mad wrote:I don’t think the promise comes as a result of our belief, but rather it is a condition of the promise. This doesn’t have to be the case. God can make unconditional promises if he wants to do so, but I find most of them are conditioned on various things. So we need to find out what God says about the resurrected body. Jesus says in John 6:40:
40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
We also receive the Spirit by faith (Gal 3 (esp. v 14) and elsewhere), which was the deposit guaranteeing what was to come (the new body) in 2 Cor. 5:5. So I understand the promise to be conditioned on faith.
mad,
I will agree that "eternal life" is given conditionally - that we must believe and follow Christ in faith. I think though that there is a difference between "eternal life" and the resurrection of the body. There is no condition for the resurrection of the body. Christ has secured that for all of mankind. I will attempt to explain what I believe "eternal life" is.
It is commonly taught that eternal life is what someone has after his body has been resurrected, that, even though his body was once dead he will now live forever in heaven. I do not believe that this the correct understanding. What I just described is
immortality, not eternal life - they are different.
While immortality has to do with the condition of your body, eternal life has to do with the condition of your soul. God told Adam and Eve not to eat the forbidden fruit saying, "
for when you eat of it you will surely die" (Gen 2:17). But when they ate, it was not their bodies that died, it was their souls. Ezekiel explained further about this concept saying, "
the soul who sins shall die" (Ez 18:5). Paul, describing someone who lived selfishly said, "
But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives" (1 Tim 5:6). Her soul was dead while her body still lives. By contrast, someone who lives by faith in Christ, has eternal life - that is, their soul is alive, they are not overcome by sin. Eternal life describes the condition of one's soul while he lives on this earth.
When Jesus said, "
And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die" (John 11:26), was He speaking of the body or of the soul? He must have been speaking of the soul because all believers will die physically (unless Christ returns before their death). So, the idea of "eternal life" is a different concept from "immortality" and the resurrection of the body.
So, what is eternal life? Jesus described it this way.
John 17:3
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
He says it is knowing God and Jesus. To know Him is to understand His promises and to live your life in faith. Someone who lives their life in this manner will be spiritually blessed by God. The fruits of the Spirit are God's blessings given to those who have eternal life, which may be better understood as "abundant life."
John 10:10
....
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
In conclusion, the purpose of believing (and of faith), is to receive from the Lord His blessings of abundant life (eternal life), that we may be active servants in the Kingdom of God spreading His love to the world. On the other hand, the resurrection of the dead will be experienced by all of mankind, whether they are believers or not (Acts 24:15). This is because Christ has reconciled the whole world (2 Cor 5:19).
Todd