John is referring to eternal life during and after God raises us from physical death. The fact is that everyone physically dies regardless if you believe in Christ or not. If John is using the word perish to mean physical death only, then it would stand to reason that the word life would only mean physical life. John is making a contrast between the words perish and life. “that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (Joh 3:16 NAS) The words “life” and “perish” are not referring to existence or a continued survival condition in a physical state. By state of existence, I mean the particular condition that someone or something is in at a specific time. Eternal life and eternal wrath are states of existence of the imperishable body. “Eternal wrath” is the state of existence of the unbeliever during this life and after death. The specific context of John 3:16 is referring to “eternal life” as the specific state of the believer during this life and after death. How can it mean living on forever? Sodom is given as an example. How can perish mean eternal death? Perish means the end of a person. John 3:16 gives two destinies for man, eternal life, or perish. I received a great question on John 3:16. What does it mean to “Perish” mean in John 3:16
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