Does Baptism begin Eternal Life?

[EricCKS]

Hey folks,

This question came up in bible study this morning. When does eternal life begin?? Normally eternal life is associated with death. After thinking about this for awhile I am beginning to wonder if eternal life could begin at baptism. God makes us His own at baptism and provided we live in/with Him by participating in the sacraments and working to be Holy…could it be said we are living eternal with Him on earth??

Your thoughts?

Eric

 

[johnshelby]

personally, i think ‘eternal life’ would begin after we are judged…

even after baptism, you can lose your ‘salvation’, therefore
it’s not ‘eternal’… but, once we are judged, then we will have
eternal life…

but, that’s just an opinion… and it’s mine, so don’t put too much
stock in it… lol

 

[Fidelis]

EricCKS:

Hey folks,

This question came up in bible study this morning. When does eternal life begin?? Normally eternal life is associated with death. After thinking about this for awhile I am beginning to wonder if eternal life could begin at baptism. God makes us His own at baptism and provided we live in/with Him by participating in the sacraments and working to be Holy…could it be said we are living eternal with Him on earth??

Your thoughts?

Eric

Here’s an excerpt from what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about baptism. I would invite you to read the entire chapter, starting at section 1213:

1265 Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte “a new creature,” an adopted son of God, who has become a “partaker of the divine nature,” member of Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit.

1266 The Most Holy Trinity gives the baptized sanctifying grace, the grace of justification:

• enabling them to believe in God, to hope in him, and to love him through the theological virtues;
• giving them the power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit through the gifts of the Holy Spirit;
• allowing them to grow in goodness through the moral virtues.
  Thus the whole organism of the Christian’s supernatural life has its roots in Baptism

By the way, if you are participating in a Catholic Bible study, you should always have at least one copy of the Catechism on hand for just such questions.

 

[Matt16_18]

EricCKS:

Hey folks,

This question came up in bible study this morning. When does eternal life begin?

Eternal life has no beginning – that is why it is called eternal life.

Through the incarnate Son of God we have access to God’s eternal life: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us – that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
1John 1:1-3Christ is both true God and true man – Christ is the God-man that has both human life and divine life (eternal life). Through Christ, we too can become partakers in the divine life of God. It is through Christ’s Sacrament of Baptism that we become partakers in God’s eternal life.

Mortal sin separates us from God, and thus separates us from eternal life. We can lose our abiding in eternal life while we live on this earth.

…could it be said we are living eternal with Him on earth?

Sanctifying grace is the divine life of God. As long as we are in a state of sanctifying grace, we are abiding in the eternal life of God."I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.
John 15:1-6

 

[StCsDavid]

Just my two cents, Canadian…but I believe eternal life begins at conception. From that second on you will exist forever…whether that is in Hell or Heaven is ordinarily up to you. Baptism is the sacrament that claims you for Christ, but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee eternal salvation. You can still muck it up for yourself.

 

[Sherlock]

StCsDavid:

Just my two cents, Canadian…but I believe eternal life begins at conception. From that second on you will exist forever…whether that is in Hell or Heaven is ordinarily up to you. Baptism is the sacrament that claims you for Christ, but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee eternal salvation. You can still muck it up for yourself.

I think this is right. Human life IS eternal, regardless of where it is spent, so the beginning of life is the beginning (for humans) of eternal life.

Matt, though “eternal” has no beginning when applied to God, when applied to humans it does not mean that we don’t have a beginning—we do. It means that we have no end.

 

[Pug]

**1003 **United with Christ by Baptism, believers already truly participate in the heavenly life of the risen Christ, but this life remains “hidden with Christ in God.” The Father has already “raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Nourished with his body in the Eucharist, we already belong to the Body of Christ. When we rise on the last day we “also will appear with him in glory.”

I think it depends on what you mean by eternal life. We will see better in heaven than we do now, so it will be different then. But there is something now, as you can see by the CCC paragraph above.

 

[Matt16_18]

Sherlock:

I think this is right. Human life IS eternal, regardless of where it is spent, so the beginning of life is the beginning (for humans) of eternal life.

Matt, though “eternal” has no beginning when applied to God, when applied to humans it does not mean that we don’t have a beginning—we do. It means that we have no end.

Humans are created with immortal souls. A human being is an immortal being, but a human being is not an eternal being.

God is the only eternal being. It is very important to understand the distinction between immortal life and eternal life in order to understand the Gospel. Otherwise one is prone to become ensnared in the heresies of the OSAS Protestants that believe that the eternal life abiding within cannot be lost by committing mortal sin.

 

[Bishopite]

StCsDavid:

Just my two cents, Canadian…but I believe eternal life begins at conception. From that second on you will exist forever…whether that is in Hell or Heaven is ordinarily up to you. Baptism is the sacrament that claims you for Christ, but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee eternal salvation. You can still muck it up for yourself.

That’s a great way of stating it. Everyone will have eternal life in the sense of having an eternal soul, some will have eternal life, some eternal death. Life begins at conception, but baptism begins our initial justification since justification is a process and baptism takes away all venial and actual sin and gives us sanctifying grace. But as you have ponited out, we can push that grace aside and choose not to follow the truth God has given us.

 

[Philthy]

EricCKS:

Hey folks,

This question came up in bible study this morning. When does eternal life begin?? Normally eternal life is associated with death. After thinking about this for awhile I am beginning to wonder if eternal life could begin at baptism. God makes us His own at baptism and provided we live in/with Him by participating in the sacraments and working to be Holy…could it be said we are living eternal with Him on earth??

Your thoughts?

Eric

Just a little something for you to chew on Eric:

Eternal life does not “begin”, nor does it end. It is…eternal. A better way to phrase the question is…When or how do we ENTER INTO eternal life?

“After thinking about this for awhile I am beginning to wonder if eternal life could begin at baptism.”
You are correct!

“could it be said we are living eternal with Him on earth??”
Absolutely!

Can I make a couple of suggestions?

1. Get yourself a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church - and look up the answers to your questions
2. Keep a journal of your thoughts and prayers as you go through this time of spiritual growth…it will serve you well.

Phil

 

[Sherlock]

Matt16_18:

Humans are created with immortal souls. A human being is an immortal being, but a human being is not an eternal being.

God is the only eternal being. It is very important to understand the distinction between immortal life and eternal life in order to understand the Gospel. Otherwise one is prone to become ensnared in the heresies of the OSAS Protestants that believe that the eternal life abiding within cannot be lost by committing mortal sin.

OK, I think we’re probably on the same page, but some confusion remains—maybe we’re not on the same page after all. So let me try and sort this out, and hopefully I’ll express myself more clearly.

You wrote, in an earlier post: “Eternal life has no beginning – that is why it is called eternal life.”

This isn’t correct: Jesus tells us that we will have “eternal life”. Eternal life, for humans, DOES have a beginning—our souls do not exist prior to our conception. (I believe that it was this that got Origen into some muddy waters, and so it is his writing about these “pre-existing souls” that re-incarnation types latch on to.) Yes, we are immortal beings—I’m with you there. But we are created. Only God has no beginning—I’m with you there, too. Maybe our terms just need a little clarification.

 

[Matt16_18]

Sherlock:

Maybe our terms just need a little clarification.

Yes, indeed. That is why I insist on making the critical distinction between eternal life and immortal life.

This isn’t correct: Jesus tells us that we will have “eternal life”. Eternal life, for humans, DOES have a beginning—our souls do not exist prior to our conception.

Humans are born with immortal life, not eternal life. Humans do NOT have eternal life at the moment of conception because humans are conceived in original sin - they are conceived without sanctifying grace. Sanctifying grace is a synonym for the participation of human life in the eternal life of God. It is through the Sacrament of Baptism that a human being is born again. A human being is naturally born with immortal life in a state of original sin, and he is born again through Christ’s death and resurrection into the eternal life of God.

Human beings can lose their participation in the eternal life of God by committing mortal sin. Mortal means deadly – the death that mortal sin brings about is the death of the abiding of eternal life in the soul of the person who committed mortal sin. He who does not love abides in death. Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
1John 3:14-15 RSV

There is sin which is mortal … there is sin which is not mortal.
1John 5:16-17 RSV

 

[Sherlock]

Matt16_18:

Yes, indeed. That is why I insist on making the critical distinction between eternal life and immortal life.

Humans are born with immortal life, not eternal life. Humans do NOT have eternal life at the moment of conception because humans are conceived in original sin - they are conceived without sanctifying grace. Sanctifying grace is a synonym for the participation of human life in the eternal life of God. It is through the Sacrament of Baptism that a human being is born again. A human being is naturally born with immortal life in a state of original sin, and he is born again through Christ’s death and resurrection into the eternal life of God.

Human beings can lose their participation in the eternal life of God by committing mortal sin. Mortal means deadly – the death that mortal sin brings about is the death of the abiding of eternal life in the soul of the person who committed mortal sin. He who does not love abides in death. Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
1John 3:14-15 RSV

There is sin which is mortal … there is sin which is not mortal.
1John 5:16-17 RSV

Gotcha! Yes, we are on the same page.