Eternal life.

[B-A-C]

The phrase "eternal life". Is in my Bible 41 times. It simply means living forever.

Jesus put a couple of rules in place about eternal life.

Matt 19:16; And someone came to Him and said, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?"
Matt 19:17; And He said to him, "Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."
Matt 19:18; Then he *said to Him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS;
Matt 19:19; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."

Mark 10:17; As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
Mark 10:18; And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
Mark 10:19; "You know the commandments, 'DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'"

Luke 18:18; A ruler questioned Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
Luke 18:19; And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
Luke 18:20; "You know the commandments, 'DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'"

John 3:36; "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

John 6:27; "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal."

John 12:50; "I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me."

Matt 25:44; "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?'
Matt 25:45; "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
Matt 25:46; "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

John 6:54; "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

Paul says much the same things.

Rom 2:7; to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;

Gal 6:8; For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

1Cor 7:19; Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.

There are few things more controversial than this. Many people ignore the verses above and just go with the ones below.

John 3:15; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
John 3:16; "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

John 6:47; "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.

Rom 6:23; For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am of the opinion that 'ALL' of the verses above apply. Not just a few of them. In any case, when do we receive this "eternal life". Some people believe they already have it.
But from what I see in the Bible, none of us have it quite just yet.

Mark 10:30; but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
Luke 18:30; who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life."

1Cor 15:35; But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?"
1Cor 15:36; You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;

 

[B-A-C]

In a way, the phrase "eternal life" is misleading. From what I see in the Bible, everyone gets resurrected again, even the un-saved non-believers and the unrighteous.

John 5:28; "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
John 5:29; and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

Acts 24:15; having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

Rev 20:13; And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.

So then, if "everyone" gets resurrected eventually... why does the Bible appear to imply that only those who obey Jesus get eternal life?

Some people take this verse to mean it has already happened to them.

John 5:24; "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

Some people will face something called the second death.

Rev 20:14; Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
Rev 20:15; And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Rev 2:11; 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.'
Rev 20:6; Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

As I mentioned earlier, everyone gets resurrected. But I don't believe it will all happen at the same time. I believe the two resurrections will happen a thousand years apart.

Rev 20:4; Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Rev 20:5; The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6; Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

This is talking about the time of the millennial reign. Some people will come back to life and reign with Jesus for a thousand years. ... Then... after that... "the rest of the dead" will be resurrected.
But it seems that only those who came back to life in the "first" resurrection will not face the second death ( the Lake of Fire ).

 

[Charlie24]

In a way, the phrase "eternal life" is misleading. From what I see in the Bible, everyone gets resurrected again, even the un-saved non-believers and the unrighteous.

John 5:28; "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
John 5:29; and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

Acts 24:15; having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

Rev 20:13; And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.

So then, if "everyone" gets resurrected eventually... why does the Bible appear to imply that only those who obey Jesus get eternal life?
Some people will face something called the second death.

Rev 20:14; Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
Rev 20:15; And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Rev 2:11; 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.'
Rev 20:6; Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

As I mentioned earlier, everyone gets resurrected. But I don't believe it will all happen at the same time. I believe the two resurrections will happen a thousand years apart.

Rev 20:4; Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Rev 20:5; The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6; Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

This is talking about the time of the millennial reign. Some people will come back to life and reign with Jesus for a thousand years. ... Then... after that... "the rest of the dead" will be resurrected.
But it seems that only those who came back to life in the "first" resurrection will not face the second death ( the Lake of Fire ).

Those of us who are saved by grace through faith are promised eternal life, IF we hold to that grace through faith until the end.

The gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit is the down payment on our salvation. Our salvation is not completed until the resurrection.

We are fully bought by the Blood of Christ at the resurrection.

Eph. 1:13-14

"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,

Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."