What Jesus and early apostles said about eternal life
The word "gospel" means simply "good news."
God is a fair judge and must
punish us for our sin. The gospel is the good news that God loved us so much that he came in human form as Jesus and
paid the penalty for our sins! 
Although God is a fair judge and must judge us for our wrongdoing (sin),...
He is also a loving father who provides a way for us to obtain forgiveness and eternal life with him. As the well-known Bible verse says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
So God came to earth in the form of a baby (Jesus).
Jesus grew into a man. Although he was man, he was also God, and knew the future just as God does.
He offered himself to die for sin in our place by being falsely accused, then suffering and dying on the cross. He died for every one of our sins (past, present, and future) because he knew all about us and our future at the time he died.
After
His crucifixion and subsequent death on the cross, His body was carried to a
newly-prepared tomb, owned by Joseph of Arimathea.
An official Roman seal and guard were placed. In order to do this, they were required to verify Jesus' death and bodily entombment. Then, in accordance with procedure, a large stone was rolled over the entrance to the tomb, and a seal was placed over the stone. This tamper-proof seal carried a penalty of death if broken. Even so, the official guard stood watch.
Despite
this, the stone was rolled away three days later. The soldiers fled
from
the tomb, and witnesses that same morning later confirmed that the tomb was
empty; all that remained were intact burial linens, still wrapped as if around a
body.
Though witnesses only saw the empty tomb at first, they would later discover that Jesus was resurrected. Jesus, still showing residual scars from crucifixion, confirmed His bodily presence by eating, drinking, and physically interacting with various groups of disciples. At one point, more than five hundred people witnessed this (see evidence for resurrection under faith encouragement section). This was over a period of 40 days.
This gospel is not one fact, but three: Not only that Christ died for our sins, but also that He was entombed, AND that He has been raised as well. The resurrection is crucial; apart from His resurrection, His death would have no saving value. "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain--you are still in your sins" is the inspired statement found in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. While other spiritual leaders have lived, taught, and died, Jesus Christ is the only One who died for our sins, has been raised, and now lives as the Savior of the world.
God sent Jesus, so that we could have eternal life with Him, because of His love for us. Again, John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." Everyone, of course, refers to every man, woman and child in the entire world. In a sense, Christianity is the most inclusive faith imaginable.
Salvation is a gift from God that we did not earn. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, " God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about them."
Why don't people accept such a wonderful gift? There are two primary reasons.
First, we desire to earn our own salvation. We have accepted the idea that we have to earn salvation by being good. That is NOT Christianity.
This
picture is YOU trying to EARN salvation. While going through life trying
to do good works under your own power, all the time you're pushing a lifetime's
worth of
sin uphill. Your load is growing because your wrongdoing is not being
forgiven.
Thankfully, we have the Good News. Look at the end of Hebrews 9:27-28: "And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died only once as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people."
Unlike any other faith, Christianity is NOT about what WE can do; it is about what GOD did. Romans 5:6-8 says "When we were utterly hopeless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though some might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."
This
illustration shows our condition, believing that Jesus took our sins upon
Himself
and paid our penalty at the cross. When we believe in our heart
that Jesus took away our sins by doing this, and accept that He saved us, we are
immediately adopted as children by a loving God; from that point on we are in
God's arms.
The reason that God can accept us as His own is because
Jesus' gift, His Holy Spirit, now resides in us. God looks at us and sees his Son Jesus.
IE:
Romans 8:1: "The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we
are the children of God." Galatians 4:6: "And because ye are
sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba,
Father." 1 John 4:13: "Hereby know that we dwell in him, and
He
in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. 1 Cor 2:12: "Now we
have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God." 
So, as Christians, are we challenged to do good works? Surely, but it is not us that do the works, it is the power of Jesus (His Spirit) working through us. (see illustration) Good works cannot earn salvation. Instead they are a result of salvation: Jesus working through us.
We all have a choice: Try to "practice religion" by doing good works to try to earn your own salvation, or accept that Jesus paid the price for all your wrongdoing and offers to take your burden upon Himself, allowing God to accept you as His own.
This may not seem like a
hard choice to make; however, in addition to wanting to
"earn" our own salvation, the second reason people
don't accept the wonderful gift of God is because they think God is going to
order them around. (They want to be boss and don't realize that
God's love for us is so great that he gently guides us to best choices for our
life as the best parent would. )
In essence, this is when we desire to be the “god” of our own life. The problem with this, besides the fact that it leads to a self-centered existence, is that it leads to disaster in our relationships. We need to take the cares of others into consideration during life, and Jesus makes this so much more joyful to do.
If we believe that Jesus is our Savior, we have the Spirit of Jesus dwelling within us. This situation can be illustrated by imagining a bus in which Jesus and ourselves are both on board. That bus has two ways in which it can operate.
The first is when we
realize that Jesus is our Savior and his Spirit is inside us, but we continue to
try to pilot our own lives, rather than letting him do so. When this
happens, our lives may seem temporarily better, but things are still distorted;
we worry too much, missing out on joy.
The
second is when we realize Jesus is our Savior, that his Spirit is within, and we
decide to let him drive.
During the day we tend to
shift back and forth between the options above. If we “drive the bus”,
we tend to be what others call hypocrites. We are wonderfully saved and adopted
by God, but we don't look like Jesus and act like Jesus very much. The more we subject ourselves to
the loving will of God, we let the Spirit of His Son, Jesus, pilot our lives..
Now,
one more follow-up question, to ensure understanding: If you were to
die, stand before God, and he were to say to you, "Why should I let you
into my Heaven?”, what would you say?
If you say "Because I have tried to be good", or, "I am better
than most", or, "Because I love others", then you have missed
the main point. Christians are not
defined by good works or family history or church attendance, but instead
because they believe Jesus died for us and accept that they are saved only because
of his accomplishments, not their own..
If you believe what Jesus
said, then you know you have everlasting life. After all, he said, "He who
believes in me has everlasting life" (John 6:47). Of
course, believing in him means we believe in him for what he promises:
everlasting life. A person is not born again if he simply believes that Jesus
existed, or that Jesus died on the cross and rose again, or that Jesus is God in
the flesh. A person can believe those things, all of which are true, and yet not
believe that simply by faith in Jesus they have eternal life.
If you are now sure you
have everlasting life, here is a suggested prayer of thanksgiving:
"Lord Jesus, thank
you so much. I know that my eternal destiny is no longer a matter of concern.
Knowing that I have everlasting life that can never be lost simply by placing
faith in you, instead of in my own works, is so liberating. Thanks again for
this great gift. I’m open to learning how I can get more out of this new life
I have. Please show me a solid Bible-teaching church that can help me grow and
become more of the person you created me to be."
An enjoyable and much more complete explanation of the way in which a just and loving GOD reaches out to adopt you is found by clicking on
If you are not certain about eternal life, but the type of joy and peace described is something you desire, another very helpful and brief explanation is found by clicking here: www.4laws.com/laws/languages.html If you have another primary language, there are alternative translations available at the site.
You can return to my site at any time, but matters relating to eternity are frankly more important. God Bless you as you seek Him.
Note: for ease of reading, the translation of the Bible Generally offered in all passages above is mostly the New Living Translation.
Blessings to you in the Name of the Savior, Jesus.
If you have questions, or are seeking further encouragement feel free to email myself or my wife with your name and contact method and we would be delighted to pray with you or encourage you.
Dean Reeves DeanReevesMD@gmail.com
Janis Reeves jzreeves@kc.rr.com
For those with questions about the Trinity: (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) --->The Trinity