Today’s Gospel Reflection

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. - John 3:16

From this verse, I can appreciate God’s love for us and His will for the salvation of us.

When I first believed in Jesus, the pastors and elders asked us to remember this verse, so that we could know Jesus’ love for us. And as long as we believed in Jesus, we could gain eternal life and enter the kingdom of heaven. However, when I read these words “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” in the Bible, I reflected upon myself: In my real life, I cannot follow Jesus’ requirements. For example, when getting along with my families, I cannot be tolerant and patient; if my neighbors harm me, even though I say nothing but I would hold a grudge; when working with my colleagues, I sometimes look down upon them. … I felt confused: I often commit sins, can Jesus bring me into the kingdom of heaven? Can I gain eternal life? I didn’t understand Jesus’ will until some brothers and sisters in the Lord shared something with me. They read me a passage: “At the time Jesus’ work was the redemption of all mankind. The sins of all who believed in Him were forgiven; as long as you believed in Him, He would redeem you; if you believed in Him, you were no longer a sinner, you were relieved of your sins. This is what it meant to be saved, and to be justified by faith. Yet in those who believed, there remained that which was rebellious and opposed God, and which still had to be slowly removed. Salvation did not mean man had been completely gained by Jesus, but that man was no longer of sin, that he had been forgiven his sins: Provided you believed, you would never more be of sin.”

After reading the passage, I realized that at the Age of Grace, Jesus was nailed to the cross as the sin offering. Jesus took on the sins of man to redeem us from the law, so that we are no longer convicted and executed by the law, but have the chance to come before Him to pray, confess our sins and repent. Then our sins will be forgiven and we have Jesus’ care and protection. But we still frequently sin, and cannot practice Jesus’ words even in every tiny little thing that happens in life. This proves that we haven’t been completely saved. If we want to be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven to gain eternal life, we should get rid of the things in us that are not in line with Jesus’ will. Then how can we cast off our disobedience and resistance toward God? How to gain eternal life? Jesus said, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come” (John 16:12-13). I think when Jesus comes, He will express words to reveal all these mysteries and tell us what God will do. May we pray to seek the way of eternal life that will be bestowed upon us by Jesus when He comes again in the last days …"

» Further reading about Eternal Life:

• I Finally Know What Is Eternal Life and How to Get It

• What Is the Way of Eternal Life and How Can We Gain It?