“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou have sent” (John 17:3; KJV).

What do you think of when you think of eternal life? I think most people would say it means life in heaven with God when we die and which even starts right here and now as we daily walk with Jesus. According to this verse eternal life means getting to know God. I assume that if we are going to spend eternity with God then we need to start getting to know him right now.

Obviously, that is not something we do just like that; we will spend the rest of our lives getting to know God. The Greek word for "know" is ginosko, which is coming to know God and his son in a personal way and experiencing Christ as our savior. We get to know God through his word, through prayer, worship and fellowship with him. No wonder Paul said in Philippians 3:10 that his major purpose in life was to get to know Jesus Christ more deeply and intimately, to share in his sufferings and to experience his life transforming power: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Phil 3:10).  As Christians that should be our goal too.

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God gave me a vision of a church full of people who had no revelation of God's word and no power to live the life he gives or change the world around them. He showed me these people leaving the church and going into the world; then I lost track of them, they were no different from everyone else.

My response was one of sadness that they missed out on all God had for them. God's response was a little different: "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold or hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Rev.3: 15-16; KJV).

Two stark verses but so worthy of our attention. Lukewarm is neither hot nor cold; these are the churchgoers sitting on the fence. Sitting on a fence must be uncomfortable. These people feel being in church is good insurance but they are not sold out for God. I am not sure how people can claim to be Christian if they are not sold out for God; if they are not hot. If people are cold, then at least they are honest and God can meet them at that point.

To be lukewarm is to be deceived, full of pride, trusting in our own resources (Rev 3:17), with no real perceived need of God. Notice, in verse 20 of chapter 3 of the book of Revelation, that Jesus pleads with people in the church to open the door of their lives to him, and take note he is addressing the church. We need him; only he is the source of abundant life (John 10:10) and the power to change us (Rom 8:11).

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We each of us are spiritual beings, living in a body and having a soul which is our mind, will and emotions (1 Thess 5:23). In the first letter of Peter chapter one, the apostle Peter talks about salvation. Salvation means to be spiritually reborn, born again or saved (John 3:3-8). We are saved from the spiritual death (Rom 6:23) that resulted from our sinful life prior to us becoming a Christian. We are spiritually saved or born again by repenting of sin and asking Jesus into our life as Lord and Savior (Acts 3:19; Rom 10:9-10). Salvation encompasses forgiveness, restoration, prosperity, protection, safety, healing, preservation, joy, eternal life and so much more. This is all available to us when we are saved and is referred to in 1 Peter 1:3.

However, verses 4,5 and 9, of the first chapter of the apostle Peter’s first letter, also refer to the promise of the completion of our salvation, or final salvation as we meet our Lord and savior in heaven at the end of our life on this earth. This is the continuation in heaven of our eternal life, which started when we asked Christ into our lives here on this earth.

The Apostle Peter also talks about how God by his power (Greek word dunamis, from which we get the English word, dynamite) keeps us in this present life (v 5). He works in us to grow and change us to be more like him (Phil 1:6) and to protect us and keep us for our final reward of eternal life in heaven (Ps 91:17a). Wow, what an awesome journey!

God has us covered; all we have to do is submit (James 4:7,8,10) and cooperate with him. How do we cooperate as Christians? Start with prayer and immersing yourself in the Bible.

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In Romans chapter 7 verse 14 through to chapter 8 verse 2 the apostle Paul describes the struggle he and we as Christians face. Our spirit is born again but not our soul and body (John 3:1-6). We are instructed to renew our minds with God's word (Rom 12:2) and discipline our bodies (1 Cor 9:27). In Romans chapter 7, Paul laments that his spirit desires to do good but his mind and body tend toward sin and carnality.

However, as born-again Christians we have the Holy Spirit in us (1 Cor 6:19) and the word of God. Paul teaches us in Romans Chapter 8 verse 1-2: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death".

Paul is saying that as Christians God does not condemn us because our new life in Christ has set us free from the spiritual death that resulted from our old life of sin. As we strengthen our spirit by allowing the Holy Spirit to bring us revelation of God's word (John 14:26), we can bring our soul and body into subjection to our spirit, directed by the Holy Spirit and God’s word. We as Paul, can walk in victory, the: “Life in Christ Jesus”. The power of the Holy Spirit enables us in this process (Rom 8:11); he helps us to change (Gal 5:22-23). We cannot change in our own strength.

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  Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.

When it comes to humility Jesus is our example. In Philippians 2:5-9 (KJV) we have the description of how Jesus gave up all the privileges of heaven and came to earth and: "took upon himself the form of a servant". In verse 5 of that chapter we are told to let Jesus be our example in humility.

We have another great example of Jesus humbling himself and becoming a servant in John 13:14-15: "If I then your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you”.

We also learn very clearly from these verses that we need to do the same thing for our fellow believers; in fact, the command is stated twice! “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Enough said!

If we want to be like Jesus and be obedient then we must serve one another. For some people serving comes naturally; they have a servant’s heart, others of us have to work at it a little harder. Nevertheless, there is great blessing in serving others, because: “when you do it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you do it unto me”, (Matt. 25:40).

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Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.