Eternal Life Eternal life, or everlasting life, is more than living forever. Eternal life is the life of God, the Eternal One.
The Greek word aionios is translated both as eternal and everlasting in the New Testament.
The Greek word zoe is one of several Greek words that are translated life. According to Vine's Dictionary, zoe means "life as a principle, life in the absolute sense, life as God has it, that which the Father has in Himself, and which He gave to the Incarnate Son to have in Himself. . . . Eternal life is the present actual possession of the believer because of his relationship with Christ, and that it will one day extend its domain to the sphere of the body is assured by the resurrection of Christ."
1 JOHN 5:11,13 NKJ
11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.What Is Eternal Life? Eternal life is the life that the Eternal One, God, has.
JOHN 17:3 NKJ
3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.1 JOHN 3:14-15 NKJ
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.From this passage, we see that eternal life is a present-tense possession which affects the nature of a person.
1 JOHN 5:20 NKJ
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.The Translator's New Testament contains a note which says, "In the New Testament eternal life is that kind of life which is given to all true believers in Christ. The word `eternal' draws attention to the quality of that life, not to its duration in a temporal sense. Thus eternal life can be experienced by believers even while subject to the temporal conditions of earthly life. Translators should be careful to avoid expressions which mean no more than a timeless continuation of life after death."
More than three times as many scriptures refer to eternal life as a present possession, than as a future possession.
How Do You Get Eternal Life? When a person is born again by receiving Jesus Christ, eternal life is imparted to that person's spirit -- which makes them a new creation.
JOHN 3:15-16 NKJ
15 "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.JOHN 3:36 NKJ
36 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."JOHN 4:14 NKJ
14 "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."JOHN 5:24 NKJ
24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.JOHN 6:40,47,54 NKJ
40 "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
47 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.
54 "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.JOHN 10:28 NKJ
28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.JOHN 17:2 NKJ
2 "as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.ROMANS 6:23 NKJ
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.1 TIMOTHY 1:16 NKJ
16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.What Does Eternal Life Do? Eternal life changes the nature of a person: turning them into someone who cares for others. Eternal life enables people to overcome selfishness.
Just as something with fish life in it could do what a fish does, so someone with God's life in them can do what God does -- which is walk in love.
1 JOHN 3:14-15 NKJ
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
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