John 8:52 – “Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'”  NKJV

Through the years, I have heard a great number of reasons people offer for disbelieving the Bible and this passage has been used, at least, Jesus’ response to His accusers.  He said, “If anyone keeps My words he shall never taste death.”  The comeback or justification for not believing the Bible or in Jesus was, “See, this is a blatant lie for every day there are people who believe in God and live as Christians who DIE, so it is all a lie.”  That mindset allows an individual to justify their rejection and gives a certain smugness, arrogance and even meanness when they encounter believers of the Bible and in Jesus.

         Never TASTE death must be understood in light of the clear teachings of the Bible regarding the impact the Victory of the Lord Jesus on the Cross and demonstrated in the Resurrection brings.  If we accept the Lord Jesus Christ walking in His Word DEATH no longer has a sting and in truth we will NEVER DIE.  Oh, we will experience what is called death among mortals but when we receive Jesus we embark on a course and journey called ETERNAL LIFE over which death has no power.  We experience, in this life, what the Bible calls SLEEP which is nothing more than a transition from the natural or present into the eternal.

Adam and Eve, it is often argued, were told by God that the day they ate the “forbidden fruit” they would die and they did not die.  However, if you view what took place in the light of the rest of the Bible you realize they did die, not naturally but spiritually.  Their separation from God was dramatic and could be understood as nothing other than spiritual death.  In the eternal scheme of things, we will either LIVE ETERNALLY or DIE ETERNALLY and that death will not be a complete obliteration of consciousness and finality that many view death as being but a death in which the consciousness of life is ever present but unreachable.

I have encountered a number of believers and preachers who, as one pastor said to me, “The Bible is a good book but filled with a number of myths and plenteous in error.”  If I do not believe the Bible record and consider any of its accounts or prophesies myths I will be an easy mark for the enemy of my soul.  I either believe God or I do not.  I believe the Bible is the Inspired Word of God and that although human hands and minds were involved in penning the words we now hold as the Cannon of Scripture, I believe the Holy Spirit inspired and guided those men.  I recognize that in translating text from the original there is the possibility of inaccurate translation but again, I believe that God is God and capable of guiding the translators in a manner so as to preserve truth.  I acknowledge there are some renderings from the original or near original language into English that I find troubling but I remember that Jesus said, “When He is come (the Holy Spirit) He will guide you into all truth.”  Therefore, I am comfortable and confident that the Bible is Inspired and provides us a guide for faith and practice in life.

God bless you as you embark on your daily journey.