In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: If he's not the Son of God, and if he is not God walking in human flesh, if he is not seated at the Father's right hand making intercession for us, then he was a liar. He was a counterfeit, he was a fraud. You can't have a good Jesus unless he's God. The resurrection, the Father's way of putting value and absolute certainty before the whole world. This is not just another religious leader. This is the living God coming out of that tomb because death could not hold God the Son.

Guest (Male): Welcome to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Down through the centuries, the varying beliefs of the world's religions have generated a lot of disagreement. And often their leaders have promised special knowledge about how to live forever.

Today we'll hear the Bible's simple message of salvation, clearing up the confusion about eternal life.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Are you interested in eternal life? Do you know what it is? Do you know how to possess it? Do you realize that once you have it, you can absolutely be sure of it? Well, that's what I want to talk about in this message. Simply this, eternal life. Do you want it? And I want you to turn if you will, to first John chapter 5.

First John chapter 5, beginning in verse 4, John makes it very, very clear as to how you and I can have eternal life. And so he begins by saying in verse 4, "Whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. And who is the one who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and with the blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness because the Spirit is the truth.

For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are in agreement. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater for the witness of God is this, that he has born witness concerning his son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning his son.

And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. He who has the Son has the life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have the life."

These things I've written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God in order that you may know that you have eternal life. It's very clear in this passage if you'll notice in verse 11. "And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life."

And the first thing I simply want to say is this, that is eternal life is a gift of God. Eternal life is a gift of God. For example, he says it here. And then that passage that all of us know so well in Romans chapter 6, 23, when he says, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." And it's very clear all through the scriptures that eternal life is a gift of God. It isn't something we work for, something we pay for, something we worship for.

It is a gift of God from God. Eternal life is not a place, eternal life is a relationship. Eternal life is a relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ that makes it possible for us to spend eternity in a place called heaven.

When you turn for example to the book of the Revelation and you come to that 20th chapter and the 21st chapter, especially 21 and 22, when he's talking about heaven and describing heaven. He talks about the fact in verse 7 of chapter 21 that he says, "I'll be his God and he'll be my son." In chapter 22, verse 4, he says, "And they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads, and there shall no longer be any night. They shall not have any need of the light of the lamp, nor the light of the sun, because the Lord of God shall illumine them, and they shall reign forever and ever."

And then the 21st, 22nd chapter talk about heaven and what it's like. But the real emphasis in the fact that you and I have a personal relationship with God. Eternal life is a gift that he gives us that has to do with our relationship with him. But it has to do with a relationship that is eternal, that is, it is never ending. It is a duration of time in which there is no end whatsoever.

So, once born, you live forever. We have the awesome privilege of choosing what that direction's going to be and where we're going to live. We're either going to live in heaven with Almighty God and all the wondrous things that he's provided for us, or we're going to be eternally separated from God, losing all hope forever and ever and ever of any good, of any change. There's not a single verse in the scripture that would even imply that once you die without Jesus Christ that somehow you're going to get a second chance on the other side. There's not a single verse to imply that.

Nowhere does the Bible teach that. That's why the emphasis of Jesus in so many things he said about eternity and about eternal punishment and about heaven, because he was making the point. Listen, if you don't do it now, it's going to be too late after you die. So when I think about what life's all about, and think about the fact that I have a choice, then surely I have a deep interest in eternal life.

This endless duration of life, this endless duration of life that is involved in fellowship and companionship and oneness and intimacy with God who sent his son to this world in order that I might be saved, forgiven of my sins and have the gift of eternal life. Surely you'd be interested in that. Well, when I think about the fact that it's a gift, certainly it'll disturb somebody's interest.

Nowhere in the Bible is it say, "If you work so many years, you will earn the gift of eternal life. If you pay so much, you will be able to purchase eternal life." Now, listen carefully. There is so much supposedly truth that goes on out there that has a subtle mixture, and here's the mixture. You'll hear the message, you're saved by grace, not by works. But then, if you keep listening often times, the next thing you hear is the fact, though it's not said, but it's implied, but in order to stay saved, here's what you got to do.

You must do the following things. You must give so much, or you must serve God, you must do all these things. Listen, serving God and giving and praying and worshiping are all part of the Christian life and it's what all of us who are saints, what we want to do. We love God, we want to do that. But how does the person come to eternal life? The Bible says it's a gift. Now, watch this. It cannot be the result of what I did and a gift at the same time.

It's either going to be a gift or it's going to be wages. That's why the Bible says, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life." Listen, the gift of eternal life is eternal life. You can't portion out eternity. If it's eternal, it's eternal. You can't say, well, you get so much eternal life. No. If you get eternal life, you've got it and you've got it forever. Nowhere does the Bible say that you get it by works.

"Not by works of righteousness which we've done, but according to his mercy. His mercy he saved us, he's forgiven us." Now the big question is, how? How can I possess eternal life? Well, there are two very simple, again, two absolutes. The Bible's not hazy about this. Two absolutes.

Number one, in order to possess eternal life, I must agree with God about who his son is. Listen, I must agree with God's witness about who his son Jesus is. Now, who is he? Well, that's what this passage is sort of dealing with here. When I say sort of, I mean the fact that some of this about blood, water and spirit. John was writing to correct an error in the church. And the error was this, that when Jesus was born, came into the world as a man, when he was baptized, he became God. He remained God until he came to the cross, then he was man again. There's not one verse of scripture anywhere in the Bible to say that. Not one. So that's the kind of area he was writing about. So that's why some of this is here, which I want us to look at for a moment.

When we ask the question now, how does a person receive the gift of eternal life? I know deep down inside you either are interested now, you're going to be interested. How do you receive the gift of eternal life? Well, let's look at it, because again, it's very clear. Number one, you've got to believe that Jesus Christ is who God says he is. He is the eternal Son of the living God. Now, listen to these passages, if you will.

Verse 10, "The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself." I'm coming back to that now. "The one who does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the witness that God has born concerning his son." That is, what did God say about his son? "And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. He who has the Son has the life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life."

So, what is the testimony, what is the witness of Almighty God about his son? He says, "His son, Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Jesus said, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I and the Father are one." Jesus is deity even as God the Father is deity. And so people who say to you, well, now, wait a minute, you know, I believe in God. You mean to tell me that if I believe in God and I don't believe in Jesus, that I don't have eternal life?

Well, listen to what he said. "He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life." That doesn't leave any question. There can be no doubt about that whatsoever. What he's saying here is this, in order for me to have the gift of eternal life, I must agree with God about who he says his son is. And he says his son, Jesus Christ is his son, his eternal son, the Son of God. Jesus confessed to being the Son of God. Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

And all through the Gospels, he was identified as the Son of God. If you've seen me, he says, "You've seen the Father." I and the Father are one. If you've seen him, you've seen the Father. He and the Father were one. He is deity. And when a person says, well, I do believe in God, but I don't believe in Jesus, then my friend, no matter what else you believe in life, if you do not believe that Jesus Christ is divine, that he is deity, if you do not believe that he is the eternal Son of God, then let me ask you a question.

Why did he die? Because if he were just a man, he had to be a sinner. Now, listen to this. You can't have it the way the world wants it. You just can't have it this way. Let me show you why. You can't have it that Jesus was a good man, wonderful man, good teacher, great philosopher, healer, a great person in history, but he was not the Son of God, and he certainly was not God.

Now, you can't have it that way. You say, yes, I can. No, you can't. Because Jesus Christ could not be a good man, he could not be just a philosopher, he couldn't be all of that. If he's not the Son of God and if he is not God walking in human flesh, if he is not seated at the Father's right hand making intercession for us, then he was a liar. He was an impostor, he was a counterfeit, he was a fraud. You can't have a good Jesus unless he's God. The resurrection, the Father's way of putting value and absolute certainty before the whole world. This is not just another religious leader. Not just a philosopher, not just a teacher, not just a preacher, not just a theologian. This is the living God coming out of that tomb because death could not hold God the Son.

Validating everything he said, and giving you and me the assurance that we need that when the Bible says absent from the body, present with the Lord, suppose he was still in the grave. Suppose he's like all other religious leaders. We'd have no assurance whatsoever. We have absolute assurance. Rose from the grave, validated, gave us blessed assurance that he's everything he says he is. Well, first of all, you got to believe who he is. He's the Son of God, the eternal Son of God who came into the world and died on the cross and all your sins and mine may be forgiven, but there's a second thing.

The second thing is you must be willing to accept him as your personal Savior. You must be willing to accept him as your personal Savior. Now, when I think about the whole idea of accepting him as your personal Savior, what people think about that. So I believe in Jesus. Well, I want you to think about something. This is so crystal clear and it's so black and white. Are you listening, say amen? Watch this, couldn't be any clearer than this. Listen carefully.

Eternal life is irretrievably, irrevocably, immutably linked to the person of Jesus. You can't have one without having the other. Listen to this. Here's how you have the Son. He says, "To as many as believed in him, to them gave he the right, the authority, the power to become the sons of God." As many as believed in him, received him, as many as received him by faith. Now, what does it mean to receive Jesus? It means, watch this carefully. It means that I accept the testimony of God the Father, God the Son.

I accept the testimony of scripture about who he is, that he is man's only hope, that he's man's savior, that that's the way forgiveness comes. If I receive Jesus Christ as my personal savior, that means I accept personally who he is, God the Father's son. I accept who he is. I accept what he did in my behalf, that he died for my sins. I accept that and apply that to my own life by faith.

I accept who he is, and I accept what he did, and I accept the fact that God said, "If I do so, if I believe him, I will be saved." So let me define what believe means. To believe in Jesus means that I have a confident conviction that Jesus is who he says he is, and upon placing my trust in him as my savior, I enter into a personal and eternal relationship with him.

It is a confident conviction that Jesus is who he says he is, and upon placing my trust in him, I believe you who you say you are. Placing my trust in him, which would include that I believe what he did at Calvary in my behalf. I enter into by faith, I enter into a personal, eternal relationship with him. Therefore, when a person says, well, I believe about Jesus, that's not believing in Jesus.

One of these days you're going to come to the end of life. What you've believed all these years isn't going to make any difference whatsoever if you have rejected Jesus all these years. You see, I understand this may be difficult for you because of maybe somewhere you've come from in life or whatever your religion may be. I have nothing personal in mind. I'm interested in one thing, that you simply know the truth.

When it comes the time when you close your eyes on this life and you open them on the next one, I just want you to be sure that it will not be a fearful time, a tragic time, a tormenting moment, a moment when you become hysterically uncontrollable because you know when you take your last breath, you're going into an endless, uncertain, unknown eternity that you know nothing about.

There's only one way to avoid that, and this is the way it is, to accept what God the Father said about his son. There's only one Jesus. He's God the Father's only begotten son who came into this world in his sinless perfection for the purpose of dying for your sins. So that the moment you ask him to forgive you of your sin on the basis of who he is, the great forgiver. The basis of what he did, he paid your sin debt in full.

Placing your trust in him, you become a child of God. Your eternal future is secure forever. He comes to live on the inside of you to enable you to live a very godly life. That's what this is all about. The gift of eternal life is yours for the asking and yours for the believing. Do you want it? If you're wise, you'll take it.

Father, I pray the Holy Spirit has penetrated every single heart that has heard this message. For those who are full of doubts, we want to ask you to settle those doubts right now. For those who know in their heart there's never been a time when they made this momentous decision that affects their whole destiny. Grant them the courage and the simple faith to pray this prayer to you, believing with all their heart, because there's no reason to doubt it, that you've heard and that you've answered even while they're praying.

If you will pray this prayer, Heavenly Father, I know I've sinned against you. I'm asking you to forgive me of my sin. I do believe that Jesus Christ is your son. I believe that when he went to the cross at Calvary, he paid my sin debt in full. By faith, I receive Jesus as my personal Savior. Here and now, I accept your forgiveness and the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, the Lord, and now my Lord. In his name I pray, amen.

If you prayed that prayer, you can't ever be the same. And my friend, you don't have to worry about death because when it hits you, things are going to get better instantly because you have the gift of eternal life.

Guest (Male): If you've prayed that prayer of salvation at the end of today's edition of In Touch, then your eternal destination has been changed forever. To learn more about what just happened, visit intouch.org. And from our homepage, you can find a link to Today on Radio to hear this message again. To order a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message, click over to our bookstore page. The title is, "Eternal Life, Do You Want It?" It's also available as part of his two-sermon teaching set, "Eternal Life." Check out intouch.org. Call or text, it's 1-800-IN-TOUCH.

You can write to us at In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia, 30357. Dad is to be a loving provider and protector. So how does a man protect his kids from things that are out of his control? Keep listening for today's moment with Charles Stanley. Coming up.

Dr. Charles Stanley: What are you living for? What is your goal and objective in life?

Guest (Male): For 60 years, Dr. Charles Stanley's sermons have blessed us. And today, his teachings continue to enrich our walk with Christ through the new Charles Stanley Institute. It's all built so you can live a more abundant Christian life, and it's completely free. Visit us at charlesstanleyinstitute.org. The Charles Stanley Institute, empowering disciples worldwide. From the Pastor's Heart is an in-depth teaching letter inspired by the teachings of Dr. Charles Stanley. To receive In Touch's From the Pastor's Heart letter, call 1-800-IN-TOUCH or visit intouch.org/pastorsheart.

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You're listening to In Touch. There's no shortage of bad news. If you're a dad and a believer, how can you reassure your children? Here's a moment with Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: People talk about how bad times are today. Well, I can look back and realize when we were fighting a war on both sides of our nation in Europe and in Japan and it looked like they were coming up the Aleutian Chain and we were going to be invaded and then the communist world was taking over. In other words, there've always been crises and always been things to fear. And so, Dad has to remind his children that, you know, there've always been times like this, but we're trusting God. God is sovereign. He's in charge of everything. And I think one of the basic principles of scripture that a father needs to get across to his whole family, his wife and his children, God is in control.

And to assure them that in spite of all the things that are going on, God's bigger than all of that. And if he's in control, I have no reason to fear because he's going to take care of us, provide for our needs. What he says he will do, he will do. And when the father projects that image, it just builds confidence and assurance. That child, they can go to school with confidence and assurance. They can hear all the bad news and think about all the bad news that comes across on television. We're going to be invaded with this, we could be bombed, it could be bombed that just wipes out the whole city.

Well, the father needs to sit there and say, you know what, they're forgetting something. God's in control. We're trusting him. He can take care of us. And that conveys a message of strength and courage in the life of that child.

Guest (Male): Learn more about living the Christian life and encouraging others in their faith at intouch.org. And if you have a story about what you've learned through this program, please share it with us. On the next edition of In Touch, how can you be confident you'll go to heaven? Be back to hear scriptural assurance that God's forgiveness, once received, is forever. I hope you'll join us again for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.