I wrote about this subject back in 2020. I did not provide a lot of Scripture, though; I just pointed out the kind of differences there were. In this post, I want to list some of the Scriptures that show that …

1. John is the only New Testament writer who says we have eternal life now; the others treat eternal life as a reward at the final judgment.
2. John uses the Greek present tense, which indicates ongoing action, so much that I have to conclude that John’s emphasis is on the state of the believer right now, today, not in the past or future.
3. John’s in the only Gospel in which Jesus indicates throughout that he is the Christ. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus hides the fact that he is the Christ until the last week of his life. 

I will not cover #3 in this post because it is covered in my 2020 post. I wound up covering points #1 and #2 together because point #2 is the explanation of point #1. They fell into place together nicely.

These are big, and important, differences, so let my tell you my purpose in bringing them up. If we realize the differences, we can understand them and see how John’s underlying beliefs are the same as the other NT writers. If we ignore them, we can ending up conflating John and Paul’s writing styles and grossly misinterpret Paul, which has indeed happened to the majority of Christians in the United States. It has made us followers of Reformation tradition rather than the apostles’ tradition, which was once for all delivered to the saints, and for which we should be contending (Jude 1:3).

I don’t fault the Reformers for this. The Roman Catholic Church had not just lost the faith, but had abandoned it for governmental power and idolatry by the time the Reformers came on the scene. They almost had to start from scratch, and it is easy to miss the fact that there are differences between the various NT writers.

John Unique Use of Eternal Life and the Present Tense

I’m sure you already know that John teaches that we have eternal life now. We all know John 3:16 and “God so loved the world that he sent his Son so that whoever is believing in him will … be having eternal life.” Even more direct is John 6:47, “He who is believing in me is having eternal life.”

There are many more such verses, and in all of them, “believing” and “having” are in the present tense, indicating ongoing action. I am convinced that John is indicating that what you’re doing now should keep going into the future. What is true in you now is what is true of you always. Thus, he writes, “They went out from us, and it was proof that they were never of us.” How you are now is how you always are.

That can seem bizarre to me, and I suspect to a lot of you. In Matthew 25:12, for example, the groom tells the 5 foolish virgins that he never knew them. It doesn’t seem possible that he never knew them because they were with the 5 wise virgins waiting for him. In the same way, he will tell people who cast out demons and did mighty works in his name, but who lived in iniquity, that he never knew them (Matt. 7:22-23).

The explanation is simple, though. Jesus doesn’t just want to know we exist, he wants to get to know us as his friends, children, and brothers.

This idea is expressed twice in Ezekiel where God says:

When I tell the righteous that he will surely live; if he trusts in his righteousness, and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but he will die in his iniquity that he has committed. Again, when I say to the wicked, “You will surely die;” if he turns from his sin, and does that which is lawful and right; … he will surely live. He will not die. None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done that which is lawful and right. He will surely live. (Ezek. 33:13-16; cf. Ezek. 18:21-24)

God does not just say that if you return to an iniquitous life, your previous righteousness won’t save you. He says it will be forgotten! In the same way, if you repent of a wicked life, your wicked deeds will be forgotten.

This is the idea John expresses in his Gospel and letters. For example, in 1 John 3:15, John writes:

The one hating his brother is being a murderer, and you have known that no murderer is having eternal life in him.

“Hating,” “being,” and “having” are all in the Greek present tense. The idea is that if hating is happening in your life towards a brother, you are being a murderer. 

It is very possible that John is focusing on what we are right now, not because of Ezekiel 18 and 33, but because of the gnostics. Historically, there is no doubt that both John’s Gospel and his letters are meant to refute the gnostics that were thriving in Asia Minor, where John lived in the last years of his life. His disciple Ignatius, too, wrote letters to the churches around Asia Minor in either AD 107 or 116. Those letters directly address the gnostics in his refutation of them.

John wanted to root them out, and the best way was to point out that their immoral lifestyle marked them as not being followers of the real Christ. Basically, he was saying, “I want you true believers, who are giving yourselves to obeying Jesus, know that you have eternal life, but don’t let those evil gnostics pretend they have eternal life. You can tell the real from the fake by whether they live righteously or wickedly” (1 Jn. 3:7–12; 5:13).

Whatever the reason, the other New Testament writers do not write the same way. For all of them, we have the life of Jesus in us now, but we will not have eternal life until the judgment.

Matthew’s Use of “Eternal Life”

In Matthew 19:16-29, a young man comes to Jesus asking how he can “have” eternal life (v. 16). Jesus tells him to keep the commandments (v. 17). The young man asks which ones, Jesus gives him several commandments, and the young man says he’s kept them (vv. 18-20). So Jesus tells him that if “he wants to be perfect,” he should sell all his goods and give the money to the poor. The man left sad (vv. 21-22).

Jesus then explains to the disciples that only God can get a rich man into the kingdom of heaven. This prompts Peter to ask what the apostles will receive for forsaking everything. Jesus tells them “in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory,” they will have 100 times what they’ve given up, plus eternal life.

Matthew 25:46 is even more direct. It is the end of the Judgment of the Sheep and the Goats, and Jesus sends the wicked into everlasting punishment and the righteous into life eternal.

Mark’s Use of “Eternal Life”

Mark 10:17-30 tells the same story as Matthew 19:16-29 with the same use of “eternal life.” It’s the only use of “eternal life” in Mark.

Luke‘s Use of “Eternal Life”

In Luke 10:25-30, Luke tells a story very similar to the one that is in Matthew and Mark, but it’s about a “lawyer.” Jesus tells him to keep the 2 greatest commandments, the lawyer asks who his neighbor is, and Jesus answers with the story  of the good Samaritan. Jesus did not say anything about eternal life, but the lawyer did ask how to “inherit” eternal life. “Inherit” implies that eternal life would be an afterlife reward.

In Luke 18:18-30, Luke repeats the story that was in Matthew and Mark, and Jesus tells the apostles that they will receive eternal life in the age to come.

Acts (also written by Luke)

The reaction of the Jews and Gentiles to Paul’s Acts 13 sermon is the only use of “eternal life” in Acts. It is used in verses 46 and 48. Both uses can be understood either as a reward at the judgment or as a current possession. However, since it is Luke who wrote Acts, he meant “eternal life” they way Jesus used the term in his Gospel.

Paul‘s Use of “Eternal Life”

Romans 2:6-7 – “[God] “will pay back to everyone according to their works; to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life.”

I really cannot quote Romans 2:6-7 without saying that those prefer to get their traditions from the Reformers rather than the apostles typically do not believe it.

Romans 5:20-21 – “ The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly; that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

I would argue that this use of “eternal life” could be understood both ways. (If you disagree, feel free to argue for your position in the comments.)

Romans 6:22-23 – “But now, being made free from sin and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification and the result of eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:22-23 is interesting. Verse 22 is a prefect match for Romans 2:6. Not only is “eternal life” clearly a reward at the judgment, but it is a reward for serving God, which produces the fruit of holiness. Verse 23, however, calls “eternal life” a gift. 

Roughly 1,600 years ago, John Chrysostom gave an explanation for these two verses that I love, love, love. He points out that although Paul can call death the “wages” of sin, eternal life cannot be the “wages” of righteousness because every part of righteousness is a gift already. We cannot get wages for God creating us in Christ Jesus to do good works (Eph. 2:10), which allows us to live in joy. We cannot call it wages that God gives us eternal life for basking in the beauty of holiness and the fullness of joy that is in God’s presence.

Galatians 6:7-9 – “Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let’s not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up.”

Once again, Paul used “eternal life” as the fruit of sowing to the Spirit. Those who sow to the flesh will reap corruption instead. It’s good not to miss that Paul ties “not growing weary in doing good” to the reaping of eternal life. This is a verification of Romans 2:6-7, although Romans 2:6-7 leaves out the fact that God gives believers the Holy Spirit so that we can be those who patiently continue to do good.

1 Timothy 1:16 – “However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life.”

This verse, too, could be interpreted either way.

1 Timothy 6:12 – “Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you confessed the good confession in the sight of many witnesses.”

If “eternal life” is future for Timothy, who we know is a Christian, then again Paul is talking about eternal life as a reward at the judgment rather than a current possession of the Christian.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 – “Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be arrogant, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to share; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life.”

Here good works are laid up in store for the rich so that they may lay hold of eternal life. This is a good time to point out that riches ought to scare us. Jesus said that treasures on earth can bring our heart down to earth, away from treasures we stored in heaven (Matt. 6). In the story that Matthew, Mark, and Luke repeated, Jesus says it is harder for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, basically so impossible that only our miraculous Father can make it happen.

Okay, let’s move on.

“Titus 1:1-2 – Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s chosen ones, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who can’t lie, promised before time began.”

I could argue that Titus 1:2 refers to eternal life as a future reward because of the use of “hope,” but it’s unnecessary at this point. We have seen that all the clear references to eternal life in Paul’s letters are as a future reward. 

Titus 3:7 – “… that being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Once again, we see that in Paul’s letter to Titus, eternal life is a hope, not a current possession. That is the last use of eternal life in his letters.

Jude‘s Use of “Eternal Life”

Jude 1:21 – “Keep yourselves in God’s love, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.”

For Jude as well, eternal life is a future hope be obtained by remaining in God’s love.

Reconciling John and the Other New Testament Writers

As I pointed out when I was covering John’s Gospel and letters above, one of the main reasons for John’s focus on “now” is because he was refuting the gnostics and warning his flock that Christians must live like followers of Christ. A “gospel” that does not call for obedience is not truth (cf. Romans 1:5; Acts 26:20), and a “gospel” that does not produce obedience to God is not good news.

“Gospel” means “good news,” and the Greek word was usually used in regard to the announcement of a new king. Our Gospel is that Jesus Christ is the new King. He is the King over every king. In fact, he is the King over spiritual principalities, spiritual powers, and over “spiritual wickedness in heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20-22; 6:12). God is putting everything under his feet (1 Cor. 15:25-27).

Being saved by that King, Jesus, is powerful and changes your life. Paul said he was going around producing obedience to the faith (Rom. 1:5). A “gospel” that does not call for and produce obedience is not the Gospel of power (Rom. 1:16) that the apostles proclaimed. Paul’s Gospel produced righteousness from person to person as each person believed (Rom. 1:17). That is why he never backed down when Jews or Judaizers challenged his Gospel. His teaching produced righteous people; theirs didn’t. 

That said, there are two key passages we should know that explain John’s use of eternal life versus the other NT writers:

John 5:27-29 – “[The Father] also gave [the Son] authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man [human]. Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice, and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.”

1 John 5:11-12 – “The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life.”

John 5:27-29 reminds us that John’s theology is not different than that of the other NT writers. He knows that on the last day, God will judge between those who have done good and those who have done evil. Life will be rewarded only to the good.

1 John 5:11-12 lets us know that we only have eternal life now because Jesus is inside of us. His life is eternal life. If he is in us, then of course eternal life is in us. For John, “eternal” describes the life itself, not our possession of it.

Thus, here is a critical area where we must understand the difference between John and the other NT writers. I have personally been guilty of claiming all of the NT writers were using eternal life like John. “Eternal” describes the life not our possession of it. We don’t have life eternally while on earth; we have life that is eternal in and of itself currently on earth.

That thought, of course, is pertinent to every discussion on eternal security. The “once saved, always saved” side says it’s impossible to lose eternal life because you have it eternally, and the “you can lose your salvation side” says that your possession of that life is not eternal.

Neither is exactly correct. 

For John, the life is eternal in itself, not your possession of it. The other NT writers, however, treat eternal life as a reward at the judgment. At that time, it is true that even your possession of eternal life is eternal. Immortality, which currently belongs to God alone, will be rewarded to the righteous at the judgment (Rom. 2:6-7). 

John does not disagree with this. We have eternal life now because Jesus’ life is in us. 1 John 1:1-2 gives us a good picture of  this:

“That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life (and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us).”

This passage, beginning John’s letter, and 1 John 5:11-12, near the end of the letter, explain John’s perspective on eternal life. Jesus is eternal life, and the apostles had seen him and touched him, and now they were out talking about the eternal life that was with the Father and came down to earth to dwell with humans.

This is a delightful perspective, and John uniquely gives that to us.

Do not be deceived, however, only those who are actually doing righteous have the Son in them, have eternal life, and are righteous as Jesus is righteous (1 Jn. 3:7). I did not add “do not be deceived.” It is John who told us in 1 John 3:7 not to let anyone deceive us about this.

The other NT writers don’t refer to the life of Jesus as eternal. They only refer to eternal life as eternal once we have it eternally. Until then, they just say “life,” but their emphasis on that life is every bit as strong as John’s. 

Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.”

As always, I hope that makes the Bible clearer for you.