What Is Eternal Life?

People often misunderstand eternal life to mean physical immortality. This misconception creates a seemingly irreconcilable contradiction between a Christian’s “immortality” and the reality that “everyone dies,” leading some to believe that the Christian concept of eternal life is a delusion. In reality, “eternal life” does not mean that the body will live forever. Everyone’s soul is immortal, but clearly not everyone receives eternal life.

So, what exactly is eternal life? In John 17:3, the Lord Jesus Himself gives a clear definition of eternal life: “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Therefore, “eternal life” is the intimate relationship a person establishes with God through Jesus Christ. John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” This means believers have eternal life (the verb is in the present tense in Greek). The starting point of eternal life is not in the future; rather, it begins at the moment we know and continue to believe in Jesus Christ. It is a possession we have now. Another layer of meaning for John 17:3 can be found in Romans 6:23, which states, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “Eternal life” is a gift of salvation from God. Through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, God gives us eternal life, and it is something we receive freely without any effort on our part. Since Jesus is the ever-living One, “if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Those who continue to believe in Him will also live with Him forever. “…I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die…” (John 11:25-26).

Therefore, for believers, eternal life doesn’t just impact the present; we also have a future hope. When the Lord Jesus returns, believers’ bodies will be ultimately redeemed. In 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians, Paul writes that when Christ returns, the bodies of living believers will be changed (1 Corinthians 15:52). Believers who have already died will receive new bodies, and all believers will then be “caught up together… in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” United with Christ, we will be “with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). At that time, our souls and the new bodies given by God will be with Him forever.

“Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Revelation 22:17). All who are willing to accept the Lord Jesus’ invitation and know Him can receive the living water of the Holy Spirit and the gift of eternal life today, without paying any price.

Edited and compiled based on the Chinese Union Version Bible and Comprehensive Biblical Interpretation.