THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE

“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” – John 10:28-29

LIGHT FOR NOW: Eternal life is not human life, neither is it the perfect form of human life. Eternal life is the very life of God taking up residence in a man.

By Jesus opening up the key text above with the statement “I give unto them eternal life”, it thus points to the fact that eternal life is a gift. What is a gift?

• You don’t work for a gift.
• You don’t earn a gift.

If it is worked for or earned, then it is not a gift. A gift therefore will be something given to another voluntarily, without change and without effort. It will therefore, be anti-scripture to teach eternal life as:

• Something you have to work for.
• Something you have to earn by your effort.
• A reward for good work for well done.

If eternal life was or is worked for by the recipient, then Jesus should have said “I give eternal life to those who have worked for it” or “I give eternal life to those who have merited it by their own self effort”. So, no man can work for eternal life. Man can only receive eternal life as a free gift available in Christ. Eternal life is thus God’s free gift. Paul makes our explanation on point in Romans 6 where he says “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). What did Paul here say the gift of God is? Paul says the gift of God is eternal life. And Paul did not just stop by saying that eternal life is the gift of God, he elucidates further by saying it is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Hence, Paul here situates eternal life in Christ. So by saying “through Jesus Christ our Lord”, it is to show you that eternal life is found in Christ.

Therefore, until a man arrives in Christ, all he has is human life. Eternal life is not human life; eternal life is not the perfect form of human life. Eternal life is the very life of God; the life that comes from God. The day you arrived in Jesus, the very life of God came on your inside. You are not just living an ordinary human life; at salvation, God’s life became your life. Hallelujah! 

INSTRUCTION: Give voice to God’s word in your words.

CONFESSION: I have the very life of God on my inside. I am of the God kind and of the God class because the very life of God is my nature.

QUOTE: You are of the God-kind and the God-class because the God-kind of life is your kind of life.

DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: ROMANS CHAPTER 6; EVENING: ROMANS CHAPTER 8