LIFE. It is apparent that in the concept of “life” the Bible narrative is moving in the framework of the grand cosmic conceptions of creation, fall, redemption, and eschatological theodicy. The idea of “life” frequently occurring in the Bible proves to be that of “eternal life,” with its special implications of a “quality of life” with rich ethical associations, as well as the implications of endless duration through the ages to come.
Outline
I. The Biblical idea of renewal and eschatological theodicy
A. Basic orientation. Careful discussion by James Orr (The Christian View of God and the World, pp. 165-211) and Alexander Heidel (The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels, pp. 137-223) has made clear the uniqueness of the Biblical concept of immortality over against supposed pagan parallels. The Biblical form of immortality is not merely the survival of the soul, but life of the whole man in body and soul. “It is said we have no doctrine of Immortality in the Old Testament. But I reply, we have immortality at the very commencement—for man, as he came from the hands of his Creator, was made for immortal life. Man in Eden was immortal. He was intended to live, not to die...it is not an immortality of the soul only that the Bible speaks of—that is left for the philosophers—but an immortality of the whole person, body, and soul together. Such is the Christian hope, and such,...was the Hebrew hope also” (Orr, op. cit., pp. 202, 203). Heidel, writing fifty years later than Orr, emphatically reiterates Orr’s findings. “In Mesopotamia man was thought to have been created mortal, so that death was the natural result of his constitution; in Israel he was believed to have been created for never-ending life, wherefore death was something unnatural....Even the latest Babylonian and Assyrian records reveal nothing of a resurrection of the flesh, a doctrine so clearly set forth in Daniel and Isaiah....These differences set the eschatology of the Mesopotamians and that of the Hebrews as far apart as the East is from the West” (Heidel, op. cit., pp. 222, 223).
Thus the matrix of the Biblical theology of life is already cast in the created constitution of man and the hope of a heavenly and gracious redemption from sin and death. There is a straight line from Eden and the Fall to the appearance of the last Adam and His redemptive work. Redemption-life must include the historic, space-time death, resurrection and Second Advent of Christ, as well as the impartation of benefits to sinful men in individual renewal and resurrection.
B. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the basis of redemption-life. For the present purpose it is convenient to refer to the inspired philosophy of history given in Hebrews 2. The divine purpose of redemption and triumph is found in the promise of Psalm 8 that all things will be put under man in the “inhabited earth” which is to come. To that end, the majestic Son of God, crowned with glory and honor, tasted death for every man. Through death and the inseparable resurrection, He brought to nought him who had the power of death, and delivered those held in bondage. Having made the one sacrifice for sins forever, He resumed His place of sovereign sway at the right hand of God, “then to wait until his enemies should be made a stool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Heb 10:12-15).
C. The palingenesia of the individual
1. Life as connected with regeneration. This life which is connected with man’s recovery from sin is basically an ethical and spiritual conception. The death which is its opposite is a death in trespasses and sins. Life involves regeneration, “a profound renovation and reorientation of personal nature and ethical alignments and loyalties, a new birth.”
A regenerate person is in the kingdom of God (Col 1:13), but there is also a future aspect of the kingdom into which he will enter (John 3:3, 5; Matt 7:21). These two aspects of the kingdom, in other terminology are called “life”: the one who believes in Christ has life (1 John 5:12) and he will enter into life (Mark 9:43) which is the kingdom (Mark 9:47).
The Holy Spirit imparts life in the new birth (John 3; 1 Cor 12:13). He will also make alive our mortal bodies (Rom 8:11) that we may enter into “life” or “the world to come.” It is the presence and work of the Spirit also which constitutes the kingdom: “The kingdom-making power is associated with the Spirit” (Vos, Biblical Theology, p. 413). His work in the new birth admits one to the kingdom and His work in the resurrection (and transformation of the living) (1 Cor 15:51-54) prepares the regenerate to inherit the kingdom (1 Cor 15:50). The two stadia of the kingdom correspond to the two stadia of life. They run parallel, and one is involved in the other. These events of the impartation of life and the entrance into life are gifts of God’s grace (Rom 6:23) and are based wholly on the redeeming work of Christ (John 20:31; 1 Pet 1:3-5; Titus 3:5-8). This kingdom relationship in life through the Spirit is also a relationship to the new covenant or promise (Gal 4:24, 28, 29; Heb 8:10-12; 9:15). The two stadia of life or the kingdom may also be thought of as present heirship because we are sons (Gal 3:29), and the resulting future entrance into the inheritance (Matt 25:34; Acts 20:32; 1 Cor 15:50; 1 Pet 1:3, 4; 1 John 3:2, 3; Rev 21:7).
2. The transition from death to life in the Pauline epistles. The Pauline epistles show a special interest in the analysis of the transition from death to life in the individual experience. The impartation of faith and life by the Spirit takes place in the context of “calling” or “effectual calling,” in the language of the Westminster Confession. Romans 8:29, 30 is a classic statement of the order of the divine purposes. The elect are called and justified, and with logical certainty, will be glorified. This same point in the application of redemption passes under Paul’s eye in Galatians 3:22-26. Before faith came, Paul was under the curse and penalty of the law, being shut up unto faith as the only hope for a man in his helplessness and guilt. There are striking parallels to these details of Galatians 3, in Romans 7, if Romans 7 is read as the experience of a man under conviction, keenly recognizing the holiness of the law, and yet finding himself in bondage and without the liberating power of the Spirit of life. Ephesians 4:1 refers to effectual calling, while 2:12, 13 and 18 speak of the access by faith, echoing in substance the words of Christ in John 14:6 that He is the way of access to the Father. The whole concept seems to be drawn from the vivid application of the imagery of the access to the Tabernacle set forth in classical fullness in Hebrews 10:19-22. Romans 5:2 seems to reflect the same concept of having obtained access by faith into the grace wherein we have taken our stand. Philippians 3:8-10 analyzes Paul’s experience at the point where faith rests upon Christ in saving knowledge. Colossians 2:10-13 describes the life-giving operation of the Spirit in OT and NT terms of circumcision and baptism, and a rising in new life. First and Second Thessalonians lay emphasis on election, issuing in effectual calling, compactly stated in 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14. Titus 3:4-7 links together beautifully the life-giving work of the Spirit and the gracious justification which is its necessary complement, and which makes the believer an heir according to the hope of eternal life.
3. Palingenesia in the NT. This last-mentioned passage introduces the striking word, palingenesia, which is the organizing principle of the entire concept of redemption-life. The word occurs only here and at Matthew 19:28. Each of these occurrences serves as an organizing center for the two stages of the restoration of life. In the Titus context (3:4-7), the clear connotation is the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in the soul of the individual. In the Matthew passage, the word refers to the time of resurrection and release of the creation from its groaning and will be further discussed below. “In one of the only two passages in which it [palingenesia] occurs in the NT (Matt 19:28) it refers to the repristination not of the individual, but of the universe, which is to take place at the end: and this usage tends to stamp upon the word the broad sense of a complete and thoroughgoing restoration. If in Titus 3:5 it is applied to the individual in such a broad sense, it would be coextensive in meaning with the anakainōsis by the side of which it stands in that passage and would differ from it only as a highly figurative differs from a more literal expression of the same idea. Our salvation, the Apostle would in that case say, is not an attainment of our own, but is wrought by God in His great mercy, by means of a regenerating washing, to wit, a renewal by the Holy Spirit” (B. B. Warfield, Biblical Doctrines, p. 454).
4. Johannine testimony to the transition from death to life. Johannine passages speak equally clearly of this momentous transition from death to life. John 5:24 posits faith as the inseparable concomitant of life so that “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:12 KJV). Many of the personal confrontations of Christ with inquirers in the gospel of John portray vividly the immediate circumstances of the impartation of faith and life, and this moment is actually the climax or turning point of the story. Examples are the king’s courtier (John 4:50 RSV) and the Samaritan woman (4:25, 26). In other instances the faith and assurance of believers are dramatically increased: Martha (11:23-27), John (20:8, 9), Thomas (20:27-29), and Peter (21:15-17). Always the emphasis falls on the inter-connection of faith and life as in the climactic summary “that believing you may have life” (John 20:31).
5. The manifestation of life in good works. After the initial impartation of life and faith, the life and conduct of the believer come under close scrutiny in the Bible. It is constantly assumed that effectual calling will issue in good works. This intense ethical concern with practical holiness and heart-conformity to the law of God is never blurred. The normal transition in the Pauline epistles is from a statement of doctrine to the ethical application and exhortation: Romans 12:1, 2 is typical of the whole series. The contrast of the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit is clear in Galatians 5. The purpose of Christ’s death is that we might be delivered from this present evil world (Gal 1:4, cf. 6:14). This triumph is actualized by the Spirit (Gal 5:5, 25).
The standard of ethical conduct is the law of God (Gal 5:14; Rom 13:8-10). The liberating power of the Spirit operates so that the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in those who walk according to the Spirit (Rom 8:2-4). Thus, the “perfect law of liberty,” the “royal law” (James 1:25; 2:8) with sovereignty over every area of life, becomes a light and guide to the Christian. The law was “for life” (Rom 7:10): that is, not to give life but to function as a rule and guide in a personality where the life-giving, liberating power of the Holy Spirit is operative. The present ethical manifestations of life by the enablement of the Spirit are constantly oriented toward a goal of perfection. The present progress and the consummation are thus expressed by Paul: “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints” (1 Thess 3:12, 13 KJV). Entire sanctification and perfection in holiness are eagerly anticipated at the Parousia of Christ (1 Thess 5:23), and the resurrection of believers.
6. The ethical nature of the new life. The life imparted to man dead in trespasses and sins is ethical and holy in every sense. Death came because man had corrupted the holy character God had given. For the spirit of holiness to make His abode with men and lead them supernaturally to the triumphant issue envisioned in the Scripture, it was necessary that the Lamb of God should take away the sin of the world. The awesome spectacle of the Son of God bearing the sins of men surely shows that holiness is not compromised when God forgives the sinner. Justice is satisfied. The blood of Christ purges the conscience from dead works and gives peace. The life thus righteously purchased and bestowed by the Holy Spirit manifests itself in a conflict with sin and a striving for holiness without which no man shall see the Lord (Heb 12:14). The resurrection is anticipated esp. because it means the perfection of holiness, the entire sanctification of the whole person. Heaven is not simply eternal existence, but there will appear a shining perfection of all God intended man to be: “his servants shall worship him; they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads” (Rev 22:3, 4).
7. The palingenesia of the individual in the OT. The question of the spiritual state and privileges of believers before the cross has been widely discussed. It would prob. be conceded by all that “...the believing Israelite was born anew (cf. John 3:3, 5, with Luke 13:28)...” (Scofield Reference Bible, p. 768, fn. 1). This statement represents the understanding of Bible-believing people. The principal point gained here is that a new birth is admittedly characteristic of the redeemed of all ages. Discussion may continue concerning the content of the faith of believers before the cross, their spiritual privileges, and the fullness of their relation to the Holy Spirit. If it be conceded that all believers are born anew, it prob. will also be admitted that such regenerate life could and can be sustained only by the constant presence and work of the Holy Spirit.
Further, it is the belief of this writer that in elaborating the scheme of man’s recovery from sin and death, the apostolic writers of the NT look upon the OT as fully spiritually normative for themselves. Paul finds the blessedness of justification in the experience of Abraham and David (Rom 4, quoting Gen 15:16 and Ps 32:1, 2). Having reinforced the call to holiness of life (2 Cor 6:14-18) with a mosaic of promises and exhortations drawn from Isaiah 52:11; 43:6 and Hosea 1:10, Paul says, “Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves....” Hebrews 3:2, 6 joins together God’s ancient people and “we” Christians, for we, too, are His house. Luke 13:28 brings Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets together in the kingdom of God, into which all the regenerate will enter. Abraham “looked for the city which has foundations...” (Heb 11:10; 13:14; 11:40). Hebrews 13:14 shows that to be the same city to which all aspire, for God has provided some better thing concerning [all of] us (11:40) than the opprobrium, persecution, and scorn of the world.
The OT has its own terminology for the renewal of the heart. Circumcision of the heart is required in Deuteronomy 30:6; its ethical bearing is indicated in the resulting loving Jehovah with all the soul and with all the heart. Ezekiel 36:25-27 links the work of the Spirit to the renewal of the heart, promising a “new heart” and ability to walk in God’s law. Jeremiah’s great prophecy of a new covenant is climaxed by the promise that God will write His law on the heart even as He forgives sins. It is noteworthy in this latter passage that Jeremiah is rebuking his generation (Heb 8:8) as is implied in the words “and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every one his brother, saying, Know the Lord...” (Jer 31:34 KJV). The implication is that Jeremiah was teaching and exhorting his self-righteous and rebellious generation. The inference is clear that the forgiveness and the writing of the law on the heart was contemplated as available to faith in Jeremiah’s day. The rebuke lay in the fact that there would be a day in a glorious future when all would know the Lord, and the work of teaching and exhorting would no longer be necessary.
The men of faith of Hebrews 11 “acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (11:13). The simple exegesis of the following vv. shows that they must have had a heavenly homeland in view, a city prepared by God. As G. Vos so well said, “It requires the assurance of the eternity of religion in the individual soul to secure the permanence of religion as such” (Pauline Eschatology, pp. 364, 365) Christ said, “...because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19). The presence of supernaturally imparted life in the soul carries the demand for and proof of eternal life with the soul’s Savior. Hence the principal concern of the Biblical thought with eschatology and esp. resurrection. Vos eloquently says, “....We encounter....[in the Psalter] the ideas of peace, universalism, paradise restored, the dwelling of Jehovah’s presence in the land, the vision of God, the enjoyment of glory, light, satisfaction of all wants, the outlook beyond death towards an uninterrupted contact with God and a resurrection” (Pauline Eschatology, p. 332). The weightiest argument for the fullness of a supernatural renewal in OT believers is drawn from the efficacy of the cross of Christ. Whatever blessings of the goodness of God a sinful race has experienced, must come because of the cross of Christ. Because it is the one sacrifice which actually atones for sin, it is absolutely unique: there is no other sacrifice for sin. If we grant that men in all ages have received countless blessings because of the one act of grace on Calvary, there is no reason why the Holy Spirit, because of the certainty that the atonement would be made, could not have applied its benefits in all ages from the beginning.
D. The palingenesia of creation at the resurrection and the age to come
1. Life in the intermediate state. Although spiritual life is imparted to men in this life, physical death still comes. The Bible has its adequate assurance for the believer: “to die is gain” (Phil 1:21), and there is the calm assurance that “the Lord will rescue me from every evil and save me for his heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim 4:18). Paul desired to be “absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8 KJV) though this was less desirable than having the resurrection body (Phil 3:20, 21), and being “clothed upon” with immortality. Through this “intermediate state” the soul, made perfect in holiness, and enjoying communion with Christ, is preserved until the hour of resurrection. The swift tableau which John gives of the souls beneath the altar (Rev 6:9-11) clothed in white robes, would suggest that God has made death itself the occasion of an advance in their perfection and holiness. Here are “the spirits of just men made perfect” (Heb 12:23) awaiting the resurrection.
2. Life as related to resurrection. The concept of the resurrection of the dead in Christ is necessary to the completion of the Biblical scheme of man’s entire deliverance from sin and death. Through resurrection or instantaneous transformation of the living at the Parousia (1 Cor 15:51, 52), believers are prepared to inherit the kingdom (15:50). So keenly is the resurrection felt to be related to full attainment of life that it is referred to as “coming to life” (Rev 20:4) or “making alive” (Rom 8:11). Modern alternative conceptions of resurrection as simply “spiritual” or “the persistence of the personality through death” do not approach the historic concreteness of the Biblical view. Nor do they really solve the problem of death, the radical and unnatural rending apart of soul and body. For the healing of that stupendous rent in man’s being there is needed, as Christ said, the power of God in the resurrection of the dead (Matt 22:29).
3. Palingenesia of creation. The palingenesia, then, of the individual issues in the resurrection. At this point in the analysis, Romans 8:18-25 opens a further vista. Paul here logically connects with the resurrection of believers the deliverance of the creation itself. Since man is connected with the creation through his physical body, it is appropriate that when the body is made immortal, the creation should be raised to share the same glory and liberty, and itself experience a palingenesia.
The use of the word palingenesia in Matthew 19:28 provides a firm parallel from which to draw additional details about the creation’s renewal. It is a time when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of His glory. This statement taken with Matthew 25:31 and Revelation 3:21 clearly distinguishes a special future reign of Christ from His present sharing of His Father’s throne. His present session as contemplated in Psalm 110 is a continuation or resumption of His sovereign rule. The present imperative of the verb kathou means “maintain your place at my right hand,” thus leaving room for the future reign in His own glorious throne. The parallel in Luke 22:28-30 speaks of His “reign.” A further parallel (1 Cor 15:25) touches this same point. This debated passage is minutely examined by G. Vos (The Pauline Eschatology, pp. 235-246). His conclusion is that the “end” follows the parousia so closely that there is no room for a “kingdom.” He thus concludes that the reign (for Christ must reign, 1 Cor 15:25) must have begun at Christ’s resurrection and cannot be pushed into the future. We confidently dissent from Vos, though grateful for his masterly handling of eschatological issues generally. He has not accurately stated the three items in the series, nor has he dealt adequately with the resurrection of the unrighteous dead, who must be accounted for in accordance with the Pauline schema of a resurrection of the just and unjust (Acts 24:15), and the Johannine sequence of Revelation 20. When there are fitted into this picture parallels of Matthew 19:28 and Revelation 20:4-6, where those who have come to life reign and judge (1 Cor 6:2), and the defeat of the last enemy, death, is linked with the emptying out of Death into the lake of fire (Rev 20:13, 14), the conclusion is irresistible that a third stage of resurrection is demanded (1 Cor 15:24), following a reign of Christ which is the palingenesia of creation.
The conclusion is that an extended period of time when Christ and immortal saints reign is an integral part of the whole process of palingenesia, of renewal and fulfillment of the creation-purpose that man redeemed should have dominion through Christ, thus fulfilling the promise of Psalm 8.
II. Life in the eternal state
A. The delivering over of the kingdom. At the “end” (1 Cor 15:24, 28) the Son delivers the kingdom to the Father, and death has been completely banished. The death which is contemplated in 1 Corinthians 15:26 is to be distinguished from John’s “second death.” The unrighteous dead do not have part in the palingenesia, yet the unnatural separation of soul and body is mended ere they are handed over to their final doom. It is suggested that Satan’s authority over death is done: Christ, the source of all life, in the sovereign exercise of judgmental authority, raises all the dead to life (John 5:21-29) and thus shows that He has life “in Himself” (5:26).
B. Life triumphant in the eternal state of perfection. The Bible scheme of recovery of man from sin and death thus reaches its goal as, through resurrection, and a triumphant palingenesia, the redeemed enter into the everlasting kingdom of Christ, which is eternal life. Running through the splendid imagery of the heavenly scenes of the eternal state is the clear note: “So shall we always be with the Lord” (1 Thess 4:17). “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them” (Rev 21:3).
The Biblical keynote of life is never lost. The unrighteous enter their final doom, which is the second death (21:8). The righteous enter into life, having their names written in the Lamb’s book of life (21:27). They have access to the river of water of life and the tree of life (22:1-2, 14).
The light falls on the intensely ethical and personal features of the life of the redeemed. “There shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads” (Rev 22:3, 4 KJV).
Bibliography J. Orr, The Christian View of God and the World (1893, 1897); G. C. Martin, “Life and Death,” HDB (1900), III, 114-118; J. Orr, “Kingdom of God, of Heaven,” HDB, II (1900), 844-856; E. F. Scott, “Life,” HDCG (1912), II, 30-32; W. F. Cobb, “Life and Death (Christian),” HERE (1915), VIII, 16-19; J. T. Marshall, “Life and Death (Hebrew),” HERE (1915), VIII, 31-34; J. J. Reeve, “Life,” ISBE, Orr (1915), Vol III, 1888-1890; B. B. Warfield, Biblical Doctrines, XII, “On The Biblical Notion of Renewal” (1929); The Scofield Reference Bible (1945); G. Vos, Biblical Theology (1948); A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels, 2nd ed. (1949); G. Vos, The Pauline Eschatology (1952); O. A. Piper, “Life,” IDB, G. A. Buttrick, ed., III, 124b-130a (1962); E. E. Ellis, “Life,” NBD, J. D. Douglas, ed. (1962), 735-739; F. Büchsel, “GINOMAI,” TDNT, I (1964), 681-689; R. Bultmann, “ZAO,” TDNT, G. Kittel, ed., II (1964), 832-875; J. O. Buswell, A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion (1968).