Eternal Life Is Not A Debate Topic

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life… (1 John 5:13).

The testimony, the witness, the undeniable reality that God has given us eternal life, and “this life” is in the Son. Whoever has the Son has life. In today’s study, observe something beautiful about God’s intention: He wants you to be consciously aware that you have eternal life.

That awareness is vital because when you’re aware of a truth, you act accordingly. So, you ought to know with certainty that you have eternal life, not when you get to heaven but NOW! There’s a difference between having something and being conscious of it. You may possess a reality and yet not live in the good of it because you’re not aware.

Think about it: if you’re told something is extremely hot, even without touching it, you’ll handle it with caution. That awareness influences your actions. In the same way, when you become conscious that you have eternal life, it changes how you think, how you speak, and how you live.

You’re not a human being trying to acquire the divine life, no; you were born divine, being born of God: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). It helps you understand why He said through the psalmist, “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High” (Psalms 82:6).

Take hold of this truth. Refuse to be more conscious of the human life that’s subject to fear, limitations and the elements of this world. The Word says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). The life in you is the transcendent life. When you’re conscious of it, your life will be the proof of its reality. You’ll manifest the God-life naturally, effortlessly and consistently.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God… (1 John 3:2).

Concerning Jesus, the Bible says, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not…” (John 1:10-11). The world didn’t know Him because they tried to figure Him out by their senses; they were looking at His outward appearance. They couldn’t see that He was the maker of the universe. God Himself was with them but they didn’t recognise Him.

Likewise, the world also doesn’t recognise us as new creations and associates of the God-kind. They think we’re ordinary, but we’re sons of God. We’re God-men in the earth; we’re divine, because the life in us is the life of God.

John 1:12 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God….” He gave us the right, the ability, to become the sons of God. We’re not going to become sons of God when we get to heaven; we’re sons of God NOW! James 1:18 declares, “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth….”*_

When you heard the Gospel and opened your heart to the Word, the life of God was imparted to your spirit, and you were born again. But the world still looks at you and thinks they’re seeing the same old person. Just because you’re encased in an ordinary human body doesn’t mean you’re ordinary. 2 Peter 1:4 describes you as a partaker of the divine nature; you’re in God’s class of being, the divine class. You’re not a mere mortal; you’re actually a god in the earth. Think about it: animals give birth to animals and humans give birth to humans. God, therefore, would most certainly give birth to gods. That’s why He said in Psalm 82:6, “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.”

Get to know who you are, because when you get to know who you are, you’ll know what belongs to you and live to your full potential. Be bold in your life. You’re a child of God; a joint-heir with Christ; the world belongs to you. Refuse to live an ordinary life or as an ordinary person.

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it (John 14:13-14).

Prior to His ascension, the Lord Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in the earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:18-19). All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus. Everything that exists in this world and beyond is subject to the Name of Jesus. What does this mean? It means everything is subject to you because you live in His Name. His name belongs to you.

When you speak in His Name, your words carry the same power and authority as though Jesus Himself were the one speaking. His Name has power everywhere. It has power over governments, devils, principalities, and powers. Hallelujah! Use that Name. Read our opening scripture again. This is talking about making demands in the Name of Jesus and bringing all things into subjection to you. Peter acted on this when he said to a man who was crippled from birth, “In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” He then got the crippled man by the right hand, pulled him up, and his ankle bones received strength; healed by the power of God (Acts 3:6-8).

You have the greatest blessing and gift of all time; the Name of Jesus; use it every day and everywhere. When you make a demand or decree a thing in His Name, He sees to it that it happens. His Name is the solution to every problem. It makes no difference the predicament you’re in; declare, “In the Name of the Lord Jesus, I’m more than a conqueror. Everything is subject to me. Blessed be God!” With His Name, you can never be defeated; you have dominion over Satan and the powers of darkness. Hallelujah!

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son (1 John 5:11).

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” You’re a new man in Christ, with the resurrection life: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

We’re a new class of men, a new species. This is what you must understand about our life in Christ. The life we have is from God and not from man. The Apostle John was deliberate with his language. He didn’t say, “Life is in His Son”; rather, he said, “This life is in his Son.” He’s talking about a specific life, the very life of God.

In 1 John 1:2, he calls it “…that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.” This life is different from all others. It’s what makes us divine. It’s what makes us gods: “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High” (Psalm 82:6). The Bible says as He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17).

Even the angel in the Book of Acts understood the peculiarity and taxonomic difference of our life in Christ when he said to the apostles in Acts 5:20, “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.” This life is distinct, divine and superior. That’s what you received when you were born again.

Being born again is not about joining a church; it’s about receiving eternal life—the life and nature of God. It means God is your Father. It means you’ve been brought into a new order of existence. Paul captures it this way: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…” (Galatians 2:20). The concluding portion says, “…the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God….” This is the distinct, divine life of the new man in Christ.

Eternal life and eternal salvation are not subjects for debate for any believer, they are the reality of anyone who wants to live the divine life on earth.

-GSW-