What Is Eternal Life?
Eternal life is a key concept of the New Testament, above all of the Johannine writings. It describes not merely unending duration but life of a new quality springing from fellowship with God. Jesus defines it himself: 'This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.' 'Knowing' here means personal relationship beyond acquiring information. For John, eternal life does not begin only in the future; the believer possesses it already: 'One who believes in the Son has eternal life.' Its best-known expression is John 3:16: God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes should not perish but have eternal life. The future dimension is kept as well: resurrection, seeing and full fellowship are awaited. In the Old Testament the seeds of this hope appear in Daniel's word about resurrection and in the Psalms' language of the 'path of life'. Eternal life is presented in Scripture as gift far more than reward.