Do you want to live forever? Our all-loving Creator and Savior Jesus has gone to prepare the perfect place for us and will soon come to receive us to Himself (Jn 14:3). For eternity you may live the ideal human life, so good that “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1Cor 2:9). Who in their right mind wouldn't want this? Jesus rhetorically asked,

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Matt 16:26.

Eternal Life in fellowship with your Creator is worth far more than anything else you might desire. So how does one obtain it. And once received, how could one lose it? In this article I want to show you the Bible’s answers to these incredibly important questions.

Eternal Life is Free and Very Easy for You to Obtain

We find the minimum conditions for receiving salvation, eternal life, in the Bible’s most famous verse:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jn 3:16.

There is only one condition. Belief in Jesus, the Son of God. Whosoever has this will have everlasting life. What exactly is meant by “everlasting life” here? Jesus explained, "whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die" (Jn 11:26). As you would expect, “everlasting life” means never dying. And believing in Jesus is the only condition for it. 

Is living forever really this easy? A third witness says it is…

And the keeper of the prison…fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:27, 29-31.

What exactly does it mean to believe in Jesus?

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. Rom 3:22.

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungody, his faith is counted for righteousness. Rom 4:5.

We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken. 2Cor 4:13.

The promise by faith of Jesus Christ…given to them that believe. Gal 3:22.

But without faith it is impossible to please him [God]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Heb 11:6.

All these texts use belief and faith interchangeably. This helps us notice an Old Testament witness to the single condition for obtaining eternal life: “The just shall live [forever] by his faith” (Hab 2:4).

So what exactly is faith? Heb 11:1 famously defines it: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” This definition bears repeating. Faith is simply assurance, conviction, certainty. A few verses later, Heb 11:6 says,

Without faith it is impossible to please him [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

In other words, without solid conviction we can’t please God. To draw near Him we must be sure that He exists and be sure that He rewards those who seek Him. To “believe in Jesus” is to be sure that He is as the Word of God says He is, the condescended, sacrificed, resurrected Savior of mankind and be sure that He will give eternal life to those who look to Him for it. We need not know everything about the Bible, everything about the Gospel, nor everything about Jesus to obtain what we seek. We need not become “good enough.” We need only to be sure Jesus is our personal Savior and count on His promise to give believers eternal life!

This assurance is something we simply choose to have. The choice costs us nothing and this is why eternal life is said to be “the free gift”:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 6:23.

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. Rom 4:4-5.

For if, because of one man’s trespass [Adam’s sin], death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in [eternal] life through the one man Jesus Christ. Rom 5:17.

Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of [eternal] life without price. Rev 22:17.

Once Obtained, Eternal Life Cannot Be Lost

Since “eternal life” means never dying (Jn 3:16 & 11:26), a person cannot believe in Jesus, receive eternal life and then later lose that life. Were a believer to ever truly lose his life, it would prove that he never received eternal/unending life in the first place as biblically promised. The saying “once saved, always saved” is true. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1Jn 5:13). Believers should know, they should be certain that they will never truly die (the “second death,” Rev 20:14).

Paul knew and was certain of this. He wrote,

For those whom he [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Rom 8:29-30.

The phrase “those whom he justified he also glorified” means all those who get saved (are justified) will be found glorified in the Eternal State at last. A few verses later Paul wrote, “I am sure that neither…[our] life, nor [evil] angels…nor things present nor things to come…nor anything else…will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39). If any potential persisting sins in the future (“things to come” in “life”) are in any way able to cause a born-again Christian to eventually end up cast into the Lake of Fire, then Paul had a false confidence that nothing could separate him from God’s love. The whole point of the Second Death is permanent separation from God’s love. Thus, Paul’s surety in Rom 8:38-39 is an expression of “once saved, always saved.”

Jesus said,

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Jn 5:24.

When one places their faith in God and is saved, he/she passes from death unto life and thereafter “shall not come into condemnation.” This is why Paul wrote, “you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him [Christ], were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Eph 1:13). What is this sealing for? “You were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30). The seal of God received when one first believes in Jesus means he/she will certainly be redeemed on his/her "day of redemption".

Jesus depicted receiving salvation as new birth (Jn 3). Someone born of the Spirit (vs 8) cannot later be unborn/unsaved just like someone born of a human mother cannot later be unborn.  Only those who have never been born are unborn. Only those who have never been saved are unsaved.

Example

We can see all this in the biblical example of the thief on the cross who received and was assured of his salvation the same hour.

And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him [Jesus], saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. Lk 23:39-43.

The thieves had no good works to speak of…they were getting what they deserved on the cross and knew it. But one saw in Jesus his Lord and Messiah and immediately received directly from Jesus the assurance that he would be taken to Paradise that very day. Eternal life is so free and easy that even a dying thief on a cross can obtain it!

I find it very interesting that Jesus gave assurance of salvation despite the fact that the thieves would both outlive Him on the cross (Jn 19:31-33). Imagine witnessing your Lord and Messiah die right next to you on a cross similar to yours. It must have been near impossible for the saved thief to hold onto his newfound faith after watching Jesus die. I really doubt the thief died (of suffocation due to a soldier breaking his legs) still believing in Jesus, given the circumstances. But whether he did or not, we know that as soon as he died, his spirit was with Jesus’ in Paradise. Jesus’ word to him could not have failed.

The Choice Is Yours

Do you want to live forever? Simply accept that Jesus is your personal Savior and count on Him for eternal life. Call upon Him with a sincere heart saying,

Jesus, Lord of all, remember me too when you come into your kingdom. I count on you for salvation from all sins, all guilt, all sadness, all sickness, all suffering and from the Second Death. I count on you for eternal life. I am sure you are my Savior and unending Life-giver, and your Word says my certainty of this is the only condition for my receiving salvation and eternal life from you. So I receive it! Praise God for His Son! Thank you Jesus for life everlasting!

Please do it now. Then, no matter what may come between now and then, you will one day begin to live forever in perfect bliss.