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To Be Saved - How Could We Find the Way of Eternal Life?

Question 1: Now we learned about the true relationship between the Bible and God. The Bible is the Bible, God is God. They are different, and they can’t be thought of as the same. We should all hold God to be great and worship Him, obey Him, fear Him. We can’t use the Bible to replace Him. Man has blind faith in the Bible, seeing the Bible as equal to God. This is simply blasphemous to God. But since the Bible’s a record of God’s word and man’s testimony, why can’t we receive eternal life from reading the Bible? The Bible is a testimony to God’s work and has been so beneficial to mankind. Through reading the Bible, man comes to acknowledge God as the Creator of all things; he comes to learn of God’s omnipotence and deeds how great they are. So since the Bible contains God’s words, why is the way of eternal life not found in the Bible?

Answer: With the Bible, we understand that God is the Creator of all things. It lets us see His wondrous deeds. That’s because the Bible is a testimony to God’s past works. It is a record of His word and work and the testimony of man in the first two ages. So of course, the Bible is important to our faith. It’s true, if not for the Bible, how would man come to understand the words of the Lord? How else could man know God’s deeds and begin to develop his true faith? If we don’t read the Bible, how else would we find the testimony of all the saints throughout the ages obeying God? So reading the Bible is essential to practicing faith, and no believer of the Lord should go without reading it. You could say he who goes astray from the Bible could not believe in the Lord. The saints throughout the ages have verified this fact. No one denies the value of the Bible when it comes to practicing faith. So then, saints through the ages all agreed the Bible is very important and should be read. Some would say reading the Bible and praying are essential, just like our two legs both are needed. But the Lord Jesus has said, “Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And you will not come to me, that you might have life(John 5:39-40). Then some people are confused. They think that since the Bible contains God’s word and man’s testimony, reading the Bible should give man eternal life. Why is it the Lord Jesus said eternal life is not in the Bible? Actually, it’s not that hard to understand. Just as long as we understand the inside story of God’s work in the Age of Law and Age of Grace and what they each achieved, we’ll come to understand why we can’t receive eternal life in the Bible. First, let’s look at the Age of Law. In this age, Jehovah issued laws and commandments for man to follow. His words were a guide for humanity which was newly born. These words did not involve changing man’s life disposition. So God, during the Age of Law, aimed to make people follow and abide by the laws and commandments. And although these words were truth, this truth was superficial. During the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus’ words and work focused more instead on redemption. His words were about redemption, and they taught people they should confess their sins and repent and refrain from evildoing, and they taught how to pray and demanded that man must love the Lord with all their heart and soul, love their neighbor as themselves, be tolerant and patient, and forgive others seventy times seven times, etc. These are all included in the way of repentance. So then, by reading the Bible, man understands the work of God in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace. They learn that all things are created by God and learn how to live on earth and how to worship God. They understand what is sin, who are God’s blessed and who are cursed by God. They come to know how to confess their sins and repent. They learn humility, forbearance, and forgiveness, and how to take up the cross and follow Lord. They learn about unlimited mercy and compassion of Lord Jesus, and learn that only by coming before Lord Jesus in faith will they enjoy His abundant grace and the truth. The words and work of God during the Age of Law and the Age of Grace as written in the Bible were the truth spoken by God according to His management plan and the needs of mankind at that time. These truths caused man to adopt some good behaviors, but they were unable to solve the root of sin, to change man’s life disposition or allow mankind to attain purification, salvation, and perfection. Thus, the words said by the Lord Jesus in this age can only be called the way of repentance, not the way of eternal life.

So what is the way of eternal life? The way of eternal life is the way of truth that lets man live forever; the way that allows man to cast off the binds of his own sinful nature, change his own disposition and gain the truth, the truth as life, break free of Satan’s influence and become compatible with Christ. It allows man to know, obey, and revere God so as to never again sin or oppose or betray God. Only with this effect can it be called the way of eternal life. Man dies as a result of sin. If man attains the truth as life and resolves his sin, then of course God will bless him with eternal life. So then, only by receiving salvation in the last days can man enjoy the way of eternal life that God has given us.

from the movie script of Who Is My Lord

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