So what did Jesus mean when He said “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.“ What does eternal mean; or everlasting?
When Jesus said “he that eats of this bread shall live for ever”, how long did He mean? In Hebrews Ten Twelve it says “he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever” how long was that? First John Two Seventeen says “he that does the will of God abides forever”; Is that as long as God lives?
I am of course overstating the case that it simply means always from now on without end. Eternal Salvation is just that. Jesus will not lose what He has been given by the Father in Heaven. You cannot lose what He has given you. We said Last week that if you”could” lose it Hebrews chapter Six says it is “IMPOSSIBLE” to get it back.
The next question which begs to be asked is “is it possible to act like you are saved when you are not?” Satan can appear as an angel of light. People act like they are faithful in marriage when they are not. People are often found to be living wickedly while putting on a front that they want others to see. So yes, I believe it is possible for people to look like they are godly on the surface but inwardly they only know “about” the Lord. Look at Judas as an example. Were Ananias and Sapphira believers or pretenders?
The body, that is our flesh, did not undergo a cleansing restorative transformation when we received Jesus Christ as Savior. Our Soul did not come alive at Salvation; it was already living. Our Spirit is what had been dead since Eden and our spirit was revived within us when God breathed His Spirit into us. The earnest, the indwelling, the regeneration, the transformation, all refer to that which comes to restore what Adam and Eve gave up in disobedience. It is the influence of the Spirit by which we conclude a thing is good or bad for us to do. We perform according to our heart’s desire. Not the muscle pumping in your chest but the spiritual cognizance by which we have the opportunity and ability to say yes to God.
Except He put the faith to believe within us, we have no power in our nature to know Him; we can only know of Him, “about” Him. So what then does this mean in our daily lives?
There is no end. None, nada, ain’t happening, forget it! It will never be over. You say you want to live forever? It is going to happen. In either Heaven or Hell, whether you believe God or not, you will continue in an existence comforted by a Holy God or in torment and pain out of His presence. We have a great deal of difficulty with eternal because we see finality. We see funerals, squashed bugs, animals struck by cars and trucks, we see things end. Maybe we do not properly consider that life continues. All things which exist appear to continue until they are replaced. Our Spirits are created and designed by God to live forever. He is forever. When time stops, when the means of measuring existence changes, when we are transformed, we will continue, in spirit, and in truth.