Do you have to die to experience eternal life? You might think, “Yes, of course…isn’t that the definition of eternal life: ‘Life after death’?”
Maybe not. Think about it this way: Does Jesus really just want us all to die so we can experience eternal life? Is there another way to think about it? I believe so.
I recently read a history book, The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism: How the Evangelical Battle Over the End Times Shaped a Nation, by Daniel G. Hummel. It tells the story of the brand of evangelical faith of my family heritage. Dispensationalism is word describing a way to read the Bible that suggests God works in the world differently based on eras, aka dispensations. This viewpoint has a lot to say, especially about the end times. If you’ve read the Left Behind books, watched movies like A Thief in the Night or listened to David Jeremiah, you are hearing dispensationalism. This theology came to America in the 1800s by English Brethren, and eventually found its home at Dallas Theological Seminary in the 1900s. It spread rapidly and became a cultural phenomenon, truly shaping our nation, as the book title suggests. But since the 1990s dispensationalism has fallen on hard times. In fact, while it has some ongoing cultural impact, it’s nearly dead in theological circles. Why?
First, despite dispensationalists’ claims to the contrary, there are other superior and biblically-faithful ways to interpret Scripture. Second, dispensationalism has some serious weaknesses. One of its weaknesses is its claims about eternal life. Dispensationalists believe that we need to prepare as many people as possible as fast as possible for Jesus’ return, and the way to prepare people is to get them to assent to the Gospel.
Assent is believing an idea in your mind. Dispensationalists, in their vigor to “get people saved” heavily emphasized mental assent as what makes disciples. In this, dispensationalists have led many people astray, people who believed that mental assent has gained them access to eternal life. This is nominal Christianity. Christianity “in name only.” People thinking they are going to heaven when they die, but who in fact are not disciples of Jesus, as evidenced by how they live their lives.
As we’ll see next week in our continuing study of the life and ministry of Jesus in the Gospel of John, Jesus has a very different viewpoint of eternal life. He doesn’t want us to die so we can finally get to the better life. Jesus has a clear vision for how all people can experience eternal life now. See for yourself by reading John 14:1-14 ahead of time. Then on the blog next week we’ll talk about it further.
Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 