| The Christian Life | March 1947 |
Seeking Immortality
“To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.”—Romans 2:7
IT WILL doubtless be a surprise to many to learn that the term “immortality” appears in the Bible only five times, including its use in our text. In four of these, it is descriptive of a future conditional reward for those who in this life walk faithfully in the footsteps of the Master. In I Corinthians 15:53 we read, “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” And then we read of “our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” (II Timothy 1:10) I Corinthians 15:54 reads, “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality.” It is obvious from these texts that immortality is not a natural possession of human beings, but a quality which Christians “put on” in the resurrection.
The only other text in the Bible in which the word immortality appears is I Timothy 6:16, and here we are told that “the Lord only hath immortality”—that is, by nature. It becomes evident, then, that there is no scriptural support for the theory that man is inherently immortal. How strange that so gross an error should be almost universally believed. There is indeed, a glorious hope of immortality, but only those will attain it who seek for it patiently, laying down their lives doing good to all men as they have opportunity, and especially to the household of faith.