John
5:24-29
The
Resurrection Of The Dead
John 5:24-29 MKJV
Truly, truly, I say to you, He who hears My Word and believes on Him
who sent Me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but has
passed from death to life. (25) Truly,
truly, I say to you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God, and they who hear shall live. (26) For as the Father has life in Himself,
so He has given to the Son to have life within Himself, (27) and has given Him authority to execute
judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
(28) Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are
in the graves shall hear His voice, (29)
and shall come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and
those who have practiced evil to the resurrection of condemnation.
This passage is both inspiring, and difficult. It seems,
at first glance, to be contradictory on the question of salvation by faith
& salvation by works. Verse 24 is a classic salvation by faith statement –
“He who hears My Word and believes on Him who sent Me has everlasting life and
shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death to life.” While verse 29 seems to speak of salvation by
works: “ and shall come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of
life, and those who have practiced evil to the resurrection of condemnation.”
There are two possible explanations. Firstly that faith
must issue in works or it is dead, the works are merely evidence of the faith,
which is to say that no one will be resurrected unless their faith was real and
operative in their life. The other explanation is that Christians are saved by
faith, but “those who have not heard” receive the judgment of the Gentiles (by
works, justifying the good man, but apart from the Law) alluded to in Romans
2:5-12.
Whatever your take on this, the Christian life involves
both living faith and good deeds. We are not just to be a people full of
theological notions; instead we are to maintain strong righteous beliefs in God
that guide all aspects of our life and action. With the exception of deathbed
conversions, the rest of us must demonstrate our faith - in good works that God
has planned for us to do.
Ephesians 2:8-10 MKJV
For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God, (9) not of works,
lest anyone should boast. (10) For we
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has
before ordained that we should walk in them.
Thus while we are saved by faith we should walk “worthy of the
resurrection”:
Luke 20:35-36 MKJV
But they who shall be counted worthy to obtain that world, and the
resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. (36) Nor can they die any more, for they are
equal to the angels, and are the sons of God, being the sons of the
resurrection.
Philippians 3:10-11 MKJV (10) that I may know Him and the power of His
resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to
His death; (11) if by any means I might
attain to the resurrection of the dead.
So a Christian should aim to live a worthy and holy and
godly life - which is what all the apostles’ record, and which Jesus commands.
This is accompanied by the strong belief that this life of holiness would be
amply rewarded in the resurrection.
All life comes from God, including the power to live a
holy life. Indeed the life we live in the resurrection will not be our own
life, in our own strength, rather it will be a life given to us by Christ and
it is clear that we enter into this gift of life by faith:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, He who hears My Word and
believes on Him who sent Me has everlasting life and shall not come into
condemnation, but has passed from death to life. (25) Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is
coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and
they who hear shall live. (26) For as
the Father has life in Himself, so He has given to the Son to have life within
Himself.”
Upon
conversion we are moved from death to life and taken out of condemnation, so
there is now no condemnation for them who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1,2).
This gift
of life from Christ will even apply to the dead, in the graves, who shall hear
his voice and live at the resurrection. (John 5:28) It also applies to the
spiritually dead, who, when they “hear” by faith (spiritually, in themselves)
the word of Christ are born-again (Romans 10:9-17).
So the
Father has given to Jesus the power of eternal life as the Son of God (John
5:25), and the authority to judge the dead - as the Son of Man (John 5:27).
When we
truly believe in Christ Jesus we relate to Him as the Son of God (John 1:12)
and become His brethren (Hebrews 2:11), and as His brethren we should so what
He did – good works and live as He lived – a holy and worthy life.
John 1:12-13 MKJV
But as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to become the
children of God, to those who believe on His name, (13)
who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but were born of God.
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