“You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”

James 2:19 NASB

How can I achieve eternal life? If you’ve ever wondered this, you’re in good company. Mankind’s search for the eternal is aptly summed up in the famous Groucho Marx quote, “I intend to live forever or die trying.” Christians believe the only way to live eternally is through Jesus Christ. But, what does that mean? Do we just need to believe Jesus sacrificed Himself for us and rose again? Do we need to obey everything He ever said? Should we only obey what Jesus said, or everything the church says?

We read in the book of James that faith is dead if not accompanied by works, and even demons believe in one God. Not only that, we even see a demon declare Jesus is the Son of the Most High God in Mark chapter 5. Clearly then, belief alone is not enough to save us. There must be some sort of action taken on our side. Many assume that action is obedience to a set of rules, or showing ‘good works’. The apostle Paul makes it clear, however, that eternal life is a free gift, and comes by grace alone (Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8). Jesus even tells us that many who do good works in His name will not be in heaven (Matthew 7:22-23). What, then, is this action we need to take to attain eternal life?

Since sin is divergence from the law of God, it’s understandable to think the opposite—strict obedience to the law—should be our main focus. The problem with that is, it’s impossible. Throughout Scripture, we see people attempt this and fail. Paul verifies in Romans chapter 3 that every person is guilty under the law and has fallen short. And what is the consequence of these sins? Our iniquities cause separation from God (Isaiah 59:2). Habakkuk 1:13 also tells us God is so pure He cannot even look on wickedness.

On the other hand, John 17:3 defines eternal life as knowing “the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” If we are desiring eternal life with God, and know our sin separates us from Him, we can conclude our focus should be doing what we can to stay in a close relationship with Him. Does the Bible support this conclusion? John 15:4 NASB says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” Abide. This is the action we need to take!

A popular Christian-ese saying is, ‘Christianity is not a religion, it’s a relationship.’ In other words, it’s not the good works that save us, it’s the relationship. To abide in Him means to live or remain in relationship with Him. Think about it just like human relationships. For a relationship to flourish we need to commit to spending time with each other, communicating, and serving one another. This is not easy in our secular world. Even if we spend one hour every morning reading His Word, what are our minds consuming for the rest of the day? We can’t help but be inundated with worldly comments and ideas. We need to truly be intentional not just about setting aside regular time in prayer and reading His Word, but also in praying continually throughout our day and finding ways to keep our minds fixed on God.

Here are a few things to consider to evaluate whether we are spending enough time cultivating our relationships with God. How often does He come up in our conversations during a day? Do we ever find ourselves saying a prayer of thanks when we get good news? Are we excited to tell our friends what we’ve recently learned in our Bible study? The idea is, whatever we put into our minds and hearts will naturally overflow out of our mouths. If there is no overflow, there is not enough input.

Does this mean, as Paul once proposed, we are able to do whatever we please with no care of eternal consequence? As Paul also answered in Romans, “May it never be!” That would be akin to someone willfully returning to slavery after they’ve already been set free. This is where obedience comes into the picture. When we are in a good relationship with a friend, family member, or partner, we don’t have to force each other to do what the other person wants or needs. Desiring to help and serve one another instead comes from a place of love. God showed His love for us by sending Jesus to pay the price for our sins. As we grow to understand this sacrifice more and more through prayer and reading His Word, our love for God and others will also grow.

Trust also develops as relationships mature. When we do find ourselves at a crossroads in life, and the way of the world seems easier, we will choose to obey God if we have grown to trust His will for us. The more we abide in Him, the more our works will naturally show our faith is alive and our eternity is secured.