Bible Verses About Life
Introduction
Life in the biblical sense is far more than the biological existence that begins at birth and ends at death. The Hebrew nephesh and the Greek zoe together describe a comprehensive reality: the life that is the gift of the God who breathed into the nostrils of the first human the breath of life (Genesis 2:7), the life that is sustained by the word of God (Deuteronomy 8:3), and the life that reaches its fullness in the eternal life that Jesus describes as knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent (John 17:3). The Bible's concern with life is not only the concern with the biological existence but the concern with the flourishing of the whole person in the relationship with the God who is the source and sustainer of the life.
The Old Testament's most concentrated statement of the biblical vision of life is Deuteronomy 30:19-20: I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life. The LORD is your life is the specific theological statement: the life is not the independent possession of the person who has achieved the right conditions for it but the gift of the God who is the life. The choosing of life is the choosing of the relationship with the God who is the life rather than the accumulation of the biological existence.
The New Testament deepens and extends this vision in the person of Jesus, who announces himself as the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6) and as the one who has come that they may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10). The life to the full is the zoe that exceeds the biological existence: the abundance of the life that Jesus brings is not the accumulation of the favorable circumstances but the specific quality of the life that is lived in the relationship with the God who is the source of the life. The eternal life is not the endless extension of the biological existence but the specific quality of the knowing relationship with God that Jesus makes possible.
These verses speak to anyone who needs the full biblical picture of life rather than the reduced version that identifies it with the biological existence alone, anyone whose faith needs to be grounded more specifically in the life that Jesus came to bring in its fullness, and anyone who is asking the deepest questions about what the life is for and where it is going.
What the Bible Means When It Talks About Life
The Hebrew word nephesh describes the living being: not the soul as the separate spiritual component distinct from the body but the whole person as the living being. The Genesis 2:7's God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living nephesh is the holistic statement: the whole person is the living being rather than the spiritual soul inhabiting the physical body. The Hebrew word chay describes the life or the living: the specific vitality of the living being.
The Greek word zoe describes the life of the New Testament: the full, abundant, divine life that Jesus brings rather than the mere biological existence. The Greek word bios describes the biological life: the specific natural existence that the zoe exceeds. The Greek word psuche describes the soul or the self: the whole person in their living existence. The distinction between the zoe and the bios is the specific New Testament distinction between the life that Jesus brings and the natural existence that every person has by birth.
Bible Verses About God as the Source of Life
Genesis 2:7 — ("Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.")
The breathed into his nostrils the breath of life is the specific statement of the divine origin of the human life: the life is not the spontaneous emergence of the biological material but the specific gift of the God who breathes the life into the formed person. The man became a living being is the holistic statement: the whole person is the living being rather than the spiritual soul inhabiting the physical body. The life is the gift of the breath of God: the human life is always and essentially the life that the God who breathed it sustains.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 — ("This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life.")
The LORD is your life is the most compressed statement of the relationship between the life and the God who is the source: the life is not the independent possession of the person but the God who is the life. The choose life establishes the specific act: the life is the choice of the relationship with the God who is the life rather than the accumulation of the biological conditions. The love the LORD your God and listen to his voice and hold fast to him are the specific content of the choice of life: the life is the relationship rather than the possession.
John 1:4 — ("In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.")
The in him was life and that life was the light of all mankind is the specific statement of the relationship between the eternal Word and the life: the life is in the Word who was with God and was God, and the life is the light that the darkness cannot overcome. The light of all mankind is the universal scope: the life that is in the Word is the life that illuminates every human being rather than only the covenant community. The in him establishes the location: the life is in the person of the Word rather than distributed across the creation independently of the source.
Bible Verses About the Life That Jesus Brings
John 10:10 — ("The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.")
The I have come that they may have life and have it to the full is the specific statement of the mission of Jesus in relation to the life: the coming of Jesus is the coming of the one who brings the full life rather than the reduced version. The to the full is the specific character: the life that Jesus brings is the abundant life that exceeds the mere biological existence. The contrast with the thief who comes to steal and kill and destroy establishes the specific alternative: the life to the full is the alternative to the life that the thief diminishes and destroys.
John 14:6 — ("Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'")
The I am the way and the truth and the life is the specific identification of Jesus with the life: not the teacher of the way to the life but the way and the life itself. The no one comes to the Father except through me establishes the relational character: the life is the life of the relationship with the Father that is accessed through the specific person of Jesus. The life is not the abstract spiritual quality but the specific relationship that Jesus makes possible through himself.
John 11:25-26 — ("Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?'")
The I am the resurrection and the life is the specific identification of Jesus with both the resurrection and the life: the one who speaks to Martha at the tomb of Lazarus is the one who is the resurrection and the life rather than the one who will someday bring the resurrection and the life. The will live even though they die establishes the scope: the life that Jesus brings is the life that death cannot end. The do you believe this is the specific personal question: the life that Jesus is is not the abstract theological statement but the personal claim that requires the personal response.
Bible Verses About the Eternal Life
John 3:16 — ("For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.")
The shall not perish but have eternal life is the specific promise: the eternal life is the alternative to the perishing rather than the extension of the biological existence. The whoever believes establishes the universal scope and the specific condition: the eternal life is the gift to the person who believes rather than the achievement of the person who has accumulated the sufficient righteousness. The God so loved the world establishes the origin: the eternal life is the gift of the love of God rather than the reward of the sufficient person.
John 17:3 — ("Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.")
The eternal life defined as knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ is the specific relational definition: the eternal life is not the endless extension of the biological existence but the specific quality of the knowing relationship with the Father and the Son. The knowing is the yada knowing of the intimate relationship: the eternal life is the life of the person who is in the knowing relationship with God rather than the person who has accumulated the theological information about God. The eternal life begins in the present knowing rather than starting at the biological death.
Bible Verses About Choosing Life
Proverbs 4:23 — ("Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you flows from it.")
The guard your heart for everything flows from it is the specific statement of the relationship between the inner life and the outer life: the life that is worth living flows from the heart that is guarded. The above all else establishes the priority: the guarding of the heart is the most important practice of the person who wants the life to be what it is meant to be. The everything flows from it is the comprehensive statement: the choices and the relationships and the words and the actions all flow from the condition of the heart.
Psalm 16:11 — ("You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.")
The path of life and the fill me with joy in your presence and the eternal pleasures at your right hand are the three images of the life that God makes known: the path, the joy, and the pleasures are the comprehensive description of the life that the God who is the source of the life provides. The you make known establishes the direction: the path of the life is made known by the God who is the life rather than discovered by the person who is searching independently of the God who is the source.
Deuteronomy 8:3 — ("He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.")
The man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God is the specific statement of the comprehensive source of the life: the biological sustenance of the bread is not the complete account of the life. The word that comes from the mouth of God is the specific sustainer of the life that exceeds the biological: the life is sustained by the word of the God who is the source of the life. Jesus quotes this verse in the temptation (Matthew 4:4): the word of God is the specific sustenance of the life in the moment when the biological need is the most pressing.
Bible Verses About Life in the Spirit
Romans 8:6 — ("The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.")
The mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace is the specific statement of the relationship between the Spirit and the life: the life that the Spirit produces is not the mere biological existence but the specific quality of the life that corresponds to the peace that the Spirit brings. The contrast with the mind governed by the flesh that is death establishes the specific alternative: the flesh-governed mind is the death that has not yet ended the biological existence, and the Spirit-governed mind is the life that has already begun the eternal existence.
Galatians 2:20 — ("I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.")
The I no longer live but Christ lives in me and the life I now live in the body I live by faith is the specific statement of the life in Christ: the life that Paul now lives is not the independent life of the person who has accumulated the sufficient righteousness but the life of the person in whom Christ lives and through whom Christ is living. The by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me is the specific ground: the life is lived by the faith that receives the love of the one who gave himself.
A Simple Way to Pray These Verses
Life is most honestly prayed from the honest acknowledgment of both the life that has been received and the places where the full life that Jesus came to bring is not yet being experienced.
John 10:10 — ("I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.") Response: "You came for the full life. Not the reduced version. Not the managing of the existence but the abundance of the life that you came to bring. Show me where I am settling for less than the full life you came to give. Let me receive the abundance rather than the reduction."
Deuteronomy 30:20 — ("For the LORD is your life.") Response: "You are my life. Not the means to the life or the source of the life from a distance but the life itself. Let me live from the God who is my life rather than from the circumstances that I have been treating as the source of what only you can give."
John 17:3 — ("This is eternal life: that they know you.") Response: "The eternal life is the knowing. Not the information about you but the knowing of you. Let the knowing be the specific pursuit: the knowing of the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Let the eternal life be present in the knowing that is happening now."
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Bible say about life? The Bible presents life as the comprehensive gift of the God who is the source and sustainer of the life rather than the mere biological existence that begins at birth and ends at death. Genesis 2:7's God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life establishes the divine origin. Deuteronomy 30:20's the LORD is your life establishes the relational character. John 10:10's I have come that they may have life and have it to the full establishes the mission of Jesus in relation to the life. John 17:3's eternal life defined as knowing the only true God establishes the destination. And Romans 8:6's the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace establishes the specific quality of the life that the Spirit produces.
What is the difference between life and eternal life? The distinction in the New Testament is the distinction between the bios, the biological existence that every person has by birth, and the zoe, the full and abundant divine life that Jesus brings. The eternal life is not the endless extension of the biological existence but the specific quality of the knowing relationship with God that Jesus makes possible (John 17:3). The John 3:16's shall not perish but have eternal life establishes that the eternal life is the alternative to the perishing rather than the biological life extended indefinitely. The eternal life begins in the present knowing of God rather than starting at the biological death.
What does it mean that Jesus came to give life to the full? The John 10:10's I have come that they may have life and have it to the full is the specific statement of the mission of Jesus in relation to the abundance of the life: the life to the full is the zoe that exceeds the mere biological existence and the managing of the circumstances. The full life is not the life of the favorable circumstances but the life of the person who is in the relationship with the God who is the source of the life. The contrast with the thief who steals and kills and destroys establishes the specific alternative: the life to the full is the specific gift of the one who came for the full life rather than the diminishment that the thief brings.
How does the Bible describe the relationship between life and death? The Deuteronomy 30:19's I have set before you life and death establishes the specific choice: the life and the death are not simply the biological beginning and ending but the comprehensive alternatives of the relationship with God and the rejection of it. The Romans 8:6's mind governed by the flesh is death and the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace establishes that the death and the life are present realities in the present biological existence: the person who is biologically alive can be living in the death of the flesh-governed mind, and the person who has died biologically is alive in the Spirit-governed life. The John 11:25's will live even though they die establishes the specific reversal: the biological death is not the end of the life that Jesus brings.
What does the Bible say about the value of human life? The Genesis 1:26-27's made in the image of God establishes the foundational statement of the value of every human life: the imago Dei is the specific ground on which the value of the human life is based rather than the achievement or the utility of the person. The Psalm 139:13-14's I am fearfully and wonderfully made establishes the specific dignity of the individual life: the knitting together in the womb is the specific act of the God who knows the person before the person is known to themselves. And the John 3:16's God so loved the world that he gave his only Son establishes the measure of the divine valuation of the human life: the giving of the Son is the specific act of the love that establishes the infinite value of the life that the Son came to redeem.
