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The word life appears numerous times in the New Testament. But have you ever wondered what this word means? For instance, when Jesus said in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly,” what did He mean? Was He saying He would help us have a better life, or that He would enrich or improve our life?
The New Testament was originally written in Greek, a language richer than English in the diversity and complexity of its vocabulary. For example, there are three Greek words for life used in the New Testament: bios, psuche, and zoe. These words have different meanings, but they're all translated into English as life. So if we want to know which meaning life has in a particular verse, we need to know which Greek word is being used.
In this post, we'll explore the meaning of each of these three Greek words for life using verses and notes from the New Testament Recovery Version, with a special focus on zoe.
Let's see some examples where bios, psuche, and zoe appear in the New Testament.
1. Bios
The Greek word translated as life in Luke 8:14 is bios:
“And that which fell into the thorns, these are those who heard and, going away, are utterly choked by anxieties and riches and pleasures of this life, and do not bring any fruit to maturity.”
Bios here refers to the life of the physical body. The English word biology comes from bios.
2. Psuche
Now let’s come to Matthew 6:25. In this verse, the Greek word psuche is translated as life:
“Because of this, I say to you, Do not be anxious for your life, what you should eat or what you should drink; nor for your body, what you should put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than clothing?”
Note 1 on life says:
“Lit., soul. Referring to the soul-life, where the desire, the appetite, for food and clothing resides (Isa. 29:8).”
Psuche refers to the psychological life of the human soul, that is, the mind, emotion, and will. The English word psychology comes from psuche.
3. Zoe
The Greek word translated as life in John 1:4 is zoe:
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
Zoe refers to the uncreated, eternal life of God, the divine life.
[[Free Study Bible]]
Now, let’s take a closer look at zoe. First John 5:12 says:
“He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”
Here the Greek word zoe is translated life. Note 1 on this verse says:
“Because the life is in the Son (John 1:4) and the Son is the life (John 11:25; 14:6; Col. 3:4), the Son and the life are one, inseparable. Hence, he who has the Son has the life, and he who does not have the Son does not have the life.”
With the help of this verse and the note, we can see that zoe is the divine person of Christ. Christ was incarnated as the man Jesus, whom the apostles could see with their eyes and even handle with their hands. Zoe isn’t something indefinite; it’s the wonderful person of our dear Lord Jesus! If we have Him, we have zoe.
Now let’s revisit John 10:10, which was mentioned at the beginning of this post. Here the Greek word zoe is used for life. Let’s read it again, replacing life with zoe:
“I [Christ] have come that they may have zoe and may have itit abundantly.”
Christ as the eternal life came so we could have the eternal, divine life. This is vastly different from thinking Christ came so that we could have a better or improved human life. He came so we could have Him, the divine life.
By our physical birth, we possess only the physical life (bios) and the soulish life (psuche). No one has the divine life (zoe) when they're born. But when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we received Christ into us. We were born again with the divine life!
So now that we’ve received Christ, the divine life, our Christian life must be fully involved with Him. What Christ wants is for us to enjoy His life, live by His life, and let that life grow in us. Then the riches of His divine, eternal life will be expressed through us, and He will be manifested to the people all around us.
When we realize that God’s desire is for us to have His divine, eternal, life (zoe), and even have it abundantly, we’ll focus on Him enjoying Him in our spirit. We can do this by feeding on the riches in God's Word, spending time with Christ in prayer, and experiencing Him day by day. As we enjoy the eternal life we’ve received, that life will increase within us, and little by little, we’ll express Christ in our daily life.
Of course, every aspect of zoe can’t be covered in any blog post. But if you live in the US, you can order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version to read the verses, their references, and the accompanying commentary to receive more light.
Our Christian life is a life of faith, and the Bible says that as believers, we walk by faith, not by sight. But in our experience, especially when we encounter difficult circumstances, we often become discouraged and find it hard to put our trust in God. We try to believe, but sometimes it feels like we simply don't have enough faith.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us faith substantiates things we hope for and convinces us of things we can’t see. We all certainly want to experience this in our daily Christian walk, but how do we have this faith? How can we be strengthened in our faith, especially in the face of difficulty?
To answer these questions, let’s take a look at some key verses about faith.
Second Corinthians 4:13 says:
“Having the same spirit of faith according to that which is written, ‘I believed, therefore I spoke,’ we also believe, therefore we also speak.”
Note 2 on this verse in the New Testament Recovery Version explains what this spirit of faith is:
“The spirit of faith is the Holy Spirit mingled with our human spirit. We must exercise such a spirit to believe and to speak, like the psalmist, the things we have experienced of the Lord, especially His death and resurrection. Faith is in our spirit, which is mingled with the Holy Spirit, not in our mind. Doubts are in our mind. Here spirit indicates that it is by the mingled spirit that the apostles lived a crucified life in resurrection for the carrying out of their ministry.”
Faith is located in our human spirit. When we believed in Christ, we were regenerated; our spirit was enlivened and became a spirit of faith. Now, whenever our difficult situations cause us to experience doubts in our mind, we can and must exercise our spirit of faith to contact the Lord who is in our spirit. As a result, we will find faith in our spirit.
Day by day, we need to exercise our spirit of faith, but how do we do this?
The same verse also says, “I believed, therefore I spoke.” One of the best ways we can exercise our spirit of faith is to speak. But what should we say and to whom should we speak?
First, we can speak the Word of God to ourselves and to the Lord. The more we speak His Word, the more faith we have.
For instance, let’s say we read Matthew 28:20: “Behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age.” We can declare the facts in this verse, saying, “Thank You, Lord, You are with me all the days! Your Word says this! I believe Your Word.” As we speak the living and true Word of God, our spirit of faith is strengthened.
Second, we can also speak to others, telling them about Christ or sharing something we’ve enjoyed from His Word. When we preach the gospel to others, not only do they benefit, but so do we. In fact, as we speak, our own faith is fortified.
Faith first came to us when we heard the word of Christ. After our initial salvation, our faith continues to be strengthened as we read and speak the Word of God.
[[Free Study Bible]]
In Hebrews 12:2, we find another way to be strengthened in our faith:
“Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.”
What do we look away from? We need to look away from all the things in our lives that distract us from the Lord, including troubles and anxieties. Instead, we should look unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.
But how do we do this? Note 2 on "looking away" in the Recovery Version says:
"The wonderful Jesus, who is enthroned in heaven and crowned with glory and honor (2:9), is the greatest attraction in the universe. He is like an immense magnet, drawing all His seekers to Him. It is by being attracted by His charming beauty that we look away from all things other than Him. Without such a charming object, how could we look away from so many distracting things on this earth?"
As we look away from everything unto Jesus, He fills us with faith. Note 3 on this verse tells us how this happens:
“When we look unto Jesus, He as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) transfuses us with Himself, with His believing element. Then, spontaneously, a kind of believing arises in our being, and we have the faith to believe in Him. This faith is not of ourselves but of Him who imparts Himself as the believing element into us that He may believe for us. Hence, He Himself is our faith. We live by Him as our faith; i.e., we live by His faith (Gal. 2:20), not by our own.”
Some practical ways we can look unto Jesus are by praying, reading the Word of God, and singing. For instance, the chorus of a classic hymn says this:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
(You can read the rest of the lyrics and hear the tune here.)
When we exercise our spirit to turn our eyes upon Jesus, all of our troubles and anxieties fade away and we're strengthened in our faith to live the Christian life.
Usually, when we look at plants we focus on what's visible above ground. We admire a beautiful rose on a rose bush, the majesty of a redwood tree, or the fruitfulness of an apple tree.
But for any plant to grow and even thrive, it needs a healthy, extensive root system below ground. In the same way, developing a deep, spiritual “root system” in the Lord is critical for our growth as Christians.
In our Christian life, it’s easy to focus on the visible things: our behavior, church activities, and service to the Lord. But while it’s true that we should serve the Lord, these visible activities must issue from our hidden life with Him.
Concerning the believers in Jesus, the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 2:7:
“Having been rooted and being built up in Him, and being established in the faith even as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
Paul didn’t simply say, “We’re being built up in Christ.” He was very particular to say “having been rooted” in Christ first. Why?
Well, without a root system hidden in the soil, a plant simply can't grow. In the same way, our spiritual growth—or being built up in the Lord—is dependent on and issues from our hidden “root system” in the Lord.
Let’s read note 1 on this verse in the New Testament Recovery Version:
“Like plants, we are living organisms. As such, we have been rooted in Christ, our soil, our earth, that we may absorb all His riches as nourishment. These riches become the element and substance with which we grow and are built up. To be rooted is for the growth in life. This rooting has been completed already. To be built up is for the building of the Body of Christ. This is still going on. Both these matters are in Christ.”
Christ is the nutrient-rich soil we’ve been rooted in. Now, in order to grow in the Lord, we need to nurture our hidden root system so we can absorb the riches of Christ as our nourishment.
We certainly need to fellowship with other believers. But if we’re nourished only by what we get from others in the public realm, such as at church meetings, our growth will be limited. Having a private, hidden life with the Lord causes our roots in Him to develop and allows Him to nourish us personally.
A healthy spiritual root system also anchors us in the Lord. Trees with deep roots are not easily blown over when a strong wind comes. In the same way, if our roots in the Lord are deep, we can stand firm despite the winds of trouble blowing around us. Then we can draw on Him as our rich supply in every situation, no matter how difficult.
And by maintaining our private fellowship with the Lord, we’ll spontaneously live a life that pleases Him. If we spend time absorbing His riches, we’ll be able to help other believers by sharing with them the Christ we’ve enjoyed and personally experienced.
In chapter 3 of Basic Elements of the Christian Life, vol. 2, Watchman Nee points out our need for a hidden, secret life with the Lord, quoting Psalms 42:7: “Deep calls unto deep.” He then speaks of the effect this kind of life has on others:
“As we extend ourselves deeper and take root downward, we will discover that ‘deep calls deep.’ When we can bring forth riches from the depths of our inner life, we will find that other lives will be deeply affected. The minute our inner being is touched, others will receive help and be enlightened. They will know that there is something beyond their knowledge. When deep touches deep, deep will respond to deep. If our life has no depth, our superficial work will only affect other life superficially. We repeat yet again—only ‘deep calls unto deep.’”
[[Free Study Bible]]
When the Lord Jesus lived on the earth, He had a hidden life with God. The four Gospels tell us about the many wonderful things Jesus did in the Father’s name. He proclaimed the gospel, taught the truth, healed the sick, cleansed lepers, gave sight to the blind, fed the hungry, and much more.
All of His marvelous deeds certainly attract our attention. But the Gospels also tell us that again and again, Jesus withdrew from the crowds and went away to pray to the Father in private. Luke 5:16 even says:
“But He Himself often withdrew in the wilderness and prayed.”
To ensure that He could pray privately, Jesus would go to the wilderness or some other deserted place. Mark 1:35 says:
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still night, He went out and went away to a deserted place, and there He prayed.”
Why did Jesus do this? Note 1 on this verse in the Recovery Version explains:
“To fellowship with God, seeking God’s will and pleasure for His gospel service. The Slave-Savior performed the evangelistic service not by Himself, independent of God and according to His own will, but according to God’s will and pleasure by being one with God to fulfill His purpose.”
The Lord didn’t assume He knew what to do. In private prayer, He deliberately sought God’s will so that in His service He would be one with God.
We may not live near a desert, but we can follow the Lord’s example by spending personal, private time with Him away from others. During that time, He can supply and nourish us and make His will known to us.
So how can we develop and nurture a healthy spiritual root system, that is, a hidden life, with the Lord? We can start with these three things:
In Matthew 6:6 the Lord Jesus said, “But you, when you pray, enter into your private room, and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” Developing a secret prayer life with our Father who is in secret strengthens our spiritual roots. During these private times of prayer, we can pour our hearts out to our Father. We can confess our sins, invite Him into our situations, pray for people we know, and talk to Him about anything.
In Matthew 4:4, Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.” This shows us that we live by taking in the Word of God as our daily bread. Enjoying God’s Word daily strengthens us to withstand the devil’s temptations and to live by the life of God to express Him.
Before we get too busy with our day, we can absorb the Lord as our nourishment by praying with His Word each morning. Combining these two—praying and reading the Bible—supplies us to face whatever the rest of the day will bring.
To read more about our need to have a hidden life in the Lord, we highly recommend reading chapter 3, “Deep Calls Unto Deep” in Basic Elements of the Christian Life, vol 2. You can download this e-book for free from anywhere in the world here.
