Somebody asked a couple questions that grasp for a lot of information:

What is eternal life? When does it begin? Who has [access to] it? Any additional thoughts/comments on the subject?

Since this is a topic that I have been pretending to study, I butted into the conversation and… here we are. Granted, the questions were addressed to many people anyway so I wasn’t really interrupting. Here is my attempt to answer from the beginning. Genesis 1:27:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

It is funny that this verse is contested. I listened to a speaker three or four weeks ago who said that this meant man was capable of deciding good from evil and that the tree Adam and Eve ate from was a poetical contrivance.

I do not believe that is what it means (Ray Comfort said that man did not have to worry about choosing evil until he gained knowledge of it; this makes sense to me). If you move on to the next chapter you find more details of how God created the first man and woman along with this, Genesis 2:7:

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Some, such as the Seventh Day Adventists, believe that the soul can cease to exist. I believe that they are in error and that our eternal soul is one way that we mirror the image of God.

A few weeks ago I heard a quote from a man named Bracy Greer that asked, “Why would a just God send someone to Heaven and make them spend eternity with Him when they wanted nothing to do with Him here?” That is pretty logical. The only two options that are available if that is so are annihilationism or sending them someplace else eternally. Here is what the Jesus said, Matthew 25:41:

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

If you want to argue about the meaning of “everlasting,” please be sure to study Romans 16:26. Also, it is always fun to point out to people that this means Satan is not in charge in hell.

If we are eternal beings, destined for either eternal reward or eternal punishment (though not the same for everyone on either side), then the next question becomes what to call the happenings in the afterlife. Verse 44 from Matthew above gives a summary of the judgments made:

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

That more or less answers the first question. Eternal life is spending eternity with God. Verse 34 speaks of the kingdom prepared for them from the beginning of the world. When eternal life begins is another interesting discussion. John chapter 3 is a very famous passage because of verse 16. It covers a conversation between Jesus and one of the religious leaders who knew he was sent by God. Verse 5 is also fairly well-known:

Jesus answered,  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Some teach that the birth by water means a physical birth. That is inaccurate as well. Ananias told Paul when he was saved (Acts 22:16):

And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

Jesus himself never baptized, but his disciples baptized in his name and with his approval (John 4:1,2). There are several ways that the book of Mark is brought to a close. The most common has Jesus saying this (Mark 16:16):

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Even if you discount that verse, Paul pressed others to be baptized. Passages like Acts 19 gives specific examples while I Corinthians 1 gives a more general evidence of this (especially verse 13). There is a lot more to this topic and it is worthy of study. We’re going to have to move on tonight though. As Jesus said, one must be born of water and of spirit. The spirit part is uncontested as far as I know – that we must be renewed in Christ. An analogy to a birth certainly makes it sound as though it is the beginning of eternal life and that gaining the kingdom prepared for the righteous is the realization of that life. This is how I understand it to work. The third question, who has access to eternal life, has been debated for years. Some people have said that black people did not have souls or access to that life. Others say that there is some other limiting factor (Calvinism is well known for its claim that only those that God chooses – by his sovereign choice alone – will be saved). Some are of the opinion that anyone who believes can be saved. There are also people who think that everyone will be saved eventually and that nobody will suffer eternal torment. I can assure you that God is not a racist. The Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 was saved. Likewise there are many passages that rule out the latter option. After studying it, I think that Calvinism boils down to salvation by predeterminism alone (not by faith). Some of my friends will argue this. That does, however, only leave one option. Salvation is available to those who choose God (to be fair, Calvinists can say the same thing from their perspective but it means something quite different from a plain understanding of what I just said). The ability to choose to turn from sin can be further broken down. Calvin gained his understanding of this from a man that had come before him name Augustine. If I understand the events correctly, a man named Pelagius confronted Augustine and other leaders of the church about the depths of sin that supposed Christians were living in. He believed that men were able to simply choose to stop sinning and it pushed Augustine even farther into the beliefs that we now call Calvinism. This is also why anybody who does not believe in the five points of Calvinism is quickly called a Pelagian. While I agree that much of the church today is Pelagian or semi-Pelagian (“you take one step, God will take the other 99”), not every view that contradicts Calvinism falls to this opposing view. The teachings of the likes of Chrysostom, Arminius and John Wesley are that we are still fully dependent on God’s good mercy to warm our hearts and to change us but that He will not force himself on us. This is also how I believe salvation is made available. That answers the first three questions, and while asking for clarification about what was specifically wanted the question of whether eternal life could be lost was brought up (insert taunting laugh). To this I wonder if it isn’t possible to commit eternal suicide in order to obtain eternal death (ie. Revelation 20:14; 22:19). I wrote earlier that Jesus said eternal life began with another birth (of water and of spirit). He also said this in Mark 13:13:

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Does that mean that martyrs won’t be saved from the wickedness of their former lives? Or does it mean that those who continue in Christ will be? If it means the first, none of the disciples (except perhaps John – that’s another discussion) will be in God’s eternal kingdom. I won’t harp on this as I’ve talked about it before. Yes, I think salvation can be lost. When Jesus died, his purchase of our salvation was complete. When we accepted what Jesus did, we were born anew. When we die, our race has been run. On the day of judgment, our eternal life (or death) is realized**. Is that enough? ^_^

** “ᾅδης” [Hades], “ταρταρόω” [Tartaros], and “γέεννα” [Ghehenah] are all translated as “Hell” in many English Bibles which messes up our understanding of the afterlife.