And This is Eternal Life…

Published in Pasugo, Jun 2005

“Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: ‘Father…
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God,
And Jesus Christ whom You have sent’.” (John 17:1,3, New King James Version)

THE ISSUE CONCERNING the attainment of eternal life will always be essential to the belief system, not only of Christian-professing churches but also of all religious groups that believe in the hereafter and look beyond this present and temporal life. In fact, this is an issue that is unfailingly associated with everything a man does in his service to his Creator or to anyone whom he considers as a supreme being who has power and authority to either reward or punish him. Among Christian-professing peoples, eternal life is the ultimate reward which they eagerly await from God whom they faithfully serve and worship. Their belief and hope in eternal life and the Almighty God who promised it to them is basically hinged on the teachings of the Bible, the repository of God’s revealed truth. It is the Bible which clearly teaches how one can be worthy of God and His grace of the promised eternal life. Hence, those who believe and serve God with the hope of attaining eternal bliss should faithfully obey what the Bible teaches in order that their hope will not end up in vain. What is one of the teachings of the Bible that aspirants of eternal life should understand and fully believe in? The Holy Writ records this pronouncement of our Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest of God’s messengers:

“Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent’.” (John 17:1-3, New King James Version)

In this prayer of Jesus to the Father, He affirmed some important doctrines essential to gaining eternal life. He said that the Father had given Him authority to give eternal life to those given to Him by the Father. It is clear then that life eternal is reserved for such people. But for them to receive this, they must know and understand that the Father alone is the true God and that Jesus Christ was sent by Him. Hence, anyone who wants to attain eternal life should be certain that he is among those given by the Father to our Lord Jesus Christ and that he recognizes the Father as the only true God and Jesus Christ was sent by Him. In pointing to the Father as the only true God, which means that there is no true God other than the Father, and in distinguishing Himself from the Father by emphasizing that He was sent by Him, Christ has shown that He should not be recognized as God.

Those given by God to Christ
Inasmuch as eternal life is reserved for those whom God has given to Christ, it is important then that one be counted among them. Apostle Paul taught how man is given to our Lord Jesus Christ:

“God is to be trusted, the God who called you to have fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.” (I Cor. 1:9, Today’s English Version)

God gives people to Christ by calling them to have fellowship with His Son. How one is called by God to have fellowship with His Son is explained further by Apostle Paul, thus:

“It was for this that he called you when we preached the gospel to you, and he wanted you to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. …” (II Thess. 2:14, Phillips Modern English Bible)

God calls people to have fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching of the gospel. But this does not mean that all preachers who use the Bible are God’s instruments in calling people. Only God’s messengers have the authority to preach the gospel that will result in man’s having fellowship with Christ. As Apostle Paul rhetorically asked, “how can they preached unless they are sent?” (Rom. 10:15, New International Version), pointing out further that those whom God has called to have fellowship with Christ through the authoritative preaching of His messenger are in the one body of Christ:

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” (Col. 3:15, NKJV)

The body being referred to here is the Church headed by our Lord Jesus Christ (Col. 1:18) and called the Church of Christ (Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation). Therefore, those given by God to our Lord Jesus Christ are those whom He called inside the Church of Christ. It is to the members of the Church of Christ therefore that eternal life is reserved, as prayed for by the Savior:

“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. ‘And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them’. … ’Father I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for you loved Me before the foundation of the world’.” (John 17:9-10, 24, NKJV)

Their knowledge about God
If ever those given by God to our Lord Jesus, that is, the members of the Church of Christ, recognize the Father alone and no one else as the only true God, this should not surprise anyone. Indeed, this belief in God is one of their marks as true Christians. Apostle Paul points this out emphatically to them, thus:

“Yet there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live. But not everyone knows this truth. …” (I Cor. 8:6-7, TEV)

For the members of the true Church of Christ like Apostle Paul, there is only one God, the Father. For them, Christ, the Son, is not the true God, for they recognize no other God except the Father although such truth about the true God is not known to everyone. They learned this knowledge not only from Christ but from God Himself who taught:

“Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from the time, and have declared it? Ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any.” (Isa. 44:8, King James Version)

Thus, the members of the Church of Christ do not subscribe to the doctrine of a triune God – a God that is allegedly composed of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who, according to the adherents of this Trinitarian doctrine, are all equal in being God. Such a teaching is unbiblical because it goes against the declaration of God, who says, “I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me” (Isa. 46:9, NIV).

The true God recognizes no other God beside Himself. Neither does He recognize any equal. Hence, one should not insist that aside from the Father, there are still others who are like Him and co-equal with Him in being God as in the doctrine of the Trinity which holds that besides God the Father, there are still God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Adherents to such a doctrine are recognizing a god other than the Father and therefore they do not have the true God as their God. At best, they are worshipping and serving a false god.

Recipients of God’s love
For having known and recognized the Father as the only true God as taught by our Lord Jesus Christ, the members of the Church of Christ have received God’s love. In fact, this is Christ’s earnest desire in making known to them that the Father alone is the true God. Christ made this clear when He said:

“Righteous Father! The world does not know you, but I know you, and these know you that you sent me. I made you known to them, and I will continue to do so, in order that the love you have for me may be in them, and so that I also may be in them.” (John 17:25-26, TEV)

Indeed, God’s love and that of His Son will abide in those who have known the Father as introduced by our Lord Jesus Christ. And not only have they received God’s love but also the blessing of eternal life as was assured by the Savior Himself when He prayed to the Father, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3, NKJV).

On the other hand, a great misfortune awaits those who do not know who the true God is and, in the process, worship a god other than Him. Apostle Paul points this out in II Thessalonians 1:8-9:

“In flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.” (Ibid.)

The Father, who alone is the true God, will exact vengeance on Judgment Day on those who do not know and recognize Him as such. He will punish them in the lake of fire with everlasting destruction on the Second Advent of His Son whom He sent to the world in order to make known that the Father alone is the true God, and whom he will send again to judge those who have not come to that knowledge and understanding. Those whom God has given to our Lord Jesus Christ by calling them into the true Church of Christ have come to that knowledge and understanding and therefore they will not be judged on that great day; instead, they will be rewarded with eternal life.