The title of this article might seem a little strange. Nevertheless, it seems necessary from time to time to ask whether or not eternal life is eternal. Lest there be any confusion, what is in mind here is not eternal existence. Every person born into this world will live forever somewhere. When the Scriptures talk about eternal life, it always in the context of eternal blessings and not eternal damnation. Returning back to the question, “is eternal life eternal?” I think most Christians would readily answer “yes”–after all, it’s a bit self-explanatory. The question then becomes, why is it sometimes taught that you can lose your salvation? There are only three ways to handle this dilemma:
- Eternal life is not eternal.
- Eternal life is a future promise not yet attained.
- Eternal life cannot be lost.
Let us dispense with proposition one. I’m not sure how someone would argue that eternal life is not eternal. The grammatical gymnastics it would involve are incomprehensible to me. Therefore, let us move on to the second possibility.
When you put proposition two under the microscope, it causes several other questions to surface. First, it raises the question of whether or not you can know that you are saved. Scripture specifically answers this in 1 John 5:13.
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
The statement is clear. It is possible know whether or not you are saved. Clearly, there is some prerequisite criteria that John introduced in his epistle (“these things I have written”) but it’s irrelevant to the point. The apostle Paul actually confirms this principle in his letter to the Philippians.
Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Philippians 4:3
Second, if it’s possible to know whether you have eternal life, then eternal life can never depend the strength of our faith, how we live our life, or the lack thereof. In other words, how can you know you have eternal life if it’s somehow tied to your faithfulness? Apart from God, no one can say for sure whether a person will finish strong or whether they will stop running the race altogether.
Lastly, proposition two calls into question when eternal life is conferred upon the believer. Although there are a number of verses that deal with this (including Philippians 4:3), perhaps one of the most passage is found in Ephesians.
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 1:13-14
This Scripture tells us that the moment the gospel is heard and believed, the Holy Spirit immediately becomes our guarantor of eternal inheritance (eternal life). In his gospel, John records Jesus as saying it this way:
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.
John 5:24
This verse provides critical information about our eternal standing. First, Jesus says that the believer has eternal life. The verb “has” (ἔχω) is in the present tense and indicates current reality. Toward the end of the verse, Jesus says that the believer has passed (μεταβέβηκεν) out of death into life. The verb used here is in the perfect tense. The perfect tense indicates a past completed action which often has future raminifications.
By process of elimination, proposition three is the only viable possibility. To be fair, there are some tougher passages in Scripture that seem to say salvation can be lost. As is often the case with any contradiction, these same passages can be viewed from more than one angle. For this reason, it is a well taught principle that the more difficult passages should be interpreted in light of those that are straight-forward.
As flawed humans, we struggle with the idea that when God makes a promise, He keeps it–even when we don’t deserve it. But that’s really the point isn’t it? No matter how good we think we are, we will never measure up. If salvation were dependent on us, then it would remain utterly out of reach.
For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Galatians 3:21-22
Leave a Reply