Eternal Life

(ζωὴ αἰώνιος).

I. Biblical Usage of the Terms. —

1. In the O.T. we find this expression occurring only in Dan 12:2 : Some shall awaken עוֹלָם לְהִיֵּוSept. εἰς ζωὴν αἰὠνιον, the others

לְדַרְאוֹן עוֹלָם. For the first indication on this point, Lev 18:5 Eze 20:11; Eze 18:21; Habakuk 2:4 (comp. Gal 3:11-12); Psa 34:13 (comp. 1Pe 3:10) are to be referred to.

2. In the N.T. it is of frequent occurrence. In the first three evangelists, we find ζωὴ αἰώνιος (eternal life), or sometimes only ζωή (life), represented as the object and destiny of man, e.g. Mat 7:14; Mat 18:8-9; Luk 10:28; comp. Luk 10:25; Luk 18:18. The resurrection of the dead precedes it (Luk 14:14). It therefore comprises the whole future of the disciple of Christ, his full reward; and the idea is thus connected with that of felicity (μισθὸς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, reward in heaven, Mat 5:12; reception into the αἰώνιαι σχηναί, everlasting habitations, Luk 16:9). In Mat 19:29; Mat 25:46, we find it opposed to κόλασις αἰώνιος (eternal punishment). Paul considers the ζωὴ αἰώνιος as the supreme reward of well-doing (Rom 2:7; 1Ti 6:12; 1Ti 6:19), the result of continually walking in the holiness secured to us by Christ; the τέλος (Rom 6:22), the reward (Gal 6:8), as also the object of our faith (1Ti 1:16), and of saving grace (Rom 5:21), and consequently also the object of our hopes (Tit 1:2; Tit 3:7; comp. Jud 1:21). It appears synonymous with the ἐπαγγελία ζωῆς τῆς μελλούσης (promise of the life to come) (1Ti 4:8), the receiving of the incorruptible crown of righteousness (1Co 9:25; 2Ti 4:8), the preservation unto the heavenly kingdom (2Ti 4:18). By Peter it is described as the κληρονομία which consists in the σωτηρία ψυχῆς, revealed as δόξα, and retained in heaven (1Pe 1:4; 1Pe 1:9; 1Pe 5:1; 1Pe 5:10). James considers it as the promised crown of life and inheritance of the kingdom (Jas 1:12; Jas 2:5). In the epistle to the Hebrews it is described as the Sabbath of the people of God (Heb 4:9; compare Heb 12:22 sq., etc.). While, however, life everlasting thus belongs to the future, we must not forget that, according to Paul’s exposition, it appears in its essence indissolubly connected with our present life. As our relation to God, as altered by sin, can but lead to death, so in the restoration of the original relation there must necessarily, and, indeed, as an ethical religious principle, be ζωή (life) presented in the δικαιοσύνη, righteousness (Rom 5:21; Rom 8:10; Gal 3:21); so that δικαιοσύνη in its connection with ζωη (Rom 5:18, δικαίωσις ζωῆς, justification of life), constitutes the very essence of the σωτηρία (salvation) imputed to the subject, even though in the Judaic epistles of the apostle the ζωή itself is dwelt upon more than the fundamental idea of the δικαιοσύνη. Christ is ἡ ζωὴ ἡμῶν (our life); though yet concealed (Col 3:3-4; Php 1:21; Gal 2:20; Eph 3:17; 1Co 15:45), he is found in us (Gal 4:19); we have put him on, and become parts of his body (Eph 5:30; Gal 3:27; Col 1:18, etc.). From this it results that his life of glory must also become ours, which idea is presented to us in various ways (Rom 6:8; 2Ti 2:11-12; Rom 5:17; Rom 5:21; Rom 8:30; Eph 2:5-6). The Spirit gives also the πνεῦμα ζωῆς (Spirit of life), as the element of new life (Rom 8:2; comp. 2Co 3:17), the foundation of that life which overcomes that which is mortal (2Co 5:4-5; Eph 1:14); our mortal body is by it made alive (Rom 8:11); its results arepeace and life (Rom 8:6; Rom 8:10; Rom 8:13). In this respect eternal life is the "gift of God in Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom 6:23). As λόγος ζωῆς (the word of life) (Php 2:16), Christ has destroyed death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel (2Ti 1:10).

Aside from this evident connection between eternal life and the newness of life of the Christ was derived from Christ (Rom 6:4), the ζωὴ αἰώνιος (eternal life) is still always considered in Paul’s writings as posterior to the casting off if the mortal body, and the exchange of the corruptible for the incorruptible. The consequences of these premises in their full development are first presented to us, however, in the epistles of John. Here we find’ the most important principle for the subjective aspect .of Christianity: ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν υἱὸν ἔχει ζωὴν αίώνιον (he that believeth on the Son hath eternal life) (Joh 3:36; Joh 3:15-16; Joh 5:24; Joh 6:47; Joh 6:53-58; Joh 10:28; Joh 17:2-3; Joh 20:31; 1Jn 5:12-13). Having passed from death unto life, death has no longer dominion over him (Joh 5:24), and he is free from the law and from the anger of God; he becomes partaker of the fullness of salvation. On the contrary, those who do not hearken to the Son have not life, neither shall they see it, but the anger of God abides with them. Thus, while Paul distinguishes between the actual state of grace, with its accompanying hope on the one hand, and the future attainment of the object of our hope, John unites these in his conception of eternal life, and thus uses the expressions ζωὴ αἰώνοις (eternal life) and ζωή (life), which stand in the relation of form and contents, indifferently with or without the article (John in, 36; v. 24; 1Jn 3:14-15; 1Jn 5:11-13, etc.). The life of the faithful on this earth is inseparably connected with their eternal life, from the fact of their absolute deliverance fromn the sentence of death resulting from a state of estrangement from God (Joh 6:53). It is a result of the birth of the Spirit (Joh 3:1-36; comp. 5:21; 1Jn 1:5; Joh 3:36). See also Joh 4:14; Joh 5:28; Joh 6:40; Joh 17:24; 1Jn 3:2.

This eternal life, with its divine course and its victorious power, finds its ground in the communion of life with Christ which is the result of faith. For while God as the absolute being is He whose life is "of himself" (Joh 6:57), and is Himself "eternal life" (1Jn 5:20), the source of all life, yet the communication of life to the world, i.e., to mankind, has from the beginning, even before time began, (Joh 8:56), been irrevocably vested in the Son. He is the λόγος (word) as well in his relation to God as in his relation to the world. He has received the fullness of divine life from the Father in such a manner that it belongs to him as thoroughly his (Joh 5:26; 1Jn 5:11). Now, inasmuch as the Logos became flesh, the eternal life, which was of God, became manifested in him. It is, in the next place, the revealed light of life. Christ, in his relation to the world, is therefore as well ὁ λόγος τῆς ζωῆς as ἡ ζωή (1Jn 1:1-2; Joh 1:3-4; Joh 6:53; Joh 14:6); in one word, the really sole source of life, the universal priiciple of life in the world, both spiritual and material (Joh 5:21-29; Joh 10:9; Joh 10:28; Joh 11:25; Joh 14:19; Joh 6:27; Joh 6:35; Joh 6:39; Joh 6:63; Joh 7:38-39). From this it is easilyseen how eternal life is designated in the N.T. as the command of the Father, the knowledge of God and of Christ, or also as the commandment of Christ (Joh 12:50; comp. Joh 8:51; Joh 17:3; 1Jn 2:25; 1Jn 3:14-15; comp. Joh 12:25).

Confirmations of this view, by which the ζωή comes to occupy the first place in the plan of salvation in Christ, are to be found in numerous passages of the N.T. Christ is represented as the ever-living (Rev 1:18), the ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς (Act 3:15), the λίθος ζῶν, by virtue of whom those who follow him become λίθοι ζῶντες, living stones (1Pe 2:4-5). In 1Pe 3:7 (comp. 4:6) we read of a κληρονομία χάριτος ζωῆς, and in the apocalyptic description of the heavenly Jerusalem we still read of a ποταμὸς ὕδατος ζωῆς (river of the water of life) which flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb, as also of a ξύλον ζωῆς (tree of life) by the shores of the stream (Rev 22:1-2; Rev 22:14; Rev 22:19; Rev 2:7). See the different interpretations given to John’s ζωὴ αἰώνιος in Kaeuffer, De bibl. ζ. ἀ. notione, page 22.

II. History of the Doctrine. —

1. The Talmudists speak only of the עוֹלָם הִבָּא, in which all Israelites have part, but nowhere of an eternal life; while the Targumists make use of the expression, for instance, in Lev 18:5.

2. It was long before even the Christian Church, was able to understand the full scope of the idea. In early times the ζωὴ αἰώνιος (eternal life) was represented only as future happiness, to be fully accomplished only after the resurrection and the judgment of the world. Irenaeus (adv. Haer. 1, c. 10) states what the per universum orbem usque ad fines terree seminata ecclesia (the Church dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth) believes on this point, the rediturum — ut justis et sanctis — incorruptibilem statum largiatur et vitam seternam tribuat (coming of Christ to confer eternal life upon the righteous and holy). So also Tertullian (De prcescr. Hceret. C. 13). Augustine (De Sp. et Lit. c. 24): "Cum venerit, quod perfectum est, tune erit vita seterna; it is totum prsemiumn, cujus promissione gaudemus" (that is, the complete reward, in the promise of which we joy) (Pe snorib. eccl. oath. page 25; De Trin. 1:13; Enchir. § 29, etc. Basil (Essarr. Psa 45:1-17) connects it with the eternal membership of heaven. The Apostles’ Creed and the Athanasian Creed end the enumeration of their articles of faith with the dogma concerning eternal life as emanating from God, the absolute cause, and represent it as the final object of all ordained development (Const. Apost. 7:41). John of Damascus, at the end of his Orthod. fid., where he treats of the resurrection, says expressly, αἰώνιος ζωὴ τὸ ἀτελεύτατον τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος δηλοῖ· οὐδὲ γὰρ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἡμέραις καί νυξὶν ὁ χρόνος ἀριθμηθήσεται· ἔστι δὲ μᾶλλον μία ἡμέρα ἀνέσπερος, τοῦ ήλίον τῆς δικαιοσύνης τοῖς δικαίοις φαιδρῶς ἐπιλάμποντος. Even when the fathers speak of Christ as the ζωή they refer almost exclusively to the imparting of future blessedness: Cyril of Alexandria and Anamonius (Catena on Joh 14:6), Gregory Nazianzenus (Orat. 10, c. Eunom.). At all events, they call the assurance of life resting on communion with Christ merely ζωή, ἡ κυρίου ζωή, but not ζωὴ αἰώνιος.

Yet occasionally they touch upon nearly all the questions connected with that point, without, however, arriving at any definite system of doctrine. In their description of the state of the blessed they mention as the most important points its endless duration, freedom from evil, and absolute satisfaction. The latter was sometimes defined as complete knowiedge, perfect moral liberty inner and outer peace, or immediate intercourse with God and the saints, together with personal reunion with those who have preceded us; or, again, as the contemplation of God, as the fulfillment of all human desire, or as several of these different points together. The finis desidesiorumn nostrorum is God himself, qui sinefine videbitur, sinefostidio anabiter, sirvefatigatione laudabitur (Justin, Apol. 1:8; Origen, Deprinc. 3:318, 321; Cyprian, De mortal. [1726], page 166; Greg. Naz. Osat. 16:9; 8:23; Greg. Nyss. Orat. fun. de Placilla et Orat. de Mortuis; Basil, Hom. 6 in Hexaom. et Hom. in Psa 114:1-8; August. De civ. Dei, 22:29, 30; Chrysost. Hose. 14 in Ep. ad Rona; Ambros. in Gal 6:1-18; Cassiodor. De anima, c. 12). The idea of different degrees of felicity in future life, as differences of reward, was widely prevalent, without however, making it lose its character as gratia pro gratia (grace for grace) (August. Tract. 13 in John; Theodoret on Rom 6:23, and in Canticum 1). According to the ἀξία (desert) of every one, there are πολλαὶ ἀξιωμάτων διαφοραί, βαθμοὶ πολλοί and μέτρα (Orig. 1:1, 2, 11; Greg. Naz. Orat. 27:8; 14:5; 19:7; 32:33; Basil in Eunom. 1:3; August. De Carv. Dei, 22:30, 2; Hieron. ad. Jov. 2). The fathers say also very positively that the joys of heaven cannot be described in words, and human imagination can only form an approximative idea of them. So Greg. Nyss. (Orat. Catecls. c. 40). "Bona vitae aeternae tam multa sunt ut numerum, tam magna ut mnensuram, tam pretiosa ut aestimationem omnem excedant" (August. De triapl. habit. c. 1, Conf. Orth.).

3. The divines of the Middle Ages brought to light no new truths on this point, but assembled those already recognized into a system. They also established a doctrinal distinction between vita aeterna (eternal life) and beatitudo (happiness), defining them both. Anselm (De simil. c. 47) counts fourteen partes beatitudinis, seven of which relate to the glorifying of the body, and seven to the soul. The occupations of the saints are generally connected also with the number seven. Yet it was more customary to divide the different aspects of that state-of course subject to all kinds of occasional modifications into twelve parts (Bonaventura, Dieta salut. 10, c. 4; Peter d’Ailly, Spec. consid. 3, c. 11; Johan. de Turre crem. Tract. 36 in reg.): "Duodecim considerationes vitae asternae:

1. Illa sola est vita vera;

2. Possidetur sanitas sine quacunque infirmitate, molestia aut passione;

3. Pulchritudo sine quacunque deformitate;

4. Copia omnium bonorum;

5. Satietas et adimpletio omnium desideriorum sine quocunque defectu;

6. Securitas et pacis tranquillitas sine timore quocunque;

7. Visio beata clarissima et jucundissima divinitatis;

8. Delectatio summa;

9. Sapientia et plenissima cognitio absque ignorantia (an especially gratifying prospect for the scholastics; so that, for instance, Duns Scotus wonders whether the saints knew the real essence of things);

10. In illa viventes sumnmo ibi honore et gloria sublimantur;

11. Est in ea jucunditas ineffabilis;

12. Laus interminabilis." (The twelve points are: 1. Eternal life is the only true life; 2. It has health without infirmity or passion; 3. Beauty without disfigurement; 4. All blessings in abundance; 5. Satisfaction of all desires; 6. Peace and tranquillity without fears; 7. Beatific vision of the Divinity; 8. Supreme delight; 9. Wisdom and perception without ignorance; 10. The highest honor and glory; 11. Ineffable sweetness; 12. Endless praise.)

Thomas Aquinas recognized, besides, the general and common beatitud, especial dotes, gifts. Thus, aside from the corona aurea, he reserves a special aureola to the martyrs and saints, and also to monks and nuns, as a sort of superadded reward. According to him, the organ of transmission of the blessings of future life is knowledge ; according to Scotus, the will. After the times of Anselm, and among the scholastics and mystics, we find very attractive descriptions of the blessed state, full of elevated ideas. "Praemium est," says Bernard (De meditat. c. 4), "videre Deum, vivere cum Deo, esse cum Deo, esse in Deo, qui erit omnia in omnibus; habere Deum, qui est summum bonum; et ubi est summum bonum, ibi summa felicitas." (The reward is, to see God, to dwell with God, to exist with God and in God, who shall be All in All; to possess God, who is the highest Good; and where the highest Good is, there is perfect bliss.)

4. The Roman Catholic Church has simply gathered the teachings of the scholastics into a whole on this point, and has established them in a more fixed and dogmatic manner, as is shown in the exposition given in the Roman Catechism. According to it, the vita aeterna (eternal life), by which believers are, after their resurrection, to attain the perfection after which they aim, is non magis perpetuitas vitae, quam in perpetuitate beatitudo, quae beatorunm desiderium expleat (not only perpetuity of life, but also bliss in that perpetuity, satisfying all the desires of the blessed). It is evident, moreover, that the nature of the blessedness of the saints cannot be appreciated by our minds in any but an empirical, not an absolute manner. According to the scholastics, the eternal blessings can be divided into,

1. Essential; the contemplation of God in his nature and substance, and the consequent participation in his essence, which is identical with his possession.

2. Accessory; glory, honor, perfect peace, etc. They are expressly represented as incentives to lead a virtuous life. On their connection with good works in the Romanist system, see Council of Trent (Sess. 6, c. 26).

5. With the exception of the part relating to purgatory, the doctrine of the elder Protestantism on this subject does not essentially differ from that of the Romish Church. The symbolical books of the evangelical Church afford us but little information on this point. In general, the vita aeterna continued to be considered as salutis nostrce complementum, spei meta, finis fidei (the goal of hope, the end of faith). By it was understood the position of the just, partly after this life in general, and partly after the resurrection. (Comp. Augsburg Conf: art. 17; Apol. 4:212; Cat. Min. 2:3; Formula Concordiae, 633, 723; Coif. Belg. art. 67; Luther, Works, 1:360, 887, 997; 11:1487; Melancthon, loci. 1553, 75; Calvin, Institutes, 3:9, 1.) Still the effects of a deeper study of Scripture (a result of the Reformation) became manifest in various ways, and especially in the idea of a beginning of eternal life in the heart of the believer, which was recognised as connected with regeneration (Apol. Confessionis, 4:140, 148, 99, 187, 209, 210, 285, mostly in the German text; Buddeus, 445, 503; Zwingli, Exp. cld. 12; P. Martyr, Loci. 442; Cat. Pal. 58; Alting, Expl. Catech. 280; Alsted, 759; Perkins, Cat. 778; Confessio Bohem. Niem. 846). Compare also Jansenius, Comm. Cone. Ev. c. 136, 976. Yet this truly evangelical view was not steadily persisted in, but, on the contrary, it was soon asserted again that the expression "eternal life" occurred only in Scripture to designate the reward of Christian fidelity. Nevertheless, the fundamental points of the idea of eternal life remained in the doctrine of a mystical union with Christ, and in the doctrine concerning the Eucharist. Many draw a distinction between the vita spiritualis (spiritual life), of which Christ is the alimentum (food), and the vita aeterna (eternal life). The former was also designated as vita gratie (the life of grace), and the latter as vita glorie (the life of glory). There were three degrees of eternal life recognized: 1. initialis, in this world; 2. partialis, after the death of the individual; 3. perfectionalis, after the last judgment. (So Pearson, On the Creed, Oxford, 1820, 1:598.) Gerhard’s definition (Cotta, 20, 533) is an excellent exposition of the Protestant scholastic views on this subject: "Vita aeterna est felicissimus ac beatissimus ille siatus, quo Deus ex immensa misericordia (causa efficiens principalis) propter Christum mediatorem (causa efficiens meritoria) perseverante fide (causa instrumentalis) adprehensum pios post hanc vitam beabit, ut primum quidem animae eorum a corporibus separatse, postmodum vero eaedem in die resurrectionis glorificatis corporibus reunita, ab omnibus miseriis, doloribus et malls liberatae, cum Christo, angelis sanctis et omnibus electis in sempiterna lmetitia, gloria et felicitate vivant, perfecta Dei cognitione, perfecta sanctitate et justitia ornatae Deum a facie ad faciem sine fine videant, sine fastidio ament ac sine defatigatione glorificent." The early Protestant theologians speak of the felicity of the future life as incomprehensible and ineffable (Conf. Belg. 37; Bohem. in Niem. 846; Calvin, 3, 15, 10; Gerhard, 20, 340). Its blessings are partly privative, partly positive: the meeting again and recognition of Christians was considered one of them (Zwingli In exp. fid. 12); this is called a positive blessing. That individual blessedness will not be disturbed by the, knowledge of the damnation of others is called a privative blessing. In opposition to Rome, the influence of personal merit on the future state was denied by these theologians; but some of them, while admitting that blessedness is essentially the same for all, hold to several degrees of blessedness. A number of other questions as to the language of the blessed, the manner of the contemplation of God, if he shall be praised in word, etc., are generally treated by the ancient theologians after the example of Calvin, Inst. 3, 25, 6, as irrelevant, and of no religious importance. In later times they have been discussed anew.

VII. Later Views. — The evangelical Protestant churches probably would all agree that eternal life commences in Christian experience in this world. So Wesley (Sermons, 2:181): "This is the testimony, that God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life [the eternal life here spoken of]; and he that hath not the Son hath not life." As if he had said, This is the sum of the testimony which God hath testified of his Son, that God hath given us not, only a title to, but the real beginning of eternal life; and this life is purchased by, and treasured up in his Son, who has all the springs and the fullness of it in himself, to communicate to his body, the Church. This eternal life, then, commences when it pleases the Father to reveal his Son in our hearts; when we first know Christ, being enabled to "call him Lord by the Holy Ghost;" when we can testify, our conscience bearing us witness in the Holy Ghost, "The life which I now live I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." And then it is that happiness begins — happiness real, solid, substantial. Then it is that heaven is opened in the soul, that the proper heavenly state commences, while the love of God, as loving us, is shed abroad in the heart, instantly producing love to all mankind; general pure benevolence, together with its genuine fruits, lowliness, meekness, patience, contentedness in every state; an entire, clear, full acquiescence in the whole will of God, enabling us to "rejoice evermore, and in everything to give thanks."

As to the nature of the blessedness of the future life, "the sum of what we are taught by reason and Scripture on this point may be comprehended under the three following particulars:

(a) We shall hereafter be entirely freed from the sufferings of this life;

(b) Our future blessedness will be a continuation of the happiness of this life;

(c) But it will also be increased by the addition of many new joys, which stand in no natural or necessary connection with our preceding condition in this life.

But, for want of accurate knowledge of the state of things in the future world, we can say nothing definite and certain as to the nature of these positive rewards. In the doctrine of the New Testament, however, positive rewards are considered most obviously as belonging to our future felicity, and as constituting a principal part of it. For it always represents the joys heaven as resulting strictly from the favor of God, and as being undeserved by those to whom they are given. Hence there must be something more added to the natural good consequences of our actions, something which cannot be considered as the necessary and natural consequences of the good actions we may have before performed. Some theologians have supposed that the saints in heaven may be taught by immediate divine revelations (lumen glories); especially those who may enter the abodes of the blessed without knowledge, or with only a small measure of it; e.g. children, and others who have died in ignorance for which they themselves were not to blame. On this subject nothing is definitely taught in the Scriptures; but both Scripture and reason warrant us in believing that provision will be made, for all such persons in the future world. A principal part of our future happiness will consist, according to the Christian doctrine, in the enlargement and correcting of our knowledge respecting God, his nature, attributes, and works, and in the salutary application of this knowledge to our own moral benefit, to the increase of our faith, love, and obedience. There has been some controversy among theologians with regard to the vision of God (visio Dei intuitiva, or sensitiva, or beatifica, or comprehensiva); but Christ is always represented as one who will be personally visible by us, and whose personal, familiar intercourse and guidance we shall enjoy. And herein Christ himself places a chief part of the joy of the saints (Joh 14:1-31; Joh 17:1-26, etc.). And so the apostles often describe the blessedness of the pious by the phrase being with Christ. To his guidance has God entrusted the human race in heaven and on earth. And Paul says (2Co 4:6) we see ‘the brightness of the divine glory in the face of Christ;’ he is ’the visible representative of the invisible God’ (Col 1:15). Paul says expressly (1Th 4:17) that we shall be with Christ, in company with our friends who died before us (ἀμα σὺν αὐτοῖς); and this presupposes that we shall recognize them, and have intercourse with them, as with Christ himself. Paul advises that Christians should comfort themselves under the loss of their friends by considering that they are at home with the Loa d, and that they shall be again united together" (Knap Christ. Theology, sec. 140, pages 490-494). See also Cotta, fist. Dorm. de Vita aeterna; Cotta, Theses Theol. de Vita caterna (Tttbing. 1758); Storr, Opuscula Academica, 2:75; Wesley, Sermons, 2:180 sq.; Baxter, Saints’ Rest; Isaac Taylor, Physical Theory of another Life; Naville Vie Eternelle (1865); Herzog, Real-Encyklop. 8:254 (from which this article is in part a translation); Maartensen, Christian Dogmnatics, § 283-290. SEE IMMORTALITY; SEE RESURRECTION; SEE HEAVEN.

See LIFE, ETERNAL.

GOD Promising Eternal Life

Tit_1:2; 1Jn_2:24-25; 1Jn_5:11.

Laying Hold On Eternal Life

1Ti_6:12.

Some Awaking To Everlasting Life

Dan_12:1-2; Joh_5:26-29.

What Is Eternal Life

Joh_12:49-50; Joh_17:3; Rom_6:23; 1Jn_5:20.

Who Shall Not Receive Eternal Life

Joh_3:36; 1Jn_3:15; 1Jn_5:12.

Who Shall Receive Eternal Life

Psa_22:26; Mat_19:16-21; Mat_19:28-30; Mat_25:31-46; Luk_10:25-28; Luk_18:24-30; Joh_3:14-16; Joh_3:36; Joh_4:13-14; Joh_5:24-29; Joh_6:38-40; Joh_6:43-47; Joh_6:53-58; Joh_10:25-28; Joh_11:25-26; Joh_12:25; Joh_17:1-3; Rom_6:22-23; Gal_6:8; 2Ti_2:10-11; 1Jn_5:12-13.

ETERNAL LIFE.—This phrase occurs more than forty times in the New Testament. In many passages it denotes primarily a present possession or actual experience of the Christian believer, while in others it clearly contemplates a blessed life to come, conceived as a promised inheritance. The Greek expressions are ζωὴ αἱώνιος, ἡ αἰώνιος ζωή (Joh 17:3, 1Ti 6:12), ἡ ζωὴ ἡ αἰώνιος (1Jn 1:2). The word ‘life,’ or ‘the life’ (ζωή, ἡ ζωή), without the qualifying adjective ‘eternal,’ is often employed in the same general meaning.

There are passages in the Synoptic Gospels in which the phrase ‘eternal life’ is used synonymously and interchangeably with ‘the kingdom of God’ (Mar 9:45; Mar 9:47, Mat 7:14; Mat 7:21). The Kingdom of heaven and the life eternal are very closely related in the teaching of Jesus. Compare also the suggestive language of Rom 5:17 ‘shall reign in life through Jesus Christ.’ But it is especially in the writings of St. John that we find ‘eternal life’ presented as a heavenly boon which may become the actual possession of believers in the present life. God Himself is the source of all life, and ‘as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself’ (Joh 5:26). In the Word ‘which became flesh and dwelt among us’ there was a visible manifestation of the life eternal: ‘In him was life; and the life was the light of men’ (Joh 1:4); so that He Himself declares, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life’ (Joh 14:6). In accord with these statements the very life of God is conceived as begotten in the believer by the Holy Spirit, so that he is ‘born anew,’ ‘born from above’ (Joh 3:3-7). Thus begotten of God, the children of God become distinctly manifest, and God’s ‘seed abideth in them’ (1Jn 3:9-10). That is, in these Divinely begotten children of God there abides the imperishable germ (σπέρμα) of life from above, the eternal kind of life which the twice born possess in common with the Father and the Son. Hence it is that the believer ‘hath eternal life’ as an actual possession (Joh 3:36). He ‘hath passed out of death into life’ (Joh 5:24, 1Jn 3:14).

In Joh 17:3 we read what has to some extent the manner of a definition: ‘This is life eternal, that (ἵνα) they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.’ So far as this text furnishes a definition, it seems clearly to imply that ‘eternal life’ consists in such a knowledge of God and of Christ as involves a personal experience of vital fellowship. It carries with it the love and obedience which, according to Joh 14:23, bring the Father and the Son into the believer’s inmost life, so that they ‘make their abode with him.’ In view of the use of ἵνα in Joh 4:34, Joh 15:12, Joh 18:39 we need not refine so far as (with Westcott on this passage) to maintain that the connective here retains its telic force and indicates an aim and an end, a struggle after increasing knowledge rather than the attainment of a knowledge already in possession. But it should not be supposed that any present knowledge of God and of Christ is inconsistent with incalculable future increase. While the essence of this Divine life consists in the knowledge of the only true God and His anointed Son, such knowledge is not the whole of eternal life, for other ideals with their additional content are also set before us in the teaching of Christ and of His Apostles. Whatever else is true touching this saving knowledge of the true God, its present possession is one of the great realities in the personal experience of the believer. In 1Jn 5:11-13 the gift and actual possession of this eternal kind of heavenly life are made emphatic: ‘God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life.’ This language is incompatible with the thought that the ‘eternal life’ spoken of is merely a promise, a hope or an expectation of such life in a future state, as some of the older expositors maintained.

This heavenly kind of life in Christ, conceived as a present experience of salvation, is further confirmed and illustrated by what Jesus said of Himself as ‘the bread of life’ and the giver of the water that springs up into eternal life. We have, no doubt, the enigmatical words of profound mysticism in Joh 6:35-58. Jesus declares that He is ‘the bread of life,’ which ‘giveth life unto the world.’ ‘I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: yea, and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.’ ‘Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life: and I will raise him up at the last day.’ ‘He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him.’ ‘He that eateth me shall live because of me.’ ‘He that eateth this bread shall live for ever.’ These emphatic repetitions of statement would seem to put it beyond all question that their author meant to teach that the Son of God, sent by the living Father, ‘lives because of the Father,’ and imparts the eternal life of the Father to every one who believes in Him. Of this living bread the believer now partakes, and ‘hath eternal life’ (Joh 6:47; Joh 6:54). This life also is conceived as attaining a certain goal, or receiving a definite consummation ‘at the last day.’ For it is a permanent possession, and of a nature to advance from strength to strength and from glory to glory. The eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of Man have been thought by some expositors to refer to the partaking of the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper; but such a reference to an institution not yet established, and utterly unknown to His Jewish opponents, would have been strangely irrelevant. The life eternal into which the believer enters involves, as matter of course, all due allowance for Divinely appointed conditions, aids, provisions and means of nourishing the life itself; but to exalt these unduly is to divert the thought from the more central and profound mystic conception of Christ Himself as the life of the world. So the remarkable sayings of Jesus in the synagogue at Capernaum, recorded in Joh 6:32-59, are but another form and a mystic expression of His emphatic declaration in Joh 5:24 ‘He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life.’

The exact meaning of the word ‘eternal,’ when used to qualify ‘the life,’ is best understood when the life is conceived as issuing from the eternal Father, and so partaking of His Divine nature (cf. 2Pe 1:4). Having life in Himself, and giving to His Son to have life in Himself (Joh 5:26), He imparts the same life to all who believe in the Son; and that life is in its nature eternal as God Himself. It is an eternal kind of life which belongs to the unseen and imperishable things (cf. 2Co 4:18). In the Johannine writings the word ‘life’ or ‘the life,’ and the phrase ‘eternal life,’ are used interchangeably. The latter is the more frequent form of expression, but it is evident that the writer often employs ‘the life’ in the same sense. This life is spoken of in contrast with ‘death’ and ‘perishing.’ The believer ‘shall not perish, but have eternal life’ (Joh 3:16), ‘hath passed out of the death into the life’ (Joh 5:24), ‘shall never see death,’ nor ‘taste of death’ (Joh 8:51-52), ‘shall never perish’ (Joh 10:28). He who has not the life is in a condition of spiritual death, and must perish unless he receive the life of God, the eternal kind of life, which has been manifested in Christ. In these and other similar passages life and death are not to be understood as identical in meaning with existence and non-existence. The person who has passed out of death into life had existence before the new life came, and such existence, in estrangement from God and in disobedience of the gospel, may be perpetuated in ‘eternal destruction from the face of the Lord’ (2Th 1:9). So the ‘death,’ which those who ‘perish’ taste, need not be understood as annihilation, or utter extinction of being. As ‘the death’ is a condition of moral and spiritual destitution in which one has no fellowship with God, so ‘the life’ is the blessed experience of fellowship and union with Christ as vital as that of the branch and the vine. And this participation in the very nature of the Eternal God is the essence of the ‘life eternal.’

In the writings of St. Paul we also find a mystic element in which we note the concept of eternal life as a present possession. The exhortation to ‘lay hold on the life eternal,’ and the designation of it as ‘the life which is life indeed’ (ἡ ὄντως ζωή, 1Ti 6:12; 1Ti 6:19), may refer either to the present or the future; but when the Apostle speaks of believers as made alive and risen with Christ, and sitting with Him in the heavenlies (Eph 2:5-6), he implies a fruition that was already realized. It involved a positive experience like that in which ‘the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made him free from the law of sin and of death’ (Rom 8:2). He also has a wonderful appreciation of the heavenly illumination which ‘shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ (2Co 4:6). This surpassing light is conceived by the Apostle as a product of the Spirit of the Lord, and a reflexion of the glory of Christ as seen in the mirror of His gospel. In that mirror the believer beholds the glory of his Lord reflected, and by the power of the heavenly vision he is ‘transformed into the same image’ (2Co 3:17-18). The Johannine doctrine of ‘passing out of death into life’ is conceived by St. Paul as a dying unto sin and being made alive unto God in Christ Jesus. The believer is ‘alive from the dead’ and ‘walks in newness of life’ (Rom 6:1-13). He has been ‘crucified with Christ: and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me; and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, which is in the Son of God’ (Gal 2:20). And so in Pauline thought the spiritual life of faith, enjoyed in fellowship with God and Christ, is a ‘life hid with Christ in God’ (Col 3:3), and ‘the free gift of God’ (Rom 6:23). This conception is in essential harmony with the doctrine of St. John. Eternal life is in its inmost nature the free, pure, permanent spiritual life of Christlikeness. It is a present possession, a glorious reality, a steadfastness of conscious living fellowship with the Eternal Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

But in all the Gospels and in the Epistles we also find eternal life contemplated as a future glorious inheritance of the saints. In St. John’s Gospel the ‘eternal life’ which the believer now ‘hath’ is destined to attain a glorious consummation in the resurrection ‘at the last day’ (Joh 5:40; Joh 5:45). For Jesus is Himself the resurrection as well as the life, and declares: ‘He that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die’ (Joh 11:25-26). Such a life must needs abide in eternal permanence. Jesus spoke of ‘the water of life’ which becomes in him who drinks it ‘a fountain of water springing up into eternal life’ (Joh 4:14). He spoke of food ‘which abideth unto life eternal,’ and of ‘gathering fruit unto life eternal’ (Joh 4:36, Joh 6:27). In all the Gospels He is represented as teaching that ‘he that loveth [or findeth, so Synopt.] his soul loseth it; and he that hateth [or loseth] his soul in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.’ We read in Mar 10:29-30 ‘There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, … or lands, for my sake and for the gospel’s sake, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, … and in the age to come life eternal’ (cf. Mat 19:29 and Luk 18:29-30). These Gospels also speak of eternal life as an inheritance to be received at a future day (Mat 19:16, Mar 10:17, Luk 10:25; Luk 18:18). Such contrast of ‘this time,’ ‘this world,’ ‘on the earth’ with ‘the age to come,’ and ‘in heaven,’ implies possessions in some other age or world beyond the present. In the picture of the Judgment (Mat 25:31-46), the righteous who go ‘into eternal life’ are said to ‘inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world,’ and to enter into the joy and glory of the King Himself.

This idea of eternal life as a glorious future inheritance finds also frequent expression in the Epistles. Those who ‘by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality’ shall receive eternal life as a reward of the righteous judgment of God (Rom 2:7). All who are made free from sin and become servants of God ‘have their fruit unto sanctification, and the end life eternal’ (Rom 5:21; Rom 6:22). In the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 1:14; Heb 9:15) we read of ‘them that shall inherit salvation,’ and of them that ‘receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.’ In 1Pe 1:4 the writer tells his readers that God has begotten them unto a living hope, ‘unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved for them in heaven.’ According to all these scriptures, eternal life is begotten in the Christian believer by the Holy Spirit of God, and is to be perpetuated through the ages of ages. It is eternal in quality as being a participation in the Divine nature of the Eternal One, and eternal in duration as continuing for ever and ever. It is a possession of manifold fulness, and is conditioned in a character of god-likeness, which ‘has the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come’ (1Ti 4:8). There can be no living this life apart from God, for it is begotten in the soul by a heavenly birth, and must be continually nourished by the Spirit of God. Such vital union with the eternal Spirit brings unspeakable blessedness in this life and in this world; but it is as permanent and abiding as the nature of God, and is therefore appropriately called an incorruptible inheritance. Each individual life, whose ‘fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ’ (1Jn 1:3), is conceived as continuing eternally in that heavenly fellowship. In this age and that which is to come, in this world and in any other, on the earth or in the heavens, the child of God abides in eternal life.

See art. Eschatology ii. 2, and so far as this subject relates to the Future State, artt. Heaven, Immortality, Resurrection.

Literature.—Gueder in Herzog, Real-Encyclopadie (ed. Plitt, 1881), vol. viii. pp. 509–517, also Kahler in same Encyc. (ed. Hauck, 1902), vol. xi. pp. 330–334; M‘Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopaedia, vol. iii. pp. 313–317; Charles, Crit. Hist. of Doctrine of Future Life, pp. 368–370; Dalman, Words of Jesus, pp. 156–162; Drummond, Relation of Apostolic Teaching to Teaching of Christ, pp. 193–198; Hort, The Way, the Truth, the Life (Hulsean Lectures for 1871), Lect. iii.: Titius, Jesu Lehre vom Reiche Gottes, pp. 29–39; Wendt, The Teaching of Jesus, vol. i. pp. 242–255; Westcott, The Epistles of John, pp. 214–218; Beyschlag, New Test. Theology, vol. i. pp. 266–268, vol. ii. pp. 429–430; Holtzmann, Neutest. Theologie, vol. ii. pp. 516–518; Immer, Theol. des NT, pp. 512–515; Stevens, Johannine Theology, pp. 312–327, also Theology of the NT, pp. 224–233; Weiss, Bibl. Theol. of the NT, vol. ii. pp. 347–352.

M. S. Terry.

See ESCHATOLOGY (from τà ἔσχσατα= "the end of days":

See Eternal and Life and Death.

Life everlasting in the presence of God. "This is eternal life, that they may know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou has sent" (Joh 17:3).

There are two senses in which this is used. First, as Christians we possess eternal life (1Jn 5:13), yet we are not in heaven or in the immediate presence of God. Though we are still in mortal bodies and we still sin, by faith we are saved (Rom 4:5; Eph 2:8-9) and possess eternal life as a free gift from God (Rom 6:23). Second, eternal life will reach its final state at the resurrection of the believers when Christ returns to earth to claim His church. It is then that eternal life will begin in its complete manifestation. We will no longer sin.

Eternal life is a way of life that has no end. In Scripture, it may refer to life beyond time or to immortality, which means life that does not end.

Eternal life belongs to God, who existed before the creation of the world and will continue to exist forever. God gives eternal life to those who belong to him and respond to him in faith and obedience. The Gospel of John gives the fullest teaching about eternal life.

Eternal Life in the Old Testament

The phrase “eternal life” occurs only once in the Greek version of the Old Testament (Daniel 12:2, with the basic meaning of “the life of the age,” designating the life of the age beyond the resurrection from the dead). The primary meaning of “life” in the Old Testament, however, is the quality of well-being in earthly existence.

During the period between the Old and New Testaments, Jewish teachers made a clear distinction between “this age” and “the age to come.” They taught that life in the coming age would differ from life in the present age not only in length, but also in quality.

The Greek word translated “eternal” comes from the word for “age.” In its Jewish setting, this word points to the living God and to the promised “age to come.”

Jesus Christ came as God’s final and complete revelation. Through him, believers can begin to experience in the present the kind of life that will fully belong to the future messianic age, the age ruled by the Messiah.

Eternal Life in the Teaching of Jesus

A rich young man came to Jesus and asked what he must do to inherit eternal life (Mark 10:17). He clearly was thinking about resurrection and life in the age to come. Jesus answered in the same way and spoke of eternal life in the age to come (verse 30).

In his answer to the rich young man, Jesus connected receiving eternal life with entering the kingdom of God (Mark 10:23–25). The kingdom of God is not only a future reality. It had already begun through the life, ministry, and teaching of Jesus. This means that people can receive the gift of life while they still live in the present age.

Many of the parables of Jesus make this point, including those in Matthew 13). The Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount also describe a present blessing that includes salvation, forgiveness, and righteousness (5:3–12). Eternal life, then, is a present blessing for those who live under God’s rule. They begin to share in the blessings of the new age of salvation even before the present age comes to an end.

Eternal Life in the Gospel of John

The Gospel of John gives the fullest discussion of eternal life. John explains why this teaching is so important: “But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). The earliest Johannine reference to eternal life is found in John 3:15.

John shared the Jewish hope for the age to come and its promised blessings (John 3:36; 4:14; 5:29, 39; 6:27; 12:25). Eternal life includes the special blessings of the messianic age, the age ruled by the Messiah, when it reaches its full completion.

The raising of Lazarus in John 11 was a living picture of the future life available to those who trust in Christ. Before Lazarus was raised, Martha said that she believed he would rise again on the last day (verse 24).

Jesus replied that he himself is the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in him will live even if they die physically, and they will never experience final death (John 11:25–26).

John’s Gospel, however, focuses mainly on the present experience of this future life. The life of the age to come is already available to believers through Christ.

Jesus used several pictures to explain the new life he gives. He is the source of living water that becomes a spring leading to eternal life (John 4:10–14). He is the living bread that satisfies the world’s spiritual hunger (6:35–40). He is the light of the world, who leads his followers into the light of life (8:12).

Jesus is also the good shepherd who gives abundant life (John 10:10), the one who raises the dead and gives life (11:25), and the way, the truth, and the life (14:6). He is the true vine who gives life and strength to those who remain in him (15:5).

Jesus made clear that he did not carry out his mission by his own nature or ability. He depended on the Father who sent him. His obedience to the Father shows again that life is God’s gift.

Those who believe in the Son receive the life that only God can give—eternal life. The future resurrection of all believers follows from this gift (John 5:26–29). The raising of Lazarus showed this promise in advance. Christ’s own resurrection guarantees it, for he is the “firstfruits,” the first of those who will be raised (1 Corinthians 15:23).

Eternal Life as Knowing God

Jesus added to the meaning of eternal life by connecting it with knowing the true God (John 17:3). IIn Greek thought, knowledge often meant understanding gained through deep thought or a mystical experience. In the Old Testament, however, knowledge often included personal experience, relationship, fellowship, and care (compare Jeremiah 31:34). The verb “to know” could even describe the close relationship between a husband and wife (compare Genesis 4:1).

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father” (John 10:14–15). The close relationship between the Father and the Son is the model for the relationship between Jesus and his disciples. This knowledge does not come through education or mental effort alone. It comes through God’s revelation in the Son (1:18; compare 14:7).

This brief survey shows that eternal life is more than life without end. Eternal life has no final limit, but the Bible focuses mainly on its quality, especially the qualities that come from God.

Through Christ, God brings the life of the age to come into the present. Eternal life comes through God’s revelation of himself as faithful, and it includes knowing God and living in relationship with him.

See also Life; New Creation, New Creature; Renewal, Regeneration.

Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The state of being in a permanent living relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, begun in this life and consummated at the resurrection of believers.

Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin H. Manser. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.