I had a private discussion recently with another believer, and the nature of the discussion had to do with the scriptural validity of immortality through Jesus Christ.  The other person’s underlying question was essentially “if we were supposed to live forever, then wouldn’t someone already be doing it?”  There are a number of problems with this question, but one in particular deals with the validity of witnesses.

A common question, or rather objection, I hear about immortality is “who do you know who has done it?”  Well, I suppose that depends on what you are actually asking.  Are you actually asking do I know someone personally because if I did personally know them then you would believe?  Because if I were completely honest, I don’t think that’s what people are asking at all.  I think what they are really saying is a statement that sounds like a question, and the statement would be something like “It’s not actually possible, or it would be common, and you and I and everyone else would know people doing it and see it happen, so I’m simply going to ask you to show me the physical proof and when you aren’t able to, we can accept that I am correct in saying it isn’t possible.”

I remember once, years ago, when I was discussing the spiritual gift of praying in tongues.  The person I spoke with was a cessationist (who believes that ended a long time ago), and he basically asked the question “do you know anyone who does it?”  I answered in the affirmative, because while I didn’t at the time, I knew other people who did.  Well, unsurprisingly his answer was “well, that can’t be, it must be through a demonic spirit.”  He asked for witnesses, I informed him that I had witnesses, and he immediately invalidated their testimony.  What good is asking for a witness if you decide that anything he or she says has no validity?  The entire point of a witness is for them to share what they saw and heard.  If you don’t like what they saw and heard, it doesn’t alter its validity—it just makes you close-minded.

I recall Jesus telling a parable that touched on this very thing.  The story was about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus.  The rich man ignored the teachings of Moses and the Prophets, and ended up in a place of torment.  In his request to have Lazarus go warn his family, the reply was, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” (Luke 16:31).

At some point in time we have to decide whether we are going to accept the testimony of the witnesses given us.  We actually have multiple witnesses of this very reality, that we can live and not die, but whether we will accept them or not remains to be seen.

Consider this:  The Bible states quite clearly that both Enoch and Elijah did not die.  Jesus died, but then came back to life, then after that proceeded to ascended to heaven still very-alive much like Elijah did.  These three witnesses alone should be sufficient to say “this is possible.”  If it is possible for some, then, it is possible .  James 5:17 says, “Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.”  While it might be far-fetched for some to accept that anyone can attain immortality, ascending to heaven without dying, if Elijah did it and the Scriptures are clear he was just like you or me, then we don’t have any excuses to keep us from accepting the possibility that we could as well.

Furthermore, there are others throughout history as well.  Possibly the most well-documented is that of the Maharishi of Mt. Kailash, a hermit who Sadhu Sundar Singh met sometime in the early 1900s; this man spent his time interceding for the world.  This man claimed to have been baptized by the nephew of Francis Xavier, a Catholic missionary who lived from 1506 to 1562 (Citation goes here).  In other words, using insanely conservative math the man was at least 340 years old, and in reality was probably around 400 years of age.  Either we believe the man who spoke to Sundar, or we don’t.  Keep in mind that this man was a hermit who lived in the middle of a mountain and had no interest in contact with most of humanity.  He gained nothing whether he lied or spoke the truth.  This man referenced others who also were hermits on Kailash as well, although I don’t believe the Sadhu ever met any of them (As a side note, Sundar was born in 1889 and was presumed to have died in in 1929, but that remains unconfirmed as no one ever actually saw his dead body, and considering he personally knew an immortal . . . ).  I once heard a story by a well-known charismatic preacher who was translocated by the Lord and met a Native American man who was over 200 years old.  I have heard other stories as well, but again, it all comes down to the validity of witnesses.  Are we willing to accept their testimony in spite of its rarity, or do we reject it because it isn’t common?

At the end of the day, isn’t that really what is on trial—whether or not God will do uncommon things?  The way I see it, if the Bible tells us something is in the promises of God for us, it doesn’t matter if it is a common experience or not. We are promised spiritual gifts, divine healing, raising the dead, and much more, but there are many who have never heard anyone pray in tongues, never experienced divine healing, and have never seen nor known anyone who was raised from the dead.  While some might dispute the validity of tongues for today, it is unarguable that divine healing and raising the dead are scriptural and are for us today.

In reality, the question we have to ask ourselves is “Am I going to let someone else’s experiences limit and dictate my encounters with God?”  Whether someone else is successful or not at living forever has literally nothing to do with:

1) Whether God has promised it for us
2) Whether God has prepared it for us
3) Whether the Bible supports this belief and
4) Whether I can access it through Jesus Christ.

It doesn’t matter if we don’t see it now, nor if we look foolish going after it.  1 Corinthians 1:27 says, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”  Looking foolish for pursuing the gospel is frustrating at times, but not enough to stop me from going after everything God has for me.  I don’t personally let anyone else’s success or failure dictate what I can experience in God—and neither should you!  That’s the part where we walk by faith and not by sight.  But here’s the cool thing: as we continue to walk in faith that “these signs will follow those who believe” and the evidence will eventually be there.

I discuss this and related topics in detail in my book “The Gospel of Life and Immortality,” available on both Kindle and in Print on Amazon.