How Do People Obtain Eternal Life?

[SeaBass]

Nobody had to "going". According to the language and grammar of Num
21:5-9, all that Yhvh's snake-bitten people had to do was look upon the
image. Moses hoisted it up on a pole so people could see it from a distance.

==================================

What proof do you have that looking upon the serpant did not require one to have to go to the location of the serpent to be able to look upon it? There are verses that require men to come to Christ, to come and drink of the water of life.

 

[SeaBass]

How does one get eternal life?

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ & you shall be saved.

I give them eternal life and they shall never perish.

God so loved the world that He gave his unique Son that
whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Rom 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith.

[NO WORKS, NO WATER][/FONT]

Rom 3:21-30

But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction;

[NO WORKS, NO WATER]

[All them who believer, rules out any other thing essential besides believe.]

for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; 24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus.
[NO WORKS, NO WATER]
27 Where then is the glorying? It is excluded. By what manner of law? of works? Nay: but by a law of faith. 28 We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yea, of Gentiles also: 30 if so be that God is one, and he shall justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith.

[NO WORKS, NO WATER]
Rom 4:1ff

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, hath found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not toward God. For what saith the scripture? And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness.
[NO WORKS, NO WATER]
4 Now to him who works, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt. 5 But to him that works not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness.
[NO WORKS, NO WATER]

6 Even as David also pronounces blessing upon the man, to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works, 7 saying,
Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin.

9 Is this blessing then pronounced upon the circumcision, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say, To Abraham his faith was reckoned for righteousness.

[NO WORKS, NO WATER]
10 How then was it reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision: 11 and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision: that he might be the father of all them who believe, though they be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might be reckoned unto them; 12 and the father of circumcision to them who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham which he had in uncircumcision. 13 For not through the law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith.
[NO WORKS, NO WATER]

14 For if they that are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect: 15 for the law works wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there transgression. 16 For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace; to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
[NO WORKS, NO WATER]

17 (as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, even God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were. 18 Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, So shall thy seed be. 19 And without being weakened in faith he considered his own body now as good as dead (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20 yet, looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 Wherefore also it was reckoned unto him for righteousness.
[NO WORKS, NO WATER]

Rom 5:1-2
Being therefore justified by faith, let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand; and let us boast in hope of the glory of God.

[NO WORKS, NO WATER]

Rom 9:30:
What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who followed not after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith: but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works. They stumbled at the stone of stumbling; even as it is written,
Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence:
And he who believes on him shall not be put to shame.

[NO WORKS, NO WATER]

Rom 10:4ff

For Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to everyone who believes.
[NO WORKS, NO WATER]

[EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES rules out anything essential added to faith.]

For Moses writeth that the man that doeth the righteousness which is of the law shall live thereby. But the righteousness which is of faith says thus, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down or, Who shall descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach.

[NO WORKS, NO WATER]


1 Cor 1:21
it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.
[NO WORKS, NO WATER]

You continue to purposely avoid the verses that says one must be baptized, doing obedient works to be saved. And you avoid that belief is a work, ,a work that includes the works of repenting, confession and baptism.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

The Israelites could have all the faith they wanted to have that God could heal them but not until they looked upon the serpent were they healed.

I am sorry, but this is a sad statement.

I have faith in something, yet I am not going to do it. especially when my life is in danger.

Are you really that so far off you would think this could be true?

As Naaman could have had all the faith he wanted that God could heal him but not until he went and dipped 7 times in the river was he healed.

Faith alone, with no going and dipping or looking, would have done nothing.

faith produces works. Lack of faith will not work.

No one is saved by work, they were saved the MOMENT they trusted in whatever the work was.

 

[SeaBass]

I am sorry, but this is a sad statement.

I have faith in something, yet I am not going to do it. especially when my life is in danger.

Are you really that so far off you would think this could be true?



faith produces works. Lack of faith will not work.

No one is saved by work, they were saved the MOMENT they trusted in whatever the work was.

Would either the Israelites or Naaman's "faith only" healed them without going and dipping and looking? NO!

Did the going and dipping and looking earn them their healing? NO!

 

[tourist]

You continue to purposely avoid the verses that says one must be baptized, doing obedient works to be saved. And you avoid that belief is a work, ,a work that includes the works of repenting, confession and baptism.

Baptized into what denomination? What type of baptism is acceptable? From what I have read on this site all denominations are seriously lacking in something or another. Maybe this is a do it at home project.

 

[1joseph]

-
People get eternal life basically the same way they get an iPhone 6-- they
contact a distributor of the product they want. In this case, there is but one
authorized distributor: God's son.

†. John 17:2 . .You have given him authority over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to as many as You have given him.

This is actually a lot easier than most folks realize. Take for example the
experience of the five-times married woman shacking up with a man in
Samaria that Jesus once encountered on his travels. In metaphoric
language, he informed her that she could have eternal life just by asking him
for it.

†. John 4:10-15 . . Jesus said to her: If you knew the gift of God, and who it
is who says to you "Give me a drink" you would have asked him, and he
would have given you living water.

. . . She said to him: Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is
deep; where then do you get that living water? You are not greater than our
father Jacob, are you, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his
sons, and his cattle?

. . . Jesus answered and said to her: Everyone who drinks of this water shall
thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall
never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of
water springing up to eternal life.

So, in order to get the ball rolling: one must first have some understanding
of the "gift of God".

†. John 3:14-17 . . As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so
must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in him have
eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

The incident to which Christ referred is located at Num 21:5-9. Long story
short: Yhvh's people became weary of eating manna all the time at every
meal. But instead of courteously, and diplomatically, petitioning their divine
benefactor for a different diet, they became hostile and confrontational;
angrily demanding tastier food.

In response to their insolence, and their ingratitude for His providence; Yhvh
sent a swarm of deadly poisonous vipers among them; which began striking
people; and every strike was 100% fatal, no exceptions. Then the people
came to their senses and asked Moses to intercede. In reply; The Lord
instructed Moses to fashion an image of the vipers and hoist it up on a pole
in plain view so that everyone dying from venom could look to the image for
relief.

The key issue here is that the image was the only God-given remedy for the
people's bites-- not sacrifices and offerings, not tithing, not church
attendance, not scapulars, not confession, not holy days of obligation, not
the Sabbath, not love of one's neighbor, not charity, not Bible study and
Sunday school, not self denial, not vows of poverty, not the Ten
Commandments, no; not even prayers. The image was it. In other words
then: Christ's crucifixion is the only God-given escape from the wrath of
God; and when people accept it, then according to John 3:14-17 and John
4:10-15, they qualify for eternal life.

†. Rev 22:17 . .The Spirit and the bride say: Come. Let each one who hears
them say: Come. Let the thirsty ones come-- anyone who wants to. Let
them come and drink the water of life without charge.

====================================

Thank you for this post. The way you put it is clear and easily understood.

I am a Believer but have never paid attention to verses 14, 15, & 17 of John, Chapter 3, which bring so much more meaning to the stand alone verse 16. You did miss posting verse 17, or maybe you didn't mean to include it. Either way, here are the 4 verses together.

John 3:14-17 New International Version (NIV)
[SUP]14 [/SUP]"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, [SUP]15 [/SUP]that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. [SUP]16 [/SUP]For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [SUP]17 [/SUP]For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

Thanks again brother, and God bless you.
Joseph

 

[SeaBass]

Baptized into what denomination? What type of baptism is acceptable? From what I have read on this site all denominations are seriously lacking in something or another. Maybe this is a do it at home project.

Baptized into Christ, Gal 3:27 and added to the "one body" (no denomination) by God, Eph 4:4; Acts 2:47.

Baptism literally means an immersion, over-whelming as Phillip immersed the eunuch in water, Acts 8.

 

[Word_Swordsman]

Once Jesus was taken down off the cross and buried, nobody could be saved since they couldn't behold Him on that cross, if it was required each person must go to Him on the cross.

But it isn't. Instead we hear the gospel that is centered around Jesus dying on the cross, then by faith behold Him, wherever He is, while we are wherever we are at that time. If we truly behold Jesus by faith, then it is accounted to the believer that Jesus was like that serpent on the pole, made to be sin for that believer, like that serpent stood for.

We don't know whether Moses planted that pole with the serpent on it where all could see it, or carried it to the victims. But my thinking is that in many ways Jesus' likening His act to that Numbers 21 act is more than directly apparent. What person dying of a deadly venom should be expected to go to a location to view the serpent? It would be more reasonable for the serpent to be brought to each victim that probably couldn't see anything more than a few feet away.

The Bible teaches that we carry the gospel to the world, to those dying of sin. In effect we believers carry the hope of Christ who would carry every person's sin away upon believing the gospel. They must "look upon" Jesus, the Lamb of God, with all that is within them, accepting all that the Bible says of Him.

Now to get on topic, at that moment of true-heart belief our spirit is reborn. Over time our corrupted mind is rehabilitated through the word of God, taught to us, preached to us, by our own study, by help of the Holy Spirit as we learn His voice. The mind is then saved. The body shall be saved by someday being glorified, so that body, soul, and spirit we are truly whole in Christ for eternity.

 

[SeaBass]

Once Jesus was taken down off the cross and buried, nobody could be saved since they couldn't behold Him on that cross, if it was required each person must go to Him on the cross.

But it isn't. Instead we hear the gospel that is centered around Jesus dying on the cross, then by faith behold Him, wherever He is, while we are wherever we are at that time. If we truly behold Jesus by faith, then it is accounted to the believer that Jesus was like that serpent on the pole, made to be sin for that believer, like that serpent stood for.

We don't know whether Moses planted that pole with the serpent on it where all could see it, or carried it to the victims. But my thinking is that in many ways Jesus' likening His act to that Numbers 21 act is more than directly apparent. What person dying of a deadly venom should be expected to go to a location to view the serpent? It would be more reasonable for the serpent to be brought to each victim that probably couldn't see anything more than a few feet away.

The Bible teaches that we carry the gospel to the world, to those dying of sin. In effect we believers carry the hope of Christ who would carry every person's sin away upon believing the gospel. They must "look upon" Jesus, the Lamb of God, with all that is within them, accepting all that the Bible says of Him.

Now to get on topic, at that moment of true-heart belief our spirit is reborn. Over time our corrupted mind is rehabilitated through the word of God, taught to us, preached to us, by our own study, by help of the Holy Spirit as we learn His voice. The mind is then saved. The body shall be saved by someday being glorified, so that body, soul, and spirit we are truly whole in Christ for eternity.

If the serpent had to be brought to the bite victim for him to be saved, then whose fault is it if the serpent was not brought or brought in time to save the victim and he dies?

If Christ must go to the sinner for the sinner to be saved, then whose fault is it for all the lost sinners that Christ did not go to?

 

[notuptome]

You must be born again not by the spirit of man but by the Spirit of God.

That which is dead in trespass and sin is made alive in Christ. Eph 2:8-9

For the cause of Christ
Roger

 

[WebersHome]

-

We don't know whether Moses planted that pole with the serpent on it where
all could see it, or carried it to the victims. But my thinking is that in many
ways Jesus' likening His act to that Numbers 21 act is more than directly
apparent. What person dying of a deadly venom should be expected to go to
a location to view the serpent? It would be more reasonable for the serpent
to be brought to each victim that probably couldn't see anything more than
a few feet away.

That would've worked, seeing as how the only requirement was to "look
upon" the image. Its also likely that family and friends carried victims to a
location where they could view it; sort of like the incident at Mark 2:1-5.

=============================================

 

[SeaBass]

From Numbers chapter one, a census is taken of all males 20 years old and older and comes to about 650,000. Estimating the rest (women, children, teenagers, etc), some estimate the population of Israel to be as many as 2,000,000 some people estimate as high as 5,000,000. It would take a very, very large area for this many people to set up camp, a few squares miles maybe. Realistically, sheer distance alone, not including possible trees, hills etc., would make it difficult for everyone to see from where they were camped.


As you posted, if a victim had to be carried to a location to view the serpent, it's possible many had to "go" and look too.

 

[WebersHome]

-

if a victim had to be carried to a location to view the serpent, it's possible
many had to "go" and look too.

For the Nth and final time: According to the language and grammar of Num
21:5-9, going and/or coming were not a requirement. The only requirement
was to look upon the image.

FYI: Words convey information; but they are quite useless for that purpose
when people don't listen to what they say.

==================================

 

[SeaBass]

-


For the Nth and final time: According to the language and grammar of Num
21:5-9, going and/or coming were not a requirement. The only requirement
was to look upon the image.

FYI: Words convey information; but they are quite useless for that purpose
when people don't listen to what they say.

==================================

But how could one look upon it if one was no in a position or location to see it?

 

[Word_Swordsman]

But how could one look upon it if one was no in a position or location to see it?

Read the book. Moses had already organized the tribes in a specific pattern commanded by God, very efficiently surrounding the mobile wilderness tabernacle. The princes of each tribe would organize their own people to line the camp "streets" (that all led to a view of the tabernacle) to view the serpent as it was carried by. That was likely a daily thing, Moses offering the cure as often as needed, assigning Levites in shifts. It doesn't say he personally had to tend the pole, so the Levites could have kept it in constant circulation until the crisis was over. Since God was directly involved in that crisis, I would expect that all who were affected had at least one opportunity for the cure.

Again, Jesus linked to that wilderness pattern. Even today if a sinner refuses to hear the gospel preached, rejects offers of the "cure" of Christ by whatever means of gospel distribution God allows, that person can't be saved. There is no assurance the sinner can choose the time and place to behold Christ, for the Father God is the one calling people to Christ. That call is the time to accept the invitation. John 6:44 (KJV) [SUP]44 [/SUP] No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.