not what Paul was saying. Paul was simply reemphasizing the truth that eternal life was God's plan before the foundation of the world. He earlier made it clear that this plan/promise has been fulfilled already.

Titus.1:2–3(NKJV)

2. In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,

3. but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior.

This means God has fulfilled this promise and eternal life is available now. It was a hope before the beginning of time and because of the sacrifice of Jesus, this hope has become a reality; it is no longer futuristic. So Paul was simply making reference to the fact that eternal life WAS indeed a hope.

NO Christian will have eternal life. EVERY Christian has eternal life already as long as they are truly Christians.

1 John 5:10–13(NKJV)

10. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.

11. And this is the testimony: that God HAS GIVEN us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

12. He who has the Son HAS life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

13. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you HAVE eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

So children of God are not hoping to have eternal life; they have it already today. Anyone that does not have eternal life now is not a child of God; everyone that is a child of God has eternal life now. Eternal life is received on earth; if you don't have it here, you can't live it there.

1 John 5:20(NKJV)

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.

Amen.

Confession: I have the life of God in me. I have the Spirit of the Son of God. I believe in Jesus and because of this, I have eternal life, even now. Hallelujah!

Victor Ibosiola © 2022