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| "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 |
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| Eternal Life . . . Now | |||
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Often we make the mistake of thinking that eternal life is only for the hereafter. But the Bible teaches that at the moment of salvation, God grants eternal life. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:11-13NKJV). Eternal life is Christ dwelling in us. No wonder Jesus said, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me" (John 15:4 NLT). So, how do we remain in Christ? The apostle Paul explains: There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1 NKJV). As we walk after the Spirit, we enjoy eternal life. However, if we walk after the flesh, we will hit a wall of condemnation because eternal life is in Christ, not in the flesh. When a building is condemned, it has been weighed by the standard of the building code and found wanting. It has been declared not just useless but life threatening. People can enter a condemned building but only at great risk. Our flesh has been weighed by the standard of God’s Word and found wanting. It has been declared not just useless but life threatening. Jesus said that He came to give us life and life abundant. If we want to enjoy the life of Christ, we must not walk in the condemned path of the flesh. Instead, we must tenaciously follow the leading of God’s Spirit. As we do, the life of Christ will be manifest in us—that eternal life that brings abundance, not only in the sweet by and by, but in the harried here and now. Have you been feeling "condemned" lately? If so, examine where you may have started walking in your "flesh" instead of abiding in Christ’s Spirit. |
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