A Matter of Life and Death – John 5:24

A Clay Jar

Encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. (1 Thess. 2:12 NIV)

 

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I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.

John 5:24 NET

What the NET translates as “I tell you the solemn truth” is a double word–“amen, amen,” or “truly, truly.” This is a way of stressing the importance of what follows. It is not just true; it is very true. It is of the utmost importance–a matter of life and death.

Jesus tells us that the one who does two things has eternal life and will not face judgment. First, we need to hear Jesus’ message. The word translated here as message is logos. This is the same word used at the beginning of John for the Word who was God and became flesh. Jesus is the Word. So, he calls on us first to hear him, to listen to the words of the Word.

But this is more than just passive listening. It is listening with comprehension: “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” It is letting Jesus’ message sink down and grow roots in fertile and productive soil (Luke 8:5-8).

Believe the One Who Sent Jesus

The second requirement is to believe the one who sent Jesus–to believe the Father. Jesus came from the Father with a message to deliver to us. When we believe the messenger, we believe the one who sent him.

Believing has two parts. It means that we have accepted that his message is true. And that we have put our faith in him, taking what we have accepted as true and acting upon it.

As believers in the Lord Jesus, we were spiritually dead, separated from the life of God. But when we heard and believed, we crossed over to the other side. We were born again and now have eternal life.

Along with this comes the responsibility for passing on this good news to those still on the other side–those still living in darkness and death. Invite them to hear, believe, and experience eternal life. It is a matter of life and death.