How To Gain Eternal Life

by Don Hite

Knowledge on how to gain eternal life leads us to straight to the source of it:

God, and what He revealed about Himself in his word.

I remember as a child when I was attending Catholic School on the playground a kid asked me a question. To this day I still think back to the question from time to time.

He asked me if I would rather die by freezing or die by burning.

However, unfortunately I cannot remember my reply since it was so long ago but I still remember the question as if I were still a youth.

Have you thought about how you would like to go out or die? I don’t mean the physical method as much as I mean the emotional or spiritual way. I once heard someone say that they wanted to go out like their grandfather did in his sleep - and not screaming like the rest of the passengers in the back seat of a car as they headed over the cliff.

That was obviously a joke, but death and dying are not a joke, and death as we know it is not an end.

In the bible, only two men did not physically die. In the Old testament in Genesis 5:24 we read that

"Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away."

...and in 2 Kings 2:11 we read

"As they - Elijah and Elisha - were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind."

Enoch and Elijah did not die a physical death but everyone else must die physically. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died physically on the cross for us as he was brought into the world to do and we are also born to die.

However Jesus Christ rose again on the third day and was the first to die and ascend into heaven so that by his death and resurrection he could open the gates of eternity for us to have a new life after this one passes away.

In this present age or life we must prepare to die and prepare ourselves for burial before we are called. The choice is simple either you choose to die cold or hot by fire much like I was asked in my youth but you cannot be lukewarm.

If you HAPPEN to die cold or without God your eternity will be quite the opposite because the fires of hell and Hades will find you in death.

If you CHOOSE to die hot or on fire for God you need not worry about the heat because we are told in Revelation 7:16 that "Neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat".

If you die lukewarm or undecided it is too late because Gods final judgment will be on you.

In John’s book of Revelation at the great white throne or the throne of Judgment, the dead are summoned before God. If their names are not found in the Book of Life or the Lambs book of Life they were judged according to their deeds and condemned to Hell as we read in Revelation 20:11-13:

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.”

Hades and Hell in the bible are found only in the New Testament. Hades comes from the Hebrew word Sheol and is mentioned 5 Times and is a Greek word for the underworld which is the realm of the dead. Of the 5 Times Hades is mentioned all but one found in Revelation with the exception being Matthew 16:18.

Jesus Christ holds the keys to hell and hades in the bible, and by virtue of our salvation - which we cannot loose unless we blasphemy the Holy Spirit- he will keep us from it as we read in Revelation 1:18:

“I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

You can escape or hide from God as you live and breathe but in death you cannot escape him.

Everyone who lives must die and everyone who dies will be judged. Everyone - those who are believers and those who are not - the dead both great and small as we read in verse 12 by him who is seated on the throne. We also read in Matthew 25:32-33 that

“All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.”

Jesus the judge of everyone and for believers our Sheppard will separate us one from another the sheep and goats or those that belong to him the believers and those that do not belong to him the unbelievers as a good Sheppard must do each night.

The sheep here are believers who belong to the Sheppard and they will be placed on the right the place of honor and the goats that are not his or are unbelievers will be placed on the left.

If your name is in the Lambs book of Life – and the book of life – heaven will be your reward because God says of Heaven in Revelation 21:27 that

“Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will be allowed to enter."

This book like the Book of Life is not an actual book but here it serves as God’s registry listing those that belong to him. To reach heaven and stand in the presence of the almighty your name must be found in this book – as well as the Book of Life – and if it is not the final judgment will be swift and terrible for those whose names are not found.

To be sealed by God and redeemed by Jesus Christ you must accept Jesus Christ and bring God into your life. In Matthew 10:32-33 Jesus said that

“Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.”

In the final judgment when you appear before God the father and Jesus Christ the son you want to hear the Lord say to you:

“Well done, good and faithful servant”

...and not hear the words:

“I never knew you. Away from me you worker of iniquity”.

The choice is yours but can only be made while you are still among the living.

But we must remember that hell and Hades were not created by God for mankind and man was not intended to go there. It was created for Satan - the devil and his angels.

When those that have accepted Jesus Christ are judged it will be like an awards banquet where the earthly works and deeds are recounted. I like to think of it as being accepted into Gods hall of fame.

For those that have not accepted Jesus Christ it will be more like beggars banquet or Gods hall of shame where they will beg God to ignore their shameful earthly existence and spare them.

But they will be banished from the presence of God and be sent to away because of their rejection no matter how good their works on earth were they will not be saved.

For us as believers scripture tells us that a day will come when

“God by Jesus Christ will judge everyone’s secret life” - Romans 2:16

...and he will:

“Judge of all the world”

...and he will:

judge all people according to what they have done"

In Romans 2:5-6 so that:

“each of us will stand personally before the judgment seat of God”

and

“Each of us will have to give a personal account to God." - Romans 14:10 and 12.

Why? because in Hebrews 9:27 it says:

"It is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment."

How you live your life now is what matters so that you can store your treasures up in heaven.

If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior as you lived, death will seal your eternal fate.

Hell and Hades in the bible will become a reality for you - forever...