NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES
3 3433 06824975 8
^y?^
a-
\
■ — \
FL
■*• rt'oi.!SKr^i:?s' r'
What is Eternal Life?
WIRT DEXTER BINGHAM
S--^>V
Copyright, 1910
By M3LLISENT BINGHAM
Printed by
The Stanley-Taylor Company
San Francisco
Sntrolittction
''And this is life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent." — John iy:s.
After all, words are not very adequate vehicles
for the expression of thought. This phrase, life
eternal, for instance, doubtless brings up in your
mind and in mine, varying ideas as to what is
included therein. And yet, if you and I do
not get from this phrase the meaning which
Christ, the speaker, intended, it should bear, we
must necessarily have a false idea, or an entirely
inadequate one, of what it really means.
It is quite a usual custom for people to import
into written words their own conceptions. In-
stead of taking from a verse of the Bible that
meaning which Christ put into it, they put into
the verse their own conceptions, and imagine that
they are getting Christ's meaning, when this is
not the case at all.
This is, and has been for many centuries, the
cause of more religious confusion than any other
one thing; and the prevalence of fragmentary
iv INTRODUCTION
Bible study has undoubtedly contributed to this
result. Also the too-common custom among
ministers of selecting for a text a verse of the
Bible, and from that text landing almost any-
where, is another cause of mental confusion.
It is often quite possible to land almost any-
where by selecting one verse of the Bible for
a text, and preaching a whole sermon from it.
Witness the many ministers during and previous
to the Civil War, who defended slavery from
the pulpit. Witness today the defense of poly-
gamy among the Mormons.
All we have to do to land almost anywhere is
to take from the Bible what seems desirable to us,
and let the rest go. Instead of extracting the
real Christ-given meaning from a verse by
checking it up with the rest of Christ's words,
and thus getting the real meaning, the custom
has been too common for the minister to take
the text and import quantities of his own con-
ceptions and ideas into it.
The result of this course of proceeding must
be that our conceptions are often wrong, even
where we think we are right. We cannot take
truth in teaspoon doses and have any reasonable
assurance that it is the truth.
INTRODUCTION v
Truth, as given in the Gospel of Christ, is a
veritable network, each strand of which supports
not only one, but many other strands; and one
could not be truly said to have a fair under-
standing of any truth therein contained, except
they possess a fair understanding of every other
supporting truth there given.
Truth is not composed of many different
fragments placed together, but is in itself a
perfect and complete whole. The moment any
part of truth is detached from the main body
which supports it, it becomes not only a possi-
bility to force this fragment of truth into a
meaning entirely foreign to it, but an almost
inevitable consequence of such detachment; this
part not being in its true position in the arch
of truth, the whole structure is slightly deranged.
Let us, then, endeavor by every means in our
power to fill out the meaning of the phrase life
eternal in the way in which Christ intended it
should be filled out. Let us endeavor to extract
all that fullness of meaning from these words
that Christ intended they should contain.
In order that we may get this full meaning, and
get it correctly, there appears to be but one
course of action open to us, and that is : To
vi INTRODUCTION
search the Gospel of Christ for other refer-
ences to this same thing — eternal life.
You notice I say this same thing, and not
these same words — eternal life. There are other
expressions which Christ uses to convey this
meaning, as, everlasting life. Everlasting means
eternal. According to Webster, these two words
are synonyms, the only difference being that
eternal means without beginning and without
end; while everlasting simply means without
end. Therefore, as applied to all beings having
a definite beginning, eternal must refer to the
future only, and is absolutely identical in mean-
ing with everlasting whenever so used.
What we seek is the meaning, — be the words
what they may. We seek Christ's conception of
the thing itself.
By taking all references which Christ makes
to eternal life and placing them together, we shall
obtain the fullness of his meaning, with least
chance of error.
If at any time it may appear that I wander
from the subject, or repeat the same quotation
with what seems undue frequency, I trust that
you will bear in mind what I have said about the
whole network of truth, and remember that I am
INTRODUCTION vii
trying to make plain some of these supporting
strands, without which a proper conception of
any single one strand would be impossible.
This will also render apparent the necessity
for quoting a much larger proportion of Scrip-
ture than is usual in works of this nature, but
I trust the high prize sought for: truth as in-
terpreted by Truth ; truth as interpreted by
Christ, may be ample excuse for inflicting as few
interruptions of my own upon you as can be got
along with. Certainly the more we can interpret
the words of Christ by the words of Christ, the
less our chance of error.
In this attempt I must also ask your kind
indiilgence toward my shortcomings, since I
shall unquestionably fall very far short of doing
this work as I should like to do it.
Wirt Dexter Bingham.
Santa Monica, California,
April 25, 1909.
ig eternal Hife?
Section i. "And this is life eternal, that Definition of
• 1 1 11 ^11 eternal life
they might know thee the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." — John 17: 3.
First we learn as above, that life eternal is:
to know God and Jesus Christ; that is, he that
merely knows them Ms eternal life.
We have all been acquainted with notable
members of that class of people who continually
misinterpret the motives of others, even when
those others are noble-minded people, imputing
to their noblest actions motives of self-interest —
the motives which under the sairie circumstances
would actuate them. They not only appear to
be, but really are, unable to conceive of anybody
doing a noble act, untinged by motives of self-
interest.
For instance, you have all probably come in
contact with people whose sole idea of honesty
is to keep within the law ; in whose opinion
any act is all right which cannot be punished by
process of law. They could no more understand
any one being honest for the sake of honesty
itself, than they could sprout out wings and fly.
2 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
These are the people who say, when they hear
of any noteworthy, honest action — such as a
man's returning a pocketbook found containing
a large sum of money: *'What a fool he was,
why didn't he keep it? He needed the money."
So it is with them; anybody who does any
action of this kind is, in their estimation, either
a fool or a religious crank. Such an act is
beyond their comprehension; they do not know
honesty.
The mere power to comprehend in its fullness
a noble act, is from the same block as the act
itself — of the same spirit. In order therefore to
know God; to comprehend* him — not his infin-
ity, but the motives of his doing — we must par-
* Webster would doubtless take exception to this use of the
word comprehend, since he says: "The very idea of God sup-
poses that he may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by
rational beings."
Now, nothing can be surer than that God comprehends him-
self. Paul says: "For ye are the temple of the living God;
as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and
I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (II Cor.
6: 16.) In so far, then as God does dwell in us, in so far as
we are one with him; in just that measure do we comprehend
him.
Therefore the word comprehend in this limited use, expresses
the meaning I wish to convey better than apprehend, which
means to mentally grasp. Now one cannot know God by the
mind alone; the process of knowing God involves the heart and
soul as well as the mind.
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 3
take of his nature. That Spirit which is in him
must also be in us.
If then that Spirit be in us which is in him,
shall we not have eternal life? Are not both
God and the Spirit of God eternal?
If his Spirit forms a part of us, we shall be
eternal as he is eternal; consequently to know
God is eternal life — to merely know him.
We can only learn to know God through the
words and life of Christ: "No man cometh unto
the Father, but by me." (John 14:6.) There-
fore he who learns to know God, must also learn
to know Christ, since knowledge of both is
therein contained.
Section 2. In John 6 : 27, we find : "Labor Labor
not for the meat which perisheth, but for that "btafrthe^''
meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which meat of
the Son of man shall give unto you." ^^"'^'' ^^'^'^
Everlasting life, as we have seen, expresses
the same meaning as eternal life and thus we
have here another conception of eternal life. We
are instructed to labor for that meat which en-
dureth unto eternal life — which Christ gives
unto us.
On looking around to see what possessions
Christ has left unto us, we find that there is but
4 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
one — his Gospel, which he has given unto us;
that he has sacrificed his Hfe for us, in order
that he might leave to every individual man,
woman, and child as a precious personal pos-
session, his Holy Gospel.
But every personal possession we own is valu-
able according to the use we make of it, and
the word of Christ is no exception to this rule.
If we make no use of it, save as a parlor orna-
ment, that will be the extent of its value to us.
If, on the other hand, we regard it as a most
precious personal possession, and labor diligently
for that meat — the true meaning, which is in it;
if we make that meat our own, it will endure in
us unto eternal life, and thus be to us more
precious than all things.
The meat is there, but requires labor to ex-
tract it, to make it our own; even as God has
made it necessary that all the fruits of the earth
require labor expended upon them, in order to
make them useful to man ; whether merely gath-
ering, as in the case of wild fruits, or elaborate
processes of manufacture, as in the case of cot-
ton. Some form of labor is necessary in every
case. So he has also made it necessary in order
to accumulate spiritual possessions — heavenly
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 5
treasures, that we must labor ; and the extent of
our spiritual possessions will be in proportion to
the amount of labor expended in their acquire-
ment, differences of soil and climate considered.
By soil I mean the individual nature of the man,
that in which the seed, or word of God, grows ;*
and by climate, the environment of the man.
The meat which the Gospel contains is surely
a right understanding of the word, that inter-
pretation which Christ himself intended it should
bear. If we get any other interpretation than
this, we get that out of it which Christ did not
put into it, and it consequently cannot be that
meat.
The meat, then, is not the mere words of the
Gospel, but the real Christ-given meaning back
of them. The word itself is but the lifeless
husk, open sometimes to many different interpre-
tations; the real meaning of the word is that
meat for which we must labor, sifting, comparing,
deriving, with God's help, that completeness
of meaning from the four Gospels, which any
single one of them must necessarily give in-
adequately.
* "Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.
(Luke 8: 11.)
6 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
Christ's Gospel SECTION 3. In Tohn 4 : 13, 14, we find: "Jesus
is the water , ^, ./ \ \^7. , . , .
of life answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh
of this water shall thirst again:
''But whosoever drinketh of the water that I
shall give him shall never thirst; but the water
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water springing up into everlasting life."
Here again we have everlasting life, which to
us is the same as eternal life. Hence he that
drinks of the water that Christ gives has eternal
life. And what is this water that Christ has
given us? Again we see that the only direct
possession that Christ has given to all men is his
Gospel.
He has given his life for all men, but his Gos-
pel to all men; hence his Gospel being the only
possession which he has bequeathed directly to
us individually, must be this water, or must con-
tain this water of life. Whichever be the case
is without importance, as long as we know where
this water is, and how to drink it; and it is
plainly evident that there is but one way in which
this water may be absorbed into ourselves, and
that is to read and meditate on the Gospel
wherein this water is, and it will thereby be in
us a well of water springing up into eternal life.
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 7
It were desirable that we drink abundantly, in
order that the well may be a deep one, and that
the water of life which flows from it may be most
plentiful ; for why should we have but a little
rill of this water in us, when we may have a deep
and abundant flow?
Why should we have but a little eternal life,
perfect though it be, when we may have a deep
and abundant eternal (spiritual) life? For
Christ has given to us that very inexhaustible
well from which he derived his own eternal life,
— the word of God.
Section 4. Continuing we find in John 6 : 54 Christ's flesh
and 63: "Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh ^^^ ^^^^'^ '"
my blood hath eternal life" ; and in further ex- meaning of
planation, 'Tt is the spirit that quickeneth; the ^f^^.^/^^
flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
What does this mean? It surely must mean
that the life, — the eternal life — is in the words
that Christ speaks, and that the flesh profits noth-
ing as flesh, but only as the Word. You recollect
John 1:14: "And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us."
There is also a further lesson here, in the
manner in which he speaks of eating his flesh.
8 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
Part of the food that we eat every day builds
up our physical self, becomes a part of our out-
ward self. In the same way this flesh of Christ,
the real meaning of the word, which we absorb
each day, builds up our spiritual self, becomes
a part of our inward self.
This likewise explains many references made
by Christ to being in us: as in John 14: 20, **At
that day ye shall know that I am in my Father,
and ye in me, and I in you." If then, Christ be
in us ; being, as he is, eternal, if he be a part of
us ; must we not be eternal, in so far as he
is a part of us? And if we are in Christ, form
a part of Christ, must we not be eternal, in so far
as we are part of Christ?
Referring to the verse at the beginning of
this section we find that Christ says we must
not only eat his flesh, but drink his blood, to
have eternal life.
What was the blood of Christ, spiritually
speaking? It must have been that from which
his spiritual self was built up. Since b^ood is
that by means of which the physical man is built
up, and as it is derived from food; so, in a
spiritual sense, the blood of Christ must be taken
to mean that from which the spiritual man is
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 9
built up, that food which gives Hfe to the spiri-
tual man.
Now, in seeking what gave life to the spiritual
part of Jesus, we find the following verse: "As
the living Father sent me, and / live by the
Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live
by me." (John 6: 57.) Since blood is that which
gives life to the physical man, it follows, spiri-
tually speaking, that the Father must have been
that blood which gave life to Christ. And, since
the Father could not dwell in Christ bodily, it
must have been by means of his Spirit, his in-
most self, that he gave life unto Christ.
Hence we find that to drink the blood of Christ
is to absorb into ourselves the Spirit of the
Father. And, therefore, to eat the flesh and
drink the blood of Christ means: to read the
word and absorb into ourselves the Spirit of
God. He that does this has eternal life.
Now there is another reference in John 6:51,
which would properly come under this section,
'T am the living bread which came down from
heaven: if any man eat of this bread he shall
live forever: and the bread that I will give is
my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world." To live forever is eternal life, as re-
10 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
gards all beings having a definite beginning.
This verse fills in, and renders more forcible, the
matter we have just discussed.
There is here no reference to the blood, but
this in no way disturbs the correctness of our
previous conclusions ; since to "eat of this bread"
obviously means to absorb into ourselves the
true meaning of the word, and he who does this
absorbs into himself the Spirit of God. For
does not Paul say: "Even so the things of God
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." (I Cor.
2:11.) If, therefore, we know the things of
God, by absorbing into ourselves the true mean-
ing of the word, it is not we that know them,
but the Spirit of God in us.
Christ says: "It is the spirit that quickeneth;
the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I
speak unto you they are spirit, and they are Hfe."
(John 6:63.) It is plain that when Christ says
his words are spirit, and are life, that he does
not mean the mere symbols, but the true mean-
ings which those symbols are intended to convey.
Therefore the definition of eternal life which
we derive from this section is: eternal life is to
eat the flesh, and drink the blood of Christ;
which means to read the word of God, and ab-
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? ii
sorb into ourselves the Spirit of God; or, what
is the same thing, to absorb into ourselves the
true meaning of the word of God.
That Christ spoke the verses above in the sense
in which they are here interpreted is rendered
clear, not only by the verses themselves and
their agreement with each other, but by the
fact that his mission upon earth was a spiri-
tual one, to give unto men eternal — that is,
spiritual — life.
Section 5. Continuing we find in John 12: The under-
49, 50 : "But the Father which sent me, he gave standing of
me a commandment, what I should say, and what mandment is
I should speak. And I know that his command- eternal life
ment is life everlasting."
We have here life everlasting again, which is,
in respect to us, the very meaning of eternal life.
These words which Christ speaks are the com-
mandment of God, which is eternal life. If then
these words, this commandment, be absorbed into
us, become a part of us, shall we not have eternal
life? If in the case of Jesus "the Word was
made flesh," in our case also shall not the word
be made flesh?
Shall we not by this -method become one with
Christ? as mentioned in John 17:21 and 23:
12 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
''That they all may be one; as thou, Father art
in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one
in us." "I in them, and thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one." If our will on all
matters be changed by this absorbed word so as
to coincide with God's will, shall we not be one
in Christ, and through him in God also?
Who can deny that this absorbed word of God
will produce this result? None surely of those
who in true humility of heart unceasingly search
the word of God for light, submitting their wills
unto the will of God, until finally they find their
will is becoming by the marvelous influence of
Christ changed so as to be more and more like
unto God's will, until at last when we are per-
fected in Christ, our will shall become even as
the will of God on all matters whatever.
Who can deny that while this changing process
is going on, Christ dwells in such ? Yes, that by
the blessed influence of Christ himself, this
change is produced?
Our definition of eternal Hfe here then is, —
eternal life is the commandment of God which
is the word of Christ.
He that has in him the true meaning of the
commandment of God has eternal life.
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 13
Section 6. We find in John 5 : 24 : ''Verily ^^^p
meditation
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, necessary
and believeth on him that sent me, hath ever-
lasting life; and shall not come into condemna-
tion ; but is passed from death unto life." Here
we have everlasting life again, which is equiva-
lent to eternal life.
Then eternal life is here composed of two
things, — first, the hearing of the word; second,
the believing on him that sent him. Had these
things not both been necessary Christ would not
have put them here. The inference is plain that
the process of hearing should be followed in
natural order by the process of believing on him
that sent him ; and this believing does not, of
course, mean a mere assent to the existence and
supreme power of God, but carries with it the
idea that we must, in some satisfactory degree,
know God; that we must know — comprehend —
his character as well as apprehend his power;
for how can we believe on that which we know
not, and how can we know without compre-
hending ?
Words are dead things. Ideas, thoughts, are
live things. Mere assent to the existence of God
and his supreme power is a dead thing. To
14
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
To believe on
Christ is to
seek the honor
that comes
from God
know God, to comprehend his character is a Hve
thing, and therein is eternal Hfe. The power to
know God and comprehend his character can
only be reached through Jesus Christ — through
his word.
God is as far above man as the heavens are
above the earth ; man cannot therefore know and
comprehend God's character in any way what-
ever, save by the Spirit of God which he gives
unto us through the medium of his Holy Word ;
and this endowment with God's Spirit and conse-
quent comprehension of his character, with the
eternal life following, is not, and cannot be, the
result of mere formal reading, but of deep medi-
tation and thought on what we read.
Section 7. We find in John 6 : 47 : "Verily,
verily, I say unto you. He that believeth on me
hath everlasting life."
Here again we have everlasting, to which
eternal is equivalent when applied to the future
life of man, and thus we have another definition
of eternal life.
To believe on Jesus Christ is eternal life.
Here we have a word, believe, to which we are
liable to attribute a wrong meaning, or at least
an entirely inadequate one, if we are not very
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 15
careful ; as previoiusly mentioned we are apt to
put our own meaning into a word, that meaning
to which we have been accustomed, instead of
that meaning which Christ has put into the word.
Now in John 5 : 44, Christ says respecting the
word beheve : *'How can ye believe, which re-
ceive honor one of another, and seek not the
honor that cometh from God only?" Here his
inference is plain, a direct statement put in the
form of a question, that no persons can believe
who receive honor one of another, and seek not
that honor which comes from God only.
Here he makes plain that his use of the word
believe is not intended to convey merely the
meaning of mental assent to the fact that he is
the Son of God, and that we have eternal life
through him, though that meaning is also in-
cluded; but this belief to which he refers is
incompatible with any other condition of heart,
than that condition which seeks the honor that
comes from God only.
Do we seek this? Here then is a test by which
we may know whether or not we possess a
belief unto eternal life. It is evident that we
must seek the honor which comes from God first
of all, since Christ says respecting the very
i6 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
necessities of life : "But seek ye first the king-
dom of God, and his righteousness; and all
these things shall be added unto you." (Mat-
thew 6: 33.)
If then as between the very necessities of
physical life and God's righteousness we are to
seek first God's righteousness, how much more
ought we to seek first the honor which comes
only from God, as between the honor which
comes from man, and that which comes from
God only. For physical life cannot be main-
tained without food and clothing, but to be hon-
ored of men is not necessary either to physical
or spiritual life.
It is clear from what has been said that no
man is able to possess a belief unto eternal life
except he seek first of all that honor which
comes only from God ; for if he seeks that honor
second it is apparent that he will be in the posi-
tion of a man trying to serve two masters, and
Christ has said: '*No man can serve two mas-
ters." (Matthew 6:24.)
Therefore the man who seeks first the honor
which comes from man, and second the honor
that comes only from God, cannot be a servant
of God, and hence cannot have eternal life, or
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 17
that belief in Christ which is equivalent to
eternal life.
Section 8. In John 8:51 we find: "V^erily, He in whom
verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, Christ's words
he shall never see death." Now never to see eternal life
death means eternal life, to us ; hence it follows
that eternal life is to keep Christ's saying. And
how can a man keep Christ's saying except he
first know the saying, and how can he really
know it except he read it diligently, and medi-
tate upon it without ceasing? For no man can
really know the saying of Christ except he under-
stand it.
He that keeps the saying of Christ must have
in himself the power of Christ, since the power
of man is not sufficient to keep the command-
ment of God perfectly; and that power of
Christ was by and through the word of God.
(John 12:49.) ''For I have not spoken of my-
self; but the Father which sent me, he gave me
a commandment, what I should say and what I
should speak.
"And I know that his commandment is life
everlasting."
Therefore in man also must this power of
Christ be by and through the word of God.
i8 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
Christ says in John 15:4: ''Abide in me, and
I in you." In verse 7 of the same chapter he
says : "If ye abide in me, and my words abide
in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall
be done unto you." Can this be explained on any
other supposition than that he in whom Christ's
words abide, will abide in Christ? Then if he in
whom Christ's words abide, thereby has Christ's
words in himself, will not both the will and the
power of Christ be there also, — the will and the
power to keep Christ's saying? If then to keep
Christ's saying be eternal life, will this man not
have eternal life?
The righteous- SECTION 9. In Matthew 25 : 46, we find : "And
"T ^ftith is these shall go away into everlasting punishment :
eternal life but the righteous iuto life eternal."
Here we learn that to be righteous is eternal
life. Now we know that God only is righteous,
in thought, word, and deed. Therefore it may
well occur to us to consider whether any save
God or Christ — 'T and my Father are one" —
shall ever attain to eternal life.
We know that no man, as a man, has ever
attained or ever can attain to absolute righteous-
ness, since Christ says: "There is none good
but one, that is, God," (Matthew 19:17), and
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 19
since he also says concerning himself: "and the
third day I shall be perfected." (Luke 13:32.)
If then, even Jesus Christ did not regard him-
self as perfect while still in the flesh, it is plain
that none other can be perfect until after the
death of the physical man. We therefore know
that this life is for us a progress towards per-
fection— toward absolute righteousness; but
that we shall not reach this condition until we
are released from the bonds of the flesh; until
we are perfected in Christ and become one in
him.
Then shall we be perfect, as Christ has com-
manded us: *'Be ye therefore perfect, even as
your Father which is in heaven is perfect,"
(Matthew 5:48.)
Yet, though because of the bond of the flesh,
perfect righteousness is not possible to us here,
still that righteousness which is by faith in
Jesus Christ, and which has been mercifully or-
dained of God for men is possible to us.
For we can only have faith concerning those
things which are not yet perfectly attained to.
As Paul says in Hebrews 11: i, ''Now faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen." If then there was no further
20 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
righteousness to hope for, faith would not be
possible, since faith can only exist concerning
those things not yet entirely known or at-
tained to.
Hence it is not possible that men should reach
a condition of absolute righteousness here, since
to do so would be to render faith impossible,
while man is saved by faith.
If then our righteousness is through faith
only, let us be mighty in faith in order that we
may also here upon earth be mighty in righteous-
ness. And though we cannot of ourselves have
faith, let us even say to Christ as the apostles
said, "increase our faith" ; for Christ is both
the beginner and finisher of our faith, and
except as we know and acknowledge our own
helplessness in the matter, Christ cannot help us,
since we must first put ourselves into his hands.
As Paul says in Hebrews 12:2, "Looking unto
Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."
Let us therefore have that righteousness which
is by faith, in order that we may also have
eternal life, for to be righteous is eternal life.
As Paul also says in Romans 10: 17, "So then
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God."
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 21
Section 10. In Luke 10:25 to 28 we find: Power to love
^ God and our
"And behold, a certain lawyer stood' up, and neighbor comes
tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to ^ "^' ^^ *°
inherit eternal life? " the Spirit of
''He said unto him what is written in the law? ^°^- ^*"^y
of Christ's
how readest thou? words
''And he answering said. Thou shalt love the necessary
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all
thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.
"And he said unto him. Thou hast answered
right; this do, and thou shalt live."
Here then we find it is eternal life, — to love
the Lord with all thy heart, and soul, and
strength, and mind, and thy neighbor as thy-
self.
"With all thy heart." That men are endowed
with talents in different degree is apparent as we
look around us and observe our fellows ; so
perhaps it is unnecessary to do more than refer
to the parable of the talents, in which Christ
makes this truth apparent, and also the related
truth that we are rewarded according to the
use we make of those talents which God gives us.
For instance, men's hearts differ; some men
appear to be large-hearted naturally, and the
22 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
hearts of others to be of smaller make. We
are not required to love God with as much power
as some other larger-hearted man, for that would
be beyond us ; but with all our heart — with all
the heart which God has given us.
**And with all thy soul." Some men's souls
are a fertile soil for the growth of love, and
when love has been planted there, it springs up
into a mighty growth, a growth so large as to
be a beacon-light among men.
The souls of others are rather a sterile soil, love
seems to find here but a limited supply of food,
and the plant therefore does not become so robust.
Now why does the plant love find here but
a small supply of food?
Every plant in the physical world extracts cer-
tain chemical elements from the soil, from which
the plant itself is built up. Different crops take
different proportions of the different elements.
Returning to the growth of the plant love in
the soil of the human soul, it seems apparent
that the particular elements which are necessary
to nourish this plant, dwell in this sterile soil so
sparingly that the plant remains half starved.
Now if any farmer had on his farm soil so
poor in needed elements that he could not raise
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 23
the crops desired, what would he do? Why if he
knew his business he would doubtless replace the
needed elements in the soil by means of some
fertilizer which contained those elements in
abundance.
In seeking a fertilizer for a sterile soul that
will give it the needed elements to abundantly
nourish the plant love, we surely cannot do bet-
ter than to search for the human soul which
has in all time borne the most abundant fruitage
from this plant, — the man Christ Jesus.
It is generally conceded even by those who
are not believers that Jesus manifested love in
his words and deeds more abundantly than any
other man.
Was the soul of Jesus as a man naturally so
rich of soil that love grew luxuriantly there, and
brought forth fruit abundantly in loving deeds?
We cannot do better than examine the testimony
of Jesus himself regarding the matter.
He says : "I can of mine own self do nothing."
This being so, it is evident that of his own self he
could not do a loving deed, for that is a some-
thing of a very pronounced kind, — as every man
must admit who has ever tried to force himself to
a deed contrary to his nature.
24 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
Loving deeds cannot be brought forth from a
soil in which love will not grow. Two men
might do the same deed. With one it might
be an act inspired by love, and with the other
an act grudged, with many grumblings, in which
no love was apparent.
Since the soul of Jesus, he being a man as
we are, did not by nature contain this richness
of the elements upon which love thrives, we may
well imagine what his fertilizer was, and where
he obtained it. It is plain that this fertilizer was
the Spirit of God, and that he obtained it from
God.
The Spirit of God supplies just precisely
those elements on which the plant love thrives
best in the human soul; and does not the Spirit
of God enrich the human soul?
As a well-selected fertilizer manifests its pres-
ence by a more abundant crop of fruit, so the
Spirit of God manifests its presence by a more
abundant crop of loving deeds.
"By their fruits ye shall know them."
Since Christ obtained the Spirit of God from
God himself, it is evident that we must go to
the same source, — as John says, "and the Word
was God."
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 25
Now even as a fertilizer must be hauled and
spread over an impoverished field in order that
all parts of the soil may be enriched, so also there
is labor to be done ere the impoverished soul
can be enriched by the Spirit of God, and that
labor it is perhaps needless to say, must be done
upon the v^ord of God, in seeking the true mean-
ing thereof.
This spiritual fertilizer, unlike the fertilizers
of the physical world, is a living fertilizer, and
grows from a seed — the true meaning of the
word of God.
When the soil — the human soul — becomes so
rich in needed elements on which good plants
thrive, that it becomes identical with those ele-
ments, identical with that fertilizer, then that soul
is indeed one in God : such a soul had the man
Jesus.
It is manifestly true that every human soul
must raise some kind of a crop, whether it be
deeds of love, or deeds of hatred, deeds of gener-
osity, or deeds of meanness. Many different
deeds there are, both good and evil, but all of
them are natural fruits of plants in the human
soul.
It is a strange thing that in many souls a
26 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
plant of love toward some often grows side by
side with a plant of hatred towards others, as
the hill of corn grows beside the burdock, or
the turnip beside the mullein.
Why should this be so? Since there is one
plant, in the presence of which none of these
weeds which absorb the nutriment from the soul
can increase and grow luxuriant.
The presence of love for God renders the soul
an inhospitable soil for all evil weeds, and all
good plants thrive in its vicinity. It is plain
that no matter how much a human soul may
lack those elements which nourish plants of good,
that the Spirit of God will, if applied to that soul,
render it most rich in the very elements it lacks,
and therefore most productive of good deeds.
Can any man be discouraged when he knows
that there is an infinite supply of this Spirit, and
that it is easily accessible? When he knows
that the infinite Father greatly desires to give
him this Spirit abundantly if he will only accept
it, and that he has established a way in which
he may accept it — through the word ?
Here is a way, then, to so enrich the soul that
love for God may grow therein with abundant
luxuriance, and that we may come to love him
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 27
with all our soul. Then shall every good plant
grow there also, for every good plant is, as it
were, but a natural branch of this love for God,
not a grafted, but a natural branch; thus shall
we come to love our neighbor as ourselves.
As we have seen, the impoverished soul can be
enriched. Now also we find that men are called
large-hearted because love dwells in their hearts
abundantly. To all small-hearted men this
should be most encouraging, since it necessarily
follows that even as the poorest of souls can be
enriched, so also the smallest hearts can be
enlarged.
Yes, God is able to deepen and enlarge our
hearts so that they may hold love in abundance
towards the Father and towards our neighbor.
This process must doubtless be with suffering,
but in contemplating the great heart of Christ
there is healing. The more we contemplate it
the larger our own will grow, for ''all things are
possible with God," and "the Word was God,"
and is.
"And with all thy strength." That men differ
in strength or power to love God is as apparent
as that they differ in physical strength, but of
this we may be sure : that if we use what
28 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
strength we already have in loving God, in seek-
ing him, — he is not only able to give unto us
more strength, but he will do so. "Unto him that
hath shall be given." If we have a little strength
he will give unto us more strength.
Does not John the Baptist say concerning
Christ: "For he whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God : for God giveth not the Spirit
by measure unto him"? (John 3:34.)
If then God has given his Spirit to his Son
without measure, by coming to Christ we may
also receive strength without measure to love
God and his righteousness; for the Spirit of
God is strength, and without him there is no
strength. Now this Spirit of God comes to us
through Jesus Christ, even as Christ said: "No
man cometh to the Father but by me," and "I
am the vine, ye are the branches."
Yes, that same strength-giving and life-giving
sap, the Spirit of God, that flowed through
Christ, can give unto us strength to love God
and our neighbor, even as it gave strength to
Jesus to do so.
"And with all thy mind." All men also differ
in their endowment of mental power, but the
plain intent of the above phrase is that we should
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 29
use what mental power we already have, in seek-
ing God and his righteousness, for in doing so
would be manifested the fact that we loved him
with all our mind.
God does not require impossibilities of us, but
only that we should use what mind he has
already given us in loving him, — in seeking him.
If we do this he will surely grant unto us under-
standing.
Now the mind of the natural man is unable to
understand the things of God, for this under-
standing comes through the Spirit of God only ;
but the mind of man is able to seek those things
and to meditate upon them, and if we do this with
what mental powers we have we may be sure that
God will bless us with his Spirit, and that we
will thereby understand these things.
What a blessed thing it is to think that no
matter how great a man's education may be;
though he may be a graduate of many colleges
and have many degrees after his name, yet all
these advantages will not profit him in the under-
standing of spiritual things except he love the
Lord with his mind, — that is, seek him.
The very day-laborer who loves God with all
his mind, who seeks to understand the things
30 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
of God with what mental powers he possesses,
is better off spiritually than the man of many
degrees who exercises but a part of his mind in
loving God; but a part of his mental power in
seeking him and meditating upon his righteous-
ness.
How perfect is the justice of God; and what
a comfort it ought to be to all of us to consider
that our reward, our treasure, is not given with
reference to what we have in the line of edu-
cation, but with reference to the use we make
of what we have.
If, then, we use all our mental powers in
seeking God, in meditating upon those things
which are of him, we shall fulfill this part of
God's law: to love God with all our mind.
We must therefore love God, not only with
every part of our being, but with all of every
part.
And if we love God thus, must not this love
manifest itself, make itself known that men may
see it? Yes, whether we naturally have much or
Httle heart, soul, strength and mind; if we love
God thus, it will manifest itself in good works
to all men. For if we love God thus, we will
keep his commandment to love our neighbor as
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 31
ourselves. This love was the love which Christ
manifested unto us, for Christ himself could
have no greater love than this.
This love is a perfect love, as Christ has said:
''Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48.)
There can be no love more perfect than a per-
fect love. Perfection is perfection and there is
no further perfection beyond it. So Christ has
manifested forth this perfect love to us, and is
able now to manifest it forth in us, if we submit
ourselves entirely to him.
His love must always be the same, now and
evermore, and if we give ourselves wholly to him,
he is able to enter into us, and occupy every part
of our being with a perfect love. For he has
said : "At that day ye shall know that I am in my
Father, and ye in me, and I in you." (John
14:20.)
If then, he be in us, he is able to be in us still
more abundantly, until finally we shall be per-
fected in him, and there shall be no part of our
being where he is not. We shall truly be his
entirely, we in him, and he in us, in all possible
fullness; as he says in John 15:4, ''Abide in me,
and I in you." And, as a further clue to how
32 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
this may be done, he says in the seventh verse,
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,
ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done
unto you."
Therefore if his words abide in us, we shall
abide in him, and he will abide in us.
If his words abide in us sparingly, he will
abide in us sparingly. If his words abide in us
abundantly, he will abide in us abundantly.
He says : "Ye shall ask what ye will, and it
shall be done unto you." As Jesus said when he
raised Lazarus from the dead : "Father, I thank
thee that thou hast heard me.
"And I knew that thou hearest me always:
but because of the people which stand by I said
it, that they may believe that thou hast sent
me." (John ii 41, 42.) Even so shall we know
that the Father hears iis always, for he hear-
eth always the Son, and the Son shall be in
us at that perfect day in the greatest possible
degree.
So to have in you this perfect love ; to love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy
soul, and all thy strength, and all thy mind,
and thy neighbor as thyself is eternal life — com-
plete eternal life.
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 33
Section ii. In John 12: 25 we find, ''He that Christ's
loveth his life shall lose it ; and he that hateth forsake all
his life in this world shall keep it unto life that interposes
, ,, between him-
eternal. s^u ^^d God
Now if a man have eternal life he must love
the Lord and his righteousness above all other
things, as is evidenced by Luke 14:33: "So
likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaketh
not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."
Now for a man to forsake all that he has for
something is clear proof that he loves that some-
thing more than he loves all that he has. In this
case that something for love of which he for-
sakes all is God and his righteousness as repre-
sented in Jesus Christ.
Now we know that no man can come to God
or know his righteousness save through Christ.
"No man cometh unto the Father but by me."
(John 14:6. ) He that comes to God through
Christ is a disciple of Christ. Hence, as I said
at the beginning of this section, if a man have
eternal life he must love the Lord and his right-
eousness above all other things.
Now there is but one obstruction which inter-
poses between the man who has eternal life, and
the Lord and his righteousness, and that obstrirc-
34 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
tion is his existence in a material world. When
he loses this sense of existence, his union and
oneness with Christ, and through Christ with
. God is made perfect. "I in them, and thou in me,
that they may be made perfect in one." (John
. 17:23.)
How can a man love the very obstruction
which keeps him from the dearest object of his
affection, — the object that he places above all
other things put together? Will he not rather
hate it with strong hatred? Is it not that which
keeps him from complete oneness with God and
his righteousness — the one thing which prevents
his will from becoming identical with God's will?
Yes, he that has eternal life must, indeed, not
only hate life in a material sense, the life of, and
in this world; but also all things in the world
which interpose between him and God's right-
eousness.
Section 12. Now in summing up, we have
Summary Christ's word for it that it is eternal life:
1. To know God and Jesus Christ.
2. To labor for that meat which the Son of
man gives unto us, — the meaning of the word.
3. To drink of the water that Christ gives us,
— the word in its true meaning.
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 35
4. To eat the flesh and drink the blood of
Christ, — or to eat of the Hving bread.
5. To have in you the commandment, or
word, of God.
6. To hear Christ's word and beheve on him
that sent him,
7. To beheve on Jesus Christ.
8. To keep Christ's saying.
9. To be righteous.
10. To love the Lord with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and
with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.
11. To hate one's life in this world. (Because
we love righteousness, and hate unrighteousness.)
To apply the test of truth to these sayings is
not only allowable, but very desirable, since truth
is not a thing which need fear investigation, but
is rather confirmed and made stronger by it.
We have here eleven different things, any one
of vv^hich Christ declares equivalent to eternal
life. In order for these each to be equivalent to
eternal life, they must all be in perfect harmony.
If they do not harmonize, the presumption would
be strong that we had either derived a wrong
interpretation of some of them, or that these
36 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
declarations and words of Christ were not the
truth.
On the other hand, if all these varying declara-
tions of Christ agree together, then the presump-
tion of their truth is vastly increased, even to
the mind of the unbeliever; for truth must be
in harmony with itself, and these doctrines would
therefore fill that requirement.
The fact that the interpretations as given agree
together in one, would also be a strong presump-
tion that they were correctly given as far as
they went.
We will take any one of these definitions of
eternal life as, — to know God and Jesus Christ
is eternal life, and ascertain if they all agree
together with this. If they do, an exceedingly
strong presumption is thereby derived, not only
that the word of Christ is the truth, but that the
interpretations are correct as far as given.
To labor for SECTION 1 3. Let US take the second definition,
* Chdlt gives — "to labor for that meat which the Son of man
us is to gives unto us is eternal life ; and consider it with
and'chrL relation to the first, — "to know God and Jesus
Christ is eternal life."
As we have previously seen, it is necessary
that we labor, if we wish to obtain this meat
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 37
which Christ gives unto us ; there is treasure
here in the word of God, but it must first be dug
out if we wish to make it our own.
That the invariable effect of labor spent on
the word will be to make these treasures ours, is
rendered evident by Matt. 7:8, 'Tor everyone
that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh find-
eth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be
opened."
If, then, we seek with diligence for that meat
which endureth unto eternal life ; if we labor for
it, we shall find it. If we continue knocking with
persistence at this door which leads to knowledge
of God, this door will be opened to us, and we
shall enter in, into a gradually increasing knowl-
edge of God.
Thus we find that to labor for this meat is
equivalent to obtaining it, and to obtain it is to
know God and Jesus Christ; since the true
Christ-given meaning of the word makes known
both God and Christ to all men. Hence, to labor
for that meat which the Son of man gives unto
us — the true meaning of the word — and, to know
God and Jesus Christ, agree together in one;
both lead to eternal life ; both are necessary to
eternal life; by both we are led into a clearer
38 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
conception of the Christ-given meaning of eternal
Hfe.
To drink of SECTION 14. Third we have, — to drink of the
the water that , „, . , , , , ,
Christ gives watcr that Christ gives us — the word — is eternal
us is to know iife_ ;nq^ knowledge of God and Christ is made
Christ known to man by the word of Christ, therefore
he that drinks of this word, that absorbs it into
himself, comes to know both God and Christ.
He that drinks sparingly of the true meaning
of this word will be feeble in knowledge of God,
and he that drinks abundantly will have abundant
knowledge of God.
Therefore, to drink of the water that Christ
gives us — the word — and, to know God and
Jesus Christ, agree together, and both make
more apparent to us what Christ means by eter-
nal life. According as one drinks so will be his
knowledge of both God and Christ.
To partake of SECTION 1 5. Fourth, — to eat the flesh and
and"'bLd't ^i"ink the blood of Christ, or to eat of the living
to know God bread is eternal life. He that eats the flesh — the
and Christ ^ord— and drinks the blood— the Spirit— of
Christ, or eats of the living bread — the true
meaning of the word, — will thereby know both
God and Christ, since both are in the word made
known to man. If the word becomes part of us
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 39
spiritually, as the bodily nourishment we eat be-
comes part of us physically, so also will knowl-
edge of both God and Christ be in us.
Thus we find that to know God and Jesus
Christ, and to eat the flesh and drink the blood
of Christ, or to eat of the living- bread, also agree
together, both helping to make plainer Christ's
meaning of eternal life.
Section 16. Fifth, — to have in you the com- ^"^ ^'^''^ '"^ "^
1 1 r /-- 1 • 1 1 • r *^^ word of
mandment, or word, of God is eternal life. God is to
It is logically apparent that he who has in ^"°^^' ^°^
1 • 1 ^ t^t' , , ^ , . . and Christ
him the commandment, or word, of God, in its
true meaning, must know God and Jesus Christ ;
since both are through the word made known
to man.
It is clear also, that he who has in him but a
part of the true meaning of the word, can have
but a partial knowledge of God and Christ ; that
as the true meaning of the word increases within
him, so also must knowledge of God and Christ
increase within him, until finally when the com-
mandment of God is in him perfected, his knowl-
edge of God and Christ must also be perfected.
''For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect is come, then
that which is in part shall be done away." *'For
40 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
now we see through a glass, darkly; but then
face to face : now I know in part ; but then shall
I know even as also I am known." (I Cor. 13:
9, 10, 12.)
We thus see the constant and intimate relation
existing between the commandment of God in
us, and knowledge of God and Jesus Christ in us.
We find therefore that these two definitions of
eternal life are in perfect harmony with each
other.
To hear SECTION 1 7. Sixth, to hear Christ's worjd and
Christ's word j^eiie^e on him that sent him is eternal life.
and believe
on him that As wc havc sccu ( Scctiou 6), the necessary
sent him, IS relation existing between the hearing of Christ's
and Christ word and the believing on him that sent him,
indicates that the believing is to be the result
of the hearing.
Now we must all admit that for a man to hear
anything without understanding it in some de-
gree, profits him nothing. The profit lies in the
understanding, for the words themselves are only
so many dry bones, being but symbols standing
in the place of meaning. Accordingly if the
meaning be not in some degree understood, the
hearing is profitless.
In this case, however, the hearing is followed
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 41
by believing on him that sent him, the result of
both being eternal life. This could by no means
be called profitless, but rather profitable in the
highest degree ; therefore the hearing of Christ's
word here spoken of must be a hearing accom-
panied by understanding.
This being the case, both God and Christ must
in some degree be made known to the hearer.
Hence to hear Christ's word and believe on him
that sent him, and to know God and Jesus Christ,
are perfectly harmonious and present different
views of the same thing, — eternal life.
Section 18. Seventh, to believe on Jesus to believe
Christ is eternal life. °" J^'^^
Christ is to
It IS very apparent that for a person to believe know God
on anything, he must first be acquainted with it,
or know it in some satisfactory degree. For how
can a man believe on a thing of which he has no
knowledge? How can a man accept that of
which he is ignorant?
How could you, for instance, have a well-
grounded belief that Mr. X, a man totally un-
known to you and your friends, was entirely
honest, when you knew nothing of him from
any source?
Then, since it is impossible for one to have
and Christ
42 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
a logical belief in regard to anything without
some knowledge of that thing, it naturally fol-
lows that any man who believes on Jesus Christ
must therefore know him in some satisfactory
degree, and he who knows Christ knows God as
well, — 'T and my Father are one" (John lo: 30) ;
and "If ye had known me, ye should have known
my Father also." (John 14:7.)
Hence he who believes on Jesus Christ must
therefore know both God and Christ. These
two things thus agree, and each helps to make
plainer that fullness of meaning which Christ
intended the words eternal life should bear.
To keep SECTION 1 9. Eighth, to keep Christ's saying is
Christ's say- eternal life.
ing IS to
know God He that keeps Christ's saying must first know
the saying before he can keep it ; and he that
knows Christ's saying and keeps it, also knows
both God and Christ, since both are thereby
made known to man.
We find that a knowledge of the saying, and
consequently a knowledge of both God and
Christ, must precede the keeping of it. There
is thus an intimate and harmonious connection
between the two, and by means of both our
and Christ
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 43
understanding of eternal life is rendered more
complete.
Section 20. Ninth, to be risfhteous is eternal ^° ^^ ^]^^^'
' ° eous IS to
life. know God
Now we know that the righteousness of God ^""^ ^^"^*
is as far above the righteousness of man as the
heavens are above the earth.
When Christ speaks of being righteous he
surely means the highest kind of righteousness ;
that perfect righteousness which is of God, which
he himself possessed. We know that no man has
ever attained to this perfect righteousness, while
in the form of man, save Jesus Christ only.
In section nine, we found that complete real-
ization destroys the existence of faith, since faith
is in regard to things hoped for, and if there
was nothing left to be hoped for, faith could
not exist.
In regard to knowledge of God, for instance,
we have faith that we shall come to know, even
as we are known. Paul says, ''Now I know in
part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known." (I Cor. 13: 12.) Now God knows us
perfectly, and in order to realize this object of
faith, we must also come to know him perfectly,
in his character; when however we do come to
44 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
know God perfectly, further faith on this subject
becomes impossible, since faith disappears in per-
fect knowledge.
We see on the other hand, that faith in God
without any knowledge of him is equally impos-
sible, for how can one believe or have faith in
that of which he knows nothing?
We see plainly that some knowledge of the
object of faith is necessary in order for faith to
exist. Furthermore we cannot fail to see that
as our knowledge of God is imperfect, so also
our faith in God must be imperfect ; that as our
knowledge of God is abundant, so must our faith
in God be abundant ; that as our knowledge of
God increases, our faith in God also increases,
until as our knowledge of God (in respect to the
quality of Being), becomes perfect, our faith in
God also becomes perfect: that is our faith be-
comes merged in perfect knowledge.
Going back to the matter of righteousness,
even as our faith in God increases proportion-
ally with our knowledge of God, so also does our
righteousness increase proportionally with our
knowledge of God, since our righteousness on
earth is by faith. As Paul says, ''Even the
righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 45
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe."
Let it be noted that if the faith of Jesus Christ
be a perfect faith, his knowledge also is a per-
fect knowledge. "As the Father knoweth me,
even so know I the Father." (John 10:15.)
At that time, then, when a perfect righteous-
ness is attained to, must also a perfect knowl-
edge of God (his character, rather than his in-
finity) be attained to; and if a perfect knowledge
of God, a perfect knowledge of Christ also, since
we come to know God through Christ. **No
man cometh unto the Father but by me." (John
14:6.) "I and my Father are one." (John
10:30.)
Therefore we find that, to be righteous is
eternal life, and to know God and Jesus Christ
is eternal life, agree together.
Section 21. Tenth, to love God with all thy ^0^°^^ ^""^
and our
heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy neighbor is
stren2l:h, and with all thy mind ; and thy neio:h- ^^ ^"°'^ ^°^
, ,^ . , ,.r '^^ and Christ
bor as thyself is eternal life.
In order to love anyone it is first necessary
that we should be acquainted with, or know him
in some degree. One could not love a person
whom he neither knew nor knew of. Some
knowledge then of God and his character is
46 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
absolutely necessary before we can love him
at all.
If our knowledge of him be small, our love for
him must necessarily be small ; if our knowledge
of him be great, our love for him must be cor-
respondingly great, since God is perfect.
If our knowledge of God be a perfect knowl-
edge, our love for him must be a correspondingly
perfect love, and we shall love him with all our
heart, and with all our soul, and with all our
strength, and with all our mind.
Now, having the power to keep the first and
great commandment perfectly, must carry with
it the power to love our neighbor as ourselves,
for obedience to this first and great command-
ment implies perfection. If we possess the
power to love God with a perfect love, we must
possess the will to obey all his commandments.
"If a man love me, he will keep my words."
(John 14:23.)
We find therefore that there is, and neces-
sarily must be, a constant relation between our
knowledge of God and Christ, — for we have
seen that we can only know God through Christ,
— and our love for God and our neighbor: that
both agree, and give us a fuller idea of the mean-
ing of eternal life.
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 47
Section 2.2. Eleventh, — to hate one's Hfe in '^'^ ^^*^ *"
, . II' 1 1- r unspiritual
this world IS eternal life. life is to
As we have previously seen, to know God, to '^"^^ ^^^
comprehend merely the motives of his action, we
must partake of his nature. That Spirit which
is in him must also be in us.
If now, that Spirit which is in him be in us,
we will love, not the things which are of this
world, but the things which pertain to God and
his righteousness. Contrariwise, we will hate
those things which keep us from the righteous-
ness of God ; and our life in this world, — con-
sidered as material existence, — comprises those
things.
As we have seen that our love for God and
our knowledge of him are proportional to each
other, so also our love for God and our hatred
for our lives in this world may be said to be
proportional.
There are hov/ever other elements which ap-
parently enter into this matter, it being evident
that a disciple of Christ who lives surrounded by
wickedness and sin of pronounced character, must
hate his life more than one who lives more
secluded from the wickedness of the world, and
whose associates are of the same spiritual mind
with himself.
48 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
However it would be well to bear in mind that
such a disciple as the one first mentioned may
have placed himself in those wicked surround-
ings designedly, urged on by his love for God
and his consequent desire to do God's work.
Every disciple has work to do, but it is perhaps
not the duty of everyone to go out into the world
to do it. Some may do it best at home and
among their own associates.
But it is logically apparent that he who knows
God and Jesus Christ will hate his life in this
world in proportion as it is in opposition to the
perfect spiritual life. All life in this world (con-
sidered as material existence) is in opposition to
perfect spiritual life, but in some cases especially
so. It is clear that while the degree of our hatred
for our lives in this world is largely determined
by the degree of contrast offered between our
lives here, and the perfect Christian or spiritual
life; while it is plain that this contrast varies
somewhat in intensity as between different men,
yet it is also plain that there does exist a pro-
nounced contrast in the case of everyone, and
that there should consequently exist in the case
of everyone this hatred of his life in this world,
conditioned as a material existence.
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 49
So also the degree of pain produced in us by
the contemplation of the wickedness and sin
which is not only around us all, but in some
measure in us all, and consequently the degree
of our hatred for our lives in this world, is
largely determined by, and is proportional to, our
knowledge of God and his perfect righteousness.
Thus it is logically true that he who knows God
and Jesus Christ must hate his life considered as
a thing of this world.
Hence we find that, to know God and Jesus
Christ, and to hate one's life in this world, agree
together and make plainer to us what eternal
life is.
Section 23. All these different conceptions of Complete
eternal life asrree tog-ether in one with the state- h^™^"^ °^
^ . all these def-
ment that to know God and Jesus Christ is mitions is a
eternal life, showing us that these are not dif- p''"^^ °^ ^'""^^
ferent conceptions, but different faces of the
same conception, — that they are merely different
parts of one and the same thing, eternal life.
Complete eternal life therefore includes all
these things.
These different definitions not only agree with
the first definition that to know God and Jesus
Christ is eternal life, but are also in perfect
50 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
harmony with each other. Each one agrees with
every other one.
As we know that truth must be in harmony
with itself, and as we have seen in part that this
harmony exists here, so we will by further in-
vestigation seek to discover a complete harmony ;
to make evident that here we have by correct
interpretation an invulnerable network of truth.
In respect to definitions 2, 3, 4, and 5, as given
in the preceding list in Section 12, it is self-
evident that in view of the interpretations placed
upon them, they are not only harmonious with,
but equivalent to each other.
For, the fourth, — to eat the flesh and drink the
blood of Christ (to read the word and absorb
the spirit of Christ), or, to eat of the living bread
(to absorb the true meaning of the word), is in
both parts plainly equivalent to the third defini-
tion,— drinking of the water that Christ gives
us (the word in its true meaning.)
These two in turn are equivalent to the second
definition, — to labor for that meat which the Son
of man gives us, this meat being the true mean-
ing of the word. We are told that if we seek we
shall find, therefore to labor for this meat is to
obtain it.
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 51
All these definitions are equivalent to the fifth,
— having in them the commandment, or word,
of God. To have the commandment at all they
must have it in its real meaning, and this is also
the result of the second, third and fourth def-
initions.
The sixth definition, — to hear Christ's word
and believe on him that sent him is in harmony
with the fifth, since to hear Christ's word is
equivalent to hearing the word or command-
ment of God ; and to believe on God by hearing
the word, presupposes the understanding of its
true meaning.
The sixth definition is equivalent to the sev-
enth,— believing on Jesus Christ, for does not
Christ say, "He that believeth on me, believeth
not on me, but on him that sent me"? (John
12:44.)
The eighth definition, — to keep Christ's say-
ing is eternal life, is in perfect harmony with the
seventh, since it is apparent that none will keep
Christ's saying, save those who do believe on him.
Now the ninth, — to be righteous is eternal life,
— is equivalent to the eighth, since Christ's say-
ing is the commandment of God, and he that
keeps this commandment of God is righteous.
52 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
The tenth definition, — to love the Lord with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy
neighbor as thyself, — is also equivalent to the
ninth ; since Christ says respecting the two com-
mandments included under definition ten, "On
these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets." (Matt. 22:40.) Now he that
fulfills all the law is righteous.
Definition eleven, — to hate one's life in this
world (considered as material existence, from a
spiritual point of view) is eternal life, is also in
perfect harmony with the tenth definition, since
he that loves God thus will necessarily hate his
life in this world, since this life interposes in his
consciousness between him and the object of his
greatest afifection.
Enough has been said to show the perfect har-
mony of all these different definitions of eternal life.
Furthermore it is apparent that they all must
harmonize in every respect when taken in their
proper meaning, since they are all in harmony
with definition one, — to know God and Jesus
Christ is eternal life, and since it is evident that
definitions in harmony with the same definition
must agree with each other.
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 53
Thus we see that each strand of this network
of truth supports and renders stronger every
other strand, and that there is perfect harmony
throughout.
The irresistible force of this will appear much
greater if we go back and reflect from how
many different forms of words we derived these
varying definitions of eternal life: "everlasting
life," "eternal life," "shall never see death," and
"shall live forever."
There is here an agreement of things men-
tioned under different forms of words, but hav-
ing the same significance, an agreement so com-
plete and perfect as to set the seal of God's Spirit
upon it.
Section 24. There are also other ideas in- God's gift to
eluded in the conception of eternal life, as in "jf^^^^rTugh
John 10: 10, we find, "I am come that they might re-birth and
have life, and that they might have it more g^^^^^^^^,
abundantly." be accepted
We know that the kind of life which Christ
came to give men is spiritual — eternal — life. We
learn from this verse that this life is of a kind
which men do not by nature possess, since he
says, "I am come that they might have life."
It is plain that Christ considered mankind as
54 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
spiritually dead by nature, since if it were not
so, there would have existed no necessity for his
coming with the direct object of giving them this
spiritual life, nor any necessity for their being
born again.
Then he goes on to say, ''and that they might
have it more abundantly." After implying that
men do not by nature have this kind of life, he
says that he came to bring them more of it,
thereby implying that they do have it.
How shall we reconcile this seeming contra-
diction ?
There is but one conclusion possible, which
is that mankind by nature is devoid of any spiri-
tual life whatever ; that if men individually do
possess some of this life, it is because of the
infinite mercy of God, who gave it to them, since
by their nature as men they do not possess it.
With respect to the physical world it is ap-
parent that the physical embryo before birth can-
not be truly said to live, since it possesses no
separate entity, and since its life is entirely de-
pendent on the life of the parent. What life it
has is more the property of the parent than of
the embryo, and remains so until birth is com-
plete.
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 55
So it is with spiritual life. As the life of the
physical embryo does not become its own till its
birth into the physical world is complete, so also
the life of the spiritual embryo does not become
its own until its entrance into the spiritual world
is complete.
When Christ says, 'T am come that they might
have life," it is apparent he means that they must
be born again ere they can possess this life.
When he says, "and that they might have
it more abundantly," it is clear he means
thereby that they who have unborn spiritual life
may have it more abundantly ; that is that they
may be born again and thus themselves possess
a more abundant measure of that spiritual life
which was before, not their own but the heavenly
Father's.
We find in John 3 : 16, "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." Here again we have ever-
lasting life the same as eternal life. Here we see
that God gave his only begotten Son for this
purpose. Eternal life is therefore a free gift of
God to us, — a free gift of God through his Son.
In John 10 : 27, 28, we find, "My sheep hear
56 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
my voice, and I know them, and they follow me :
and I give unto them eternal life." We learn
here that eternal life is not only the gift of God
to us, but that it is the gift of Christ to us as
well. Thus are we enabled not only to appreciate
that it is a free gift to us, that this is the manner
in which we obtain it, that we have but to accept
this gift in order to receive all the manifold
blessings of eternal life ; but we are also enabled
to understand better the truth of the fact that
God and Christ are one.
We find here also the thought that eternal life
being a gift, must like any other gift be accepted
or rejected. That we do not by virtue of our
birth into the kingdom of men, possess eternal
life, but by virtue of our acceptance of the priv-
ilege of being born again into the kingdom of
God.
Some eminent minister has recently said that
man by virtue of his birth as man, has in him a
divine spark, which cannot be buried. Perhaps
not, but could it not be taken back to God who
lent it, and leave the unprofitable servant des-
titute of eternal life? "And whosoever hath not,
from him shall be taken even that which he seem-
eth to have." (Luke 8: i8.)
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 57
It is clear that we must accept this gift, ere we
can have eternal, — spiritual, — life.
Section 25. Eternal life must unquestionably ^,^[g'"j^°j!Jj3i
be perfect, whether we have it here, or hereafter ; nfe here
but by no means in the first case necessarily com-
plete, since while we are here, eternal life can-
not possess us completely. Our being, as it were,
is divided between spiritual life, and the life of
the flesh ; even as Paul says, "the carnal mind is
enmity against God." (Romans 8:7.)
Yet it is plain to be seen that we cannot be
completely separated from the mind of the flesh,
while we dwell in the flesh, though with the aid
of Christ we can approach close to it ; and could
we overcome the obstacle of the flesh sufficiently
to submit ourselves entirely to Christ, the result
must doubtless be a perfectly spiritual mind, as
in the case of Christ.
In Section 21 we find that there exists a con-
stant relation between our knowledge of God
and our love for God. As the one increases, the
other necessarily keeps pace with it.
Now we find in Section 11 that to be a dis-
ciple of Christ, a man must love God and his
righteousness more than all other things put to-
gether. We find that all who come to God
58 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
must come through Christ; that all who really
come through Christ are disciples of Christ ; and
that all true disciples of Christ have entered the
process of re-birth, at least embryonic re-birth,
and therefore have some measure of eternal life.
As was said before, our love for God keeps
pace, step by step, with our knowledge of him.
If our love for God must reach a certain point
before we can be true disciples of Christ, or be
born again so as to be true children of God ; so
also our knowledge of God must reach a corre-
sponding point at the same time.
The point of birth into a true child of God is
that at which our love for God and his right-
eousness is greater than our love for all other
things whatsoever, and I call to your attention
that the corresponding point in regard to knowl-
edge of God must therefore indicate a knowledge
of God quite advanced.
These two points denote those at which men
become true sons of God. "For as many as are
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God." (Romans 8: 14.) We may be sure that
any who have reached these points will never
backslide, or be overcome of the world, but will
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 59
be upheld by the power of God. "For whatso-
ever is born of God overcometh the world."
(I John 5:4.)
Whosoever therefore has doubts as to whether
he loves God and his righteousness more than all
other things, may well also have doubts as to
whether he is a true child of God. He need how-
ever have no doubt whatever, that with continued
diligence in seeking God, his love for God and
his righteousness will increase to this point,
which when it reaches, Christ shall be revealed
to him with such power that he will truly believe
on him with a belief such as Christ speaks of, —
a belief unto eternal life.
Now since the things of God are discerned by
the Spirit of God only, — "For what man know-
eth the things of a man, save the spirit of man
w^iich is in him? even so the things of God
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God," (I Cor.
2:11) — no man need be troubled that he is
without learning, neither encouraged because he
has it. For we know that learning in this case
avails nothing, but rather that we should be as
little children, anxious to learn of God, and will-
ing to acknowledge that as men we know nothing
of him as we ought. "Verily I say unto you,
6o WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God
as a little child, he shall not enter therein."
(Mark lo: 15.) And surely we shall receive it
as little children if we feel that we know noth-
ing as yet concerning God, as we ought to know
it, and if we labor diligently and without ceasing
to learn of him. ■
Perhaps most people in civilized lands know in
a way, that God is just, merciful and holy, all
wise, all powerful; and that he loves all man-
kind with a mighty love; but their comprehen-
sion of these qualities in him is generally very
inadequate. As we have seen, to know means to
comprehend. And we know that if we labor for
this understanding, God will bless our labor, and
give unto us his Spirit, — by means of which only
is understanding of these things possible, —
according as we labor.
Let us take a short look at that complete
eternal life which shall be ours in due time, in
order that we may not faint, nor grow weary,
but may labor abundantly in this glorious hope.
Complete SECTION 26. As wc havc sccu that in a com-
plete eternal life our knowledge of God and
Christ will be perfect, so also our belief in Jesus
Christ will be perfect, — that is will merge into
eternal life
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 6i
perfect knowledge of him. Our love for God
will be a perfect love, — that is will occupy all of
every part of our being, leaving no room for any
other love whatever, except such as results be-
cause of it ; as, to love our neighbor as ourselves,
which is after all but the expression of God's
love in us toward others.
Further, in this complete eternal life the com-
mandment of God will in us be perfected, — that
is will dwell in us in all complete and possible
fullness.
We shall then keep Christ's saying perfectly,
and consequently be perfectly righteous.
Our will must therefore also be perfected so as
to be identical with, and even as God's will ; and
as Christ has informed us in the Lord's prayer
that God's will is always done in heaven, so also
must our wills always be accomplished there.
Furthermore, we shall comprehend perfectly
God's mighty love for us, and it will fill us with
joy. What sources of perfect happiness are
here !
Paul says, "For we know in part, and we
prophesy in part. But when that which is per-
fect is come, then that which is in part shall be
done away. For now we see through a glass
62 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
darkly; but then face to face: now I know in
part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known." (I Cor. 13:9, 10, 12.)
Christ's Section 27. Now Christ has by the many in-
intended^^to ^tauces mentioned in different parts of his Gos-
have only a pel regarding the generation and maintenance of
a Ticatk)n Spiritual Hfe: — by eating his flesh and drinking
his blood (John 6: 54) ; by eating the bread of
life (John 6: 58) ; by his reference to the meat
which endureth unto everlasting Hfe (John 6:
27) ; and by his reference to the water of life
(John 4:14), thereby drawn a plain analogy
between the processes of generating and main-
taining physical life, and those processes with
reference to the spiritual life. We cannot doubt
that he intended this analogy to be carried out
in full, or he would not have used it.
Unquestionably he used this mode of expres-
sion as the best means of making himself plainly
understood, since all mankind are most accus-
tomed to regarding things from a material and
physical viewpoint, and he has therefore ad-
justed his explanations of spiritual generation
and growth to this point of view; at the same
time by other statements making plain to us that
he intended these things to be taken spiritually,
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 63
as : *'It is the spirit that quickeneth" ; — causes
to live spiritually — ''the flesh profiteth nothing:
the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit,
and they are life." (John 6: 63.)
This verse occurs in the latter part of the same
chapter in which three of the above references
occur, and is unquestionably in further explana-
tion of those references. If, then, it be true that,
''It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth
nothing," then it must follow that the meaning
of "flesh and blood" in the saying, "Whoso eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life,
is a spiritual meaning only ; for if it did, as some
believe, apply to the physical flesh and blood of
Christ, or to the bread and wine of the sacra-
ment, then would it be a material application and
not a spiritual one, for these are all material
things. Hence if "the flesh profiteth nothing,"
none of these things can be a cause of possessing
"eternal life," since eternal life profits much.
If, then it be true that this sacrament of the
Church — the Lord's Supper — is other than a
symbolical ceremony, then are the words of
Christ untrue, for he says, "That which is born
of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit." (John 3 : 6.)
64 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
No man can deny that the spirit of the believer
is quickened during the administration of the
sacrament, but that this quickening is not due
to the bread and the wine is clear.
The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke
agree substantially in their account of the Lord's
Supper: he blesses the bread and gives to them
as his body; takes the wine, gives thanks, and
bids them drink of it as his blood of the new
testament, shed for them.
If we consider what possible interpretations
might be made of this, we shall find four, — the
body and blood of Christ may be taken to mean :
1. The spiritual body and blood of Christ;
2. The physical body and blood of Christ;
3. That the bread and wine were intended by
Christ to represent his spiritual body and blood ;
4. That the bread and the wine were intended
to represent his physical body and blood.
Suppose, as in the first instance, that we take
the bread and wine to be actually the spiritual
body and blood of Christ. But we know that
this bread and wine are of themselves material
things, and being so, cannot at the same time
actually be spiritual.
Here some may say, — How about the Bible?
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 65
Is not that at the same time a book and also the
word of God? The book, to be sure, is always
a material thing at all times. But when the
meaning of the printed book becomes impressed
on the human consciousness, it is a spiritual thing,
and is not then a printed book. The very words
of the Bible are but symbols standing in place of
meanings ; and these meanings impressed on the
human consciousness are spiritual, while the sym-
bols themselves are material things.
By science — the experience of men — and by
ordinary reason, we know that one thing cannot
at the same time be another thing.
We also know it by the word of Christ, since
he says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh ;
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,"
which is equivalent to saying that material things
cannot either generate or renew spiritual life.
And here let it be said that if to some the Bible
seems to generate or renew spiritually, they
should remember that it is only the Spirit of God
which makes known the things of God : so that
if the true meaning of any part of the Bible is
impressed on our consciousness, this impression
which renews us spiritually is the work of the
Holy Spirit.
66 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
Hence this first position is untenable and we
will dismiss it from consideration.
Second, we will suppose the bread and wine to
be actually the physical body and blood of Christ.
If this supposition be true, then the bread and
the wine being actually the physical body and
blood of Christ can in no way renew us spiri-
tually. Why so? Because, "That which is born
of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit." This being true, not even
the physical flesh and blood of Jesus himself will
avail to give us spiritual life, and Christ himself
testifies that this is true.
Therefore we may dismiss the second supposi-
tion as untenable also.
We will take the third supposition, — that the
bread and wine were intended by Christ to
merely represent his spiritual body and blood.
If they merely represent and actually are not his
spiritual body and blood, they do not fulfill the
conditions necessary to give eternal life, for
Christ has said, "Except ye eat the flesh of the
Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life
in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, hath eternal Hfe."
On the supposition we are considering, how-
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 6y
ever, the bread and the wine are not actually the
body and the blood, but merely represent them,
and hence cannot give eternal life, not being
themselves the source of it.
Therefore we are obliged to dismiss this third
supposition also, since eternal life is not thereby
to be had.
Now, considering the fourth supposition, that
the bread and the wine are intended merely to
represent his physical body and blood, we find
that if the actual physical body and blood of
Christ cannot give to us eternal life, the mere
representatives are still less able to do so.
This brings us to the conclusion that the say-
ing, "Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my
blood hath eternal life," does not apply to the
sacrament of the Lord's Supper at all, but rather
to the word of Christ, that is to its true meaning
impressed on our consciousness, — as is evidenced
by John i : 14, *'And the Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us."
It also brings us to the conclusion that in the
bread and wine of the sacrament there is no
eternal life whatever. The Lord's Supper then
is but a symbolical ceremony, calculated to bring
home to our consciousness with striking force
68 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
the great sacrifice of Christ for our sakes, — to
make apparent to us how great his love toward
us must have been. Now since it is true that
love begets love, that the realization that we are
much loved begets in us a like feeling toward
him who loves us, the practical utility of the
Lord's Supper is clear, as it brings home to us
the love of Christ, thereby generating in us a like
feeling toward him, and toward the Father who
sent him to endure all this for our sakes.
If there are those who would urge Christ's
words concerning the bread and wine: "This is
my body," and "This is my blood" ; we reply
that many of Christ's sayings can only be inter-
preted by reference to his other words, and only
by this harmonizing of all his words are we able
to come into a correct understanding of some
of the things he says.
In Luke 14 : 26 we read, "If any man come
to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and
wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea,
and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."
If we were to interpret this literally, as some
interpret the sayings with reference to the Lord's
Supper, it would lead us into the error of think-
ing that a man acquired merit by hating his
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 69
father and his mother; but the Jesus who told
us to 'iove our enemies" could not mean that we
should hate our friends and relatives, though he
apparently says so as clearly as could well be.
This verse then to be correctly interpreted
must be brought into perfect harmony with that
other saying, "Love your enemies." We can
interpret it harmoniously if we hold it to mean
that we must hate the spirit of this world which
is in our father and mother; — yes, and in our-
selves also. What Christ really says here is that
we must hate all things which interfere to keep
us from God and from doing his work, as he
himself said to Peter, his chief apostle, "Get thee
behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but those that be of men."
(Matt. 16:23.) For Peter sought to restrain
Jesus from doing the work which God had ap-
pointed him to do. Did not Jesus hate Satan?
Yes, even though this evil spirit manifested itself
in one of his best friends.
We cannot, then, interpret Christ's words re-
garding the bread and wine literally, and use the
human reason which God has given us to use.
In another sense, however, we find that these
words of Jesus are true ; for while we do not
70 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
partake of the body and blood of Jesus in par-
taking of the Lord's Supper, yet we do partake
of his spiritual body, if believing on him as the
Son of God who sacrificed himself for us, we
feel our love kindling toward him. In loving
that which is good we have in us the Spirit of
Christ himself.
If we then in taking part in this sacrament, by
the force with which it brings home to us the
love of Jesus for us, also experience an increased
love for him, in partaking of this Spirit of love,
we do partake of the body and blood of Christ,
since Christ is a Spirit, a Spirit not only of
obedience to righteousness, but a Spirit of sacri-
fice for the soul welfare of others.
John the beloved says, "God is love," and Jesus
says, 'T and my Father are one." Jesus must
therefore have referred to the kindling of love
for him in the heart of the disciple which doing
this in remembrance of Christ, as he commanded,
must produce.
If a deaf man who had never heard the Gospel
or read the Bible, should come into church and
join the people at the Communion table in par-
taking of the bread and wine, it is perfectly clear
that it could profit him nothing. Or if a man
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 71
familiar with the Gospel, but not believing in
Jesus' sacrifice for our sakes, should take part in
the Communion, because everyone else did; it is
evident that he would receive no benefit. There
is no eternal life in the bread, or in the wine,
either for him or for anyone else.
Where then is the eternal life? In knowing
Christ — in realizing the spirit in which Jesus
sacrificed his life. We must realize this spirit,
if we believe on him and understand that he
gave his life for our sakes ; for this in itself
shows us that he must have done it in a spirit of
love for us. This understanding is not only of
the mind, but of the heart, and apart from it,
there can be no eternal life in the Lord's Supper
for anyone.
Now this heart comprehension comes to us by
the word of God. It is a logical conclusion then,
that there is no eternal life which does not come
from the word of God, as Jesus says, ''the words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they
are Hfe."
Whether we speak of the "Word of God" as
the words which Jesus spoke, impressed on our
consciousness and heart in their intended mean-
ing; or speak of it as Christ, — that is the Spirit
y2 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
in which they were spoken, is all one: since it
is clear that an understanding of the intended
meaning of Christ's words generates in us the
Spirit in which they were spoken.
Meaning impressed on consciousness and heart
is spirit. If you are told that some man hates
you, and the words or incident related which lead
to that conclusion ; if you have not Christ already
in you, it must inevitably follow that when this
becomes impressed on your consciousness, when
you realize it, a spirit of hatred for this man will
rise in you. Likewise when the words of Christ
in their intended meaning become impressed on
your consciousness and heart, when they are
realized, the Spirit of Christ rises in you — is
born in you it may be.
"Ye must be born again." (John 3:7.)
Eternal life comes only through the Word of
God. Remember that Jesus says, *'God is a
Spirit," and that John says, "and the Word was
God." A knowledge of the fact that the bread
and wine of the sacrament do not in themselves
contain eternal life is of the greatest value, since
it leads us to the fact that eternal life
comes only by knowing the words of God in
their true meaning, — that is by having the Spirit
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 73
of God which is identical with knowing God.
"And this is hfe eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent." 'T and my Father are one."
In conclusion the value of the Lord's Supper
cannot be denied, — for we know God, and as a
result have eternal life, not by mental apprehen-
sion alone, but by the addition of what may be
called heart comprehension.
Section 28. We have found in the foregoing Christ's
section that the analogies drawn by Christ be- "meaning
" ■^ obtained by
tween the processes of generatmg and maintain- carrying his
ing physical, and those processes as regards the analogies
spiritual life, are intended to apply solely in a
spiritual sense.
We must carry these analogies out in full in
order to get Christ's meaning. Let us consider
the mystery of physical generation, and its
maintenance and growth. We know that physi-
cal life comes from preceding physical life.
The greatest spiritual authority who ever lived
as a man, informs us that this law which operates
without variation in the physical world, also
operates without variation in the spiritual world.
We learn from him that spiritual life is gener-
ated from preceding spiritual life, and that our
74 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
spiritual life depends upon that spiritual life
which is in Christ, and which comes through
Christ to us. "The words that I speak unto you ;
they are spirit and they are life."
Here let it be observed that Christ spoke all his
words with a certain meaning, and it is evident
that we must obtain something of this true
Christ-given meaning ere these words become
spirit and life to us.
As we know that in the propagation of physi-
cal life, a seed wherein physical life exists, is
the base of every living physical organism ; so
we also know that in the propagation of spiritual
or eternal life, a seed wherein spiritual life exists,
is the base of all organisms possessing spiritual
life, and we have Christ's own word for it as to
what this seed is, — "The seed is the word of
God." (Luke 8:2.)
If the \yord of Christ quoted here be true,
there can be no other kind of seed which will
raise this crop, because two varieties of seed will
not produce the same thing. The seed being dif-
ferent, the crop must also be different.
Now the consciousness of the natural man is
but the soil in which the seed of eternal life is
sown, and contains in itself no spiritual life what-
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 75
ever, nor can it, except this seed be sown in it.
"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man [the
word], and drink his blood [the Spirit], ye have
no Hfe in you." (John 6: 53.)
After physical life is generated it must be
maintained by being fed. The yet unborn physi-
cal organism must be fed sufficiently, in order
that its life may be maintained, that it may grow,
that it may be born, in fact. The life of the un-
born physical organism depends wholly upon be-
ing sufficiently fed. Likewise the life of the yet
unborn spiritual organism depends wholly upon
being sufficiently fed.
Jesus said to Nicodemus, ''Ye must be born
again." Regarded in this light, the spiritual or-
ganism is a re-birth, or birth again. Man is
born once into this world consciousness, the spirit
of this world, and must be re-born of the Spirit
of God. So we see that the man is re-born in
this sense, when the Spirit of God taking up its
abode in him begins for him existence in another
world^the kingdom of God. His consciousness
and heart hitherto welded to the spirit of this
world, which occupies itself with the things of
this material world, — the things of sense, begins
to become welded to the Spirit of God, which
y6 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
occupies itself with the things of the unseen
world, — the things of spirit. As Paul says,
"While we look not at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen: for the
things which are seen are temporal; but the
things which are not seen are eternal." (II
Cor. 4: 18.)
We are justified then in saying that a man is
born again who has received the Spirit of God —
the Holy Ghost; knowing that, as John says,
"Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the
world" (I John 5:4; and that the welding
process once begun must be completed — that
welding process which begins when a man re-
ceives the Spirit of God, and which is finished
when he becomes one in that Spirit. "I in them,
and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one." (John 17: 23.)
According to this view, a man would be born
again on receiving the Spirit of God ; then there
would be a period of growth, a coming to matur-
ity as it were, — which would be represented by
the time between the gift of the Holy Ghost and
the becoming wholly one with that gift. The
fullness of spiritual growth can be none other
than perfect oneness with Christ, — with God.
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? ^y
As we know that there is no end of the spiri-
tual world, we cannot carry the analogy of
spiritual things with physical any further than
we have, — the birth of the spiritual organism,
and its growth and coming to maturity ; for with
this spiritual organism there can be no death,
since this is born of God. The maturity of the
organism which is born of God is life — eternal
life.
The point of view which we have just con-
sidered— that a man is born again who has re-
ceived the gift of the Holy Spirit — we might
properly call the "man point of view." There is
yet another point of view from which we ought
to consider this matter, since both these points
of view are necessary to a harmonizing and an
understanding of much that we find in the New
Testament. The second point of view we may
justly call the ''God point of view." This point
of view is that God — in Christ — takes up his
abode in us and grows in us until our whole
nature is Him ; that we are, in our poor human
nature, but the soil and Christ the seed.
Both these points are not only made manifest,
but proven by the following verses: ''We know
that whosoever is born of God sinneth not."
78 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
(I John 5:18); "Whosoever abideth in him
sinneth not : whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him." (I John 3:6.)
Now we know that John had received the gift
of the Holy Ghost when Jesus breathed on his
apostles and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost."
(John 20:22.) We know, in other words, that
he had been born again of the Spirit.
John says, "We know that whosoever is born
of God sinneth not," and this leads us to the con-
clusion that John after having been born again
by receiving the Holy Ghost never thereafter
sinned. But John also says, "If we say that we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth
is not in us." (I John 1:8.) By this we see
that John includes himself with those in whom
sin exists as a present possession. We may
recall here the prayer of Solomon at the conse-
cration of the temple, "for there is no man that
sinneth not," and the harmonious saying of Jesus,
"there is none good but one, that is, God."
(Matt. 19: 17.)
The truth of these things cannot be denied.
Though a man may in one sense be born again,
having the gift of the Holy Ghost, and though he
will not live in sin, yet he will sin at times. Now
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 79
we know, also, that "Whosoever abideth in him
sinneth not," and, "Whosoever is born of God
doth not commit sin." We know that Jesus
never sinned and that God could never beget
one who sinned, for, as John says, "He that
committeth sin is of the devil." (I John 3:8.)
Can both these points of view be true? Yes,
for while in one sense a man cannot be born
again who sins, in another sense he is unques-
tionably born again, even though he may sin
at times. As we have seen from what we called
the "man point of view," a man is born again
when he receives the Holy Spirit. But from
the "God point of view" he cannot be born again
until entirely freed from sin. For, "whosoever
is born of God sinneth not." From this point
of view, therefore, a man is not born again
until he is perfected in Christ, which obviously
does not occur during his life here.
So while we are in one sense born again when
we receive Christ, yet in another sense we are
not born again until Christ has done his work
in us and fully freed us from sin. We are inevi-
tably bound to be born again at some future time
in the latter sense, if we have been born again in
the first sense — if we have received Christ.
8o WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
A man then can become a son of God only
when freed from sin, when perfected and made
wholly one with Christ, who is one with God.
It is apparent, therefore, that from the last men-
tioned point of view — that of the perfect Father
— the Christ who is born in a man must be re-
garded as in a sense separate and apart from
the man himself; and yet at the same time one
with the man in so far as the man lives in that
spirit, because, as John says, ''whosoever is born
of God sinneth not."
We must be SECTION 29. Carrying out the analogy which
spiritually igg^g h^s p^ivcu US, wc scc that as the birth of the
fedbyChnst; \ , ^ ^ . ' , , , . „
we must physical organism depends upon being surh-
exercise our ^iently fed, so the birth of the spiritual or-
spiritual -^ i t • rr
strength by gauism, Christ in us, depends upon being suffi-
doing the ^ientlv fed. And as the physical organism must
will of God -^ ^ . , . 1 .
be fed sufficiently m order to attain to maturity —
to the fullness of its physical powers — so must
the spiritual organism be fed sufficiently to at-
tain to the fullness of spiritual powers of which
the Christ in us is capable.
After birth, growth. It is possible for the
physical organism to die for lack of food after
being born; but the Christ in man, once born,
knows the source of supply of spiritual food.
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 8i
This spiritual organism, therefore, is immortal,
but like the physical body, may attain a greater
or less fullness of power within the span of an
earthly existence, according to whether it re-
ceives s;;fficient food, and sufficient exercise of
the spiritual strength gained from that food.
In regard to the food of this spiritual organ-
ism, it is God, for Christ says in John 6 : 57,
**As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by
the Father." He then adds, "so he that eateth
me, even he shall live by me," and here let us
remember what John says, ''and the word was
God"; also Christ's saying, 'T and my Father
are one."
The physical man must not only have sufficient
food, but sufficient exercise in order to assimi-
late that food and reach the full strength of
which he is capable. Repairs go on more rapid-
ly when muscles are used, and the parts of worn-
out tissue then replaced are built, not back into
the softer form of unused muscle, but into the
harder form of muscle in action. Thus the
physical body becomes great and powerful.
By the application of this natural law to the
spiritual organism, as Jesus has authorized us
to do in his analogies, we draw the conclusion
82 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
that the power of the spiritual man depends upon
exercise as well as upon food.
Jesus saith unto them, *'My meat is to do
the will of him that sent me, and to finish his
work." (John 4:34.) Doing the will of God,
that is spiritual exercise. So the maturity and
perfectness of spiritual strength which was in
Jesus depended not only on his spiritual food —
*T live by the Father" — but also on exercising
the spiritual strength which that food gave him,
thereby assimilating the food and making it a
part of himself. Exercising his spiritual strength
was, ''to do the will of him that sent me."
So it is with us. The spiritual man, Christ
in us, attains to a greater or less fullness, not only
by sufficient food, but also by using the spiritual
strength we get from that food in doing the will
of God; in finishing that portion of his work
which the Spirit tells us is ours.
Jesus says in John 4 : 36, "And he that reap-
eth, receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto
life eternal; that both he that soweth and he
that reapeth may rejoice together." It may
be said that he gathereth the fruit in himself,
as he reaps from day to day in this life; since
the spiritual man, or Christ in him, becomes
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 83
stronger according as he reaps — does the will
of God. Now Christ is life eternal.
Section 30. So though we may be born ^^^/^^^'^^'j^^
again, having received the Holy Spirit, yet it is in us, the
not zi^e that are born, but Christ in us. Like- ^f ;^^';;"Jjf
wise we may grow to spiritual fullness of stature,
and yet not we, but the Son of God born in us,
grows in us to such fullness of spiritual strength
as the abundance determines of spiritual food
and spiritual exercise which he receives. And
this is in our hands.
It is not zee, as we exist in our own con-
sciousness, that go to heaven — into the kingdom
of God, but only that part of us which is good —
the Son of God. ''And no man hath ascended
up to heaven but he that came down from
heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven.
(John 3:13.) It is fortunate that this is so,
for if we could take the evil part of our nature
with us we should be no more happy there than
here. The ''carnal mind" is enmity against God,
and we should be in a state of division against
ourselves.
Christ said, "The Kingdom of God is within
you," but he did not say that this kingdom occu-
pied our whole being, nor can it until we are
84 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
finally purged of all that is evil ; in other words,
until we are perfected.
As his own death approached, Jesus said:
"The hour is come that the Son of Man should
be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and
die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall
lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world
shall keep it unto life eternal." (John 12:23,
24, 25.) In Luke 13:32, Jesus says, "and the
third day I shall be perfected." Christ was
glorified by his victory over death in the natural
body, and again when in his ascension he passed
wholly out of the material into the spiritual
world.
And day by day, as the natural man dies in
us, the spiritual man is perfected more and
more. And day by day, as the natural man dies
in us, the spiritual man brings forth fruit more
and more. "But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose
it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall
keep it unto life eternal." What a blessed
thing it is that God has given us power through
his Son in us, to live here upon earth in the
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 85
kingdom of God in a measure. ''He that hath
the Son hath Hfe, and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not Hfe." (I John 5 : 12.)
Section 31. There is a phase of the subject Beginnings of
not yet touched upon, but which we are justified
in mentioning, by the analogies which Jesus
drew between physical and spiritual life. There
is a period before birth in the development of the
physical organism when its life is not its own
but belongs to the parent. So also there is a
period in the development of the spiritual organ-
ism when its life is not its own but the heavenly
Father's. "For he that hath, to him shall be
given; and he that hath not, from him shall
be taken even that which he hath." (Mark 4 : 25.)
*'He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath
not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5 : 12.)
If then Christ be born in us, we shall have
life indeed, as he says in John 5:26: "For as
the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given
to the Son to have life in himself."
Section 32. Most of us have at some time
or other found difficulty in the conception of the The spiritual
spiritual oneness of the Father and the Son. ^"eness of
^ God and
Perhaps we may by reference to the Gospels Christ
attain to a clearer conception of it.
86 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
We find in John i : 14, "And the Word was
made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father), full of grace and truth." In John
I : I we find, "And the Word was God."
Instead of having to comprehend only Christ's
identity with the Word, we have to comprehend
God's identity with the Word also. This seems
to make the matter more difiicult, but in reality
renders it simpler. For instance, we find in
John 5 : 30, "I and my Father are one." Thus
we have in these three verses direct statements
that Christ is identical with the Word ; that God
is identical with the Word, and that Christ and
God are identical. Now this identity of Christ
with God is unquestionably made more conceiv-
able to our reason by the identity of each of
them with the Word.
Let us, for instance, consider Abraham Lin-
coln. What was his real self ? Was it the giant
body, six feet four inches tall? Was it the
physical body that was Abraham Lincoln's real
self? or was it that inward individuality
which made him think and act as he did ? Surely
the real self of the man was the inward man.
In our case likewise the spirit which is in us,
. WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 87
that inward man which dictates all our thoughts
and actions, is our real self.
The real self of Christ Jesus is the spirit of
Christ, the Holy Spirit, which is God. Jesus
says in John 4: 24, "God is a Spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and
in truth."
Where John says in the first verse of his
gospel, "In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was
God," he might have said with equal truth : In
the beginning was the Spirit and the Spirit was
with God, and the Spirit was God ; but if he
had done so we would not be able to know so
certainly where to go to find God. "The Word"
truly does not mean the spoken symbols which
came from the mouth of Jesus ; it means rather
the spirit of Jesus, and to find out what manner
of spirit this is, we can do no better than to
study and think about the words which he spoke
and the perfectly harmonious deeds which he
did. Where our consideration of his words
fails to make plain to us his spirit — the Word —
then oftentimes his deeds and life supply the
essential spiritual comprehension, the meaning
lacking. "And the Word was made flesh, and
88 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
dwelt among us." The Word was made mani-
fest by deeds as well as by words, the deeds
which Jesus did.
It is worthy of note that we have an absolute
guarantee of the truth of Christ's sayings by
their perfect harmony with each other, by their
harmony with his deeds, and by Christ's promise
to his disciples in John 14:26: ''But the Com-
forter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in my name, he shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you."
Our love for SECTION 33. Christ has left to us two com-
our neighbor niandments, in the perfect observance of which
IS to be ex- _ ^
pressed in the entire will of God would in us be fulfilled,
terms of our -jegus Said uuto him. Thou shalt love the Lord
love for God "^
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy inind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On
these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets."
There are some eminent divines who appar-
ently make the greater commandment subordin-
ate to the lesser, who practically say to us that
if we fulfill the lesser — to love our neighbor as
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 89
ourselves — we also fulfill the greater. But is
this necessarily so? Is it not possible for a
man to love his neighbor as himself, and yet
neither love himself or his neighbor on a spiritual
plane, with reference to the things of God? Is
it not possible for a man who finds his pleas-
ure in the things of this world, to take an
equal pleasure in seeing others do likewise?
He may wish the best for himself and his neigh-
bor that he is able to see, and still not fulfill the
first and great commandment to love the Lord
with all his heart, and soul, and mind.
Jesus says that on the observance of both
these commandments hang all the law and the
prophets, and we are, therefore, not justified in
saying that the observance of the lesser is all
that is necessary. In John 15:12 we find,
**This is my commandment, that ye love one
another, as I have loved you." Here it is ap-
parent that the words *'as I have loved you"
imply a love from the spiritual plane, and that
this commandment, therefore, includes both the
commandments we have mentioned.
We find the same to be the case in John 13 : 34,
where Jesus says, *'A new commandment I give
unto you, that ye love one another, as I have
90 WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE?
loved you, that ye also love one another." The
possibility of inadequate interpretation is evident-
ly in Jesus' mind when he adds, "as I have
loved you, that ye also love one another." It
is plain that in loving one another as Christ
loved us, we must love with reference to spiritual
things, with reference to the eternal welfare of
each other, for such was the manner of his
love for us.
With regard, therefore, to the two great com-
mandments, we are not justified in twisting the
word of Christ from its true meaning, which
clearly is, that the lesser commandment is with
reference to the greater; that wherever there may
be a seeming conflict in' the application of these
two commandments, the conflict is to be decided
with reference to our love for God and his
righteousness, rather than with reference to our
love for our neighbor.
In reality there can be no actual conflict be-
tween these two commandments, for they are in
perfect harmony. But there are times when
we are called upon to make a decision as to a
seeming conflict. In such cases it will be found
that this apparent conflict is caused by our failure
to reconcile the well-being of our neighbor out-
WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? 91
wardly and inwardly, spiritually and physically.
Suppose a situation where we could obtain food
or shelter for our neighbor only by committing
robbery, perjury, or some other sin against the
spiritual man. We are not commanded to love
our neighbor more than ourselves. If we would
not do this for ourselves we should not do it for
our neighbor, and if we would commit such acts
for ourselves, it is evident that we do not love
God vi^ith all our heart, and soul, and mind.
Our love and care for the inward welfare of our
neighbor is to be placed above that for his out-
ward welfare, the same as for ourselves.
In this connection it is also true that every
proper and righteous expression of love for our
neighbor in regard to material things is also an
expression of our love for his inward welfare,
and is, therefore, also an expression of our love
for God and his righteousness. As such we can
none of us afford to neglect these things. They
are of the first importance, both to our neighbor's
welfare and to our own. Yet let us assign to
the first and great commandment its proper
place, the place which Christ assigned to it.
\s^
^
4<
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11