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Study 2: Who Has Immortality?

Immortality, Mortality, and Eternal Life in Scripture

Recall from Study 1 the difference between Explicit (the Bible directly says it) and Inference (someone concludes it from the Bible, but no verse states it). Keep that distinction in mind as you work through this study.

Section A: Who Possesses Immortality?

  1. Read 1 Timothy 6:15-16. Who does Paul say has immortality? Does he say "God and humans" or "God only"?

  2. Read 1 Timothy 1:17. What four attributes does Paul give to God? Which one relates to our study?

  3. Read Romans 1:23. Paul contrasts "the uncorruptible God" with "corruptible man." According to this verse, which word describes the human condition — corruptible or uncorruptible?

  4. Read 2 Timothy 1:10. What did Christ bring "to light through the gospel"? If immortality needed to be brought to light, was it already in human possession?

Section B: Is the Human Body Mortal or Immortal?

  1. Read Romans 6:12. What word does Paul use to describe the human body?

  2. Read Romans 8:11. What does Paul say God will do with believers' "mortal bodies"? Is this a present reality or a future promise?

  3. Read 2 Corinthians 4:11. What phrase does Paul use for human flesh?

  4. Read 2 Corinthians 5:4. What does Paul want to happen to "mortality"?

Section C: When Is Immortality Received?

  1. Read 1 Corinthians 15:53-54. What must "this mortal" put on? When does this happen — now, at death, or at the resurrection?

  2. Read 1 Corinthians 15:52. How does Paul describe the dead after they are raised?

  3. Read Luke 20:35-36. Those counted worthy of the resurrection "can die no more." What does this imply about their condition before the resurrection?

  4. Read Romans 2:7. Is immortality something humans already possess, or something they must seek?

Section D: Eternal Life — Gift or Possession?

  1. Read Romans 6:23. What is the "gift of God"? What is the alternative?

  2. Read 1 John 5:11-12. Where is eternal life located? What does the person who does not have the Son possess?

  3. Read John 3:16. What are the two possible outcomes presented? What is the alternative to everlasting life?

  4. Read John 3:36. What does the text say about the person who does not believe?

  5. Read Genesis 3:22-24. Why did God bar Adam from the tree of life? What would it have given him?

Explicit or Inference?

For each statement below, decide: Does the Bible explicitly say this, or is it an inference?

A. "God only hath immortality." - [ ] Explicit - [ ] Inference

B. "The human soul is inherently immortal." - [ ] Explicit - [ ] Inference

C. "This mortal must put on immortality." - [ ] Explicit - [ ] Inference

D. "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." - [ ] Explicit - [ ] Inference

E. "All humans are born with an immortal component that can never cease to exist." - [ ] Explicit - [ ] Inference