Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
I gave an example: in the RecV there's a footnote that says that the 'ethnon' getting healed by the leaves of the tree of life are unbelieving gentiles who help the persecuted Jews and the Christians in the Great Tribulation. They live forever, but don't have eternal life. I remarked that this is nonsensical. If you live forever, by definition you have eternal life. Then I was told by 'Ohio', don't so quickly dismiss Lee's teachings here, because he got them from reputable scholars whose books were widely published. So I read one of those books, which said, those who are healed by the leaves of the tree of life are mortals, not immortal, yet they enjoy perpetual health..
Again, my comment was that this was nonsensical - the word 'mortal' has a root 'mort' which means death. To be mortal is by definition to experience death, or to die. There's simply no such thing as a perpetual mortal. This is nonsensical. I hope that this is more plainly put than the first time.
|
This may seem “illogical” to you, but some very knowledgeable Bible teachers do not feel the same way as you. Having eternal life and living forever are not the same. Having eternal life is having the Son, because John said, “he who has the Son, has the life.” Here eternal life is not a quantitative length of time, but a qualitative description of that life.
We who believe in the resurrection of the long promised Christ of God receive Him as eternal life. Even if our body dies, the life within guarantees our resurrection from the dead just as the Firstborn rose from the dead. The incredible blessings of the children of God as His own heirs, sharing these birthrights with the Firstborn, are priceless treasures. Together these are called our hope of glory.
The “sheep,” however, in question here, who are blessed merely by giving a drink of water to a thirsty child of God during the horrible tribulation which will soon descend upon all of mankind, do not have the eternal life of God. They appear to be restored to the original state of creation in the Eden garden, having a body which does not age or die. They are the nations outside the city New Jerusalem, healed by the leaves of the tree of life. They are mere humans without the resurrected body of the believers, like the one Jesus had after He rose from the dead. John said, “we will be like Him.”