What is eternal life?

Before one can clarify “when” eternal life begins, we must be aware of what we mean by “eternal life.” After all, this is not as clear-cut as it seems. There are different interpretations. Therefore, the answer to when eternal life begins is inextricably linked to what we imagine it to be.

Those who speak of “eternal life” take their cue from the Bible. However, the translation “eternal” and the associated interpretation of “endlessness” did not come into being until long after the New Testament was completed. They are later projections. As a result of this development, many interpret “eternal life” as “endless life,” as if it were about an endless duration. It is the quantification of an expression. In an earlier post, “What is “eternal life”?”, I pointed out that the Bible, in contrast, is not about a quantity, but a quality. It was not duration that was central in the New Testament, but “belonging.” Eternal life pointed to a special future situation in which one was to participate.

In stark contrast to this, “eternal life” for many today means that one lives endlessly, and one receives this endless life (already reinterpreted here) when one comes to faith. John 3:16, for example, is quoted for this purpose:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eonian life.”
John 3:16

The translation used here writes “eonian life” instead of “eternal life” because that is closer to the basic text. It is about the words “eternal” and “eternity”, in Greek about “aionion” and “aion”. An eon is an age, not an endlessness.

The accounts and letters in the New Testament outline an understanding of different ages taking place in succession. We live in a current age (Gr. aion, aeon, Gal. 1:4), which, however, will be concluded one day (Matt. 13:39) and replaced by a new age, the “coming aeon” (Eph. 1:21). This is the future. Jesus spoke of this in a Jewish-Israeli prophetic context.

This coming age was the outlook of the coming Messianic (Matt. 4:17) kingdom for Israel (Acts 1:6), which the prophet Daniel once said the God of heaven would establish under all the heavens and in all the earth (Dan. 2:44; Dan. 7:27). That is why Jesus often speaks in the Gospels of a contrast between this time and that time (Mk 10:30; Lk 18:30; Mt 12:32).

This understanding was almost completely lost in the course of church history. Israel fell into the background and with it Israel’s expectation. Nothing came of the messianic outlook, not even in theology. Something new was invented, the “eternal life” that the believer should “receive” as soon as he “comes to faith”. Jesus did not speak of this, but who cares?

A verse like John 3:16 is regularly interpreted according to tradition, not context. Specifically on this verse, there is already the post “So Much God Loves the World,” which goes into more detail about the context.

Christian projections

Those who now think that eternal life means “endless life” are pointing to a much later development. The original meaning was lost. New ideas were superimposed on the text. However, let us assume that “eternal life” is “endless life” and that the tradition is correct. What does that mean?

First, you should understand how this eternal life comes about. As a rule, one imagines it in such a way that someone must believe (make an act of faith) on the basis of which God then gives “eternal life”. It is amazing how persistent such things are. Faith as a precondition and eternal life is then God’s payment. This is how many people imagine it. Eternal life is the achievement of God for which I pay with my faith?

What is amazing, however, is that even the non-believers live forever. These were to be “eternally tormented” in hell. Thus, endlessness or eternal life are not unique to believers. It is incomprehensible that this is often understood in this way. Of course, it is then emphasized that there is a difference between heaven and hell after all, admitting, however, that the duration is not the real issue. At best, then, the emphasis is on life, not on the endless. This is an important insight that is also much closer to the original picture we encounter in the Gospels.

At best, then, the emphasis is on life, not on the endless.

Let us try to question the talk of “eternal life” a little more. If we assume that this eternal life also means something like “endless life” and therefore “immortality”, further problems arise. The statement is often that it is our faith whereby we receive this eternal life. This would mean, according to the usual interpretation, that we receive immortality the moment we put our trust in God. Here is another verse on which the immediate bestowal of eternal life is based:

“But this is the eonian life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and whom Thou hast sent forth, Jesus Christ.”
John 17:3

According to this verse, it is argued, we “have” eternal life as soon as we come to faith. Nevertheless, believers die just like all other people. Accordingly, there is a need for explanation here.

The need for explanation usually results in either evading the issue with statements such as “we cannot know that” or admitting that a promise is merely being made here, the fulfillment of which is still pending. If we read carefully the preceding verses (John 17:1-2), Jesus prays that the Father may glorify Him, so that Jesus may pass on the blessings of God to His disciples, including aeonian life. There is no mention of a specific date. Elsewhere it is made clear that the aeonic life will not be given until the coming aeon (Mark 10:30). This is logical because the aeonic life has to do with the coming aeon. It is a quality and belonging, not a quantity or duration.

Resolve the discrepancy

So, according to the New Testament account, there is an “aeonic life.” This concept is about the life of the future age, the future eon. In contrast to this is the image of tradition, which looks past the original context and has made an endless life out of it. Talk of an endless life leads to all kinds of discrepancies.

However, the idea of a promise is groundbreaking. Jesus spoke of an aeonian life and assures the listeners of this again and again. That was the promise. In both John 3:16 and John 17:3, nothing is said about an immediate beginning. In the context of history, however, we can see that Jesus was preaching about a future kingdom, the “kingdom of heaven” that God was to establish on earth. The prophets did not speak about endlessness, but about a wonderful future in which justice would prevail. When He says that believers have eonian life, these people may look to the future with confidence. They will be there one day, and even if they die, they will be part of that future through resurrection.

So eternal life is not about not being able to die anymore, but about overcoming death even when you die. Therefore, Martha was confident that her brother Lazarus, who had just died, would one day rise from the dead (John 11:24). This was the Jewish expectation, nurtured from the statements of the prophets. A little later Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, which was an extraordinary action. It powerfully shows that Jesus was “the resurrection and the life,” in that order:

“Jesus replied to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in Me will live [für den Äon] even if he dies. And everyone who lives [dann] and believes in me will by no means die for the eon! Do you believe this?””
John 11:25-26

This aptly describes that it is the mention of “aeonian life”, respectively “eternal life”, that is to be understood as a promise and will be fulfilled once in the coming aeon or age through resurrection. Then you will no longer be able to die.

Paul’s message to the nations

While Jesus and the 12 apostles preached the messianic promise primarily to Israel, Paul was later specifically called as an “apostle to the nations” (Rom 11:13). This is a special development that no one had foreseen and that even Peter had some trouble understanding (2Pt 3:15-16).

Paul likewise speaks of the eons and about an “expectation of eternal life” (Titus 1:2), but this is not synonymous with the Messianic expectation of Israel. Let us now ask whether, in Paul, eternal life is conferred “immediately” at the beginning of faith? No, this does not happen. Paul also sees faith today as a spiritual reality and not a complete fulfillment. At various points, he therefore speaks of promise on the one hand, and of a later fulfillment.

“In Him [Christus] you also who believe are sealed with the Spirit of promise, the holy one (which is a deposit of our lot until the redemption of the one assigned to us).”
Eph 1:13-14

Believers were sealed with the spirit of promise as a down payment on a later fulfillment.

“For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers travail with us until now. But not only they alone, but also we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we ourselves also groan within ourselves, awaiting the Sonship, the release of our bodies. For it is upon this expectation that we were saved. But expectation that is glimpsed is not expectation.”
Rom 8:22-24

We are still waiting for it. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3), but this blessing is purely spiritual. It has not yet penetrated further than the spirit. This expanded liberation is still ahead of us.

When does eternal life begin?

In summary, we can note several things:

• Aeonic life in the context of messianic expectation begins with the establishment of the messianic kingdom, the coming aeon (Mark 10:30).
• Aeonic life as immortality begins with the resurrection to indissoluble life (1 Cor. 15:22; 1 Cor. 15:42-49; 2 Tim. 1:10).
• Endlessness is not a concept that we find back in the Bible. The Bible describes eons as long periods of time and sees God moving through them toward a goal (Eph. 3:11).
• Stating that the expression “eternal life” is not correct does not make us lose “endless life.” Rather, the point is that we should not hang the idea of perpetual life on the word “aeonian.” We know from 1 Corinthians that death will once be abolished as the last enemy. Then life triumphs over all (2Tim 1,10). The New Testament expectation sees the resurrection as a solution and redemption, not a squishy “eternal life” received at the beginning of faith or at death.

Eternal life is not an “upload to the divine cloud.” For the believing Israelite, the promise of aeonian life was the promise that they would be in the coming messianic kingdom. For believers from today’s church, the future is just as real, and we may reach out just as much to be with Christ one day. This will be true for most via death and resurrection (1Th 4:13-18).

This is the beginning of what is meant but not described by the word eternity.

Deepening

The deeper the desire for life to go on, more or less, the more you want it to be true. Anything that confirms the desired view seems good in the process. YouTube is full of supposed afterlife experiences. Near-death experiences, for example, are often described like this. At the same time, they are firmly anchored in this world, which the name already expresses.

• What is behind near-death experiences? (ARTE, in German)