"Eternal Life #1" by Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor, vol. 6,
circa 1916.

Among the doctrines which come before the student of Scripture in his
search into its teaching regarding human destiny, is that of eternal or
everlasting life.  In order to avoid the traditional interpretation,
and also to keep out of sight any ideas of our own, we shall
transliterate the word translated "Eternal," and call it aionion
throughout this enquiry.  Our present quest is to discover as far as
possible all that Scripture says regarding aionion life, to whom it is
given, upon what basis, whether it is exclusively proffered to faith,
or to works, or to both; whether it is a present possession, or a
future one; whether it has to do with the final or a transition state,
and anything further that may be learned by a careful and prayerful
study.

The first occurrence of the words aionion life is in Matt. xix.16,
"Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have aionion life."
 It will be observed that "doing good" is directly associated with
"having aionion life." The Lord, it is true, corrects the error
contained in the loose usage of the word "good," but does not correct
the idea that good works, or keeping the commandments, were necessary
for the attainment of this life, for He said:-

"If thou wilt enter into the life (the article seems to indicate the
life under consideration, namely, aionion life), KEEP THE
COMMANDMENTS."

Reading further, we find the Lord speaking of "being perfect," and of
telling the young man to go and sell all that he had and give to the
poor, to follow the Lord, and that he would have "treasure in heaven." 
We know how the young man failed.  Although he had "kept from his youth
up" all the commandments, yet he did not reach the standard necessary
for "aionion life," or "for treasure in heaven."

One cannot help comparing these two expressions together, and asking
whether they both refer to the same thing.  In verses 27-29 Peter asks
a question arising out of the failure of the young man, and is
answered, and there again a twofold description is given of the result
of "forsaking all and following." To the disciples the Lord held out
the prospect of sitting upon twelve thrones in the regeneration, and
supplements that by a promise to "every one that hath forsaken...,"
that they "shall receive an hundred-fold, and shall inherit aionion
life."  Here, in place of "treasure in heaven," is found "sitting on
thrones" and "receiving a hundred-fold."  We must also bear in mind
that the Lord did not say that a rich man could not enter into the
kingdom of heaven, but that he would only enter with great difficulty.

It will be observed that the Lord uses the word "inherit" with aionion
life. He never misused words, and it will be our wisdom to keep this
idea of an inheritance before us as we continue our study.  Mark and
Luke record the incident of the rich young man, and in their Gospels
the word "inherit" is used by the young man himself.  Readers must not
think this to be a discrepancy.  The young man in all probability spoke
Aramaic, and the Holy Spirit has given us in the translation two Greek
words, "to have" and "to inherit," to help us to understand the meaning
of the term.  Mark's record clarifies our conception somewhat as may be
seen by the following slight variation from Matthew's record, Mark
x.17-31, "what shall I do that I *may inherit* aionion life?"

We have heard it said that the young man was very wrong to have boasted
that he had "kept all these things from his youth up," yet Mark tells
us that when the young man had made this statement, "Jesus beholding
him, loved him, and said, One thing thou lackest, etc."

Yet one other item is explained by Mark and Luke.  Matt. xix.29 leaves
us with no settled knowledge as to when the "hundredfold" should be
received.  The record in Mark is very explicit, "he shall receive a
hundred-fold *now* in this time,...and *in the coming age* life
aionion."  So also in Luke xviii.30. Luke records two occasions when
the Lord was definitely asked the way to obtain aionion life.  In
chapter xviii. we read of the rich young ruler as in Matthew and in
Mark, and in Luke x.25-28 a certain lawyer asks the question tempting
Him, but to him also it was shown that inheriting aionion life is
linked with doing the commandments.

Many have felt how diametrically opposed to the way of justification
and life these passages are to the doctrine revealed through Paul, and,
failing to discern the things that differ, they have attempted to make
the Lord teach the rich young ruler that aionion life was to be
attained only by faith and not by works.  In no other branch of study
would such biassed reading be tolerated. Nothing is clearer than that
aionion life was connected with doing, keeping, forsaking, and
following.  Matthew, writing with the kingdom of the heavens before
him, uses aionion life with special reference to that period.  The Lord
Himself links it with the kingdom and the regeneration, and the time
when He shall sit upon the throne of His glory.  Once again, and only
once, He refers to that throne, and it is there we find the next and
last reference in Matthew to aionion life.  Matt. xxv.31,32, "He shall
sit upon (the) throne of His glory and before Him shall be gathered all
the nations."  The nations are divided into two sections, the one
section hear the words, "Come ye blessed of My Father, INHERIT the
kingdom prepared for you since the overthrow of the world...the
righteous into life aionion."  Here it will be seen that these nations
"inherit a kingdom," are "righteous," and enter into "aionion life."
What is the basis of the entry?  We unhesitatingly say, with the
scripture before us, works!  This is the Lord's own explanation. "FOR I
was an hungered...thirsty... Then shall the RIGHTEOUS answer Him
saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered...... thirsty, etc. ?"  They
had done it unto His brethren, and were not conscious that it was
received by the Lord as being rendered unto Himself.  This therefore
rules out the idea often read into the passage that it was an act of
faith; faith does not enter into the passage. The rest of the nations
are addressed as "Ye cursed," and while the righteous inherit the
prepared kingdom, they enter the prepared fire, "aionion fire prepared
for the devil and his angels."  "These shall go away into aionion
punishment."

The basis for this punishment is the exact negation of the kind deeds
shown by the righteous.  This is the Lord's own explanation.  "FOR I
was an hungered...thirsty... Then shall they also answer Him, saying,
Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered...thirsty, etc."

The way in which the Lord deals with these two classes shows how
exactly He will keep to the law, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself."  Failure to observe this cost these nations the kingdom and
aionion life.  Instead, they received aionion punishment in aionion
fire.  The relation which is observed between the subject of aionion
life and the set of parables under consideration in other articles is
important.

The parable which precedes the first reference to aionion life in
Matthew is the parable of the wicked unforgiving servant.  He is
delivered to the tormentors (same root as the word used so often in the
Revelation), till he should pay all that was due.  This is parallel
with the passage in Matthew v.26, "Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt
by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost
farthing."  The parable which immediately follows Matt. xix., and which
commences with the word "For," is the parable of the householder and
vineyard where the penny a day seems to be in the parable what the
aionion life is in the plain statement of xix.29.

The parable that immediately precedes the last reference to aionion
life in Matthew is the parable of the faithful and unprofitable
servants.  The faithful enters into the joy of his Lord, the
unprofitable servant is cast into outer darkness, where there is
weeping and gnashing of teeth.  All these parables have service or
manner of life before them, with their consequent rewards and
punishments.  It is so with regard to the way in which aionion life,
punishment, and fire are used in Matthew.

There are many who do not hesitate to affirm that the aionion fire of
Matt. xxv. is the second death of Rev. xx.14. Colour is given to this
interpretation by the fact that in Rev. xx.10 we read that:-

"The devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet (are), and they shall
be tormented day and night unto the ages of the ages."

Let us not be too hasty in our conclusions.  In the one case the fire
is for torment day and night unto the ages of the ages.  In the other
case it is definitely called the second death.  Death and Hades are
cast into the second death and nothing is said about Satan.  So far as
we have any knowledge, the devil has never yet died, and if he be cast
into the lake of fire of Rev. xx.14, it would be the first death, not
the second, for him.

The special emphasis upon "the overcomer" in the Revelation has already
been pointed out in the articles dealing with that book.  It should be
kept in mind when considering the meaning of the passages relating to
punishment.  Note the alternatives in the addresses to the seven
churches in chaps. ii. and iii.  So far as we can understand the term,
aionion life may be for a limited period, and may end.  Life in Christ
is another matter, and must on no account be confused with it.

In Matt. vii.14, and xviii.8,9 are the only other references to "life"
found in Matthew.  We there learn of the "strait gate and narrow way
that lead to life" with its alternative "destruction"; and in xviii.8,9
we read that it is better to enter into life halt, or maimed, rather
than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the aionion fire. 
This *aionion fire* is further interpreted for us by the fact that the
next verse says, "rather than having two eyes to be cast into *the
Gehenna* of fire."  The danger of the Gehenna of fire is first
mentioned in Matt. v.22; a parallel passage with xviii.9 is found in
Matt. v.29,30.  The destruction of soul and body is referred to Gehenna
in x.28 (this should be considered over against the losing of the soul
in Matt. xvi.25, mistranslated "life").  The proselytes of the
Pharisees and Scribes are spoken of as children of Gehenna, and the
Pharisees and Scribes are asked, "How can ye escape the judgment of
Gehenna?" (Matt. xxiii.33). Gehenna occurs only in Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and James.  It is exclusively used in connection with the kingdom, and
never comes into sight in the Church Epistles; it is the divine
explanation of the aionion fire as used by Matthew. Enough has been
shown that aionion life and aionion punishment as found in Matthew have
an entirely different aspect from that evangelical offer of life
connected solely with faith in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. 
Neither faith nor the atonement are ever in view in the passages we
have been studying.  We hope to continue our studies in future issues.