A Christian Guidebook: What Is Eternal Life? (1)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6.23

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2.8, 9

Eternal life and salvation
I suppose nearly everyone knows that Christianity has something to do with eternal life. But in that respect, the Christian faith is not that much different from other faiths. Other major religions and many minor ones hold views about eternal life. Even many secularists tend to believe in some version of life after death (though, to be honest, the secular version sounds more like wishful thinking than real hope).

So Christians can’t be content merely to say to someone that believing in Jesus will enable them to have eternal life. They can get that in plenty of places. Or so they believe.

It is essential, therefore, that Christians be clear about what we mean when we say that we have eternal life, or when we hold out the offer of eternal life to others. Or when we seek to enjoy eternal life for ourselves.

This much is clear from the two passages provided above: Eternal life and salvation are “the gift of God”. Not gifts of God, and not even a gift of God. The gift of God. Eternal life and salvation are thus different ways of thinking about the same thing, but not entirely. The phrase “eternal life” and the term “salvation” overlap and entail one another. They are part and parcel of one another. But the two ideas—which together constitute the one gift of God—express differing but complementary aspects of God’s gift, and it is important that we understand not only where the differences lie but what we mean by each term.

In this and the following series on “salvation” we will unpack what the Scriptures mean by “the gift of God.” We begin our consideration of that subject by examining the eternal life facet of what God has freely given.

Gift-giving
But we need to clear up what we mean by saying that God gives this as a gift.

We are familiar with the tradition of giving gifts. Typically, we give gifts to people we love. But not just people we love, people who love us as well. Or, at least, should love us—children, grandchildren, friends, and so forth. The people we give gifts to on their birthdays, at Christmas, or on other occasions are most often those who give gifts to us as well. Giving gifts thus includes a parallel tradition, that of receiving gifts from those to whom we give them.

This is not what we mean by saying that God gives the gift of eternal life. Those who receive the gift of eternal life have never done anything to express love for Him. In fact, He has given them many different gifts, but they seldom express any gratitude for these. And they don’t talk about or use those gifts in ways that might make someone believe they were from God. They act like these gifts are either only what you would expect any normal person to have—air to breathe, good health, food on the table, a safe home, friends, and such—or what they are by right entitled to—a raise at work, regular vacations, luxuries of various kinds, a robust retirement.

God gives such gifts every day to every human being. And yet multitudes of them—including you and me before we came to know the Lord—fail to acknowledge Him as the Giver of every good and perfect gift (Jms. 1.16, 17), and they do not offer Him anything in return. It’s no wonder Paul referred to such people as “enemies” of God (Rom. 5.10).

But this situation helps us to understand the uniqueness of the gift of eternal life.

God’s gift
God gives the gift of eternal life and salvation as a gesture of pure grace to undeserving human beings. They do nothing to earn this gift. Nothing inherent in them qualifies them for it. They would be content—of a sort—to continue as “enemies” of God, taking what He gives them without regard for any need to give anything back to Him at all.

But God intends to change that. People were not made for mere self-indulgence. They were made for joy. Not happiness, which depends on circumstances and conditions, but joy, which can be found in its truest and most lasting form only in a relationship with God. God gives the gift of eternal life to bring human beings into an environment, a spiritual environment, in which they know, love, and serve Him, the outcome of which is indescribable joy, increasingly. God gives the gift of eternal life and salvation to undeserving people so that they might know Him, love Him, and serve Him in the fullness of joy.

No other religion offers such a promise. No other deity, no philosophy, no worldview, and no amount of wishful thinking ends up in an eternal state of joy in the Presence of God, the consequence of His giving the gift of eternal life.

God’s gift is all of grace, given to those He has chosen (Eph. 1.3-6), for the purpose of granting His joy to certain people forever. Those who receive this gift will give back to God in various ways—through praise and thanksgiving and worship, by dedicating their lives to Him and living according to His Word, and by publishing far and wide the wonder of His marvelous and saving grace—but God does not give the gift to gain these offerings, as though He needed them. He does not (Acts 17.24, 25). He is already full of all joy. Indeed, He is the very fullness of joy Himself.

He gives the gift of eternal life because He is a God of grace. And, by His grace, we who receive that gift are forgiven of our animosity and ingratitude (and more), transferred into a new state of existence, given the first true tastes of real joy, and set on a joyous course of knowing, loving, and serving God.

The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, and eternal life is the life of joy.

Search the Scriptures
1. What is grace? Why is eternal life all of grace? Where would you turn in Scripture to support your answer?

2. Why is the gift of God not like the gifts we give to one another?

3. How does Scripture teach us to think about the benefits of having eternal life? Cite some Scripture in your answer.

Next steps—Transformation: How did you come to receive the gift of eternal life? What difference has it made in your life? What differences are you hoping it will make?

T. M. Moore

Additional Resources
If you have found this study helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

To grow in faith we must have a vision of the greatness of our salvation. Our book, Such a Great Salvation, can help. You can order the book by clicking here or the free PDF by clicking here. In addition, our book, Know, Love, Serve, can help you see how our salvation and callings work together to glorify the Lord. Order your copy here or in PDF here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from theNew King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.