(All scripture quotes are from the BSB unless otherwise noted.)
I would have eventually written about this concept, but I was motivated to write now by a conversation with a dear brother who will be seeing this too. You know who you are and thank you!
Resource That Discusses Life
As usual, there was an Andrew Farley radio show (March 2, 2023) that meshes well with this topic. I have imbedded a modified copy, please click to listen as life is mentioned.
Eternal Life is Mostly Ignored
While the concept of eternal life does get corrupted, the most harmful aspect is that it gets mostly ignored in its present manifestation. It has become a “catch phrase” in Christian circles and has minimal impact on our mindset. It's a salvation box we check and then move onto “more important” things.
Perhaps this happens because many think of eternal life only in its future manifestation: Heaven. Scripture presents eternal life as three personal manifestations for believers:
The Past - We receive eternal life when we come to Christ by faith - our spirit is made alive
The Present - Eternal life impacts and empowers us here on earth through our new spirit or heart - by faith
The Future - Eternal life sustains us after physical death or upon the return of Christ and in the final kingdom
We must consider all three manifestations to understand this precious gift we have in Christ. I am writing separate articles about each manifestation.
Eternal Life is More Than a Ticket to Heaven
As I said, we often treat salvation as a “ticket to Heaven” and our mindset for eternal life focuses on the final kingdom. In orthodox circles it is recognized that we cannot earn Heaven - yet the list of things that we must earn after we come to Christ is long and tedious. This 'earn' mindset ignores eternal life.
The majority of teaching and preaching goes something like this: “Yes, you are saved, that's great! Now here’s the list of things to avoid and do in order to be a good Christian, have fellowship, stay in God's will, etc. Now get busy!”
The list of things we are earning - like being “in God's will" - is long and varied depending on the church, but all lists come from the same 'earning' mindset.
No matter which 'benefits' you are earning from God by behavior, it is the same mentality. The list doesn't matter - everything God offers is free. Period. You will never open the gift of eternal life and use it with an earning mindset. This mindset must be utterly discarded - it is not of faith.
This mentality can easily sidetrack the central aspect of Christianity - the empowering eternal life we possess now. It turns Christianity into another self-improvement based religion. Religion - even the Torah - only brings death. (2 Corinthians 3:7) Only attitudes and actions that flow from life please God.
We Have Eternal Life Now
To repeat - for many “eternal life” means we go to Heaven and live forever, but until then we are expected to keep God's rules and behave to the best of our ability. Heaven is an intrinsic part of eternal life of course, but this idea ignores the most vital aspects of eternal life here on earth. As Andrew Farley likes to say: eternal life is not our life made longer - it simply means that we are imbued with the eternal life of Christ.
This imparting of Christ's life happens now - when our old self dies, is buried, and we become the new self - the process that we call salvation or new birth. Salvation is not simply a book keeping exercise by God. He does something 'real' to us and this reality is called eternal life. There is a part of us that comes alive, and that impacts all of us from the moment we become alive and forever after.
The Main Problem is Not Bad Behavior - It is Death
The issue with any religion is it assumes our problem is “bad behavior”. We should not think of Christianity the same way. Even as Christians we often define 'sin' as only bad behavior and thus consider sinning to be the main problem.
However, this is not the case. While bad behavior is the most obvious symptom of humanity's problem, it is not the problem itself. 'Good' behavior can also be a symptom of the very same problem (and thus can still be sinning) and can even mask the problem.
The main issue is that we are spiritually dead. Christ came to bring us life - not good behavior. Of course, true Christ-life does lead naturally to good behavior, but it is a by-product, not the main focus. The behavior that flows as the by-product of life is called walking by the Spirit. Behavior that flows from a religious mindset of earning is walking by the flesh - no matter how good it might look.
Every religion in the world has well-behaved spiritual zombies. They act as if they are alive - they mimic life-type behavior - but they are still dead in Adam. This is why good behavior often masks the main problem - even the best behaved, most religious unbeliever is still dead in Adam. And this is the problem with all religions - even Judaism. Even a well behaved zombie is still dead - they need life.
It is far better to be the worst behaving believer (with life) than the best behaving unbeliever (without life). But I admit, this is a hard notion to grasp!
Note: Like Christ and life, sin and death are inextricably linked. Adam's death was caused by sin, and being spiritually dead means slavery to sin. It is the defining of sin as “bad behavior” I am going after. It is not a good definition.
Religion is Behavior Modification
All religions exist to encourage people to behave better. They just have varying sources and lists of behavior to avoid or to do. Even atheists have a behavior code! Some religions use scripture, others use other sources, but the idea is the same.
No code of ethics ever brought anyone spiritual life - even God's own Law! Paul goes on and on about how the Torah is a ministry of death. No one kept the Torah better than Paul, yet he still eventually realized he was dead in sin, he needed eternal life, and the Torah would never bring it.
Christianity is not really a religion, but I won't get into that now.
Whatever you call it, it is truly the only belief system that promises to give you eternal life with no strings attached. And it is the only system that actually can - despite all the promises of religion. It is this eternal life we must trust and depend on for our daily living. We have been imbued with Christ's life as a gift.
Eternal Life is a Gift - No Strings Attached
As I have already mentioned, the key to trusting Christ's life within is a gift mindset - literally “no strings attached”. That is how good our God really is. As you learn to distinguish attitudes and actions flowing from life - Spirit fruit - then the fake attitudes and actions we often force upon ourselves out of religious duty, obligation, or some false idea of obedience will no longer satisfy.
As believers, we are alive - we have nothing to prove. If you are alive, you are alive. If not, you need to come to Christ for life. All of this posturing that seems to be so endemic in the Christian world is worthless and unnecessary. We are alive - now we just need to live! A living person has nothing to prove.
Who Can Accuse a Believer?
Romans 8:31-34 - “31-What then will we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32-For He who spared not the own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, with Him, grant us all things?
33-Who will bring an accusation against the elect of God? God is the One justifying. 34-Who is the one condemning? For it is Christ Jesus, the one having died, now rather having been raised up, who is also at the right hand of God, and who is interceding for us.”
This reminds me of another amazing passage:
Hebrews 7:24-25 - “24-But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. 25-Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.”
These amazing promises are possible because of eternal life. Because of eternal life, we have been given ALL things. And when religion, or those who are religiously minded, join the enemy in his task of accusation and condemnation, we can ignore them because we know we are alive. And that life does not depend on our performance.
1 John 4:17 - “In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.”
We don't need to fear accusation, condemnation, or judgment, from the enemy or even God, because in this world (not only in heaven) we are like Christ. This is because He has gifted us His very own eternal life.
Are you getting this? Wow! If only every believer would trust these truths. We would be unstoppable.
Eternal Life = No Stress Lifestyle
There is some evidence that those who regularly attend church are some of the most stressed out people - I was one of them in the past. I have listened to many sermons where it was implied that if you weren't stressed out about sin at the end then the sermon was a failure.
It almost feels like the speaker’s lack of faith in their own eternal life - their personal stress about their own spiritual situation - is transmitted into their message and the good news is turned into bad. Or perhaps this is just how they were taught, and now they are passing on this institutionalized lack of faith in the gospel. I'm not sure.
Either way - this mindset is not of faith and is not the gospel. The gospel certainly is the answer for sin and sinning, yet it never comes at you from a place of shame and guilt.
Romans 2:4 - “Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?”
And don't give me that hooey that stress and shame are God's kindness. That idea is purely illogical.
The Gospel is Good News - There is Never Stress In Good News
Who wouldn't be stressed out with these messages? All these hoops to jump through to prove to God you are worthy of His gift. Is this fruit of the Spirit? Does this sound like people who are alive and know it or believe it? Is this what Christ's life within us looks like?
One thing I do know, if the news someone is delivering causes stress - by definition it is not good news. I'm not really sure what you would call the news many in the Christian world deliver, but is it really good?
I am here today making the audacious claim that it is not. Much of what is produced in the Christian world is not the product of life, it is the product of trying to imitate life by works. I would suggest that many in the Christian world have no idea they are actually alive! How can they possibly live from their inner eternal life if they don't really believe in it, see it as a bookkeeping exercise, or think it is only coming later?
So, let's jump into this concept and how it has been corrupted or ignored. This concept is truly the very center of Christianity and the gospel. I could easily claim that this is the most important topic I will ever write about.
My hope and prayer is that after this study, you will know that you are truly alive in Christ and understand a bit more about what that means. And I hope it builds your faith in your being alive even a little so that you can truly begin to rest and relax in the life you have - what a precious gift. Only then will it bear true Spirit fruit.
More Detail About the Three Manifestations of Life
The 'past’ manifestation of life is the “new birth” through which our spirit, heart, or self follows Christ into death, burial, and resurrection: thus our human spirit is now alive - we get a new heart - we are the new self.
This is something that has already happened to you on earth. As Andrew Farley likes to put it - you are “heaven ready”. As Hebrews 10:14 puts it, you have been made perfect. All of these are references to being made alive in Christ - and they are all in the past tense in scripture for believers.
However, eternal life is not finished with you on the day you receive it - it is life that continuously works within us - thus the present manifestation. This is where we learn to submit to Christ's life within us while still here on earth and let it rule our lives. This is where the “rubber meets the road” in our earthly lives.
The present manifestation is where we receive the temporal benefits of being alive. When we “walk in newness of life” it brings “life to our mortal body”. This is also known as the “fruit of the Spirit”. But while on earth, we are still influenced by sin and can choose to not walk by the Spirit. But I will get to that in my 2nd article.
The third manifestation of life is in the final kingdom when we get our resurrection body and the influences of sin, the flesh, and the world are taken away. This is also known as 'glorification'. It is when the full glory of God is unimpeded by our enemies. However, we fully have that glory now! What Christ prayed for in John 17 came to pass at salvation.
In this present world we are fully alive, but the benefits of Christ's life are tempered by all the different aspects of this fallen world, including our own brains and bodies. It is truly a battle to allow your living spirit to be reflected externally. However, when this third manifestation of life becomes reality, that struggle will cease and the benefits of Christ's life will be fully available and will have no hindrances.
We will no longer look in a “mirror darkly”, but will look upon Christ “face to face”. We will enjoy the full benefits of the life that we often only get hints of now. This is an amazing thing to look forward to! However, this can also become an obstacle to experiencing Christ's life now.
When many believers think of “eternal life”, this is what they think of. They are ignorant of the fact they are alive now, or they think of it in some nebulous 'heavenly' way that has little impact on their current temporal life. We should not have a mindset of waiting for something when scripture says we have everything we need for life and godliness now.
Hope in the Future - Live in the Present - Empowered by the Past
We should absolutely put hope in this future manifestation of Christ's eternal life; however, don't do it at the expense of “reigning in life” now. God has promised that the final kingdom will come. We can trust in this.
But He has also promised that we are alive now, partakers of the divine nature, with imputed life and righteousness - the kingdom is already within us. At our core, we are good, and we can use eternal life to walk well now. Yes, it is a battle, but we don't have to wait for heaven to experience Christ's life.
But we do have to know we have it and have faith in what we have! We can trust the “new birth”. The Spirit does not birth something evil, only something good. God is good and can only birth good things. I hope by the end of these articles I will have convinced you that you are alive now. And that life makes all the difference between a “mortal life” full of joy and peace vs. being miserable and stressed out.
Let's take a look at some scripture passages about life.
Jesus' Entire Mission is Life
John 10:10 - “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.”
Here is what Strong's Concordance has to say about the word translated 'fullness' by the BSB:
excessive, more abundant
From peri (in the sense of beyond); superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality); by implication, excessive.
Just stop and meditate on the kind of life Christ came to bring: super abundant, superior, excessive life. Wow!
This is the aorist tense meaning there is no specific time period. Once you receive this life from Christ it continues forever. You have it now and in the future. It is truly “eternal life”, but I will get to that in a bit.
The 'thief' is not what you might expect or what many think in context. I ended up doing a full exegesis of this passage because I was drawn in, but it became too long for this article and was essentially off-topic.
So, there will be a bonus CCC article about this passage. I greatly enjoyed my study of this passage and I hope you will too. The conclusions may or may not be a surprise, but either way, I look forward to publishing that.
I wanted to start with this verse because it shows that life was, is, and has always been Christ's mission. There are so many distractions out there, but as believers, life should always be our focus. Our mission should be learning more and more about this life, being an ambassador of this life, and helping others to learn about it too.
I hope and pray these articles will be a good start or reminder of this purpose for which Christ came.
Christ Brings Life because He Is Life - Life is His Identity
John 1:1-5 - “1-In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2-He was with God in the beginning.
3-Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. 4-In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5-The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
This is a well known passage; I won't belabor it. However, it is important.
This establishes Christ as everything. He is the Word, He is the Creator, He is Life, and He is Light. The life that Christ came to bring us is legitimate because He has that same life Himself - this was proven by His resurrection.
Because He lives, He can now make us alive. He died for our sin, but He was resurrected to bring us life, and re-created us as His righteousness at our core - we are alive.
Romans 5:10 - “For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!
2 Corinthians 5:21 - “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Yes, the cross dealt with sin and enabled reconciliation with God. But only the resurrection gives us Christ's life. The gospel is not complete without both. But, imputed righteousness is not enough - life means we have imparted righteousness. We are not only alive in God's heavenly book - this is real life that impacts everything now.
The Scriptures Won't Give You Life
John 5:37-40 - “37-And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form, 38-nor does His word abide in you, because you do not believe the One He sent.
39-You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me, 40-yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.”
This passage is near and dear to my heart - as should be obvious from my URL: john540.org. I had already begun my journey out of legalism and into a fuller understanding of the gospel of grace when I discovered this passage, but it was still a pivotal point of repentance for me.
You see, the Bible or scripture is often placed at a level it does not even place itself in our Christian communities. It often feels as if some treat it like a 4th member of the Godhead!
I must always take great care here. This will be another more in-depth CCC at some point, but I never want to denigrate scripture in the least. It is inspired by the Holy Spirit and authoritative for God's truth.
However, it is not denigrating scripture to treat it like it treats itself, and in this passage - look how Christ treats it. No one can ever accuse Christ of denigrating scripture! Yet, in this passage He clearly contrasts the scriptures with the Word - they are not the same thing. You could have every word in scripture memorized, yet never have the Word living in you.
Even the Word of Life Doesn't Always Bring Life
As Christ makes clear, these people are poring over the scriptures that testify of Him, yet they miss Him. They think their “quiet time” will bring them life. (I guarantee the Pharisee's 'quiet time' would put most modern ones to shame). They seek life in a book, yet completely miss the author of the book. They seek life in following rules and principles, in '“pleasing God", yet they miss the entire point.
This word 'poring' means a thorough examination. Imagine a detective examining the evidence. They were seeking for how to obtain life. Yet, the Way, the Truth, the Life, and the Word was standing right in front of them and they called Him a devil. This is my point about well-behaved zombies. It matters not if the rules come out of the Bible or elsewhere, none of them will enable connection to Christ. Only He can do that - by grace through faith.
I love scripture, I quote a lot of scripture in my writing. I love to mine it for truth about Christ and the gospel. I would never have known about the gospel and Christ without scripture.
Yet, I could not fully trust Christ for life until I took the Bible down off it's pedestal and stopped worshiping it as an idol (which is really self worship). It is the Author we worship, not words on a page. I simply ask that you read and study Christ's words above. (Yes, recorded in scripture.) Again, it is honoring scripture to treat it like it treats itself.
It's like an architect who is continuously reading architecture books, but never designs or builds anything. Nothing wrong with the books, but they are supposed to lead to a building eventually. Scripture is supposed to lead us to Christ and resting in the good news. If we expect it to do more than this, then it will lead to harm or a lot of wasted time.
A Proper Mindset towards Scripture will Enable Relaxation
Because we have the Word indwelling us, we can truly relax about scripture. There is no compulsion, we already have everything we need for life and godliness because we are alive and indwelled by Christ. We are not gaining life from scripture, we are only learning more about the life we have. Since I have stopped seeking life from scripture - expecting it to do more than even it claims to do - I have spent far more enjoyable time in scripture.
Now that I understand the true purpose of scripture - to help me learn more about Christ and this amazing life He has given me - it has motivated a natural enjoyment of learning the truth. It is pure joy to be motivated by the living Christ to learn as much as I can about His motivating force within! It is never something I have to force myself to do. It is as natural as eating dinner.
Scripture is Only a Tool
Scripture is an invaluable tool - but it is only a tool. Like all tools, it can be used for it's created purpose - or something else. When it is used to gain a deeper understanding of Christ and the gospel, then it is fulfilling it's self-described purpose - and it will truly be useful for instruction, etc. But when it is used like all other religious books - to get a set of rules to live by, or yes, even to try and figure out how to please God outside of faith in Christ - then it is not useful, but becomes destructive.
It is vital that we put scripture in it's proper place and use it like Christ did:
Luke 24:27 - “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.”
My point is if you are looking to scripture as some kind of spiritual potion to provide power and fulfillment in your life, it will always fail you. But if you are looking to scripture to provide truth about the Bread of Life - once having tasted (being born again) you will never hunger again - then you are fulfilling the true mission of scripture.
The words of scripture have no power in and of themselves. Only when they build your faith and trust in the living Word - Who indwells and empowers you - will they be doing what Christ said they should.
Note: I have found a good test of whether you are seeking life from your “spiritual activities” vs. from the indwelling Christ is how you feel if you miss one.
If you have a regularly scheduled activity - like church or quiet time - and you miss one, do you feel bad? Do you feel guilty or feel less spiritual? Do you feel like you can't cope spiritually? I imagine you see my point.
You can trust your eternal life every second of every day, no matter how many spiritual activities you miss. Spiritual activities are good, but don't accidently let them substitute for the life you already possess. They should build your faith in your eternal life, not diminish it.
From the architect analogy, the 'building' is our ability to walk by faith in every activity. When scripture leads you to a faith walk that happens whether you are constantly in the scriptures or not, then it is truly doing it's job - teaching you to rely on the indwelling Christ or your eternal life.
When we trust the promises of God instinctively - that is faith. There are illiterate people who do this very well; and there are people who have memorized vast passages of scripture who fail miserably. Scripture is a vital tool - but keep it it's proper place and use it properly.
Eternal Life = Christ's Life
There is a common misconception about the phrase “eternal life”, (sometimes phrased “everlasting life” - mostly in older translations).
Many think when Christ gives you “eternal life”, it is a promise to extend your own life forever. While it is true that those who are born again will never die spiritually, that is another by-product of eternal life, it is not eternal life itself.
Eternal life is life that has no beginning or end - only God has that kind of life. And that is the life Christ came to give. It is not your life made longer, it is His life infused into you. Now, by giving you His life, it does cause you to live forever. But, we must recognize the source - that is the focus.
The Greek word 'zóé’ is a noun that simply means life. It is used 135 times in scripture and of those only a handful refer to something like physical life.
The rest refer to the life of God - the examples I cover in this article will make this evident. There are also some verb forms like 'zao' or ‘zóopoieó’, meaning to “be alive”, which will come up depending on which other verses I am led to cover.
All in all, there are hundreds of references to 'life' in the new testament, and only a very small percentage refer to physical life - the rest refer to this gift of Christ's life.
With such a vast resource, I could write 100 articles on this. My objective is to get you to see that eternal life is the main point of it all. It is Christ's gift from which all other gifts are sourced. And it is a gift that acts in our lives now, not just after we die. What Christ came to bring truly happened - and it's a big deal.
Christ - the Narrow Gate
Matthew 7:14 - “But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
This is a very famous passage and it should be self explanatory. However, through the years I have heard this be corrupted - ironically into the opposite of it's meaning.
In John 10, which I will cover in a separate article, there is a sheep analogy where Christ is clearly the Gate - He is the narrow Gate. We enter by faith in Him. We simply believe He is Who He says He is. “Walking through the gate” is salvation.
Yet, I have heard some say the narrow gate is “good works” after salvation (and some even say before salvation!) This could not be further from the truth.
Those who proclaim their good works will hear Christ says 'I never knew you”. It was the Pharisees claiming life came from studying scripture and doing the good works of the law, not Christ.
And it was this false idea that life comes from good works and specifically following the Torah that Paul fought vehemently his whole ministry. The enemies of Christ teaching this falsehood were his biggest opponents.
This mindset infects us today for sure. Even those who have life are tempted into this mentality so that they falsely rely on “good works” to achieve status with God. It is a most difficult mindset to eradicate. But let's continue…
Life = Righteousness = Life
I'm covering a lot of my “Top 10” verses in this article, LOL! And I believe verses describing this life of Christ we have as a gift should be favorites. Here is another of mine:
Galatians 3:21 - “Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come from the law.”
If you need a definition of what life is and ultimately looks like, this verse provides it. Paul here is saying that life and righteousness are synonymous.
Righteousness is another corrupted concept that I will cover eventually. The word is 'dikaiosuné’ here, and it simply means “right with God”. But we must understand that this is also a gift. Our actions, good or bad, do not determine our righteousness.
Note: This is actually the key of my article: everything I am discussing is a “state of being” caused by Christ when He birthed us by the Holy Spirit. This is the crucial mindset we must have. Any other mindset will lead to walking by the flesh. We must see life - and hence righteousness - as a gift.
Strong's Concordance puts it really well when discussing this word.
“In the broad sense, the state of him who is such as he ought to be, righteousness…; the condition acceptable to God…”
Note the words 'state' and 'condition'. That implies something real - an altered state - a new creation. This is the key to everything. This should be shouted from the rooftops in our churches. Our state of being has changed - we are alive and new!
We Have Been Changed - We are New
I hope you can begin to grasp this concept if you have not already. I have been a Christian for 40+ years and only in the last few years have I grasped this. And it has made all the difference.
When some say “identity in Christ”, this is what they mean. We have become something holy and acceptable to God. Because we are alive in Christ, we are now righteous and acceptable to God. It is our state of being.
Another way Paul puts it is that we have “peace with God”. God did not simply declare this - He did not solely put a check-mark in a book next to our name - He intrinsically changed us in a way that made us right.
We have peace with Him because we are re-created in such a way that who we are now fits perfectly with Him. Our works did not achieve that state - and they cannot alter it or improve it.
I hope I am explaining this well as it is the key to everything. At our “new birth” we were permanently altered in a drastic way because we were given the life of Christ.
This new state of being is what is described dozens if not hundreds of different ways in the epistles. Growing in grace and knowledge of Christ is purely exploring and learning about this altered state or “eternal life”.
Paul calls this altered state a “treasure in an earthen vessel” - meaning the essence of who we are as believers is trapped in this earthly body that will be replaced. But Romans 12:1 says that even our body is acceptable to God when it is offered to Him.
As we will see, this altered state of being, the new creation, can bring life to our “mortal body”. It truly impacts everything that makes us who we are.
As Paul says in Galatians 6:15 - the only thing that means anything is the “new creation”. Understanding this powerful concept should be the pursuit of our lives. This article is a tiny start.
More Scripture About Imparted Life
I would like to quote all of the verses here that use this word translated “impart life”. The KJV uses the word “quicken”. I like that - it is this Christ life that motivates and animates our own lives - it makes us 'quick' spiritually!
Meditate on these passages.
Christ Gives Life
John 5:21 - “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes.”
The last word translated “wishes” can be tricky. It is a weaker form of the word used in 2 Peter 3:9 where God is not “willing” for any to perish. Yet, we know from scripture that many will perish. So, there is mystery in this word. Even the stronger form does not always happen.
Do not think of this word in the sense that Christ is going down the street like Thor with a lightning bolt - zap, you have life; nope skipping you; but you, zap, you have life. There is a symbiosis with this word. Each person must cooperate to receive life.
The Spirit Gives Life
John 6:63 - “The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”
This follows Christ's teaching that you must eat His flesh and drink His blood to have life. Of course, we know that later He clearly uses actual food and wine as symbols of this spiritual meal we partake of by faith.
But what a symbol this is! Again, as I discussed above, do not confuse scripture with this Word of Life. Scripture is like the spoon or fork with which we ‘eat’ the meal of Christ and His life - it is not the meal itself. It is like the plate or bowl that contains the meal.
Once we are connected to Christ, He is the meal that continues to spiritually nourish us every day into eternity. These are all pictures of the same thing: eternal life. Do not try and substitute Christ's life with anything else.
Imputed AND Imparted Life
Romans 4:17 - “As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.”
Romans 4 is the famous passage about “imputed righteousness” by faith, with Abraham as an example. However, Paul still slips in this word meaning “imparted life” or righteousness. “Gives life” is this same word.
You must understand that this is something we have that Abraham did not have while he was alive. This is the “better promises” from Hebrews 11:39-40. It is this “imparted life” that makes us 'perfect'.
As new covenant believers, we have both imputed and imparted righteousness or life, unlike Abraham. This is an essential distinction because “imparted life” is what makes the new covenant ‘new’. It is why Christ came and it makes all the difference.
Imparted Life can Bring Life to Your Mortal Body
Romans 8:11 - “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
This verse technically should be in my 2nd article, but I wanted to emphasize that it is the gift of imparted life we received at our new birth that enables life living.
Again, the hallmark of a believer is being indwelled by the Spirit. The purpose of our transformation into a new creation is so we would become an acceptable - holy - vessel for the Trinity. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Our indwelling and our being alive are intrinsically linked. Yet, we cannot think of this state of being as being only God. Yes, He caused it and maintains it forever. However, what has been done by Christ to us - is really us! It was done to us! It honors Christ to recognize this fact.
I hope you can get this. You are really perfect and OK because you are alive in Christ. Not perfectly behaved…but that is the point of this verse.
Paul is giving a brilliant truth of the Christian life! When we choose to submit our bodies to God, the life He has given us will cause even our 'mortal' bodies to do life-things. We will begin to show our true state of being externally.
The outside will reflect the inside. Yes, this doesn't always happen - that is the challenge. But this also doesn't happen by following rules - the law cannot bring life (see above).
Only by a focus on and submission to the life we have been gifted can we allow the Spirit to bring life to our mortal bodies. Forcing our body to imitate good actions in order to try and cause life is not the life Paul is talking about.
This has been the main point of my entire article. This is Christ's point in John 5:38-40 (see above).
Actions flowing from Christ's life are of faith and please God; actions we perform in an attempt to make life outside of the life we have from Christ are of the flesh.
The 'Letter' Kills - the Spirit Brings Life
2 Corinthians 3:3-6 - “3-It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4-Such confidence before God is ours through Christ. 5-Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.
6-And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
Verse 6 is my main focus today, but I needed to give some context. Again, one of my favorite passages! I will be doing the CCC of Law vs. Grace soon, and this passage will come up again.
Paul is contrasting the ministry of the Spirit and the ministry of the Law in this chapter - the new vs. old covenant. Thus, he contrasts tablets of stone (10 commandments - old covenant) with tablets of human hearts (new hearts birthed by the Spirit - new covenant).
When he refers to “the letter” in verse 6, he is referring to the Law which was written down in ink (and of course, partly chiseled on stone). Later he calls this a “ministry of death”.
It is the new covenant that we are qualified to minister to the world, not the old. Just as Christ warned, you will never find life trying to keep the Law - even the 10 commandments.
Paul could not be more clear in his contrast here: the letter kills but the Spirit brings life. This is a re-confirmation of what Christ said in John 5:38-40. This is a black and white choice. As believers, we can choose to live under the ministry of the Spirit or of the Law.
Paul presents the ministry of the Spirit and the Law in complete opposition. He does not demean the Law, he simply shows that it has been replaced. As the book of Hebrews says, it is weak and useless and never worked anyway.
As we learned above, there was nothing that could be written down that brings life. That was never it's purpose. God never intended written words to be used the way humanity ends up trying to use them. But that is another article.
The main point is that no one ever gains life from the Law - only death. And once they gain life, a believer should not try to go back to the Law to be empowered. It is your choice of course - you can attempt to to get power from following rules - but it will fail every time.
Only the Spirit brings (and maintains) life. And only by letting go of 'law' in whatever form we are trusting it will we allow Christ's life to empower us. It is one or the other - it cannot be both.
Christ is the Author of Life
Acts 3:15 - “You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.”
In this message by Peter, he is excoriating the Jews for their role in Christ's death. My main point is that he calls Christ the “Author of life”. Yet another indication that eternal life is Christ's life, not our life made longer. It is something that comes from Him.
Well-Doing Gains Eternal Life?
Romans 2:7 - “to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;”
For an entire exegesis of Romans 1 and 2, I highly recommend listening to this series in Romans. It is still ongoing, but the first few messages have been spectacular in their exegesis.
https://andrewfarley.org/media/messages/filter/the-great-news-of-the-gospel/
However, for my purposes, has Paul gone crazy here? I investigated the Greek. Paul is literally saying here that if you have enough good deeds God will give you eternal life.
Please listen to the links above for a full understanding of this passage, but obviously Paul is not contradicting everything else he has said about the gospel, right the opposite.
In Romans 1 and 2, Paul is laying out a case for the main problem with humanity: spiritual death. In Chapter 1 he deals with how humanity is dead in Adam and the fruit of that: a depraved mind.
In Chapter 2, he portrays human efforts to fix the problem. He comes at it from a Jewish perspective because they have the Law and think that will fix it, but ultimately the Law for the Jew and the conscience for the Gentile fail to help.
In this verse, he is showing the way to eternal life without Christ - perfection or perfect behavior. This “persistence in good works” means there is no letting up. This is what James 2:10 means - breaking one single law, no matter how small, means you are done. No eternal life for you.
Paul is saying the same thing. He is setting the standard for how to earn eternal life. Obviously no one has done it, not the Jew or the Gentile. The only place left to go for life is Christ.
Paul is truly saying that if you behave perfectly from birth until death, apparently God will give you eternal life. Good luck! I failed long ago, so I have taken the gift of eternal life offered freely by Christ. It is by far the better - and only - way.
We Had to Die to Live
Roman 6:4 - “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.”
Many of you reading this have probably witnessed baptisms in church and heard a version of these words over and over. I hope they have not just become routine. Being raised to newness of life by the baptism of the Spirit is another way of talking about eternal life.
Paul is addressing the false notion that believers should indulge in sinning because grace covers them. Paul never disavows the fact that grace absolutely covers them. However, this is not an excuse for sinning - grace is actually the power to say no (Titus 2:12)!
His gospel logic in this whole chapter is: as believers we no longer “live in sin” - we live in Christ. Since we are no longer slaves of sin, what benefit is it for us to give into it?
In verse 4, Paul is explaining that because we are alive in Christ, we now have the gift of walking in that life. He is clearly showing that the eternal life we now have is what guides, directs, and empowers our walk - meaning our life, attitudes, and actions.
While Paul greatly emphasizes the gospel foundation of the new creation, he never leaves it open ended. We were “re-created in Christ Jesus for good works”. We don't have to stress or measure these things, we can relax in Christ, but works will happen.
The idea that having the life of Christ within will not bear fruit is ludicrous. Our job is to have a mindset that enables legitimate faith fruit, and not the fake fruit of the flesh.
The Law of the Spirit of Life
Romans 8:2 - “For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.”
There are lots of 'laws' in scripture. Sometimes there is a Greek word translated 'law' that actually means power. But this is not that.
Paul is using this term to mean spiritual laws of the universe or realities of existence. These are factual laws: we are dead in Adam; the wages of sin is death.
But the fact or law of the Spirit life is what sets us free! When we are born again, the Spirit makes us alive. We are now free from the law of sin and death. It no longer has jurisdiction over us. We are alive and will live as long as Christ does (Hebrews 7:25).
Your Spirit is Alive
Romans 8:10 - “But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.”
Paul is not contradicting his later statement that the Spirit can bring life to the believer's mortal body, yet he is portraying the fact that this mortal body is infected by sin and will have to be replaced.
His latter statement only accentuates the power of Christ's life within: it can even temporarily bring life to our bodies as we submit them to Him. This is a daily, progressive activity.
However, this only happens because of the powerful truth and promise in this verse. If Christ is in you (if you are a child of God, then He is), then your spirit is now alive. He again directly relates life and righteousness.
We are the righteousness of God, thus we are alive. We have been made alive by being born of the Spirit, thus we are righteous. These are all inextricably tied together into what it means to be a new creation in Christ.
Die to Live
Colossians 3:3-4 - “3-For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4-When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”
There are so many good verses about life and not enough time or space. This verse covers all three manifestations!
Let's look at this verse briefly. When you became a believer, your old self died. Paul says he was crucified with Christ in Gal. 2:20. This is the same thing.
Note: I should probably do a CCC on body, soul, and spirit. Scripture clearly delineates all 3. The human soul and spirit are not the same. This delineation does impact the gospel. The gospel does not work the way scripture portrays it without all three.
Every human spirit is alive in the sense that the person is physically alive. If their spirit was dead, they would not be a living person. When scripture says we are dead in sin, it means that our human spirit is not connected to God. Union with Christ = “eternal life”.
Union with or slavery to sin is ‘death’. However, the person is alive and their spirit is still functioning - but as a slave to sin. It is this human spirit that 'dies' and is reborn in union with the Trinity. At that point, it is no longer 'dead' but 'alive'.
This passage clearly shows that the life we now have, what makes us alive, is Christ's life. It is not simply our own life made longer. “Your life is NOW hidden with Christ” and “Christ, who is your life…” will appear.
Eternal Life - The Past Conclusion
I could go on and on, but I am out of space. I hope this has given you a small glimpse of the eternal life you were given at your birth by the Spirit. This is super abundant life. This is Christ's life infused into your own spirit so that you cannot tell where one ends and the other begins.
Understanding this vital reality is not impactful if we don't also recognize that this eternal life is continuing to work within us every minute of every day. It is something we can trust to empower our daily walk.
I greatly look forward to publishing my next article about this eternal life based walk, but until then, meditate and believe in this amazing eternal life you received at salvation. There is truly no greater gift that could ever be given.