Do Christians Presently Possess Eternal Life?

Many times in debates on the Once Saved Always Saved topic, Baptists make the argument that the Christian possesses eternal life, and since that life is eternal, he cannot lose that life (his salvation). A common response to that argument is the Christian does not actually presently possess eternal life, but I think that response is a mistake.

The following passages say plainly a faithful Christian has present possession of “everlasting life”:

· John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (so a Christian has passed from death unto everlasting life [past tense] – that is conclusive)

· John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

· John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

· John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

· I John 5:11-13 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

As with any Bible subject, we should take the clear meaning of the above five passages unless something elsewhere in the Bible dictates otherwise. Many teach there is such justification (to reject the obvious meaning in this case) because of passages like the following that teach that we “hope” for eternal life:

· Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

· Luke 18:30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

But we must not pit one passage in the Bible against another, meaning we cannot just accept these last two verses and ignore the previous five – they all must be true. Actually passages like these last two do not mitigate against the simple and obvious meaning of the first five proof texts above. Let me illustrate. Suppose our baseball team has a lead going into the fourth inning. I could truthfully say "we have the lead," and at the same time say "we hope to have the lead at the end of the game." You see, a team can have present possession of a lead at any point during the game, but until the end of the game, that lead is susceptible to loss. Because it is possible for the lead to be lost, we can presently possess the lead, and yet still hope to have the lead at the end of the game. This especially makes sense when we understand that having the lead during the game is good, but having the lead at the conclusion of the game is all that really matters in the end. The end of the game lead cannot be lost. That is the only score that will count in the final standings.

The same is true of eternal life. We presently possess it if we are faithful Christians. And our possession of eternal life means we possess something that lasts forever. But until our life is over (Revelation 14:13) our possession of eternal life is susceptible to loss, since it is possible to forfeit it (fall from grace, Galatians 5:4, etc.). If we lose eternal life, then we have lost something that lasts forever. It is important to possess eternal life presently, but what will matter in the end is if we possess eternal life at our death, and therefore in the hereafter, where we can’t lose it.

As I said, some say we only possess eternal life “in prospect” or “in hope.” But that is really saying we don’t actually possess eternal life here and now, and so that would contradict the first five proof texts this article begins with. And as far as I know, there is no passage forcing us to conclude we only possess eternal life in prospect while on this earth.

Some think there is a contradiction in the ideas of presently possessing eternal life and being able to lose it. But perhaps the following illustrations will help resolve that apparent difficulty:

· Adam and Eve possessed eternal physical life (as long as they ate of the tree of life) until they sinned, but they lost it when they sinned and were barred access to the tree of life (Gen 3:22,24). Likewise God can give someone eternal life and He can take it away. As a matter of fact, He can do anything He wants to; we shouldn’t try to box Him in. So it is a matter of what God’s revelation teaches, not what can or can’t be done according to our own human logic. And John 3:36 clearly teaches we can lose everlasting life (when taken in combination with texts like Heb 3:1,12).

· It is possible to possess something that lasts forever, but not to possess it forever. For example, a banker might own a mortgage that is to last 30 years, but would be glad to sell it for a fair price – then he wouldn’t possess it anymore. The mortgage is to last 30 years, but the banker does not necessarily possess it for that long.

· A famous expression is “diamonds last forever.” But you can lose a diamond, right? Similarly, eternal life is the kind of life (spiritual) that lasts forever, but you can lose it.

· If we have a watch with a lifetime warranty, that says the watch is guaranteed to last for our lifetime, but what if we lose the watch?

· Just because something is said to last forever, that doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t be reversed. For example, does I Chron 28:9 (“… if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever”) mean it is impossible for one who falls away to ever return?

Having “eternal life” would not mean it is impossible to lose that life any more than “he that cometh to me shall never hunger” and “he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35) means it is impossible to lose our salvation and hunger and thirst spiritually again. Presently possessing “eternal life” would not mean it is impossible to lose it any more than “For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever” (Psalms 37:28a) means it is impossible to lose our salvation even though the verse says God will preserve his saints "forever." Yes a saint’s preservation lasts forever, but he can lose that forever lasting preservation, because it is conditional. Likewise a saint’s spiritual life lasts forever, but he can lose that forever lasting life, because it is conditional.

A reading of John 6:29-58 would seem to indicate the terms “eternal life” and “spiritual life” are used interchangeably and refer to the same thing. Notice also “eternal life” is used in antithesis to spiritual death in Romans 6:23 (“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”). And I think the reader will agree I John 5:12 is talking about our present possession of spiritual life, and it is made equivalent to “eternal life” in verses 11 and 13. Since “eternal life” and “spiritual life” are equivalent, the question becomes – can we lose spiritual life? The reader will hopefully agree the answer is "yes," and since spiritual life is proven to be equivalent to eternal life, logically we can lose that also.

Consider also the following two verses: John 6:53 says “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” That doesn’t make sense if the people who eat and drink of Jesus flesh and blood (appropriate His sacrifice to themselves) don’t have that life in them. And verse 54 shows that Jesus is talking about eternal life in verse 53. I John 3:15 reads “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” That doesn’t make good sense if non-murderers (who are also faithful in other respects) don’t actually have eternal life abiding in them.

As was pointed out earlier, eternal life is synonymous with spiritual life (John 5:24, I John 5:11-12) and therefore synonymous with salvation. We receive salvation now (Mark 16:16, II Tim 1:9, Tit 3:5), but also receive it in a more final sense in heaven (Rom 5:9-10, 13:11, II Tim 2:10, etc.). Logically then we can receive eternal life now, and receive it in a more final sense in heaven. So we receive salvation (eternal life) now, but in heaven we can’t lose it.

In conclusion, the Bible conclusively teaches faithful Christians are in present possession of eternal (spiritual) life. But we can lose that life/salvation, therefore we strive and hope to have the same at the day of judgment.

hear Bible Crossfire Sunday nights at 8:04 central on SiriusXM radio Family Talk 131 or at BibleCrossfire.com