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NASB | John 5:24 ¶ "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 5:24 ¶ "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the person who hears My word [the one who heeds My message], and believes and trusts in Him who sent Me, has (possesses now) eternal life [that is, eternal life actually begins--the believer is transformed], and does not come into judgment and condemnation, but has passed [over] from death into life. |
Subject: Saved vs. Works (John 5:24 and 5:28-29) |
Bible Note: Faith is the means by which man accepts and receives God's saving grace (Romans 3:21-31; Ephesians 2:8). Man cannot help God in providing salvation, but man does have the responsibility to accept or reject what God offers. Man's response to God in accepting His work of salvation is called faith. Thus faith is the channel through which God's grace comes to man. Both God's grace and man faith are necessary for salvation. "Without faith it is impossible to please him [God]" (Hebrews 11:6). However, we must avoid saying that salvation comes partly from man. When man accepts grace the credit belongs wholly to God and the power of His grace, but when man rejects grace the blame falls wholly upon man and his unbelief. Thus we affirm both salvation by grace alone and the responsibility of man to accept salvation. However, this raises a second problem. If God gives potential faith to everyone, will everyone be saved? On the other hand, if God gives potential faith only to some, He would arbitrarily condemn the rest to hell without giving them any ability to choose. The answer is that God does give potential faith to everyone, but He leaves it up to each individual whether or not to accept and apply faith to his life. Another way to phrase this is to say God gives everyone the ability to have faith in Him. Every human being has the capacity to believe, but not everyone chooses to believe in God; nevertheless, everyone believes or can believe in something, whether it be God, the devil, false gods, self, other people, or material things. In creation God left a clear witness of Himself so that everyone would have a chance to believe in God and would have no excuse for failure to do so (Romans 1:19-20). |