Rev. Don Campbell
1 John 1-5
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, DECEMBER 26, 2019
“ETERNAL LIFE, OUR PRESENT POSSESSION OR FUTURE HOPE?”
John said, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). One writer tried to explain away the meaning of the words, saying that what John meant was that we have eternal life in prospect and promise. He refers to John’s earlier statement in 1 John 2:25: “And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life,” and then connected it with the Old Testament example of the capture of Jericho in which God said, “See! I have given Jericho into your hand” (Joshua 6:2). Jericho had not yet fallen, but this was God’s promise that it would, so they had Jericho in prospect and promise.
Such is an unfortunate twisting of the Scriptures. He might just as well have said, “We only have Christ in prospect and promise,” for John said, “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12). It is just as true that whoever does not have the life (eternal life) does not have the son.
Perhaps the esteemed preacher, editor, and author was like many others who confuse eternal life with never-ending-existence, something which all will have either in heaven or hell (John 5:28-29).
Jesus distinguishes between eternal life and the resurrection: “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:35-40).
Some refer to Paul’s words in Romans 8:24-25 in support of the prospect and promise theory: “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:24-25). One only has to read the preceding verse to see that Paul is speaking of the resurrection: We “groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
When we deny that life in Christ is eternal life, we make God a liar: “If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:9-13).
CONNECTIONS
1. If one should say, “Oh, I have eternal life,” so it does not matter what I do because if it is eternal, then I can’t lose it,” one should read and heed 1 John 5:16-17.
2. It is one thing to claim eternal life as our present possession it is another to prove it. How do we prove it? (1 John 2:4)
