What must I do to inherit eternal life?

As I have listened to many people from many different Christian denominations, I have become very concerned, because of what all these people believe when it comes to inheriting eternal life. So I thought we should go back to the basics and see what the Holy Word has to say on this issue. Let us first see what Jesus Christ says about it.

Luke 10:25-28 - On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

This is the only requirement to have eternal life with God – that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself” you will do automatically when you do the first commandment. This first commandment is not a condition we can obtain just by saying the words with our mouth. It is shown by our actions that come directly from our heart’s deepest desires. Let us take another look when Jesus tests the heart condition of a certain rich man.

Matt 19:16-23 - Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

In the above verses, Jesus was testing where this man’s heart really was, and the rich man failed the test. The rich man would not let everything go and love Jesus with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and then follow Him. If this rich man would have been obedient and done the things Jesus said, then this rich man would have been perfect and rich in the Spirit.

Now someone might say that: “But I was told that I had eternal life because I was saved at the altar years ago”. The final result of salvation does result in eternal life – if a person is willing to let God’s Spirit make them into a perfect son/daughter of God. Coming to Christ for the forgiveness of our sins does put us into a saving relationship with Christ – where we no longer have to sin, but it is still our choice to continue on sinning or not. It is only through this saving relationship that we can choose to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The bottom line on this issue is: the more we grow in love with God, the more we repent of our sin and do His will instead of our own. Every action that we do in word or in deed will represent who we really love.

I think we need to clarify the term “saved” a little more. Being in a “saved” state with God means we have entered into a relationship with God in order that we might become a son of God. It does not necessarily mean we are a son of God yet.

Gal 4:4-5 - But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

Titus 3:5-7 - He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

The word “might” in the above verses has to be emphasized because when put in context with the rest of the Bible, we understand that out of all the people saved and justified by His grace – it is only the ones that commit all their love to God that will inherit eternal life.

Again, being in a “saved state” means we are in a relationship with God and have the power to overcome any and all sin by the power of His Grace. Within this salvation walk with Him is where the spiritual war happens for our souls. We still have our selfish nature fighting with God’s nature. What nature wins the war depends on which nature we feed. If we constantly feed God’s nature by growing in love with Him and repenting from our sins, than God’s Spirit and Grace will eventually win the war by starving out our selfish nature. But if we feed our selfish nature, then we starve out God’s nature in us and keep our dead spirit we were born with.

As long as we are still sinning – which means we know God’s will and we willfully go against it by going through with the selfish thought or deed – we are still considered by God to be owned by the devil.

1 John 3:7-8 - Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

Although it is true that we do not inherit eternal life depending on our works (good or bad), our heart is judged by God by our works. Works are a gauge of where our heart is. So God judges us by our heart which is gauged by our works. Works (good or bad) show God and others the desires of our heart and in turn shows God who we really love. If we are living righteously in every area of our life, then it shows God and others who we really love and who owns us. If we are still sinning in any area of our life, then it shows God and others that the devil still owns our soul even if we have already entered into the “saved” state with God.

This spiritual war for your soul continues on within this “saved” state until you have come into a total loving condition of loving only God with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength. When you have totally killed the selfishness in you by the power of God’s Grace by only loving God and His righteousness – then He will call you His son and because you are now considered His son, you will inherit His eternal life because you are His son.

Anyone that truly believes in Jesus Christ will also totally love Him. To believe in God you must know Him and to know Him you must love Him.

God’s and your servant,
Michael Reid

God Will Not Be Mocked – Message 2

Gal 6:7 - Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.

Like in all the messages in this series, I will start out emphasizing how God wants His creation to see the full depth of His love for us, but since most people (including most believers) are so emerged in loving themselves, they can’t see or even understand God’s agape love that He has for us. So what does God have left to work with when it comes to reaching these lost souls – only FEAR. We must all come to the knowledge that God is God and we are not.

Proverbs 1:7 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

I am calling to all people who are not already living by the Holy Spirit and by God’s precepts of love to come to a realization of who God really is and fear Him. For out of that fear of the true God and the realization of the damnation that He will cast you into - that you might come to Jesus Christ and be saved. But the fools that think they are wise and don’t need to be corrected by God will be cast into eternal suffering. It is not too late as long as you’re still breathing and you have come to the knowledge that you are spiritually bankrupt without God’s Holy Spirit in you. We have to realize that we don’t have anything in us that God would want in heaven, unless we have His Holy Spirit living already inside us. The only value we have, when it comes to being worthy of inheriting His eternal life with Him, is God Himself, living within us. His Spirit inside us is what is worth eternally keeping. We are not born with anything that would please God eternally. It is only His Spirit that is within us that pleases Him.

We must also come to an understanding that the filling of the Holy Spirit is not just for the asking. We can start down salvation’s path by confession and repentance, but the receiving of the Holy Spirit is reserved for the ones that have proven themselves faithful by dying to every sinful/selfish thing in them. The Holy Spirit cannot come in and fill a person until that heart and soul has previously been emptied. Before we receive the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit is the one that comes along side our heart and soul to help us be cleansed of our selfish ways, but His Holy Spirit doesn’t fill us and give us a new heart until the previous process has been completed. This gets us to the next subject of this message and that is - what is this life all about.

This life is not about God blessing us so we can live a happy life. God is not our sugar daddy that just gives us everything we want – the devil does that for us. It is not about seeing how successful we can become in the world’s eye or how much money we make or have - this is what the devil helps us believe so that we never come to the knowledge that we need God. It is not even about seeing how good of a person we can be – God is the only one that is good and if we have any true goodness, it is only a byproduct of God’s Spirit living inside us. So what is this life really all about then?

Life on this earth is all about God testing and purifying us and then glorifying Him – not glorifying ourselves. God needs to test our heart and souls before He will let us inherit His eternal life. But some of you might say - how can this be? This sounds like God looks at our works. If you are thinking this, you are half way right. God does look at works, but is not our works He looks at. It is His works He is doing through us or trying to do through us. If we have belief and faith in God, than there will be works that come out of that faith, but if we don’t have real faith, there will be no works. This is why God says:

James 2:26 - For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Every good thing we do or will do comes from God. When we first believe in God, that belief is given to us by God’s Spirit if we are open to it. When we put our faith in God’s Son Jesus Christ, that faith is given to us by God’s Spirit if we are open to it. When we repent from selfishness and turn to God, that power to repent is given to us by God’s Spirit if we are open to it. When we have hope for what God has promised, that hope is given to us through faith that God’s Spirit gives to us if we are open to it. When we are found faithful and worthy by all of God’s grace working in us, God’s Spirit then sends His Holy Spirit into us to live with us as one.

John 14:15-17 - If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter (the Holy Spirit), that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

John 14:23-24 - Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

Before being filled with His Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit works at bringing us to salvation, but it is only upon this filling of the Holy Spirit that we can say that we have become one with God.

Phil 2:1-2 - If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.

John 14:20 - On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that you are saved onto heaven just because God’s Spirit is drawing you or working in your life. God must first work in you in order for you to be brought to salvation. When you have received the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will attest to you that you are saved because you will know God intimately. You will know the nature of God and you will also notice that the Holy Spirit has taken control of your nature. You will be a slave to God’s will and you will love every minute with the Father in heaven because you will be sharing in His love, holiness, and righteousness. You will know that Christ is in you and you are in Christ and you are in the Father, because He is in you. Just like Jesus Christ is in the Father, you will know you are also in Christ which is in the Father. You will know that you have become one in Spirit with the Father and the Son. You will not hesitate to be called a brother with Jesus Christ, because Christ’s Spirit is in you and you are a son of the Father just like Christ is the Son of the Father.

I say all this to let people know that most people, including most believers are being fooled by the devil out of their salvation. God has called me to prophesy the truth to who ever will listen. Through the Holy Spirit that lives inside me and is now part of me, God has made known the very nature of Him self to me and I need to let everybody know that even though most people are being deceived – God is not being fooled. God wants to have His creation open their eyes, read His Word, and be lead by His Spirit to true salvation. Don’t go to other Christian books. None of these other Christian books have the full truth – they are partial truths. Everybody is set free by the truth, the whole truth. A partial truth is always deceiving. Read only the Bible for the full truth. Every Christian writer must have the whole Bible to back up what he/she is writing. So get to know the Word of God first before studying anyone else’s books.

God wants to let everybody in the United States know that – God has left us no excuse to not be saved, other than our choice of unwillingness. God has already given the Way, Truth, and Life to make this possible for anyone who believes. There will be a few (small percentage) that are saved. Are you willing to be one of the few?

Your servant in Christ – Michael Reid

What Will Jesus Do With You When He Returns

Jesus says only the ones that have overcome the world will enter His eternal kingdom.

Rev 2:7 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Rev 2:11 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.

Rev 3:4-5 - He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels

Rev 3:12 - Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem,

Rev 3:21 - To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Rev 21:7-8 - He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

1 John 5:4 - for everyone born of God overcomes the world.



Who will inherit the eternal kingdom of God?

Matt 19:29 - And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

Mark 10:17 - Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Mark 10:21 - Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

Luke 10:25-28 - "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

1 Cor 6:9-10 - Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Gal 5:19-21 - The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

James 2:5 - Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?




Here are some other scriptures to consider.

John 5:39-40 - You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

John 10:25-28 - The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life.

John 12:25 - The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Rom 2:7-8 - To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

Rom 6:22 - But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

Gal 6:7-8 - A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

1 John 2:24-25 - See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us — even eternal life.

1 John 3:15 - Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.


So where is your heart and soul at today?

If he comes today, are you ready?

What about others around you, are they ready?