Title: 13
Author: JBG
Last saved by: Preferred Customer
Company: Auth CO

00-11-16.JSH-405 /  

© 2000  Joe Griffin

The Inscrutable Question: The Doctrine of Eternal Life: Intro; Three Segments; Characteristics During Human Life, Titus 3:4-5
The Doctrine of Eternal Life
I.	Introduction:
1.	The final phrase of John 3:16 reads, “ … anyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
2.	The verb “believes” is the present active participle of:
		pisteÚw / pisteuo / - with the pronoun p©j / pas / it is translated “anyone who believes.”
		present:	Gnomic; refers to that which is an aphorism.  An aphorism is a brief statement of a principle.  When found in Scripture it becomes a universal point of doctrine that is always true.
		active:	Any member of the human race, under the principle of unlimited atonement, can believe in Jesus Christ for eternal life.
		participle:	Circumstantial indicating volitional contingency.
3.	This belief is directed toward the Person and work of Jesus Christ which is indicated by the prepositional phrase:
e„j / eis /, plus the accusative of the pronoun œcw / echo /, translated “in Him,” meaning that Jesus Christ is the object of merit toward which the unbeliever directs his faith.
4.	This faith alone in Christ alone results in the avoidance of the lake of fire, noted by the term, “shall not perish” and the acquisition of “eternal life”:
a„ènioj / aionios /, translated “eternal,” plus the accusative singular noun zw»  / zoe /, which means “life.”
5.	The gnomic present of pisteÚw / pisteuo / means that the result becomes a reality at the moment an unbeliever puts his faith in Christ.
6.	Further this new believer continues to have eternal life without end.  The word “eternal” contains the concept of infinite duration.
7.	The eternal life of God has “infinite duration” that extends into eternity past as well as into the eternal future.
8.	It is God’s desire to impute His very own life to anyone who believes in His Son for salvation.  Such a person possesses eternal life that has infinite duration into the eternal future
II.	Segments of Eternal Life:
1.	While in time.  The believer has eternal life while living on earth in a mortal body.  During this period he possesses eternal life in his human spirit but his soul is bound to the body and remains so until physical death or the rapture of the Church occurs.
2.	Between physical death and the rapture.  When a believer dies he obviously does so prior to the rapture at which point the resurrection body is issued.  Therefore, in the interim the believer is granted an interim body with eternal life.  All believers are in heaven but without the distinguishing features of winners or losers.
3.	At the rapture.  Resurrection bodies are issued to believers at the conclusion of the church age.  All believers, dead or alive, have eternal life.  Those who are dead return in interim body and receive their resurrection bodies.  Those who remain alive are transformed from mortal bodies to resurrection bodies.  All follow Christ into heaven.

III.	Characteristics of Each Segment:
1.	Human life, which is soul life plus biological life, experiences regeneration at the moment of salvation.  Although human life goes on, eternal life now exists in the newly created human spirit but in a body of corruption.  The body’s genetically inherited sinful nature continues to be a source of temptation for the soul until this segment of eternal life is concluded at physical death.
At the beginning of this segment the demonstration of the love of God results in eternal life being imputed to the person who places his faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.  The following passage describes how the love of God provides salvation and eternal life to any who believe:
Titus 3:4 - When the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
v. 5 -	He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
v. 6 -	Whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
v. 7 -	that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
1)	These verses enable us see the gracious acts of God on our behalf.  He finds us in total depravity but provides the means by which we might enter into eternal life with Him, not through our own works but rather through the substitutionary work of Christ.
2)	In verse 4 we see the love of God expressed in the grace of God.    The word translated “kindness” is the nominative subject:
crhstÒthj / chrestotes / -	Can be translated: mild, kind, helpful, friendly.	
3)	However, these are very weak terms that better describe characteristics of human interaction rather than the character of an almighty God.
4)	In context, God is dealing with totally depraved and spiritually dead people who are in total opposition to the righteousness of God and under judgment.  It clouds the dynamics of God’s love to describe His approach to us in such humanistic terms as mild, kind, helpful, and friendly.
5)	What is going on here is the demonstration of the love of God through the grace of God based on the righteousness of God and executed by the justice of God.
6)	The full phrase from verse 4 is: ¹ crhstÒthj toà qeoà / he chrestotes tou theou /: “the gracious acts of God.”  This is a subjective genitive with a noun of action: The word in the genitive case, qeoà / theou /, “God,” produces the action implied by the noun of action, crhstÒthj / chrestotes /, “gracious acts.”  With this translation in mind the following commentary is helpful.  It is taken from:
Friedrich, Gerhard.  Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley.  Vol. 9.  (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974), 488:
One might define ¹ crhstÒthj toà qeoà / he chrestotes tou theou / as God’s gracious restraint in face of the sins of His people in the time prior to Christ.  It has special reference to God’s act of grace effected in and through Christ.  For Paul ¹ crhstÒthj toà qeoà / he chrestotes tou theou / is the gracious action in which God has been constantly engaged, but which He has completed in a special way and a special act, and made universal, in and through Christ.
7)	Verse 4 also speaks of God’s “love for mankind” and how it “appeared.”  This makes reference to the demonstration of God’s love through the Virgin Birth, the Incarnation, and the cross.
8)	When an unbeliever expresses faith alone in Christ alone then his soul is saved from eternal condemnation in the lake of fire.
9)	Faith alone in Christ alone is nonmeritorious and therefore cancels any dependence upon one’s own “deeds … done in righteousness” mentioned in verse 5.  Such deeds find their source in self-righteous attitudes sponsored by the sinful nature and produce deeds of darkness.
10)	The “washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” makes reference to the creation of the human spirit, the forgiveness of presalvation sins, and the imputation of the 39 irrevocable assets.  All of these things are “according to His mercy”:
kat£ / kata / plus œleoj / eleos /, “according to the standards of His mercy.”
11)	The preposition kat£ / kata / refers to standards under which one functions.  It can be translated “according to, in accordance with, in conformity with, or corresponding to.”  These standards make reference to the righteousness of God and are expressed in His dealings with fallen humanity.  It should be translated, “according to the standards of His mercy.”
12)	The word “mercy” is the accusative noun:
œleoj / eleos /, which means mercy, compassion, or clemency.  This can be done on the part of man toward man or on the part of God toward man.  The latter is obviously the case here.
13)	œleoj / eleos / is an action that assumes need on the part of the person who receives it, that the one who decides to meet those needs possesses the adequate resources to do so, and then proceeds to demonstrate them.
14)	Now let’s take a look at verses 4-5 in an expanded translation:
Titus 3:4 - When the gracious acts of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared [ the demonstration of the love of God through Jesus Christ ],
v. 5 - He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness [ the self-righteous production of human good ], but according to the standards His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
15)	The final two phrases have to do with the salvation ministries of the Holy Spirit.  The “washing of regeneration” has to do with the creation of the human spirit while “renewing by the Holy Spirit” refers to being transformed into a new spiritual species with 40 operational assets.

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