For What Does the Scripture Say?

Let’s do a little experiment together.  I’m going to ask you a question, and I’d like you to answer it before reading further.

What does eternal life mean to you?

Now, what was your answer?  Say it out loud (or just whisper it to yourself if you’re in public so people don’t think you’re crazy).  Remember exactly what you said.  Write it down if you need to.  We’ll come back to this in a few moments.

In Romans 4:3, the Apostle Paul is advancing an argument about Abraham in regard to faith and works when he suddenly throws in this phrase: “For what does the Scripture say?”  This has become one of my favorite verses in Scripture.  It’s a powerful question, one that we far too often overlook.

For example, I was listening to a well-known Christian radio station a few weeks ago when the DJ posed this question to the audience: “What does peace mean to you?”  Now, it seems like an innocent question, but notice who is assumed to be the authority on the subject.  “What does peace mean to YOU?”

So, several people called in to answer the question, and the words they used exposed who they believed was the authority on the definition of peace.  They began their sentences with phrases such as, “For me,” “To me,” or “I think.”  They expressed their own opinions about what peace is.  (Following up on our little experiment, did a similar phrase come out of your mouth about the meaning of eternal life?)

Now, you might think I’m nit-picking, but this is a typical example of a mindset issue that’s common among many Christians.  You can find it in conversations about religion, politics, gun rights, or even in Bible studies.  What I or you think about any topic (or the meaning of peace in this example) may be different.  And, if something is truly subjective or where an opinion is warranted, that may be fine.  But what about when Scripture has something authoritative to say about the matter?

For the question of what peace means to anyone, why is Scripture not the first thing out of our mouth or at least the first place we look to understand.  “For what does the Scripture say?”  I think Scripture has a lot to say about peace if we would stop to look.

Put another way, what benefits the listener of this radio station the most?  Do they benefit most from considering what peace means to them, possibly only to discover that their definition of peace may be bound by time, location, or their own limitations?  What about the person who thinks they experience peace when gardening, being near the ocean, spending time with their spouse, or even in prayer?

What happens when arthritis prevents them from gardening, life circumstances take them away from the ocean, or their spouse dies prematurely? Is peace available to them when they find it hard to pray or when frequent interruptions from their children disrupt their time of “peace” in prayer? If their peace is not anchored to a secure foundation, isn’t it lost when the foundation crumbles?

Or, do they benefit most from meditating on Scripture’s teaching that our God is the God of peace, who reigns forever and has given us His very own eternal peace that is with us through any situation?  Only an unshakeable source of peace can provide peace when life takes us away from the things that we find to be peaceful.  From Scripture’s viewpoint, peace can persist even when we don’t feel it.  In this sense, peace is not tethered to my fragile humanity.  It is eternally bound up in the character of my changeless God.

Let’s turn this to the topic of eternal life.  Revisit your answer to our little experiment.  Did Scripture come out of your mouth, or did something else emerge?  And does it line up with Scripture?  “For what does the Scripture say?”

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

John 17:3 ESV

We might often think of eternal life as “going to heaven when I die,” or “getting to live forever.”  And while those might be byproducts of eternal life, the Scriptural definition is different for a reason.  Jesus is Life.  Knowing the Life, Who is eternal, is eternal life.  It is only by knowing (being in ongoing relationship with) the Eternal Life that we can have eternal life.

So, if we define it differently than Scripture, even though the byproducts of eternal life as Scripture defines it may be true, we can easily find ourselves in murky situations.  For example, if what eternal life means to me is going to heaven when I die, then what does eternal life have to do with the life I live on earth?  And what could it possibly mean that I am to “take hold of the eternal life” (1 Tim 6:12) now, while I am still alive?

If eternal life is something that I think I get in heaven after I die, then eternal life is disconnected from my current life on earth.  Therefore, it becomes difficult to understand what effect eternal life—something that has now been defined as being only in the future—should have on me in the present.  And so, it becomes far too easy for people to call themselves Christians and tell themselves and others that they have eternal life without necessarily being changed by it.

On the contrary, if eternal life is defined as Scripture defines it—knowing the Father and Jesus, then eternal life must change who we are because we are coming to know our Creator, Savior, and King.  When you come to know your King, your relationship is inevitably defined by His kingship.  If your allegiance is to the King, then your life, now filled with His eternal life, must be fundamentally altered.

Now, what about getting to live forever?  Again, as with defining eternal life as “going to heaven when I die,” the idea of living forever, without mentioning any attachment to or knowledge of the eternal King, doesn’t connect my life with His Life.  Thus, it again becomes far too easy for people to think that once they’re “saved,” they get to live forever.

In other words, they prayed the sinner’s prayer, and they get to live forever, so now they can go on with their life.  This kind of thinking is catastrophic.  Humans living forever when they are not wonderfully intertwined in the transforming effect of knowing God is a scary thought. In fact, we’ve already seen what happens when people live very long lives without being changed by knowing God.

Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” …The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

Genesis 6:3, 5-6 ESV

People living the way they want without their life being redefined by a relationship with and knowledge of the Eternal Life is the problem with the world. The idea of someone living forever without being continuously “conformed to the image” (Rom 8:29) of Jesus is horrific.

One more example: a pastor (true story) listens to a voice that isn’t Scripture and defines humility, from the pulpit, as “not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less [often].” On the contrary, Scripture calls us to think of ourselves with “sober judgment” (Rom 12:3), to “examine” ourselves (2 Cor 3:5), even to ask God to search our hearts, revealing our sin to us (Ps 139:23-24), and particularly for pastors, to “keep a close watch on yourself” (1 Tim 4:16).

Because a catchy phrase (which isn’t true) was his guidepost for the meaning of humility, he allowed himself to ignore sin in his life and spurn the rebuke of those who loved him and spoke truth into his life. In his eyes, why would I examine my life if thinking of myself is the opposite of being humble? The result for those around him was confusion, heartache, misled sheep, a splintered church, and a poor (at best) representation of Jesus to the world. His distorted truth on this topic and others was a major contributor to the unfolding of this catastrophe.

A distorted truth doesn’t help anyone.  The meanings of peace, love, and humility in Scripture are given to us as truth because it’s good for us.  “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32 ESV). When we choose a cheap version of truth that crumbles under life changes or close examination, we are only hurting ourselves and others.  It is only by looking to Scripture for the answers to life’s questions that we find a secure foundation and the knowledge of God—which by the way, is eternal life.

For what does the Scripture say?

Romans 14:3 ESV