ETERNAL LIFE

 

: having infinite duration : EVERLASTING

: of or relating to eternity

: continued without intermission : PERPETUAL

: NEVER-ENDING

 

Some church leaders say “you can lose your salvation.”  If it is really “eternal”, how can you lose something that is everlasting and never-ending?  How can this be?  If someone believes that he can lose his salvation, then he also must believe that he can win his salvation.

 

Most professing Christians would agree that salvation is a “free gift.”  That it can not be earned or won.  We know that if we pay anything for a gift, it is no longer a gift but a purchase.

 

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

Yes, it is true, Paul taught eternal life!

Paul tells us in Romans 11:29  For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

 : not possible to revoke : UNALTERABLE

 

Irrevocable has a formal sound to it and is often used in legal contexts. Irrevocable trusts are trust funds that cannot be dissolved by the people who created them (another kind is a revocable trust).  Irrevocable gifts, under U.S. tax law, are gifts that are given by one living person to another and can't be reclaimed by the giver. But the word isn't always legal; we've all had to make irrevocable decisions, decisions that commit us absolutely to something.

 

Eternal life is a present possession.  It is not something we look for on the other side.  No, we carry it with us to the other side.  A new testament word for eternal is aiónios.  This word implies both quantity and quality.  Eternal life is independent of time.  We experience eternal life NOW!