Annihilationism, 1 Timothy 6:16, and God alone has immortality

“who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen,” (1 Tim. 6:16).

Conditionalists routinely appeal to this verse by saying that God alone has immortality and that people do not naturally live forever. I agree. It is God alone who both has always existed and will always exist. At this point, we could move on to another topic. But, not so fast. Does it mean that God has eternal existence of which he alone possesses? Does it mean that God alone does not have physical, biological immortality? Does it mean he alone was the only uncreated, eternal being? Or, does it mean he will continue forever?

The conditionalists interpret immortality in 1 Timothy 6:16.  Let’s take a look at some of their statements.

• “God alone has immortality (1 Tim. 6:16) but graciously grants embodied life to his people.”¹Zondervan. Four Views on Hell, Counterpoints: Bible and Theology, Zondervan., Kindle Locations 2152-2153).
• “…God alone possesses immortality (1 Tim 6:16)…”²Fudge, Edward William. The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment, Third Edition (p. 22). Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.

So, they say that God alone has immortality. But in the context of 1 Timothy 6:16, it seems that the one spoken of is God the Father, not God the Son.  Let’s take a look.

1 Timothy 6:13–16

• verse 13.  “I charge you [singular] in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,
• verse 14, that you  [singular] keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
• verse 15, which He will bring about at the proper time – He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
• verse 16, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”

The context mentions God (the Father) and Jesus (v. 13). In verse 14, Paul admonishes Timothy to keep the commandment, probably the command to fight the good fight of the faith until the return of Jesus, the good fight spoken of in verse 12. In verse 15, Paul says that “He” will bring about Christ’s return, as was mentioned in verse 14. This implies that the “He” cannot be the Trinity because the “He” is juxtaposed with the appearance of Jesus, which “he will bring about.” Who then is the “He”? Is it God the Father or Jesus? The “He” is important because “He” is also referred to being the “only Sovereign, King of Kings and Lord of lords who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light whom no man has seen nor can see,” (v. 15-16). It appears that the “He” must refer to God the Father because Jesus has been seen where God the Father has not (John 1:18; 6:46), and “He” will bring about Jesus’ return. So, when it says that He “alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see,” it appears to be referring to God the Father.

• v. 13 speaks of God and of Jesus. Therefore, it is the Father and Jesus.
• v. 14 speaks of the appearance of Jesus.
• v. 15 says that “He” (the Father) will bring about the appearance of Jesus.
• v. 15 says that “He”  (the Father) is the only Sovereign, King of Kings, and Lord of lords.
• v. 16 says that “He”  (the Father) alone possesses immortality
• v. 16 says that “He”  (the Father) has never been seen nor can be seen.

We know that it is the Father who has never been seen (v. 16, c.f., John 1:18; 6:46). But, many people saw Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), and it was the pre-incarnate Christ who appeared in the Old Testament (Gen. 17:1; 18:1; Ex. 6:2-3; 24:9-11, etc.). So then, the “He” in verses 13-16 must be referring to the Father. Contextually, it is the Father who will bring about the appearance of Jesus. It is the Father who is the only Sovereign, King of Kings, (v. 15) who alone possesses immortality whom no man has seen or can see (v. 16). Remember, Jesus died and has been seen. So, “immortality” appears to be in reference to God the Father. Nevertheless, in my research on this passage, I’ve come across several possibilities regarding who has immortality.

1. Only God the Trinity has immortality by nature.
2. Only the Father has eternal existence by nature, immortality.
3. Only Jesus has immortality since he has been raised from the dead in His glorified body.

Only God the Trinity has immortality by nature.

This interpretation doesn’t seem to fit the immediate context since it appears to be referring to God the Father.  But, generally speaking, the Trinity is immortal and this is supported by 1 Tim. 1:17 and, of course, general theology (Pslam 90:2; Jer 10:10).

Only the Father has eternal existence by nature, immortality.

This interpretation is problematic because we know that within the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all have immortality – if that immortality means eternal existence by nature that does not experience physical, biological death.  Remember, only Jesus human nature died, not his divine nature.

Furthermore, if it is referring only to God the Father, then this hints at the eternal generation https://carm.org/doctrine-and-theology/what-is-the-eternal-generation-of-the-son/of the Son.  In light of that, we see Jesus saying in John 5:26, “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.”  But, we won’t get into that here.

Also, since the pericope³Pericope (peri’copee): a section of scripture of any size only mentions the Father and Jesus, and since Jesus has been seen, the immortality would be in reference to the Father not having a physical body and not being subject to physical death.

Only Jesus has immortality since he has been raised from the dead in His glorified body.

Jesus died physically. He did not possess immortality until after his resurrection in a glorified, immortal body. This has support in that the Greek word used here in 1 Tim. 6:16 is ἀθανασία, athanasia and it only occurs three times in the N.T.: 1 Cor. 15:53-54 and 1 Tim. 6:16. In 1 Corinthians, it refers to the resurrected, glorified body of the believer.

• “For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality [athanasia]. 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality [athanasia], then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory,” (1 Corinthians 15:53–54).
• “who alone possesses immortality [athanasia] and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen,” (1 Timothy 6:16).

So, there is a bit of difficulty in interpreting who the “who” is in 1 Tim. 6:16. In my opinion, there are two options that have the most weight. 1) The “who” is referring to the Father. We know that Jesus has been seen.  After all, the verse says that the “who” dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see.” 2) “who alone has immortality” is in reference to Christ who is a glorified body which is how the Greek word athanasia is used in 1 Cor. 15:53-54. Furthermore, the phrases “King of kings,” and “Lord of lords,” is also used of Jesus in Rev. 17:14 and 19:16.

Conclusion

This verse, in context, seems to indicate that the immortality that is spoken of refers to God the Father, not Jesus since its context mentions two persons: God (the Father, v. 13) and Jesus (v. 13). Also, it is Jesus who has been seen, and the text says that the one who possesses immortality has never been seen (v. 16; John 6:46). But, then again, this pericope also appears to be doxological praise of God intermixed into the teaching about God the Father and the Son. It is God (the Trinity) who, in His nature, cannot be seen in his pure glory (Exodus 20:19; 24:17; John 1:18;1 John 4: 12). In light of this, the text does possess challenges when examined critically. Nevertheless, I must conclude that the very least, it shows that it is God (the Trinity) who alone possesses eternal existence by his own nature. All other beings who exist do so at the derived work of God’s creative work.

• “It is impossible that mortal eyes should bear the brightness of the divine glory. No man can see God and live…He only has immortality. He only is immortal in himself, and has immortality as he is the fountain of it, for the immortality of angels and spirits derived from him. ” (Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994.)