Morning Moments

1Ti 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Compete as to win the prize in this struggle for sound doctrine which is the faith, the body of truth once for all delivered unto the saints, and against false teachers and their teachings. Seize and hold fast that truth in the race you are running and the battle you are fighting. It is what you have been trained to do, as an athlete to trained, but ours is not a temporal one but an eternal one. It is the life you both possess and have professed before many witnesses. [A loose paraphrase of my own].

The text is NOT saying "hold on to Jesus so you won't lose eternal life". The context does not teach that nor does the Bible anywhere teach such a flippant and frivolous thing.

Allow me to clarify something about eternal life and everlasting life. Eternal life is not a quantity of time, but a quality of life. You and I do not possess life that never had a beginning and never has an ending, in the sense of time. When we receive eternal life, we are receiving the very life of God, who is eternal. So, eternal life is not a quantity of life, it is a quality of life.

One the other hand, since our "life" had a beginning, we are assured that "in Christ" it will have no ending, and that is life everlasting. God's life never had a starting point, but ours did - when we were "born from above" and when God created (made from nothing) a new life in us. That life, because it is God's life (in us), is eternal and because it began at the new birth, it will last forever or be everlasting life.

Folks, if we will put aside our silly arguments over terms we have created, and understand what God has done, is doing, and will do simply because we are now His children (we were not His children before the new birth), we would live virtuously, valiantly, and victoriously in the power of the Spirit.

Heaven says "Amen!" Hell says "Oh my!" That is why Paul could say with confidence, "...my life is hid with Christ in God..." and "to live IS Christ. As a believer you ARE on the Olympic team. You do not have to try to be, hope to be, want to be - YOU ARE! All who run this race and fight this fight have been "qualified" to do it. One may win the gold, another the silver, and another the bronze, but ALL win, not by what we do (that is the prize thing), but by what we are - chosen for the team. When one American wins the Gold metal in the Olympics, all of us win who are on the team. There is great delight when we all win the prize, but there is NO shame because we were all "picked" for the team.

Oh well, sorry for the tangent, but that is the hazard of being a preacher:)

BLESSINGS!