Eternal Life

You Have Been Perfected Once And For All

What must I do to receive eternal life.


          Can I have eternal life right now?

The pursuit of eternal life with God in heaven is the most important pursuit of your life. Out of all the things you pursue in life (i.e., marriage, wealth, moral living, etc.), the pursuit for eternal life is the most important. It's the most important because after you die, you will either spend eternity with God in heaven, or apart from God in hell (Matthew 25:31-46). Eternity is a pretty long time (forever), so it is very important that we know where we are going to spend it. Can you say right now, at this moment, that you know for sure that you will be with Heavenly Father in heaven when you die? Do you have eternal life away from hell?

Some people feel very uncomfortable when the subject of hell is mentioned. Some people even go to great lengths to say that hell doesn't exist, or if it does exist, that it exists only for the really bad people like murderers. The fact is, hell is a reality, and eternal life is made even more precious when the reality of hell is understood. Lets take a brief look at some scriptures that mention the reality of hell.

Daniel 12:2 "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt"
Matthew 24:51 "...in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth"

Matthew 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels... '"

Matthew 25:46 "These will go away into eternal punishment..."

Luke 3:17 "He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire"

John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

Romans 2:9 "There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek"

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 "...dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power"

Revelation 14:10-11 "...he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have not rest day and night..."

Hell is a reality, and according to Jesus, many people will be going there, and there is no way to cross over into heaven once your there. Jesus says,

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it (Matthew 7:13). Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you will seek to enter and will not be able (Luke 13:24 ). And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us (Luke 16:26 ).

So, if you do not have eternal life the only other option is eternal death in hell, and according to Mormonism, eternal life is only attained after all the laws of the gospel have been obeyed continually. Click here to read what Joseph Fielding Smith says about obeying all the commandments to gain eternal life. My question to you is, have you done the prescribed works set out by the prophets and scriptures to inherit eternal life away from hell? Have you washed and cleansed yourself from all your sins by keeping all the commandments? (D&C 76:52 ) If you haven't, how do you expect to gain eternal life? For no unclean thing can enter God's kingdom (Moses 6:57 ). You may be thinking, "But I'm trying my best!" Spencer W. Kimball wrote,

Trying is not sufficient. Nor is repentance complete when one merely tries to abandon sin... To 'try' is weak. To 'do the best I can' is not strong. We must always do better than we can (Miracle, 164-5).

You may add, “but I’m saved by grace!” After all, 2 Nephi 25:23 states, “we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." But you see, according to the Mormon scriptures, it's only after you have done all you can do before grace is imparted. What is all we can do? The book of Mormon says that all we can do is obey every law that God has given us. 1 Nephi 3:7 says,

I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

If the grace of God is imparted to us after we have done all we can do, then how do we know if we've done enough? According to Moroni 10:32 , you can know you've done all you can do when you've (1) Denied yourself of all ungodliness, and (2) Loved God with all your might, mind and strength.

Let me create an illustration to help you visualize the difference between a man trusting in his adherence to the law for eternal life, and a man trusting in Christ alone, it all has to do with what you put your faith into. Imagine a person who is challenged to cross a frozen lake. He has confidence in himself that he can cross the lake by his swift maneuvering, and when he starts to cross the lake he suddenly falls through the ice and dies from the cold water. Imagine another person who is challenged to cross a frozen lake. This person checks and measures the depth of the ice and confirms that it's a foot thick. He is unhesitant to walk across because he has measured the strength of the ice. The ice holds him up, and he gets across safely. You see, it’s the object you put your faith into that counts. The poor man who fell in foolishly relied on his ability instead of the substance. Are you on thin ice and don't know it? Check it!

If you are on thin ice doesn’t that make you a little worried that you might fall through on the day of judgment? Beware, don’t think you can wait ‘til after you die to make things right, it will be too late (Alma 34:32-34 ). Wouldn’t you like to be assured that your object of faith will secure you from falling in? Christian author, John Owen, puts it this way,

The foundation of all peace, confidence and comfort lies in the grace and mercy of our Maker, the God of the whole earth. Kindness and power are also in him. He is our God and our kinsman Redeemer. He says to sinners, ‘Look to me and be saved, for I am God and there is no other’ (Isaiah 45:22 ). And we can say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength’ (v.24). If all the world should drink free grace, mercy and pardon from Christ, the well of salvation; if they should draw strength from one single promise, they would not be able to lower the level of the water of grace in that promise one hair’s breadth. There is enough grace, mercy and pardon in one of God’s promises for the sins of millions of worlds, if they existed, because the promise is supplied from an infinite, bottomless and eternal reservoir. What is one finite guilt before this infinite and eternal reservoir of grace? Show me the sinner who can spread out his sins to infinite dimensions and I will show him this infinite and eternal reservoir of grace and mercy (Communion with God, 63).

We can be assured of eternal life because it is found only in the eternal riches of grace in Jesus Christ, and not in our efforts. This is why the apostle Paul refers to it as a gift; it's given to us freely even when we don't deserve it. If you read Romans 5:1-21 you will notice that the word gift is mentioned six times, and the word free is mentioned three times. Paul clearly says, "For the wages of sin is death, but gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23 ). It is our sin that separates us from God and condemns us to hell. Once we come to God and ask for that barrier to be removed by Christ's blood, we are declared righteous before God, and receive the gift of eternal life. It is Christ’s total obedience, not our partial obedience, that saves true Christians from hell. (Romans 5:19 ). When we come to Him by faith and ask Him to give us eternal life, His righteousness is “imputed” (i.e., added) to our account (Romans 4:1-8 ), and we can experience the reality of eternal life with God. Only the righteousness of Christ will satisfy the demands of an all-Holy God. Nothing less will do. If we try to rely on our efforts to gain eternal life, like the LDS prophets tell us too, we will fail and pay the ultimate penalty in hell. It is only when we rely on this biblical fact that we can have the assurance of Eternal Life (1 John 5:13 ).