Let's use one of your scriptures to explain the vital position most of us are in. Matthew 25:46 says, 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal. One of the most tragic casualties of this mistranslation of aionian has been the understanding of the Ages and specifically "The Age," which was a reference to the Messianic Age to come. We read often of "the age to come" or "in the ages to come" (Eph. 2:7). Of particular note is Mark 10:30, where Jesus says, "and in the aion to come, aionian life." The age to come is what they called the Messianic Age. Because we understand two comings of Christ, we see this Messianic Age as beginning with the second coming of Christ. I believe that it is the thousand-year period of Rev. 20:6. I call it the Tabernacles Age, which follows the first resurrection. Those overcomers who are raised in the first resurrection will be the first to receive immortality during "The Age." The rest of the dead, however, will not be so fortunate, but will have to wait until that Age is completed. Hence, the Bible everywhere urges us to attain life in "The Age." Unfortunately, this phrase is usually mistranslated "eternal life," as if to say "immortality." Thus, we miss the real significance of the phrase. Yes, of course, it involves receiving immortality, but it is telling us to strive to be an overcomer so that we may receive this immortality in the first resurrection. That way we have immortal Life during "The Age" to come and do not have to wait around for an extra thousand years. In short, aionian life specifically references TIMING, not merely the QUALITY of life. It is immortal life IN THE AGE, not mere immortality by itself. The point I want to make is this: when you read "everlasting" or "eternal" in the Bible, you cannot take these translations at face value. The Hebrew word olam and its Greek equivalent, aionian, properly mean "an age, an indefinite period of time." Hebrew thinking in Jesus' day looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, in which He would rule the earth with His people in a Great Sabbath millennium. This idea was expressed in the phrase, "The Age" and "The aionian Kingdom" (2 Peter 1:11). The things "OF HIS KINGDOM" will have no end, of course (Luke 1:33). But the Kingdom Age itself is the final Age before the great Judgment introduces an entirely different scenario in the earth. This comes forth in the Hebrew phrase olam va'ad, "to the age and beyond." (used in Ex. 15:18; Ps. 9:5; Ps. 10:16; Ps. 45:6; Dan. 12:3) Jerome's translation, as misinterpreted by Augustine, largely eradicated the understanding of the ages from the Latin Church, and this has carried into most modern translations as well. Yet there are at least four translations which restore the true meaning of aion and aionian. So when you read Matthew 25:46 this should be the proper translation. 46 "Then they will go away to "age abiding" punishment, but the righteous to "age abiding" life. The proper understanding of age abiding life is you will be living in immortality in time. Eternity is timeless. That's why all of the patriarchs in Hebrews 11 wanted a better resurrection because they understood the significants of that Age. When we begin to understand this pearl of great price the scriptures will begin to flow like water. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. That scripture has a whole new meaning when you understand God's people were using their faith to do exploits because they understood the benefits in the future ages to come. Paul in the New Testament says in Phil. 3:11-14, 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet ; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. That prize is called age abiding life where Paul and the rest of the Overcomers will receive perfection and the ability to live among people who haven't received their prize in the Tabernacles Age. What a God... What a Plan! Logabe