A word study on

AIONIOS ZOE
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 Table of contents
1960
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
By Grace Are ye Saved through Faith. . . . . . . . . .
Can Aionios Zoe be Forfeited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Take the Water of Life Freely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
He That Believeth . . . Hath Aionios Life . . . . . . . . .
The Guarantee of our Inheriting Aionios Life . . . . . .
Messiah's Provisions and Man's Appropriations . . . .
We have a Great High Priest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Are You Without Chastisement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Is The Danger of Apostasy Real . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sin Shall Not Have Dominion Over You . . . . . . . . .
We are More Than Conquerors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Enduring Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Deceitfulness of Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kept by the Power of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
That Ye May Know That Ye Have Aionios Life . . . .
Is Repentance from Apostasy Impossible? . . . . . . . .
Resisting the Holy Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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 Bible Study Course
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AIONIOS ZOE
'AGE LIFE'

--that gracious participation in the highest quality of

life of God prepared for men... a particular quality of life which
emanates from God.... our sharing in the life of God in Messiah.
This is not a documented work, no time has been taken to give
credit to different authors; there are many represented here, especially
Robert Shank whose misrepresentation of truth has inspired this effort.
It is not intended for publication, nor for public distribution. It is
suggested only as food for thought and prayer. In the process of rejecting
Shank's thesis and misuse of Scripture, it became apparent that I too had
to repent of my own misrepresentation of God's Word.
The ancient story is often told of a neighbor who openly criticized
her back door neighbor for hanging such dirty laundry on her clothesline
to dry. Her husband listened to her one day as she peered out her kitchen
window again berating her neighbor. He took a paper towel with
Windex and cleaned the glass of the window over the sink. Later the
wife remarked, how clean her neighbor's clothes looked that day.
If our criticism of others is of no more benefit than to berate our
neighbor, is has no redeeming value. But, if in the process we discover
that our own windows need cleaning and clean them, then perhaps we
will hopefully be more charitable with those around us with whom we
do not agree. We are setting these truths forth in words not taught by
human wisdom, but taught by the Holy Spirit, combining and
interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language, to those who possess
the Spirit [1 Cor 2:13].

Aionios Zoe
INTRODUCTION:

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"For the life [`zoe'] was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear
witness and shew unto you that eternal life [`ten zoe ten aionios' i.e. "the
life, the eternal"] which was with the Father and was manifest unto us"
[1 Jn 1:2].
"That eternal life" [KJV] is a particularly faulty translation, since it
utterly fails to express the development of the idea of 'life,' which is
distinctly contemplated by the original Greek Text.
It is rendered as in Revelation: "the life, the eternal life," or "the
life, even the eternal life." For a similar repetition of the Article
compare [1 Jn 2:8 `to phos to alethinon' -i.e. "the light (the) truth"], [4:9
`te agape tou Theou' -i.e. "the love of the God"], [2 Jn 11 `tois ergois
autou tois ponerois' -i.e. "the works of him (the) evil"].
This particular phrase occurs only here and [2:25]. John uses
"eternal life" [`ten zoen ten aionios'- i.e. "the Life, the Eternal']. John
uses "eternal life" [`zoe aionios'] and "the eternal life" [`he aionios zoe'],
the former expressing the general conception of "life eternal," and the
latter "eternal life" as the special gift of Messiah.
1] 'AIONIOS' -- rendered "eternal" describes the life in its quality,
of not being measured by time, a larger idea than that of mere `duration.'
[Vincent's Word Studies of the N.T., Vol 2, pg 308].
"And this is the witness, that life eternal [`zoen aionios'] gave to us
God and this life [`he zoe'] is in His Son" [1 Jn 5:11]. or "And this is the
record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son."
"Eternal life" [`zoen aionios'] compare the phrase "the life, the
eternal life" [`ten zoen ton aionios' -1:2], and "the eternal life" [`he
aionios zoen' -Jn 17:3]. For the distinction between the phrases see [1:2
above]. The phrase here, without either article, merely defines the
character of the life [Ibid pg 368].
2] 'AEON' -- is 'a period of time of longer or shorter duration,
having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself.' Aristotle wrote:
"the period which includes the whole time of each one's life is called the
"aeon" of each one."
Hence it often means the "life of a man," as in Homer, where one's
life [`aion'] is said to leave him or to consume away. It is not, however,

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limited to human life, it signifies any period in the course of events as
the period or age before Messiah; the period of the Millennium, the
mythological period before the beginning of history.
The word has not a stationary and mechanical value. It does not
mean a period of a fixed length for all cases. There are as many "aeons"
[as entities, the respective durations of which are fixed by the normal
conditions of the several entities]. There is one 'aeon' of a human life,
another of an oak's life, etc. the length of the 'aeon' depends on the
subject to which it is attached.
It is sometimes translated 'world' representing a period or series of
periods of time [see Mt 12:32; 13:40, 49; Lk 1:70; 1 Cor 1:20; 2:6; Eph
1:21].
Similarly "ho aiones" [`the worlds, the universe, the aggregate of
the ages or periods, and their contents which are included in the duration
of the world' -1 Cor 2:7; 10:11; Heb 1:2; 9:26; 11:3].
The word always carries the notion of 'time' and not ['not ever'] of
'eternity.' It always means a 'period of time.' Otherwise it would be
impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying expressions
as 'this age,' or 'the age to come.'
It does not mean 'endless' or 'everlasting.' To deduce that meaning
from its relation to "AEI" [`ever'] is absurd, for, apart from the fact that
the meaning of a word is not definitely fixed by its derivation, "AEI"
does not signify `endless duration!'
When the writer of the Pastoral Epistles quotes the saying that the
Cretans are "always" [Grk. `aei'] liars" [Titus 1:12] he surely does not
mean that the Cretans will go on lying for all eternity [see also Ac 7:51;
2 Cor 4:11; 6:10; Heb 3:10; 1 Pet 3:15].
3] 'AEI' -- means 'habitually' or 'continually' within the limits of
the subjects life. In our colloquial dialect "everlastingly" is used the
same way: "That boy is everlastingly tormenting me to buy him a drum."
In the N.T., the history of the world is conceived as developed
through a successions of 'Aeons.' A series of such 'Aeons' precedes the
introduction of a new series inaugurated by the Messianic age [the
Christian dispensation], and the end of the age, and the Second Coming
of Messiah are to mark the beginning of another series of 'Aeons' [Eph

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3:11].
Paul contemplates 'Aeons' before and after the Messianic era [Eph
1:21; 2;7; 3;9, 21; 1 Cor 10:11; comp. Heb 9:26]. He includes the series
of `Aeons' in one great `Aeon,' "The Aeon of the Aeons" [`ho aion ton
aionon' -Eph 3:21], and in Hebrews, describes the Throne of God as
enduring unto "the Aeon of the Aeons" [Heb 1:8].
The Plural is also used, `aeons of the aeons,' signifying all the
successive periods which make up the sum total of the ages collectively
[Rom 16:27; Gal 1:5; Phil 4:20, etc.]. This Plural phrase is applied by
Paul to God only.
The Adjective 'Aionios' in like manner carries the same idea.
Neither the Noun nor the Adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of
`endless' or `everlasting.' They may acquire that sense by their
connotation, as, on the other hand `aidios,' which means `everlasting,'
has its meaning limited to a given point of time in [Jude 6], "The angels
who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own
home -these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for
judgment on the great day."
4] 'AIONIOS' -- means `enduring through' or `pertaining to' a
period of time. Both the Noun and the Adjective are applied to limited
periods. Thus the phrase "eis ton aiona" habitually rendered `forever' is
often used of 'duration which is limited!" -in the very nature of the case
[see, for a few of the many instances, LXX, Ex 21:6; 29:9; 32:13; Jn
14:9; 1 Sam 8:13; Lev 25:46; Deut 15:17; 1 Chron 28:4; see also Mt
21:19; Jn 13:8; 1 Cor 8:13].
The same is true of Aionios. Out of 150 instances in the LXX, four
fifths imply limited duration [see Gen 48:4; Num 10:8; 15:15; Prov
22:28; Jonah 2:6; Hab 3:6; Isa 61:7].
Words which are habitually applied to things temporal or material
cannot carry in themselves the sense of endlessness. Even when applied
to God, we are not forced to render Aionios `everlasting.'
Of course the `life of God' is endless, but the question is whether in
describing God as Aionios, it was intended to describe `duration of His
Being' or whether some different and larger idea was contemplated.
That God `lives longer than men,' and `lives on everlastingly,' or

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`has lived everlastingly,' are no doubt, great and significant facts; yet
they are not the dominant or the most impressive facts in God's relations
to 'time.' It is not primarily a mathematical but a moral fact. The
relations of Gods to TIME include and imply far more than the bare fact
of `endless continuance.'
They carry with them the fact that God transcends time; works on
different principles and on a greater scale than the wisdom of time
provides; oversteps the conditions and the motives of time; marshals the
successive aeons from a point outside of time, on lines which run out
into His own measureless cycles, and for sublime moral ends which the
creature of threescore and ten years cannot grasp and does not even
suspect.
There is a word for `everlasting' if that idea is demanded. That
Aidios occurs rarely in the N.T. and in the LXX does not prove that it's
place was taken by 'Aionios.' It rather goes to show that less importance
was attached to the bare idea of `everlasting' than later theological
thought has given it.
Paul uses the word in [Rom 1:20 -quoted above], where he speaks
of "the everlasting power and divinity of God." He then speaks of the
'eternal God' [Grk. 'Aioniou Theou' -Rom 16:26], but that he does not
mean the `everlasting' is perfectly clear from the context.
He has just said that "the mystery has been kept in silence in times
eternal" [`chronois aioniois'] -"since the world began" [KJV] being a
poor translation; by which he does not mean 'everlasting times,' but the
successive aeons which elapsed before Messiah was proclaimed.
God therefore is described as "the God of the Aeons," the God who
pervaded and controlled those periods before the incarnation. To the
same effect is the title "Ho basileous ton aionios" [`the King of the Ages'
-used here of God, cf. 1 Tim 1:17; Rev 15:3; comp. Tobias 13:6, 10].
The phrase "pro chronon aionios" [`before eternal times' -2 Tim
1:9; Titus 1:2] translated with great difficulty as "before the beginning of
time" [NIV] and "before the world began" [KJV] cannot mean before
'everlasting times.' To say that God bestowed grace on men, or promised
them `eternal life' before `endless times' would be absurd.
The meaning is "of old" [as in Lk 1:70 -"..as He said through His

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holy Prophets of long ago..' -NIV]. The grace and the promise were
given in time, but far back in the ages of time, before the times of
`reckoning' of the Aeons.
5] ZOE AIONIOS -- translated as `eternal life' occurs 42 times in
the N.T., but not in the LXX, is not `endless life,' but life pertaining to a
certain Age, or Aeon, or continuing during that Aeon. Life may be
`endless' as the life of Messiah is `endless,' but that fact is not expressed
by the word Aionios.
6] KOLASIS AIONIOS --rendered `everlasting punishment' [Mt
25:46], is the punishment peculiar to an Aeon other than that in which
Messiah is speaking. In some cases "zoe aionios" does not refer
specifically to the life beyond time but rather to the Aeon [age or
dispensation] of Messiah which succeeds the last dispensation or age
[see Mt 19:16; Jn 5:39].
John says that zoe aionios is the `present possession' of those who
believe on the Son of God [Jn 3:36; 5:24; 6:47, 54]. The Father's
commandment is zoe aionios [Jn 12:50] to know the only true God and
Messiah Jesus is zoe aionios [JN 17:3].
Wescott says, commenting upon the terms used by John to
describe `life' under different aspects: "In considering these phrases it is
necessary to premise that in spiritual things we must guard against all
conclusions which rest upon the notions of succession and duration.
`Eternal Life' is that which St. Paul speaks of as "hai hontos zoe" [`the
Life which is Life indeed'] and "ho zoe ton Theou" [`the Life of God'].
It is not an endless duration of being in time, but being of which
time is not a measure. WE have indeed no powers to grasp the idea
except through forms and images of sense. These must be used, but we
must not transfer them as realities to another order." [Bishop Westcott
and Hort were co-laborers in the Wescott and Hort Greek Text -The
Epistle of St. John pg. 205].
Thus while AIONIOS carries the idea of time, though not of
`endlessness,' there belongs to it a sense of quality. It's character is
ethical rather than mathematical. The deepest significance of `life'
beyond this period of time [`aeon'] lies not in `endlessness,' but in the
quality of the aeon into which the `life' enters, hence that 'quality of life'

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of the aeon to come.
It is for example, comparatively unimportant whether or not the
`rich fool,' when his life [`psyche'], the `life he had lived so selfishly' [Lk
12:20] ended, he entered upon a state that was `endless.' The principle,
the tremendous fact, as Jesus unmistakably put it, was that in the NEW
Aeon [the next Age], the motives, the aims, the conditions, the successes
and awards of `time' [during this age] counted for nothing. In our `time,'
his barns and their contents were everything, his life [`psyche'] was used
up in their pursuit and therefore counted as nothing. He had, in effect,
wasted his entire life-time.
In the next age the life spent is `first and everything,' and the barns
and storehouses nothing. The blessing of the sanctified DOES NOT
consist primarily in its `endlessness,' but in the nobler conditions of the
new Aeon, the quality of life in the age to come! Indeed, the highest
quality of life possible, the very life of God which is in Messiah Jesus!
Not the 'psyche' of God, but the Zoe of God. Not the `life He lives,' but
the very life He possess. Can we grasp that? 'Duration' is secondary,
when it enters, it enters as an accompaniment and outgrowth of spiritual
conditioning during this aeon!
In [2 Thes 1:9], it is urged that the 'olethron' [`destruction'] points
to an unchangeable, irremediable, and endless condition. If this is true, if
`olethros' is `extinction,' then the passage teaches the `annihilation of the
wicked,' in which case the Adjective aionios is superfluous, since
extinction is final, and excludes the idea of `duration.' But `olethros'
does not always mean 'destruction,' much less 'extinction!'
Take the kindred Verb "apollumi" [`to destroy,' `put an end to'], or
the Middle Voice [`to be lost,' `to perish']. Peter says, "the world being
deluged with water, perished" [`apoleto,' 2 Pet 3:6], but the `world' did
not become extinct, it was renewed!
In [Heb 1:11, 12], quoted from [Ps 102], we read concerning the
`heavens and the earth' as compared with the `eternity of God,' "They
shall perish" [`apolountai'], but the `perishing' is only preparatory to
change and renewal! "They shall be changed" [`allagaisotai' comp. Isa
51:6, 16; 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1].
Similarly, "the Son of Man came to save that which was lost"

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[`apololos' -Lk 19:10]. Yet Jesus charged His Apostles to go to the `lost'
[`apololota'] sheep of the House of Israel' [Mt 10:10, comp. 15:24]. "He
that loses [`apolesai'] his LIFE [`psyche'] for My sake shall find it" [Mt
26:25; comp. Lk 15:6, 9, 32].
In this passage the word `destruction' is qualified. It is `destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power' -at His
Second Coming, in the New Age. In other words, it is the
severance, at a given point in time, of those who obey not the gospel [the
non-believer, as well as the unfaithful], from the presence and glory of
Messiah.
'Aionios' may describe this severance as continuing during the
millennial Aeon between Messiah's Coming and the final judgment at
the end; as being for the unfaithful prolonged through that Aeon and
characteristic of it, or it may describe the severance as characteristic or
enduring through a period or Aeon succeeding the final judgment, the
extent of which period is not defined except as `another age,' and
another, and another, etc. In neither case is Aionios to be translated as
`everlasting or endless,' but of the highest quality of life of the Age to
come. The life of those who are the qualified heirs of/with Messiah
Jesus.
7] AION --as "en ton aiona" [`in the age' -Gen 6:3 [`olam'], see
also Jn 6:51, 58; 14:16; Heb 5:6; 6:20, etc.] and strengthened as "eis ton
Aiona tou Aionos" [`in the age of the ages' -Heb 1:8; Ps 44:7].

The Purpose 0f
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 This Study
Robert Shank, a Southern Baptist minister, wrote a book entitled
"life in the Son" -a study of the doctrine of `perseverance,' in which he
attacked the doctrinal concept of the `Security of the Believer.' It was his
purpose to prove that "salvation (`from hell') is secured only through
perseverance.' One cannot expect to destroy a pet doctrine held by `the
house of friends' without finding oneself in low esteem, no matter how
sincere the effort might be.
Shank published his book as a Southern Baptist and found in Dr.
William W. Adams, who wrote an introduction for his book as a friend
who considered Shanks views with objectivity. Men of responsible
positions of administration and polity in Southern Baptist Theological
education warded off the attacks against Dr. Adams for his support of
Robert Shank's book, but Shank was not so lucky, he went into, what he
calls `exile,' yet is able to commend his friends in the Baptist Church of
Louisburg, Missouri and the Christian Church of Billings, Missouri who
received him into their fellowship and pulpit.
Dr. Dale Moody, Chairman of the Department of Systematic
Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary openly commends
his book and endorses the principal thesis presented by Robert Shank
-that only such as `persevere' shall be saved from hell.
Shank, not finding ready acceptance for his concept of
`perseverance' among many Southern Baptists, speaks of those who have
`suffered much from the mouths of self-appointed defenders of what
they imagine to be `The Faith,' who, more generously endowed with
emotions than with wisdom, conducted a vigorous effort to secure his
[Dr. Dale Moody's] dismissal from his professorship, but failed.'
In the introduction to Shank's `Elect in the Son,' William W.
Adams maintains his admiration for Shank's writings [Kansas City,
Missouri, Jan 10, 1970, and again, May 7, 1971], reminiscing of his
years at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, first as a student and
then as a fellow and an associate professor of the mighty A.T.

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Robertson, he happily predicts that the number of Baptists who will
forsake their last vestige of the central core of Calvin's system of
theology will increase more and more. No doubt in favor of the
Armenian doctrine supported by Shank. But it hasn’t happened yet, nor
does it appear that it will ever happen. A few Baptists are finding a new
and strong support against Arminianism and Calvinism in a study of old
Terms in accordance to usage in the Bible itself.
William W. Adams offers a challenge to those who object to
Shank's views saying, "Let them make sure they have something more to
offer in rebuttal than prejudice. If the product of their labor is to do more
than confirm the prejudice of the unthinking., if it is to commend itself
to the judgment of serious theologians and students of the bible, it must
be able to stand up under the minute examination of men capable of the
same objectivity, exacting exegesis, and careful synthesis that Mr. Shank
has exhibited in his two volumes."
This volume is done by an independent Baptist in response to this
challenge, without the support of theological school professors. Indeed,
it is nothing more than the use of Mr. Shanks own arguments to show
that his position is as much an extremist view as he estimates the
'security of the believer' to be; in fact a more dangerous position since it
is founded on so many errors and assumptions -as we shall see.

A study on Aionios Zoe

Age Quality of Life
--that gracious participation in the highest QUALITY
OF LIFE OF GOD prepared for men in the Kingdom Age... a
particular quality of life which emanates from God.... our
sharing in the LIFE OF GOD IN MESSIAH as the 'Heir Son,' the
Inheritor of the long awaited Kingdom promised to Israrel.
--once more, this is not a documented work, no time has been
taken to give credit to different authors; there are many represented here,
especially Shank whose misrepresentation of truth has inspired this

12
effort. It is not intended for publication, nor for public distribution. It is
suggested only as food for thought and prayer.
--we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human
wisdom, but taught by the Holy Spirit, combining and interpreting
spiritual truths with spiritual language, to those who possess the Spirit [1
Cor 2:13].

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