What is Eternal Life? It is to know (ginosko) Jesus personally (John 17:4). Eternal life is Eternal, and in the final analysis only God is eternal. Therefore, eternal life is the very life of God, given to all those who repent of their sins and trust the Lord Jesus as both Lord and Savior and Him alone. Eternal life is a gift, and one who has surrendered his life to the Lord Jesus Christ knows he has eternal life the moment He comes to Christ. Moreover, he is not arrogant to confess this assurance, but so grateful and so filled with joy that he is moved to share it with others. As the Apostle Paul said, “Unto me who am les than the least (the Greek read “leaster”) is this grace given that I may share among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).
However, while eternal life is present, glorious, and knowable, it is not static. It is dynamic, living, inexhaustible, immeasurable. Thus Paul commands us in 1 Timothy 6:12b, “Lay hold of eternal life.” These words mean to “get a grip” on the realities of eternal life. Jesus teaches the same truth when He promises, “I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10b). Yet most believers are content to have it but not eager to have it more abundantly and much less to live it. No believer should be content to stop with anything less.
But how do we “lay hold upon” Eternal Life? By understanding that eternal life – God’s kind of life – is available to us through His Son Jesus Christ and through Him alone. That is generally understood by all evangelicals. “And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11). But what is not generally understood is that the life which Jesus gives is resurrection life, and only those who have died can experience it. Thus in the kingdom of God, we die in order to live. “I have been crucified (passive verb) with Christ, nevertheless I live…” (Gal. 2:20). Note, Paul did not say he crucified himself but had been crucified, meaning another had done it for him. No person can crucify himself. It is a physical impossibility. One may commit suicide in many ways, but if he ever dies by crucifixion, some one else will put him on the cross. That someone is the Holy Spirit. “If we live after the flesh but if we through the aid of the Holy Spirit cause to put to death the deeds of the body (the old self life), we shall live” (Romans 8:13). However, while we cannot crucify ourselves we must give the Holy Spirit the permission to do so.
An experience of a dear pastor whom I knew and adored illustrates what I have just uttered. “An experience some years ago brought home to me this aspect of the Holy Spirit’s ministry. We had at that time a pet dog named Skipper which had won his way into our affections- especially those of our children. One day Skipper was struck by a passing automobile. Though he recovered in a measure from his injury, Skipper was never himself again. His disposition was ruined and he became a problem in the neighborhood. One day after he had snapped at my little daughter I sent him to the veterinarian for observation. The doctor explained that sometimes a dog’s disposition was permanently altered by an injury of that nature. He stated that Skipper would probably be a dangerous pet to have with little children in the home and frankly advised me to put him out of the way.
The veterinarian had made his recommendation. He stood ready to carry out the course that he had advised. But the problem was mine – the dog was mine, and the children were mine. It was my responsibility to say the word, and I said it.”[1]
My friend’s relationship to Skipper reveals the position which the believer must take in regard to self. This attitude is described by Paul in Romans 6:11 where he commands, “Even so reckon yourself also to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus.” The verb “reckon” is a present, imperative, meaning “to continue to consider that you died when Christ died to the self life. This does not mean that sin can no longer appeal to you, nor does it render us incapable of responding. But it does mean that when we affirm and believe in our heart that Christ has given us power not to sin the battle is won. The crucifixion has already taken place. By faith we must accept the bearings God has given us and hold to the course in a steady reckoning.
To grasp this truth is to “lay hold upon” eternal life and live eternal life more abundantly. Failure to grasp this “death-life” principle has cheated God’s people of the victory of the cross and resurrection, leaving them and the church anemic in its life and witness. May it not be true in your life. “Lay hold of Eternal Life.”
[1] Ralph A. Herring, God Being My Helper, Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1955, pp.25-26.