John 17:3 (NASB)
3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
1 Timothy 6:15-16 (NRSV)
15 "Which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. 16 It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen."
Luke records the words, Luke 8:14, of Jesus when he describes the cares and riches and pleasures of life, using the Greek word bios, life - the time on earth, the living on the planet. Luke also records the words of Abraham (recounted by Jesus) who uses the Greek word zoe to express the kind of life that the rich man had as he ate sumptuously every day within a gated compound, separate from the general public, Luke 16:25.
Zoe life - above and beyond just living on planet earth - a life of food and enrichment. But, in the rich man’s case, it could not last, for he died and was treated accordingly : as he had failed to share his privileges with the disease-ridden cripple left outside his gated compound by someone who - on a daily basis - left Lazarus there to beg.
John says that he that hath the Son hath life, zoe, I John 5:12, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. He also says that he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father and the Son, II John 9. Zoe life, a superior life to just existing.
So : abiding in the doctrine of Christ, one shall have the Son and thereby one shall have zoe life.
This life is further defined in other places as eternal life, for example in John 6:47 : He that believeth in me hath everlasting (eternal) life. The life that is received is eternal life, for the life is divine life.
This is the character of the life that is received. It is not a matter of duration for it was not possessed eternally : there was a point of time when this eternally existing life was received into union with the mortal being.
But there remains the problem of death. If the mortal being die, what of the eternal life within the immaterial soul ?
Paul explains the resolution by using the word immortality, athanasia, three times in scripture - twice in I Corinthians 15 : 53 and again 54, and once in I Timothy 6: 16.
This mortal, he says, shall put on immortality. In resurrection - or, for those alive at the time, in a change of state - an immortal humanity shall be put on that shall know no death. This is the human nature that will be given to those who already have eternal life, divine life, abiding in union with their own spiritual being.
Until he appears, who only possesses such immortality (a fact of his risen human nature) I Timothy 6: 14, only one has such immortality - the only Ruler, the King of Kings. But in his appearing, shall many be granted that same immortality. To as many as have already received him, in spirit, and believed on him in the doctrine of Christ, to these he shall give - also, as well as eternal life - immortality.
All quotes are from the KJV.
The ‘immortal’ expressed in I Timothy 1:17 is a different word - aphthartos.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit are immortal, they have always been, always will be. They were never (born) therefore never to die.
Man was born to live always, but sin/partaking of tree of good & evil appointed him a time to die. So Christ overcame death on the cross, to offer man eternal life (eternity).
Heaven to us who follow Him in salvation, and Hell for UN believers.
Before creation there was no time value. No start, no end. There was the God head (trinity) and Universe or Universes. . Bless you.
Eternal life is not immortality, because eternal life is only given to those who believe. Non believers have immortality, only their afterlife will be spent in hell. They will not have eternal life, which is knowing God, like Joseph knew Mary, was in union.
John 17:3This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
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John 17:20I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Eternal life is the substantial life, the life with lasting results, unlike the life of unbelievers, futile living, which bears fruit which do not last, treasures that perish. Eternal life is chayei olam, the type of meaningful life that will be lived in the Age to Come. This life results in fruit which count, have meaning in God's plan because we are in union with Him, just as Christ was in union with Him, so God is involved. Because He is involved, the life we live is part of the Kingdom of God, the conquering plan of God.
Luke 11:20But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
All Scripture from the NASB.
"Eternal life" (αἰώνια ζωἠ) and "immortality" (ἀθανασία) can be synonymous, for both can stand for the feature of ontological impossibility of death for the Godhead - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That is to say, this feature of impossibility of not being, but the essential or ontological necessity of being properly belongs only to the Trinity, whereas if anything or anyone else has it, then it is only by the bestowal of this feature as a graceful free gift from the Trinity.
However, both the "eternal life" and "immortality" can have a different turn of a meaning, if they stand not simply for the necessary existence, but for the character of this existence, which character is the eternal, changeless and indestructible bliss of the Trinitarian love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That is to say, any man, even a sinner, will have a continuous existence through grace of Trinity (and "hell" is that continuous existence without though participation also in love); however, the "eternal life" means participation not only in a continuous existence, but life in the very reality of the Trinitarian love, for "eternal" stands for the feature of this perfection, changelessness and indestructibility of this blissful love.
Therefore, all will be given perpetual existence, but only those who will willingly participate in the Trinitarian love, forgive their enemies and, like God, be good also to the evil and the ungrateful (Matthew 5:45), will have also the "eternal" life, that in to say, life filled with the perfection of the Trinitarian love. The same is conveyed by the term "immortality" for if through Christ one defeats one's egotism and embraces Christly love, then such a person has defeated death and gained immortality, that is to say, passed from death to life (1 John 3:14). Thus, "eternal life" and "immortality" in this second sense is attainable and should be attained already in this historical life, and then it will be continued to all Eternity and all Infinity.
The two terms are similar, in that God alone has immortality, and by definition has eternal life. But it is possible to not be immortal, yet posses eternal life. Immortality implies not having a beginning OR end, but eternal life comes to those who are resurrected into the Kingdom of God at Christ's return, human beings who HAD a beginning, but henceforth will live forever.
I have a bit of a problem when Human Doctrine is used to explain scripture as Levan does. The concept of the trinity does not seem relevant to the question of immortality vs eternal life, or at least only in context of the individual referred too ie "God" or the non-scriptural word "Godhead", thus doctrine seems irrelevant when considering how these terms refer to those who had previously been subject to death. Was God ever subject to death? No, therefore when considering life for humans vs God we need not further endeavor to bring in doctrine ie "trinity". So how do we differentiate the meanings of Biblical words that are used to describe the essence of originally dissimilar Persons? Such as "immortal" which seems to describe that continued life is not dependent on intervention by any force/power outside of the individual being spoken of. Is this the correct definition? Whereas "everlasting life" may be used to describe a persons continuation of life being dependent on replenishment of an outside source of life sustaining material, eg food, water, spirit, etc. Is this the correct definition? And yet everlasting life can also be applied to an immortal. Both flavors of meaning have been applied to the same greek words making it difficult to have an understanding of the how the words apply to My life as a human. Simply put, does eternal life/immortality mean the same thing? It seems that the original Greek word's that are translated these two ways (immortality, everlasting life, eternal life etc) do not have a specific universal application, but the meaning is in reference to the context? Thus can it be so that immortality does not always mean that, for the person spoken of, continuation of their life for eternity is not dependent on any outside effect? What about that?
