A prior post is about man’s spirit, the most important of the three parts of man—”your spirit and soul and body” (1 Thes. 5:23). Corresponding to these three parts, the Greek vocabulary in the New Testament has three words usually translated “life.”
The most important of these words is zoe (pronounced like zoh-ay, Greek ζωη). In the NT this word is always used with life that is eternal, life that is Christ Himself, the resurrection life. This is the life we received when we first believed in the Lord Jesus, and this is the life of New Jerusalem.
First John 5:13 says, “I have written these things to you that you may know that you have eternal life (zoe), to you who believe into the name of the Son of God.”
The second word translated “life” or “soul” is psuche (pronounced like psoo-kay, Greek ψυχη). This is the human psychological life, the soul-life. God created man with a soul but not an independent soul-life, a self; the Lord Jesus told us in Luke 9:23 to deny this daily.
The third word translated “life” is bios (Greek βιος). This is the human physical life, the life in man’s body. Examples are Luke 8:14, 2 Timothy 2:4, and 1 John 2:16.
