“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” John 5:24.

The straightforward simplicity of this statement causes many to stumble; salvation cannot be this simple.

But what does it say? First Jesus says emphatically, “Most assuredly…” or as the Old King James puts it, “Verily, verily…” and the New American Standard’s “Truly, truly…” show the absolute emphasis that the Lord puts on the following words.

And these words are truly important. “…I say to you, he who hears My word…” This has been said before, Jesus is not referring to folks just hearing His words, multitudes heard His word and many of them died in their sins.

The reason for that is that His words went in one ear and out the other. For instance, one might think to themselves, “My, what a wonderful sermon; that man can speak. I wonder what’s for dinner.”

Jesus would often call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Words like this were addressed to all seven of the churches in Revelation chapters 2-3.

This spiritual deafness can come from a number of things, disinterest, laziness, worldliness, or one’s having already made up their mind, such as the following.

“And He said to them, ‘You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Who are You?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.’” John 8:23-25.

With all the signs and His words, even here in chapter 5, they were still willfully ignorant. Jesus makes it clear above who He is, “…I am not of this world.” Is that a clue or what?

Salvation means really believing what Jesus says, not just giving assent as if He were giving out cooking recipes. What can exclusive, unequivocal verses like the following possibly mean?

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life…” John 5:24a.

Some versions read, “believes on Him who sent Me” and the New American Standard Version omits the word “in”, translating it in this manner, “believes Him who sent Me”. What do we have to believe God the Father said?

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6.

“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law.” Isaiah 42:1-4.

“Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently, He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; so shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider.” Isaiah 52:13-15.

“Behold, the days are coming, ‘says the Lord,’ that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Jeremiah 23:5-6.

This person called both Branch and King is Jesus the Christ, who is called, “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS”.

Many of these verses are confusing because they may refer to Christ’s first advent as the suffering Messiah or to His second advent when He comes to reign over all the earth.

The next passage is a prophecy of Christ, their Messiah, returning to reign, and the Jewish remnant recognizing Him as Jesus whom they had rejected.

“It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced; they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” Zechariah 12:9-10.

Though still future it is easy to see the enemies of Israel surrounding them, and when they invade, they will surround the city of Jerusalem with the intent of annihilating all the Jews. Does this sound familiar? Is it not what Iran is already threatening to do to Israel?

On 8/21/12 the nuclear state of Iran unveiled a new missile. Iran’s president Ahmadinejad stated that, “The existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to all humanity.”

It should also be added that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei is in complete agreement with that assessment. Ahmadinejad also justifies an attack on Israel to, “Protect the dignity of all human beings.”

Muslims have a reason for doing these things, and there is no reason to expect them to back down. Prophecy gives no indication that Israel will suffer a nuclear attack, but that does not mean that these things are not going to go off somewhere in the near future.

Jesus prophesied this about the great tribulation.

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” Matthew 24:21-22.

Never in our history has mankind had the capacity to completely annihilate himself. Prophecy is some of the strongest proof that Scripture is God breathed. Study it and understand where you stand in Christ.

What else should we believe that God the Father said about His Son?

“And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” Matthew 3:17.

This concerns the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus.

“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion, ‘says the Lord of hosts.’ Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered…” Zechariah 13:7a.

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: “I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.”’” Matthew 26:31.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” John 10:11.

Finally, anyone who believes the gospel of Jesus Christ, “…hears My word”, and accepts God’s testimony of Jesus; “…has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” John 5:24b.

This is why the Lord Jesus prefaced this verse with the words, “Most assuredly”, “Verily, verily”, pay close attention! The simplicity of the gospel is merely accepting the fact that Jesus paid for your sins on the cross and all you have to do is, hear His word that this is true, and you will have “everlasting life”, present tense, it commences immediately.

Those who accept Christ as their savior, “…shall not come into judgment…” unlike those who reject Him. The Christian will not stand before the great white throne of judgment, to be cast into the lake of fire, which is called the second death in Revelation 20:10-15.

Christians will not be judged because they have been declared innocent through the shed blood of Christ and in this way they have, “passed from death into life.”

“…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:12-14.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.” John 5:25.

The hour that is coming was the hour of Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead. Yet, so sure was Christ’s sacrifice for sin that it could be said that the hour now is.

While it is true that those in the grave will hear the voice of Christ, the dead here are all who have not yet accepted Christ as savior.

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:1-10.

“…and those who hear will live” this refers us back to the beginning of verse 24, “…he who hears My word…” those who hear have eternal life, having passed from death to life.

“For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.” John 5:26-27.

Again, in these two things we see the absolute equality the Son has with the Father. God would not grant these things to any less than His equal.

“I am the Lord [YAHWEH], that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another…” Isaiah 42:8a.

The Father, being the origin and sustainer of life, also has the authority to grant eternal life. In the same manner, the Son, being co-equal with the Father, even though He is in the form of a Man, has life in Himself.

In the same way, the Son has authority to execute judgment; more so in this case since Jesus is the Son of Man. No one can accuse Him of not knowing what it is to be human since He shared in flesh and blood just as others.

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15.

Christ is our High Priest; He is also qualified as our Judge. No one can stand before Him on judgment day and say, “You do not know what my life was like; how dare You judge me.” Jesus would need only to hold up His pierced hands and the argument will be over.

Another reason judgment is given over to the Son is that all may honor Him.

“For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” John 5:22-23.

“And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to Lamb, forever and ever!’” Revelation 5:13.

All, God haters, Satan and fallen angels; all who love God in Christ, all angels, all creation will bow the knee and give glory to God, like it or not. Then Satan’s followers will join him in the lake of fire, man’s second death.

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” John 5:28-30.

This time the Lord says, “…the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear…” indicating that this is a future event, so He is speaking of the resurrection of the dead.

Jesus’ other reference earlier in John 5:25 concerning the awakening of the dead in sin, is as follows, “the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God…”

This difference in phraseology further shows the difference between the dead spiritually and the dead physically.

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Daniel 12:2.

“…those who have done good…” and “…those who have done evil…” meaning those who have accepted Christ as payment for their sins, have done good; those who have rejected Christ must bear their own sins, which were evil.

“Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.” Romans 5:18.

From Death into Life, John 5:24-30 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 8-21-12, updated on 7-30-17.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.