JOHN 5:24
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By John W. White
John 5:24
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from
death unto
life.” The purpose of this tract is to show that this verse is not
dealing with the spirit salvation of Acts 16:30, 31, but with those who are
saved and have been given ears to hear and eyes to see
the
word of the kingdom.
We need to understand that spirit salvation is not dependent upon our
faithfulness to hear or to believe.
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned,...”
Colossians 2:13 “And you, being
dead [ne>krov, 3498* spiritually]
in
your
sins... hath he quickened ...
having forgiven you
all trespasses;” The word
ne>krov is used in two ways as shown in
Matthew 8:22 “But Jesus said
unto him, Follow me; and let the dead
[ne>krov - spiritually] bury their
dead [ne>krov - physically].” The question
we should ask is “If we are spiritually dead, how can we be given spiritual
life?” The Philippian Jailer asked the same question in
Acts 16:30-31 “... what must I do to be saved? 31. And they said, Believe
[aorist tense, an event not an on going process] on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” We receive that life as an event when we
are born into the family of God and that life can never be lost.
WORD, DEATH, AND LIFE: There
are three nouns that are emphasized in this verse with the definite article
the before them in the Greek text. The nouns are:
word [lo>gov, 3056*],
death [qa>natov, 2288*], and
life [zwh>n, 2222*].
The word, singular in
number, is a particular word;
the death, singular in number,
is a particular death; and
the life, singular in number, is
a particular life.
EVERLASTING: The word
everlasting is the adjective
aijw>niov and the
root word
aijw>n which is a noun meaning
age. The translators have
translated this word in so many different ways that it has created great
confusion as to what the word really means. This also has caused
misinterpretation of many passages of scripture. They have translated these
two Greek words: ever, everlasting, world, evermore, eternal, course, … just
to name a few. It is not easy to translate the noun
age into an adjective that
describes a person, place, or thing. Some translations of the Bible have used:
agelasting, age-abiding, and age-during. The thought of eternity carries the
idea of never ending. The word
aijw>n does not carry this meaning.
We have an example of this in Matthew
24:3 "…the disciples came
unto him … saying, Tell us, … what shall
be the sign of thy coming, and of the
end of the world [age, singular,
aijw>n]?"
The concept of eternity is
expressed in the Greek but not as one word. Eternity is expressed in
Galatians 1:5 "To whom
be glory for ever and ever. Amen."
The phrase “ever and ever” is the way that eternity is expressed in the Greek.
The text is as follows:
eijs tou<v aijw~nav tw~n aijwJnwn, and
translated “Unto the ages from the ages.” Notice that the word
age is in the plural. This
is consistent throughout the New Testament.
HATH: The verb
hath [e[cw, 2192*] is in the present
tense and is in agreement with the present tense of the participles
heareth and
believeth. The primary meaning of this word is
to have, or
to hold. It also carries the meaning of to have in high
esteem or
regard as in
Matthew 14:5
"And when he would have put him [John the Baptist] to death, he feared
the multitude, because they counted [e[cw, esteemed or regarded] him as a prophet." The following
passages also support this meaning: Mark 11:32, Acts 20:24, Philemon 1:17. As
long as one continues to hear and believe he will
hold in high esteem agelasting
life.
HAVE COME:
The verb
have
come [e]rcomai, 2064*] is in the present tense and is in agreement with
present tense of the participles
heareth and
believeth. As long as one
is faithful he can be assured that he will not come into condemnation. The
noun
condemnation comes from the word
kri>siv which could be translated
to judge or
judgment.
John 5:24
“…He that heareth [ajkou>w, 191*] my word, and
believeth [pisteu>w, 4100*]...” The words
heareth and
believeth are both present
active nominative participles. The present tense indicates that the action of
subject
He, the one hearing and believing, is continuous and thus
implies faithfulness. Spirit salvation does not depend upon our faithfulness,
but on whether or not we have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ who died for
our sins on the cross. Acts
16:30,31 This verse is dealing with those who are faithful in hearing and
believing and what their portion will be because they have been faithful in
hearing and believing.
John 5:24
“…He that heareth my word,
...”
Word has the definite article
the before it. The word is in the
accusative case and singular in number. "The accusative signifies that the
object referred to is considered as the point toward which something is
proceeding: that it is the end of the action or motion described…" (p. 91***)
In this case it is the implied action of the participle that is pointing
toward
the word. The definite article before
word indicates it is a
particular word. If the word was plural in number then this would probably
indicate all of the words of Christ.
The word does not seemed to be defined in the context. There are
only five passages in the New Testament where
the word, singular in
number, and the present active singular participle,
heareth occurs in the same
verse. Those passages are Matthew 13:19, 20, 22, 23 and John 5:24. This
narrows the search for the definition of
the word, because it is defined in
Matthew 13:19 “When any one
heareth [ajkou>ontov, 191,* present active
singular participle] the word [to<n
lo>gon,
3588 3056,* accusative singular] of the
kingdom [th~v
basilei>av,
3588 0932*]…”
The word is defined in this verse as
the word of the kingdom.
Because of the present active participle
heareth and the accusative singular of the phrase
the word are common in both passages I am persuaded that
the word in John 5:24
is
the word of the kingdom.
Because
the word of the kingdom is
associated with the parable of the sower,
the word is doctrine that pertains to
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Because of this association we
should look at the parable of the sower in more detail.
The parable of the sower stimulates interest in
the word of the kingdom.
The parable of the sower is told in Matthew 13:3-8 and ended
with Matthew 13:9 "Who hath
ears to
hear, let him
hear." The word
hath is a present active participle, "one
having." The phrase
to hear is a present active infinitive. The word
hear is a present active
imperative verb. The word
Who implies that not all were
included. What Jesus said in essence is that
some of you have been given ears that can continually hear. Since
you have been given these ears I command you to faithfully hear
the word of the kingdom. If anyone has not been given ears to hear,
the commandment to hear does not apply to him.
The parable of the sower was given
to stimulate
questions about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven and not to
make it plain. Jesus taught in
parables to stimulate questions that only he could answer. He answered those
questions in private to keep the meaning of His parables confidential. Because
the meaning of parables were given in private clearly indicates that
the word of the kingdom is not the simple plan of spirit salvation.
Matthew 13:10
"And the disciples came, and said unto him,
Why speakest thou unto them in
parables?" Jesus now is able to
amplify what he meant in Matthew 13:9 with
Matthew 13:11
"He answered and said unto them,
Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it is not given." Because it is given to you to
know the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven, I have given you ears to hear this parable and
understand it. Those who were not
given ears to hear could hear the parables, and they did, but they could not
understand the parable.
Matthew 13:13
"Therefore speak I to them in
parables: because they seeing
see
not; and hearing they
hear
not, neither do they
understand." Those who hear the word of the kingdom and were not given the
ability to understand it will not be held accountable for it.
The parable of the sower illustrates how
believers are divided into two groups.
Those that do not have ears to hear
nor the ability to understand
parables (verse 19) and those who do
have ears to hear and the ability to understand (verses 20-23). Those who
have ears to hear and the ability to understand fall into three categories.
The first group are those who endure
for a while then are easily offended because of
the word of the kingdom (verses 20-21).
The second group are those who hear
the
word and endure the tribulation
but they allow
the word of the kingdom to be
choked because of the cares of this world and riches (verse 22). The third
group are those who endure tribulation, and do not allow
the
word
of the kingdom to be
choked for any reason; they are the ones who bear fruit (verse 23).
Every child of God has the ability to feed on the word.
1 Peter 2:2
"As newborn babes, desire the sincere
milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:" Not every child of God
has the same capacity. Hebrews 5:14
"But strong meat belongeth to them
that are of full age, even those who
by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
Hebrews 6:1 "Therefore leaving the
principles of the doctrine of Christ,
let us go on unto perfection; …" Not every child of God can go on to
maturity because God will not allow them to do this.
Hebrews 6:3 "And
this will we do, if God permit."
God is merciful by hindering some from understanding strong meat because the
more we understand the greater the responsibility to obey what we know. We see
this in Luke 12:47-48
"And that servant, which knew
his lord's will, and prepared not
himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many
stripes. 48. But
he that knew not, and did commit
things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few
stripes. For unto whomsoever
much is given, of him shall be
much required: and to whom men have
committed much, of him they will
ask the more."
The understanding
of the word of the kingdom is the key
that keeps us hearing
the word. The word
understand is translated from the word
suni>hmi [4920*] which is a compound word with the words
su>n and
i[hmi. The word
su>n means
with or together. the word
i[hmi means
to send. The Greek word
for understand means to have the ability to put together the word of God.
There are those who are continually hearing and "Ever learning, and
never
able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
2 Timothy 3:7 The word
knowledge is the Greek word
ejpi>gnwsiv which means knowledge upon
knowledge. The principle of this knowledge is found in
Isaiah 28:9-10 "Whom
shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to
understand doctrine?
them that are weaned from the milk,
and drawn from the breasts.
10. For precept must be upon precept,
precept upon precept; line
upon line, line
upon line; here a little,
and
there a little:" This is the teaching method of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:13
"the Holy Ghost teacheth;
comparing spiritual things with spiritual."
John 5:24
“…He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath
everlasting [agelasting] life
…” The verb
hath is the Greek word
e]cw which is singular in number
and in the present tense and is in agreement with the present tense of the
singular participles
heareth and
believeth. The word
e]cw in this context carries the
meaning of having or holding in high
esteem. We do not receive
agelasting life until the next age which is the millennial age. This is
confirmed in Mark 10:30
"He shall receive…in the world
[age] to come [the one coming] eternal
[agelasting] life." and in
Luke 18:30 "…and in the world [age] to come
life everlasting
[agelasting]." As we are hearing the word of the kingdom we esteem more and
more the value of continually
hearing the word of the kingdom because of the potential of entering into a
life of honor and glory during the millennial kingdom age. Those who were
given ears to hear, therefore have the ability to understand the word of the
kingdom and are the ones who have the potential to have this life for the
coming age. If we understand the word of the kingdom, we know that we have
been called. If we know that we have been called, then we know that we need to
make our calling and election sure. 2
Peter 1:10-11 "Wherefore the
rather, brethren, give diligence to
make your calling and election sure: for
if
ye
do
these
things, ye shall never fall:
11. For so an entrance shall be ministered
unto you abundantly into the
everlasting [agelasting] kingdom of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." If we do not give diligence to add to our
faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness,
and love (verses 5-7) we will fall. This does not mean we will lose our
salvation, but an abundant entrance into the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
John 5:24 "He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, …, and shall not
come into condemnation;…"
The present middle of the verb
come [for myself] is in
agreement with the present tense of the participles
heareth and believeth. As long as we
are hearing
the
word and are faithful and obedient to that word we will not
suffer loss at the judgment seat of Christ. The Greek word for
condemnation is
kri>siv which is also translated
accusation, damnation, and
judgment. It is at the Judgment Seat of Christ where our works will be
judged as to whether they have been good works or bad works. We will receive
rewards for the good that we have done and suffer loss for works that are not
of faith. Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it
is impossible to please
him…"
Romans 14:23 "…for
whatsoever is not of faith is sin."
2 Corinthians 5:9-11 "Wherefore we
labour [we are ambitious], that, …
we may be accepted [well pleasing]
of him. 10.
For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ; that every one
may receive the things
done in
his body, according to that he hath done, whether
it be
good or bad.
11. Knowing therefore the terror
[fear] of the Lord, we persuade men…" It takes a balance between the fear of
the Lord and the love of Christ to maintain the level of ambition we need to
stand at the judgment seat with joy. When it comes to the judgment seat it
does not make any difference who you are,
Colossians 3:25 "… he that doeth
wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect
of persons." Revelation 3:11
"Behold, I come quickly: hold
that fast which thou hast, that no man
take thy
crown." We can lose rewards that we have earned.
2 John 1:8 "Look to yourselves, that we
lose not those things
[rewards] which we have wrought
[labored for], but that we receive a
full reward."
John 5:24
"…but is passed from death
unto life." The verb
is passed is the translation of
the perfect active of
metabai>nw [3327*] and could be
translated
have
passed or
have
departed. The perfect tense “…implies a process but views the process
as having reached it consummation…” (p. 200***) The process continues as long
as the hearing and believing continue. The word
metabai>nw is translated:
to go,
to
remove, and most of the time
to depart. It is translated
remove in
Matthew 17:20
“… If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this
mountain, Remove hence to yonder
place; and it shall remove; and
nothing shall be impossible unto you.” To pass from the death unto the life is
depart from the death to move to the life.
John 5:24
"…but is passed from death
unto life." The definite article
the is before the word
death [qa>natov]. The word
nekro>s is used to refer to being spiritually dead in trespasses and sins as
well as for physical death. The word
qa>natov is used to refer to the death of the soul or for physical
death.
Just as we looked for the meaning or definition of the
phrase
the word we will need to do the same thing for
the death. The first occurrence of
the death is John 5:24 and this does not give us much help. The phrase
"passed
from [the]
death unto [the]
life" occurs in just one
other place and that is in 1 John
3:14-15 "We know that we have
passed from [the] death unto [the] life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not
his brother abideth in
[the]
death. 15. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no
murderer hath [e[cw, present active, esteem]
eternal
life abiding [me>nw, present active,
endureth] in him." Murderers can be saved but any one who is saved and a
murderer will not esteem highly life for the age.
Galatians 5:21 "…
murders, drunkenness, revelings,
and such like: of the which I tell you before, … that they which
do such things shall not
inherit the
kingdom of
God."
The passage in 1 John explains what the consequences are
for hating your brother in the Lord. This would not make sense if this was
referring to a blood brother. This is not someone who professes to be saved
when he isn't, because if he was not saved the Holy Spirit would not refer to
him as a brother. Using the terms "professor and possessor" is a non Biblical
way of explaining something that you can not explain and still be consistent
with the rest of the Word of God. The Holy Spirit wrote 1 John 3:14-15 and He
knows who is in the family and who isn't; therefore He would not call him a
brother if he indeed was not a brother.
I believe that a brother in Christ is more than one who is saved. A
brother is defined for us in Matthew
12:50 "For whosoever shall do
the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, …" A brother
in Christ is one who is seeking to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 7:21 "Not every one that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the
kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the
will of my Father which is in
heaven." 1 Corinthians 12:3 "…
no man can say that Jesus is the
Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." You can be saved and not do the will of the
Father. If you are not interested in doing the will of the Father you are not
a brother in Christ.
John 5:24 and 1 John 3:14-15 both deal with agelasting
life. The passage in John 5:24 makes reference to one who holds agelasting
life in high esteem and in 1 John 3:15 reference is made to one who loves his
brother because he holds agelasting life in high esteem. The word abiding in 1
John 3:15 is the Greek word
me>nw and is also translated
endureth and is in the present tense. The holding of agelasting life
in high esteem does not endure or continue in a brother that hates his brother
in Christ. This is confirmed in 1 John
2:8-11 "Again, a new commandment
I write unto you, … 9. He that saith
he is in the light, and hateth his
brother, is in darkness even until now.
10. He that loveth his brother
abideth [continue, dwell, endure, remain]
in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11. But he that hateth his brother
is in darkness, and walketh
in darkness, and knoweth not
whither he goeth, because that
darkness hath blinded his eyes." When a brother's eyes are blinded, then
the word of the kingdom can not be understood.
Matthew 13:14 "… the prophecy of
Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and
seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:" If life for the age is not
regarded highly, then the word of the kingdom will not continue to be heard
and then the one who was given ears to hear and eyes to see move from
the life back to
the
death. If we justify hating our
brother in Christ we have become lawless. To move from the life to the death
means that there will be judgment given, at the judgment seat of Christ, for
being disobedient to the new commandment. We do not have to continue to hate
our brother in Christ and come into this condemnation, we can repent. All one
has to do is to begin to hear the word of the kingdom again and begin to move
from
the death to
the life again.
2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord
is not slack concerning his [the]
promise, … but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance." 1 John 2:25 "And this
is
the
promise that he hath promised us,
even eternal [agelasting]
life." Only those who have life can
perish. Those dead in sin can not perish, they are already dead.
The death is our last enemy. Physical death is not an enemy because
in 2 Corinthians 5:8
"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be
absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." and in
Philippians 1:23
"For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire
to depart, and to be with Christ;
which is far better:" we see that
to be present with the Lord is far better.
1 Corinthians 15:26
"The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death." Until we are in
the presence of the Lord,
the death [qa>natos] is our enemy. 1
Corinthians 15:54 "So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have
put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
[the]
Death [qa>natos] is swallowed up in victory."
1 Corinthians 15:56
"The sting of [the]
death [qa>natos]
is [the]
sin [lawlessness]; and the strength of [the] sin
is the law." The sin is a reference
to lawlessness. 1 John 3:4 ***
"Every one who is doing the
sin, the
lawlessness also he doth
do, and the
sin
is the
lawlessness,"
John 5:24
"…but is passed from death unto [the]
life." The phrase “the life” first
occurs in the Greek New Testament in
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: ...
14. Because strait is the
gate, and narrow is the way, which
leadeth unto [the]
life, and
few there be that find
it.” This is not the way to be saved. We
believe to be saved. To look for a
strait gate and then maintain our walk on a narrow way for salvation makes the
finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross unnecessary.
When we believe to be saved the transaction is done, we are saved.
Entering the narrow gate does not guarantee “the
life,” it just leads to “the
life.”
Another occurrence of the phrase “the life” is where the
rich man asked “… what good thing
shall I do, that I may have eternal life
[agelasting life]? 17. And he
[Jesus] said… if thou wilt enter [eijse>rcomai, 1525*] into [the]
life, keep the commandments.”
Matthew 19:16-17 The man asks how
he might have agelasting life.
The word
might have is translated from
the Greek word e]cw but is not in the present tense but is aorist tense. In
this case the meaning of the word
e[cw is
to have. To help us to
understand what the man asks him, Jesus clarifies the question with the phrase
"if thou wilt enter into the life" in verse 17. To have life for the age is to
enter into
the life. To enter into
the
life is further defined in
verses Matthew 19:23, 24
“Then said Jesus ...That a rich man shall hardly
enter into the
kingdom of heaven.
24 ...It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to
enter into the kingdom of God.” To have agelasting life, to enter
into life, and enter the kingdom of heaven is further defined in
Matthew 19:27-28 when "…Peter …said
unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have
therefore?" In other words, we have done what you told the rich man to do, so
what are we going to get? Then in verse 28. "… Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have
followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne
of his glory, ye also shall sit upon
twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel." The
reference to the
regeneration and
the throne of His glory is a
reference to the kingdom of the heavens which is the millennial reign of
Christ.
The life in John 5:24 is
the same as entering into the kingdom of heaven or God and this is defined in
Matthew 19:28 as sitting upon thrones judging the nations of the world.
Salvation comes before the calling. You can't be called if you are not saved.
2 Timothy 1:9 "Who hath saved
us, and called
us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began," The calling is unto His kingdom and glory which has to do with
the word of the kingdom. If you do not have ears to hear the word of the
kingdom you do not have ears to hear His calling unto His kingdom and glory.
John 10:3 "To him the porter
openeth; and the sheep hear his
voice: and he calleth his own sheep
by name…" John 10:27 "My
sheep hear [ajkou>w,
191* present active, they have ears] my
voice, and I know [present active] them, and they follow [present active]
me:" Not all have ears to hear, so only the
many have ears to hear and therefore they are the ones who are
called. Matthew 20:16 "So the last
shall be first, and the first last: for
many be called, but few
chosen." Those who have been called to His kingdom and glory through the word
of the kingdom, have to root themselves in the word of the kingdom or they
will be offended. Those who have been called must walk worthy of the kingdom
by refusing anything that would choke the word of the kingdom so that they
would not become unfruitful.
1 Thessalonians 2:12 "That ye would
walk worthy of God, who hath called
you unto his kingdom and glory." To
walk worthy of the Lord is to bear fruit. The message of John 5:24 is to be
faithful in hearing the word of the kingdom and you will not be ashamed at the
judgment seat of Christ. If we are faithful to the word of the kingdom, then
we will bear fruit and enter the life of the kingdom of heaven ruling and
reigning with Christ. If we stop hearing the word of the kingdom then we will
become unfruitful and forfeit an abundant entrance into the coming Kingdom of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
* Numbers are
from the Strong’s Concordance
** Youngs Literal
Translation of the Bible
*** Dana & Mantey’s Manual Grammar
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