ETERNAL LIFE AND IMMORTALITY.
By J. Herschel Parsons
IN the word of God we read that the “King of Kings . . . only hath immortality.” 1 Tim. 6:16. Yet the great majority of Christians believe every human being has an immortal soul. Immortality is the power of self-existence; that which can not be destroyed. There is a difference between immortality and eternal life, the latter is subject to conditions. Our first parents had, or experienced, eternal life, on conditions; namely, strict obedience to the word of God. Failure incurred death, not the death of the body only, but the death of the soul, “dying thou shalt die.” “Thou,” the whole personality of man. Gen. 2:18, margin. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Eze. 18:4. There is nothing in the Bible to show that the words “soul” and “spirit,” which are used interchangeably, mean anything but life, and mortal life at that, for no man can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Jesus said: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:3, 5. The man who has not been washed by the water of the word of God (Eph. 5:26) and born of the Spirit (John 1:12, 13) will finally be as tho he never had been (Obadiah 16); “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return (Gen. 3:19).” The word of God has a creative power when taken into the human heart, and it is “engrafted” into the human heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. A man may hear the word of God read and preached all the days of his life, and yet not allow it to take hold of him. Jesus said: “Why do ye not understand My speech?—even because ye can not hear My word.” John 8:43. It is only thru faith in the Son of God that we can obtain eternal life, and “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Rom. 10:17. The word of God is one of the most sacred and most vital things in the universe; it is so held beyond our understanding by God Himself, because it is the very essence of His character; for “Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name.” Ps. 138:2. He can not change it, because “He can not deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13), and because He is “the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17). The only opportunity of eternal life any son of Adam has, is by the power of the word of God, transforming him into a new creature; “therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Cor. 5:17. When the word of God takes hold of a man’s heart, it will transform him, and it may be said he is in Christ, because Christ was and is the living Word of God (Rev. 19:13; John 1:14), and that word will transform any man into a Christ-child (or Christian) to the extent that man lays hold of the word of God and allows it to transform him. Jesus prayed: “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us.” John 17:21. “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” 1 John 4:2. Mark what it says: “Confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.” When a man is born again, he will confess by a change of life, and by his words and actions that Jesus Christ is come in his (the man’s) flesh. That man will not doubt this, because “he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.” 1 John 5:10. The whole plan of salvation is subverted when we believe we have immortality inherent in ourselves. We even make God out to be a liar (for immortality presumes and demands eternal life), “because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” 1 John 5:10, 11.9 Please note this eternal life is not in us, but “this life is in His Son.” “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” 1 John 5:12. Reasons for Erroneous Belief.
Some have advanced the argument that as the belief in the inherent immortality of the soul is well-nigh universal, it therefore must be true; but there are no doubt many reasons for this belief; among which let us suggest: (1) that we are experiencing in a limited degree the life that God gave our first parents, the very life He intended to be eternal, and which would have been eternal, but for their disobedience which brought forth death. 2. Another probable reason for the universal belief in our immortality is that our first parents believed in it. Satan said: "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4), and they believed him, and multitudes of their descendants have believed him, and it may be said that a great majority of professed Christians to-day believe Him. That lie has been perpetuated thru all the ages, like a well-worn counterfeit bill 3. It is quite natural for every one who has tasted of life to believe that he will live forever; speaking of the wicked, the word says: "Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue forever, and their dwelling-places to all generations; . . . nevertheless, man being in honor abideth not; he is like the beasts that perish." Ps. 49:11, 12. "He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light." Verse 19. The Belief Condemned of God.
The prophet Ezekiel was told to prophesy against those who fostered the idea of inherent immortality. Because with lies ye have "strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life." Eze. 13:22. In harmony with this, Jesus said: "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matt. 7:14. The Scripture tells of some who have been translated, and many who have been raised from the dead, resurrected (Matt. 27:52), but the great multitude of the righteous are asleep in their graves. "Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John 5:28. Some have even suggested that the revelation of eternal punishment is Bible evidence that man has an immortal soul. If the being punished is immortal, then his punishment will be felt forever and ever, but the word of God has made the matter quite plain by telling us over and over again that we are mortal and that the wicked are as stubble, "and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4:1. The punishment is eternal and final, and the fire is eternal, but the human beings are consumed and perish. There is only one door to eternal life, and Jesus said: "I am the door; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. . . . I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:9, 10. J. HERSCHEL PARSONS.
Villa Grove, Colo.