Life

In scripture, the word “life” is mentioned over 400 times. Here are the three basic types of life:

1. Bios = Biology is the study of life. The bios life in scripture is the life of a human being. From the moment we are born until the moment we physically die, this bios life is in the blood.
2. Psyche = This is the soul life. It can also be stated as the “self” life. This is soulish or psyche part of your inward man and is differentiated from your physical body and is not dissolved by physical death.
3. Zoe = This is the uncreated divine life of God. This type of life never had a beginning and never has an end. This type of life is not “given” to us as a thing, but rather “bestowed” to us through Christ Jesus since He is our life. (Col 3:4)

Every living thing in the universe is sustained by some sort of life. Plants and animals, for instance, are sustained by plant life and animal life. We as a human beings, are sustained by bios life. Unfortunately, our bios life has a death sentence on it because of judgment rendered after the fall. The bios life of a human needs flesh and blood to live and move and have its being and the psyche life or zoe life does not.

When we’re conceived in our mother’s womb, we possess both the bios life and the psyche life, but we don’t have zoe life. Only when a person believes in Jesus Christ, will that person have God’s life (zoe) via the Holy Spirit.

In scripture, there are adjectives that are sometimes in front of the word “life”. For instance, when you find the words “eternal” and “everlasting” preceding the word “life”, it has a slightly different meaning. For this reason, the terms eternal life and everlasting life are also available.