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Eternal life in Scripture is not merely endless duration but a quality of life — knowing God personally. Jesus defined it in his high priestly prayer: 'Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent' (John 17:3). It begins now for those who believe (John 5:24) and is fully realized in the resurrection and the new creation.
"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."
"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life."
Both. John 5:24 says the believer 'has crossed over from death to life' — present tense. 1 John 5:13 says believers 'may know that you have eternal life' — now. Eternal life begins at conversion and continues through death into the resurrection. It is a present reality that will be fully experienced in the new creation.
John 3:16 says through believing in Jesus. Romans 6:23 calls it a 'gift of God' — not earned. John 17:3 defines it as knowing God through Jesus Christ. The consistent biblical answer is faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who died for sin and rose again.
Immortality (athanasia) refers to the deathless nature of the resurrected body (1 Corinthians 15:53–54). Eternal life (zoe aionios) is the relational, qualitative dimension — knowing God. Both are aspects of the believer's future hope. Unbelievers will also be resurrected (John 5:28–29) but to judgment, not to eternal life in the relational sense.