Life (2222) (zoe) in Scripture is used (1) to refer to physical life (Ro 8:38-note, 1Co 3:22, Php 1:20-note, Jas 4:14, etc) but more often to (2) to supernatural life in contrast to a life subject to eternal death (Jn 3:36, see all 43 uses of "eternal life" below). This quality of life speaks of fullness of life which alone belongs to God the Giver of life and is available to His children now (Ro 6:4-note, Ep 4:18-note) as well as in eternity future (Mk 10:30, Titus 1:2-note on Eternal Life). Richards writes that.. Zoe in classical Greek refers to natural life--the principle that enables living things to move and to grow. In the NT, zoe focuses on the theological meaning rather than on the biological. From the perspective of the NT, in every respect life is the counterpart of death. Each book of the NT speaks of zoe. In each, the principle of life lifts our vision beyond our earthly existence to reveal a unique quality of life that spans time and eternity and that has its roots in God. It is the biblical use and meaning of zoe that most concerns us as we examine what the NT says about life. (Richards, L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency) Wuest (in comments on 2Pe 1:3-note) writes that zoe... speaks of life in the sense of one who is possessed of vitality and animation. It is used of the absolute fulness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God. It is used to designate the life which God gives to the believing sinner, a vital, animating, spiritual, ethical dynamic which transforms his inner being and as a result, his behavior. (In comments on 1John 1:2 Wuest adds that the) life that God is, is not to be defined as merely animation, but as definitely ethical in its content. God is not the mere reason for the universe, as the Greeks thought, but a Person with the characteristics and qualities of a divine Person. The ethical and spiritual qualities of this life which God is, are communicated to the sinner when the latter places his faith in the Lord Jesus as Saviour, and this becomes the new, animating, energizing, motivating principle which transforms the experience of that individual, and the saint thus lives a Christian life. The message of (the epistle of) John is that since the believer is a partaker of this life, it is an absolute necessity that he show the ethical and spiritual qualities that are part of the essential nature of God, in his own life. If these are entirely absent, John says, that person is devoid of the life of God, and is unsaved. The ethical and spiritual qualities of this life were exhibited to the human race in the earthly life of the Lord Jesus. His life thus becomes the pattern of what our lives should be in holiness, self-sacrifice, humility and love. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans or Logos or Wordsearch) Zoe - 16.35" class="scriptRef">35x in 127v in the NT in NAS - 14" class="scriptRef">Mt 7:14; 18:8, 9; 19" class="scriptRef">19.16" class="scriptRef">16-Matt.19.17" class="scriptRef">19:16, 17, 29" class="scriptRef">29; 25:46; Mk. 9:43, 45; 10" class="scriptRef">10" class="scriptRef">10" class="scriptRef">10.17" class="scriptRef">10:17, 30" class="scriptRef">30; Lk. 10:25; 15" class="scriptRef">12:15; 16:25; 18:18, 30; Jn. 1:4; 3:15, 16, 36" class="scriptRef">36; 4:14, 36; 5:24, 26, 29, 40" class="scriptRef">39,40; 6:27, 33, 35, 40, 48" class="scriptRef">47, 48, 51, 53, 54, 63, 68; 8:12; 10:10, 28; 11:25; 12:25, 50; 14:6; 17:2, 3; 20.31" class="scriptRef">20:31; Acts 2:28; 3:15; 5:20; 8:33; 11:18; 13:46, 48; 17:25; Ro 2:7; 5:10, 17, 18, 21; 6:4, 22, 23; 7:10; 8:2, 6, 10, 38; 11:15; 1Co. 3:22; 15:19; 2Co. 2:16; 4:10, 11, 12; 5:4; Gal. 6:8; Eph. 4:18; Phil. 1:20; 2:16; 4:3; Col. 3:3, 4; 1Ti 1:16; 4:8; 6:12, 19; 2Ti 1:1, 10; Titus 1:2; 3:7; Heb. 7:3, 16; Jas. 1:12; 4:14; 1Pe 3:7, 10; 2Pe 1:3; 1 Jn. 1:1, 2; 2:25; 3:14, 15; 5:11, 12, 13, 16, 20; Jude 1:21; Rev. 2:7, 10; 3:5; 7:17; 11:11; 13:8; 16:3; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:6, 27; 22:1, 2, 14, 17, 19. Here are the 43 uses of the phrase eternal life in the NAS - Mt 19:16, 29; 25:46; Mk 10:17, 30" class="scriptRef">30; Lk 10:25; 18:18, 30; Jn 3:15 16, 36; 4:14; 5:24, 39; 6:27, 40, 47, 54, 68; 10:28; 12:50; 17:2 3; 13.46" class="scriptRef">Acts 13:46, 48; Ro 2:7; 5:21; 6:22 23; Gal 6:8; 1Ti 1:16; 6:12; Titus 1:2; 3:7; 1Jn 1:2; 2:25; 3:15; 5:11, 13, 20; Jude 1:21 There are uses of zoe in the Septuagint (LXX) - 30" class="scriptRef">30" class="scriptRef">Ge 1:30; 7" class="scriptRef">2:7, 9" class="scriptRef">9" class="scriptRef">9; 4" class="scriptRef">13.14" class="scriptRef">14" class="scriptRef">3:14, 17" class="scriptRef">17" class="scriptRef">17" class="scriptRef">17" class="scriptRef">17, 20" class="scriptRef">20" class="scriptRef">20" class="scriptRef">20, 22" class="scriptRef">22" class="scriptRef">22" class="scriptRef">22, 24" class="scriptRef">24; 6:17; 11" class="scriptRef">7:11, 15, 22; 13" class="scriptRef">8:13; 23:1; 25:7, 17; 27:46; 45:5; 47:8f, 28" class="scriptRef">28" class="scriptRef">28; Exod. 1:14; 16" class="scriptRef">6:16, 18" class="scriptRef">18" class="scriptRef">18, 20; Dt 4:9; 6:2; 16:3; 19" class="scriptRef">17:19; 28:66; 30:15, 19f; 32.47" class="scriptRef">32:47; Jos. 1:5; 10:40; Jdg. 6:4; 16:30; 17:10; 1Sa 7:15; 25:29; 2Sa 1:23; 21" class="scriptRef">21" class="scriptRef">15:21; 19:34; 1 Ki. 4:20; 11:34; 15:5; 2 Ki. 8:10, 14; 25:29f; Ezra 6:10; Job 3:20; 7:1, 7; 9:21; 12" class="scriptRef">10:12, 22; 11:17; 24:22; 33:22, 28, 30; 36:14; Ps. 7:5; 16:11; 17:14; 21:4; 23:6; 26:9; 27:1, 4; 30:5; 31:10; 34:12; 36:9; 42:8; 49:18; 56:8; 63:3f; 66:9; 88:3; 103:4; 104:33; 128:5; 133:3; 143:3; 146:2; Pr 2:19; 3:2, 16, 18; 4:10, 13, 22f; 5:6, 9; 6:23; 8:35; 9:11, 18; 10:3, 11, 16f; 11:19, 30; 12:28; 13:12, 14; 14:27; 15:4, 24; 16:15, 17, 22; 18:4, 21; 19:23; 21:21; 22:4; 23:3; 27:27; Eccl. 2:3, 17; 3:12; 5:18, 20; 6:8, 12; 8:15; 9:3, 9; Isa. 4:3; 26:14; 38:12, 20; 53:8; 57:15; 65:22; Jer. 2:13; 8:3; 17:13; 21:8; La 3:53, 58; Ezek. 1:20f; 3:21; 7:13; 10:17; 16:6; 18:9, 13, 17, 19, 21, 28; 26:20; 31:17; 32:23f, 26f, 32; 33:15; 37:5; Da 7:12; 12:2; Ho 10:12; Jonah 2:6; Mal 2:5 Bultmann begins his treatment of zoe by saying Zoe denotes in Greek the physical vitality of organic beings, animals, men, and also plants. Life is understood, not as a thing, but as vitality, as the nature or manner which charac­terizes all living creatures as such" (TDNT, 2:832). In classical Greek bios had ethical connotations and zoe did not (see Vincent's note below). But when we come to the NT we find the case exactly the reverse. Here we find bios used in a material and chronological sense. But zoe is the word used, especially by John (36 times in his Gospel and 13 times in his First Epistle), mostly for spiritual life that we have from God in Christ. It is not mere existence, but a new "life." Zoe was used by the NT writers to refer to the life principle in contradistinction to bios which refers to that which sustains life. R. C. Trench puts it well when he writes In revealed religion, which thus makes death to have come into the world through sin, and only through sin, life is the correlative of holiness. Whatever truly lives, does so because sin has never found place in it, or, having found place for a time, has since been overcome and expelled. So soon as ever this is felt and understood, zoe at once assumes the profoundest moral significance; it becomes the fittest expression for the very highest blessedness (p.95). As W H Griffith Thomas notes in the Gospel of John zoe is a key word, writing that Another characteristic word of John’s Gospel is life. It expresses the ultimate element of his purpose in writing. As the result of believing, the readers of this Gospel are intended to have life. The word (zoe) always refers in this Gospel to the principle of spiritual life as distinct from the earthly manifestation or principle of natural life (bios). This latter word is not found in the fourth Gospel and only twice in all of John’s writings (1 John 2:16; 1 John 3:16), where the meaning is quite clear. The word zoe occurs thirty-six times in the Gospel of John as compared with seven in Matthew, four in Mark, and six in Luke. This again shows the prominence given to it and the important place it occupies in the teaching of this Gospel. The idea is found as early as John 1:4, and then almost chapter by chapter various aspects of the life are seen and various relationships to it are borne by our Lord. The meaning of this life is perhaps best given in the words of our Lord’s prayer: “This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). It consists, therefore, not in any mere existence whether here or hereafter. Its essence lies in the experience of fellowship with God. Quality, not duration, is the predominant thought of life in this Gospel. Vincent in his comments on the phrase in Him was life in John 1:4 writes that Jesus... was the fountain of life — physical, moral, and eternal — its principle and source. Two words for life are employed in the New Testament: bios and zoe. The primary distinction is that zoe means existence as contrasted with death, and bios, the period, means, or manner of existence. Hence bios is originally the higher word, being used of men, while zoe is used of animals. We speak therefore of the discussion of the life and habits of animals as zoology; and of accounts of men’s lives as biography. Animals have the vital principle in common with men, but men lead lives controlled by intellect and will, and directed to moral and intellectual ends. In the New Testament, bios means either living, i.e., means of subsistence (Mark 12:44; Luke 8:43), or course of life, life regarded as an economy (Luke 8:14; 1Ti 2:2; 2Ti 2:4). Zoe occurs in the lower sense of life, considered principally or wholly as existence (1Pe 3:10; Acts 8:33; 17:25; Heb. 7:3). There seems to be a significance in the use of the word in Lk 16:25: “Thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things;” the intimation being that the rich man’s life had been little better than mere existence, and not life at all in the true sense. But throughout the New Testament zoe is the nobler word, seeming to have changed places with bios. It expresses the sum of mortal and eternal blessedness (Matt. 25:46; Luke 18:30; John 11:25; Acts 2:28; Ro. 5:17; 4:4), and that not only in respect of men, but also of God and Christ. So here. Compare John 5:26; 14:6; 1 John 1:2. This change is due to the gospel revelation of the essential connection of sin with death, and consequently, of life with holiness. “Whatever truly lives, does so because sin has never found place in it, or, having found place for a time, has since been overcome and expelled” (Trench). In Christ Jesus - 4.24" class="scriptRef">Acts 24:24; Ro 3:24; 11" class="scriptRef">6:11, 23; 8:1f, 9" class="scriptRef">39; 15.17" class="scriptRef">15:17; 16.3" class="scriptRef">16:3; 1 Co. 1:2, 4, 30; 4:15; 15:31; 16:24; Gal. 2:4, 16; 14" class="scriptRef">3:14, 26" class="scriptRef">26, 28; 5:6; Eph. 1:1; 2:6f, 10" class="scriptRef">10, 13" class="scriptRef">13; 3:6, 11, 21" class="scriptRef">21; Phil. 1:1, 26; 2:5; 3:3, 14; 4:7, 19, 21; Col. 1:4; 1 Thess. 2:14; 5:18; 1 Tim. 1:14; 3:13; 2Ti 1:1, 9, 13; 2:1, 10; 3:12, 15; Philemon 1:23 In Christ Jesus is clearly one of one of Paul's favorite phrases "in Christ Jesus" - make a SIMPLE LIST of the truths YOU DISCOVER about your new life in Christ Jesus and you will be wonderfully encouraged as you thank Him for so great a salvation, one truth at a time) (See related topics - in Christ and in Christ Jesus) (Watch the Youtube video of the beautiful new song - In Christ Alone; In Christ Alone - another version) The life that God promises in Christ is a life that is capable of enjoying the things of God down here, and a life that will be equally suitable to our heavenly home. Jesus said this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent. (Jn 17:3) This new quality of life then is the present possession of the believer because of his or her relationship with the Lamb Who takes away the sins of the world and it is also our future hope when we will receive our glorified bodies, have every tear wiped away and be forever free from sin, sickness, sorrow, suffering, and death (Php 3:20, 21- see notes v20; v21). Vine adds The special point here is not the promise of life, as proclaimed in the gospel, but life as ministered and enjoyed in the experience of the believer. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson ) This is life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God and includes the present as well as the future. In regard to the order Christ Jesus (this is the order 12 times in 11 verses [2Ti 1:1, 2, 10" class="scriptRef">9, 10, 3" class="scriptRef">13; 2:1, 3, 10; 3:12, 15; 4:1] in 2 Timothy with the reverse order Jesus Christ only once (2Ti 2:8-note)