Here's an interesting excerpt Soulfinder... Excerpt from the article " Heaven: a Future Hope or a Present Reality?" by Richard Anthony ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "In scripture, eternal life is defined as knowing Christ Jesus while in this physical body! Look at this definition of "life eternal":
John 17:3, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."
You see, eternal life does not mean we become immortal (to live for ever and ever), it means to know God, and to know His Truth! In fact, the word "immortal" only appears once in the entire King James Bible! (1 Timothy 1:17). Only once!! Incredible, considering we hear the "immortal soul" preached all the time. The term "immortal soul" does not appear anywhere in scripture. The word "immortality" appears three times in scripture, and it is not in reference to any "soul," it is in reference to God, because only God has immortality, not us (1 Timothy 6:15-16).
1 John 5:11-12, "And this is the record, that God hath[passed tense] given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath[present tense] life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have[present tense] eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. " 1 John 3:14, "We know that we have passed [passed tense] from death unto [eternal] life, because we love the brethren..."
Listen to what Christ himself said:
John 5:24-25, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath[present tense] everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed [passed tense] from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is [present tense], when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live."
Now, You might ask, "But, doesn't the bible say the body must die in order to receive eternal life?" Well, yes, the body must die first. But, not our physical body!
Romans 8:10, "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness."
Dear reader, is Christ in you? Well, this verse says if Christ is in you, then your "body" is dead. What "body" is this verse talking about? Obviously not your physical body. By "body" is meant the "body of sin," the sinful part of our nature. In other words, our "old man," which is corrupt because of sinful deeds. And once we are "born again" and put on the "new man," then this is when we receive eternal life and when heaven comes to us." (end of excerpt)
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Peace
Acadian