In reference to the above verse, the key word in it that is relative to today's lesson is - "life." As in - "eternal life." What got me to thinking about this subject is some words of a modern song heard the other day on the radio. I can't cite to you the name of the song, as I don't know it, but one line of this song kicked my editorial juices into motion. I'll do my best to take this "line" and connect it to my thoughts on "life" and "eternal life."
The line of the song consisted of these words: "Everyone dies, but not everyone lives." I'm pretty sure that the song writer's motives in penning the lyrics of the song wasn't centered on Christ or our soul's eternal resting place nor even that it had anything at all to do with religion. It's me that's making that connection by the use of some of the words of his/her song.
The words of the song that I cited in the above paragraph are so true when you consider them in light of a spiritual sense even though probably not intended as such. Actually, there are many things said or written that were not meant as spiritual lessons, but somehow, in the innermost lobes of my mind, they get mated up with some scriptural passages that I recall and, with a little thought time, they become one. Such is the case today.
As another example of taking something written and applying it to an editorial lesson, here's a little funny story that I'll try and fit with my lesson here. It seems that one of our elderly sisters returned home one evening from a Bible study and surprised a burglar in the process of ransacking her house. When the burglar turned towards her she cried out, "Stop! Acts 2:38!"
The burglar froze in his tracks and was still there when the police arrived on the scene. As they took him into custody, one of them asked him why he hadn't tried to run, or even move. He replied, "Are your kidding? She said that she had an ax and two .38's."
I guess that if we really wanted to stretch the point, we could say that the Gospel saved her life by keeping the crook from attacking her but, like the song writer, the joke teller didn't have that motive in mind when they told the joke. However, it does provide me an intro, so to speak, into some thoughts on the Gospel saving lives. Again, as in "eternal lives."
There's a passage from the book of Proverbs for which I have a particular fondness. It's found in chapter 4, verse 23 and reads: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Of course we understand this refers to our "mind," our "spiritual heart." It's that part of us that directs everything we do in life. But, I see the phrase "issues of life" having more meaning than just the things of our temporal lives. That the most important "issues" of our life is the saving of our eternal soul in heaven.
Having said that, we'll spend the rest of my time and space here on learning how to do just that. In order to accomplish that, let me provide some scriptural equations for you to consider with the aim being the saving of our soul's "life." Sadly, we'll also see that "not everyone lives."
In our inaugural scripture we see the words of Jesus Himself when he pointed out that there is only one route "to the Father" and that is through Him. That, not only is He the "truth," He is "the life," as in "eternal life." In John 1:1-4 we read that Christ is also the "Word" and "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." Paul verifies where "life" is found in 2Tim. 1:1, "which is in Christ Jesus."
The words of the song says that "not everyone lives" and, in the context of our lesson, we see how true those words are as Acts 13:48 tells us that the ones "ordained to eternal life" are "believers." The inference there is that "unbelievers" are not eligible for "eternal life." We can safely say that they are "ordained to eternal death."
An absolute great lesson in what I just said is found in Romans the 6th chapter, verses 20-23. For space reasons, I'll parse these verses to the salient points, but please read them and check my parsing. We see there that when we're "servants of sin" we are not "righteous." In that state, we did "shameful" things and the end result of those things is "death."
But, then we see the contrast side of this equation: when we are "free" from sin, no longer "servants" to it, we become "servants of God" and become "holy" with the end result being "everlasting life." Then note the last verse (23): "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Another scriptural confirmation of where "eternal life" resides is seen in Romans 8:2 "For the law or the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."
James 1:12 provides me with my next scriptural equation as he says there: "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." Key followup to this verse is Christ's words in John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Those are the "believers." The ones obedient to His Word.
James said those who "endure" (remain faithful) receive the promised "crown of life." John tells us in Rev. 2:10 that, after facing all the trials and tribulations of secular life, "be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life."
The book of Revelation speaks about the "Book of Life" and that is simply the roster of those who have loved and obeyed the law of Christ and have remained "faithful unto death." It is those whose name appears in that Book. The ones given access to the "Tree of Life" which is in the "midst of the paradise of God." (Rev. 2:7 & 22:14)
Yes, in a metaphorical sense, the Gospel saved the elderly sisters' life. In the literal sense, it saves everyone's life "eternally" if we believe it and abide faithfully in it. But, as we saw in Paul's inspired words in Romans, "not everyone lives" - eternally.
Ron Covey
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