Christ does give us eternal life. No one goes to hell except by their own desire.
Is Christ is speaking of a life on earth or the eternal? A life eternal. A simple reading reveals two things: 1- Once we have received eternal life (ie- are in heaven), we shall never be plucked from it. 2- That which Christ says is unchanging and eternally binding.
No, once a person believes then at that time he receives eternal life:
"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life" (Jn.5:24).
In this verse the Greek word translated "believes" and the Greek word translated "has" are both in the "present" tense.
In
The Blue Letter Bible we read the following meaning of the present tense:
"The present tense represents a simple statement of fact or reality viewed as occurring in actual time. In most cases this corresponds directly with the English present tense."
Therefore, John 5:24 is saying that those who were believing at the time the Lord Jesus spoke those words had already received eternal life. That is what is meant as something being
"viewed as occurring in actual time."
And once again, the Lord Jesus said that those to whom He gives eternal life shall never perish. But despite this fact you continue to turn a blind eye to what He says. We also know that "eternal life" is a gift (Ro.6:23) and here is what is said about the gifts of God:
"For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Ro.11:29).
Once the LORD gives the gift of eternal life to believers that gift will not be taken back.
But according to your ideas the LORD will take back that gift which is freely given to believers and those believers can perish despite the words of the Lord Jesus to the contrary:
"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand" (Jn.10:28).
You did not address my quote of James saying "man is justified by works and not by faith alone." You just provided a verse where James speaks of faith and the eternal. That doesn't answer a question. That avoids a question by throwing up smoke and mirrors, trying to give the illusion that the verse provided proves your point, when in fact, it does not. The question remained unanswered.
I thought that you would understand that the following words of James demonstrate that once a person believes the word of truth then he is born of God and therefore saved:
"He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created" (Jas.1:18).
When we understand this then we know that the verses which you refer to in the second chapter of the same epistle cannot contradict what James said in the first chapter. What James is speaking about in the second chapter is referring to how one's faith is viewed by other men and not by the LORD:
"Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works" (Jas.2:18).
We can tell that James' argument is about what one person can know about another man's faith by what is said here:
"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works?" (v.14).
This is talking about what a person says about his faith to another person. And if a man tells another man that he has faith then the other man cannot know if that is true unless he sees evidence of good deeds which flow from faith. If no evidence is seen then as far as other men can see that faith can only be described as a dead faith:
"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone" (v.17).
Sir Robert Anderson writes the following:
"Paul's Epistle (Romans) unfolds the mind and purposes of God, revealing His righteousness and wrath. The Epistle of James addresses men upon their own ground. The one deals with justification as between the sinner and God, the other as between man and man. In the one, therefore, the word is, 'To him that worketh not, but believeth'. In the other it is, 'What is the profit if a man say he hath faith, and have not works?' Not 'If a man have faith', but 'If a man say he hath faith' proving that, in the case supposed, the individual is not dealing with God, but arguing the matter with his brethren. God, who searches the heart, does not need to judge by works, which are but the outward manifestation of faith within; but man can judge only by appearances...He (Abraham) was justified by faith when judged by God, for God knows the heart. He was justified by works when judged by his fellow men, for man can only read the life" [emphasis added] (Anderson, The Gospel and Its Ministry, [Kregel Publications, 1978], pp.160-161).
The meaning which you place on James' words in the second chapter contradicts what James said in the first chapter and it also contradicts what is said about Abraham by Paul here:
"What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt" (Ro.4:1-4).
