Having examined all of the relevant passages in the Gospel of John, before proceeding to the Johannine Letters, it will be useful to look at some of the key references to the Spirit and Life in the remaining New Testament writings.
I have already discussed the passages in the Synoptic Gospels and the book of Acts, dealing with the Holy Spirit, in an earlier series of notes on “The Holy Spirit in the Gospel Tradition” (the articles “The Spirit in Luke-Acts” cover the Acts references).
Life (zwh/) in Luke-Acts
There are five occurrences of the noun zwh/ in the Gospel of Luke, along with nine of the related verb za/w (“live”). Most of these are derived from the wider Synoptic tradition, such as the use of the expression zwh/ ai)w/nio$ (“Life of the Age”) in 10:25 (+ the verb za/w in v. 28); 18:18, 30. In these episodes, a devout/religious person asks Jesus “What should I do to receive the lot of [i.e. inherit] (the) Life of the Age?”—that is, to inherit the divine/heavenly (eternal) life given to the righteous in the Age to Come (after the Judgment). In the first episode, Jesus elicits from the man the answer of the two-fold “Great Commandment” (Deut 6:5 + Lev 19:18), which came to be understood in early Christian terms as the so-called Love-command (Rom 13:8-10; Gal 5:14; James 2:8; cf. also John 13:34-35; 15:9-13; 1 Cor 12:31b-14:1a, etc). In the second episode, Jesus emphasizes the need to follow him, and, in the process, give up the worldly things valued in this life. The only other occurrence of zwh/ in something like the sense of “eternal life” is the saying in 12:15, and in a similar context—i.e., the “life” of a person does not come out of an abundance of (material) possessions.
The verb za/w also refers to “eternal life” in Lk 10:28; we may also note the traditional citation of Deut 8:3 in the Temptation scene: “it is not upon bread alone that man will live” (Lk 4:4)—i.e., one “lives” through the life-giving Word of God. The discourses of Jesus in John develop this idea, as we have seen, especially in the Bread of Life discourse of chapter 6 (and the key-verse of this series, 6:63). A similar idea is expressed in the Lukan version of the saying in 20:38: “But he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live in/by him”. The giving of new (spiritual) life to persons lost or “dead” in sin, so familiar in the Johannine discourses, also appears at the conclusion of the Prodigal Son parable: “…this brother of yours was dead and came alive (again), and had ruined [i.e. lost] (himself) and was found!” (15:32).
Of course, the verb is also used of the actual resurrection of Jesus, as in 24:5, 23; Acts 1:3; 25:19 (on the symbolic/spiritual idea of resurrection, cf. John 5:21-24ff; 11:21-27), and similarly of physical raising of persons from the dead in the book of Acts (9:41 etc).
An interesting use of the verb is in Acts 7:38, where Stephen, in his sermon-speech, refers to the words given by God to Moses as “living sayings/declarations” (lo/gia zw=nta), the idea being that words spoken by the living God are themselves living. The concept of God as the source of life is expressed twice by Paul in sermon-speeches, delivered in a non-Jewish (Greco-Roman) setting—of the one true living God (14:15), and cf. especially the famous philosophical formula cited in 17:28: “for in Him we live and move and have being [e)sme/n]”.
“Life” in the Pauline Letters and Theology
Paul uses the verb za/w (“live, have life”) frequently in his letters (more than 50 times in the undisputed letters). Sometimes it is meant in the ordinary sense of human life (and/or daily living), but quite often it denotes divine/eternal or spiritual Life.
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- God as “living”—the true God, Creator and source of all life, physical and spiritual (1 Thess 1:9; 2 Cor 3:3; 6:16; Rom 9:26; 14:11); cf. also Rom 12:1 for the image of believers as a “living sacrifice” to God
- Life/living in the sense of experiencing resurrection (whether physical or spiritual) through Jesus (1 Thess 5:10; 1 Cor 15:45; 2 Cor 5:15; 13:4; Rom 6:13; 14:9)
- The same resurrection motif is sometimes set in dualistic language of life vs. death, incorporating the important Pauline idea of believers’ participating—spiritually and symbolically—in the death and resurrection of Jesus (Gal 2:19-20; Rom 6:2, 10-11; 7:9)
- Similar instances where it is specifically emphasized that trust in Jesus leads to Life—Rom 1:17 (citing Hab 2:4); Gal 3:11-12 (faith/Law contrast), cf. also Rom 10:5
- Living by/in the Spirit (cf. below)—Gal 5:25; Rom 8:12-13 (Spirit/flesh contrast)
- Occasionally, Paul seems to play on the double meaning of being alive in this world (in the ordinary sense) and of believers being alive in Christ—e.g., 1 Thess 4:15; 2 Cor 4:11; 5:15; Rom 7:1-3, 9; 14:7-9; Gal 2:20; Phil 1:21-22; cf. also Col 2:20; 3:7, where the contrast is between living in the world and living in Christ.
Paul also makes use of the verb zwopoie/w (“make [a]live”)—7 of the 11 occurrences in the New Testament are found in his letters (cf. also John 5:21 [twice]; 6:63; 1 Pet 3:18):
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- Rom 4:17; 8:11—where the reference is specifically to the life-giving (and resurrection) power of God
- 1 Cor 15:22, 36, 45—the life-giving power of Jesus, specifically through his resurrection (on the last reference, cf. below)
- 2 Cor 3:6—the life-giving power of the Spirit (Spirit/Law [“Letter”] contrast), cf. also Gal 3:21
The noun zwh/ (“life”) is somewhat less common, occurring 28 times in the undisputed letters (with 9 more in Ephesians and the Pastorals). The specific expression “Life of the Age” (zwh/ ai)w/nio$) occurs five times—Rom 2:7; 5:21; 6:22-23; Gal 6:8 (cf. also 1 Tim 1:16; 6:12; Tit 1:2; 3:7)—usually in a strongly ethical context (but note the emphasis on the “favor” [xa/ri$] of God in Rom 5:21; 6:23).
The remaining Pauline passage which are particularly relevant may summarized as follows:
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- “Life” as the life-giving power of Christ (through his sacrificial death and resurrection)—Rom 5:10, 17-18, 21; 2 Cor 4:10-12; also 2 Tim 1:10
—on the (physical) resurrection, as a more concrete image, cf. Rom 11:15; 2 Cor 5:4 - The specific idea of new life for the believer, i.e. through the resurrection and the Spirit—Rom 6:4 (“newness of life”); 2 Cor 2:16
- The motif of Life being found “in Christ”—Rom 6:23; Col 3:3-4; also 2 Tim 1:1
- Life/death dualism, part of the contrast between faith/Law, Spirit/flesh, etc—Rom 7:10; 8:6, 10; 2 Cor 2:16; 4:11-12; Gal 6:8
- “Life” connected specifically with the Spirit—Rom 8:2 (“Spirit of Life”), 6, 10; Gal 6:8
- The Gospel as “Life”, i.e. leading to Life—Phil 2:16 (“word/account of Life”), cf. also 2 Cor 2:16, and 2 Tim 1:10
- “Life” as the life-giving power of Christ (through his sacrificial death and resurrection)—Rom 5:10, 17-18, 21; 2 Cor 4:10-12; also 2 Tim 1:10
“Life” in the other New Testament Writings
Before continuing on to look at the references to the Spirit in the Pauline letters, it is worth surveying briefly other occurrences of the noun zwh/ and verb za/w in the rest of the New Testament (excluding the Johannine letters and book of Revelation):
Hebrews
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- The basic idea of eternal life (in the sense of always living) is applied variously to the figure of Melchizedek (as a type/figure of Jesus) in 7:3, 8, 16, 25
- The figure of God as living (cf. above), along with his Word as living—3:12; 4:12; 9:14; 10:31; 12:22
- Of the sacrificial (priestly) work of Jesus, which leads to Life—10:20 (“living way”)
- One lives through trust in Jesus—10:38 (citing Hab 2:4, cf. above)
James
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- The expression “crown of life” as a motif for eternal Life (1:12)
1 Peter
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- Life through (the death and resurrection of) Jesus—1:3 (“living hope”); 2:24
- Participation/union of believers with Jesus, i.e. we are “living” as he is “living”—2:4-5
- The living (and life-giving) Word of God—1:23
- Life comes to believers through the favor [xa/ri$] of God—3:7 (“favor of life”)
- Believers live “in the Spirit”—3:18 (vb. zwopoie/w); 4:6