John 5:24

John 11:25-26. “I am the resurrection and the life.”

POST OVERVIEW. An exposition of John 11:24-26 for my upcoming book on “The Resurrection: When the church is glorified.”

The death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus provides the context for this very famous quote from our Lord about His identity and about the resurrection of the saints. Martha has complained to the Lord that, if He had come earlier, Lazarus would not have died. Jesus responded by telling her that her brother would rise again.

24 Martha *said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” – John 11:24-26

11:24. Martha states the doctrine of the resurrection; namely, that there will be resurrection of the dead on the last day. But Martha does not connect the resurrection with Jesus or with faith in Jesus. Her understanding of the resurrection is incomplete.

11:25. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus is the central figure in the resurrection on the last day. He is the one who orchestrates the resurrection and who gives eternal life to all who believe in Him.

“He who believes in Me . . .” We pause here to make the critical point that only believers in Jesus will be a part of the resurrection of the righteous. If you believe in Jesus; that is, if you have denied yourself and taken up your cross daily and followed Jesus (Luke 9:23); if you have passed from death to life (John 5:24); if you have been born again (John 3:3, 5); if you have been justified by faith (Rom. 5:1), then Jesus’ words apply to you. If not, then you are heading toward a resurrection of judgment (John 5:29) and a place in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15).

So, Jesus’ words here are good news only for those who believe in Jesus.

Jesus, as the resurrection and the life, says, “He who believes in Me . . . will live . . . even if he dies.” In the Garden, the LORD God had warned Adam about sin: “The day you eat of it, you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Ever since Adam’s first sin, death has reigned over all men because of their sin. “The soul who sins will die” (Ezek. 18:4). My sin guaranteed my death and there was no escape available.

But now Jesus declares, “He who believes in Me will live even if He dies.” To anyone who believes in Him, Jesus makes a promise that renders physical death inconsequential. Our Lord promises that the believer will live. In the garden, God warned Adam that his sin would result in death, but now the Son of God declares that the one who believes in Him will live. Look carefully and you will see that Jesus has taken sin out of the equation. God said that if Adam sinned, he would die, but now Jesus says if the sinner believes, he will live.

Notice that “will live” is in the future tense. When Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life, promises that the believer will live, He is speaking about the believer’s eternal life. We see then that Jesus is saying, “He who believes in Me will live forever in heaven.” And we know that in heaven we will be in our eternal glorified state. In other words, based on Jesus’ promise, it is a settled certainty that he who believes in Jesus will live forever in heaven in glory.

“He who believes in Me will live . . . . even if He dies.” Once you have passed from spiritual death to eternal life (John 5:24) as a result of believing in Jesus, your future glorified life in heaven is guaranteed regardless of whether you are physically alive or dead. In other words, physical death does not affect your spiritual life and cannot rob you of your promised glorified body. Jesus has promised that you will live. Because of this, the believer should no longer fear physical death. Because of my faith in Jesus, my physical death has become a non-event. I am awaiting the resurrection when I will receive my glorified body even if my physical body has died.

But there is another aspect to this short phrase, “even if he dies.” We will receive our glorified body even if we physically die, but there is also the possibility that we will not physically die. In other words, the resurrection may occur while my physical body is yet living. What happens then? Jesus does not explain this possibility in this passage, but Paul has clearly explained this in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 and in 1 Cor. 15:51-52. If the resurrection occurs when the believer is yet living, then he will be quickly changed (1 Cor. 15:52) and will receive his glorified body without having to go through death.

Regardless of your physical circumstances, whether you are asleep or you are alive and remain, you will receive your eternal glorified body in the resurrection.

11:26. “and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” The previous verse talked about the physical aspects of the resurrection, but this verse speaks about the eternal spiritual rewards of believing in Jesus as Lord and God. Jesus declares that everyone who believes in Him will live forever. By his faith in Jesus, the believer has received eternal life and cannot die. Everyone who does not believe in Jesus is dead in their sins (Eph. 2:1), but everyone who believes in Him has forever passed from death to life (John 5:24) and therefore will never die. Eternal life is theirs. Once again, physical death poses no threat to the believer because, whether alive or asleep, he possesses eternal life.

SUMMARY

Mary and Martha were saddened because their brother, Lazarus, was dead, and they were confused because Jesus had not prevented their brother’s death. But Jesus’ message to them is one of immense encouragement: “For everyone who believes in Me, physical death is of no consequence. Believe in Me and you will rise in glory in the resurrection and spend eternity in heaven with Me. I am the resurrection and I am the One who gives eternal life.”

Do you believe this?

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 2/26/2024                   #696

Thoughts on my righteousness before and after Christ

OVERVIEW. These thoughts on my righteousness, both absolute and practical, were captured from writing on December 29, 2022. Several terms will be discussed including “wholly unrighteous,” “absolutely righteous,” “practical righteousness,” and, in a subsequent post, “relative righteousness.”

WHOLLY UNRIGHTEOUS BEFORE CHRIST

Before salvation, that is, before a person’s initial saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, all people are wholly unrighteous. The Bible makes clear that “unrighteous” is the state of all unbelievers without exception. All are born absolutely unrighteous and, in that state, they remain unless they are rescued from that domain of darkness by Christ (Col. 1:13). There is no righteousness in them. All their righteous deeds are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Any efforts at works-righteousness despise the offering of Christ on the cross as the only atonement for sin (Acts 4:12; Eph. 1:7; Mark 10:45), because they substitute man’s sinful efforts for Christ’s perfect sacrifice. The Bible declares that, before my justification, there was no righteousness in me at all. I was a child of God’s wrath (Eph. 2:3) and was subject to His full condemnation.

ABSOLUTELY RIGHTEOUS BY FAITH IN CHRIST

But at the moment of my salvation, I was justified. That is, I was declared righteous by the Holy One of Israel because of my faith in Jesus and immediately there was imputed to my account the full righteousness of Christ. In a moment, I moved from wholly unrighteous to fully righteous (John 5:24; Acts 13:48; 16:31). At salvation, I was wrapped in a robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10; confirm 2 Cor. 5:21)) and, from then on, I am viewed by God to possess (by the Lord’s imputation and declaration) the full righteousness of the Lord Jesus Himself. As a disciple of the Lord Jesus, I have received an absolute righteousness and I will be fully righteous for all of eternity.

PRACTICAL RIGHTEOUSNESS

This biblical doctrine of the imputation of Christ’s perfect righteousness to all who believe in Jesus can, however, cause some confusion, especially among those who have recently come to Christ. The confusion can take one of two forms. The new believer can think, “Well, since by faith the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to me, I do not need to be overly concerned about my ongoing sin.” This is a grievous error, because it suggests that the Lord does not make holy those He saves. (See also Matthew 5:6 and Romans 6:1-2; etc.) The other end of the spectrum is the idea that, “Since by faith the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to me, I should quickly cease from all sinning.” This latter error reveals a misunderstanding about the process of sanctification and about the disciple’s necessary growth in practical righteousness.

The Bible teaches that there are two types of righteousness that come to the person who trusts Christ as their Lord and Savior. We have already addressed the absolute righteousness of Christ that is imputed to every believer at the moment of salvation. This event is called justification when God declares the sinner righteous. But justification necessarily ushers in the process of sanctification, which is the lifelong journey in which the disciple of Jesus grows in practical righteousness. In the process of sanctification, through the use of the means of grace and by “working out one’s salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12), the disciple of Jesus strives to close the gap between Christ’s perfect righteousness, which has been imputed to their account at salvation, and the disciple’s current experience of practical righteousness in their life. Slowly, steadily, “little by little” (Ex. 23:29-30; Deut. 7:22) God the Holy Spirit works together with the disciple as the disciple’s hunger and thirst for righteousness is satisfied (Matt. 5:6). As practical righteousness grows, the disciple becomes more evidently conformed to Christ (Romans 8:29) and brings forth more of the fruit of righteousness (Luke 3:8).

There is another term that I want to consider in this subject of righteousness, and it is the term “relative righteousness.” In his salvation, the believer has received the absolute righteousness of Christ and has embarked on the path of growing practical righteousness. What, then, is this “relative righteousness” of which we speak? Tune in next time!

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 1/4/2023                     #607

Identifying as a disciple rather than a Christian (Part 3)

POST OVERVIEW. The third in a series of posts talking about the advantages of identifying as a “disciple of Jesus” instead of as a “Christian.” This post is about the association of “Christian” with religions.

We have been exploring reasons why it is preferable for the follower of Jesus Christ to identify as a “disciple of Jesus” rather than as a “Christian.” Our first consideration was that it is more strategic and more effective for the believer to identify as a “disciple of Jesus” in the task of evangelism (Post #601, 12/18/2022). The second post (#603, 12/24/2022) looked at how it is more empowering for the believer’s own self-identity and self-concept to see himself as a “disciple of Jesus” rather than as the more ambiguous name of “Christian.” Now this third post will show that the identity of “Christian” carries with it religious baggage that clouds the real nature of being a true “disciple of Jesus.”

Before we dig deeper into this subject, I want to again make very clear that I am a Christian. I am a heaven-bound, Bible-believing, born-again, water-baptized, church-going, Holy Spirit-sealed, blood-washed disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. In short, I am a Christian. It is not the word “Christian” that creates obstacles, but it is the use of the word and the ambiguity of the word and the over-familiarity of the world in our culture that causes the problems, and these problems become especially sticky when we consider the “religious use” of “Christian.”

RELIGIOUS USE OF “CHRISTIAN”

What do I mean by the “religious use” of the word “Christian?” First, we need to define a religion. Since mankind has invented many and varied religions, one comprehensive definition of the word is very difficult to establish. Nevertheless, I would suggest that:

RELIGION. A religion is a named set of man-made rituals and practices which are performed from time to time by the adherents of the religion to achieve some subjective “spiritual” benefit. Religious adherents typically hope for 1) some imagined relief from the guilt they experience as a result of their sin; and 2) some hoped for calming of their terror of death. Religions also commonly, but not necessarily, involve trying to appease some deity.

In religion, the emphasis is on the performance of the same rituals and practices over and over again. There is no expectation by the religious adherent that these external rituals will produce any internal or personal change or growth. Again, the emphasis is on the external forms and the performance. If the performance is good enough, then the religionist can hope to have merited some reward.

Some well-known religions are Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism, Judaism, and Sikhism, but there are many other forms of religion that are practiced across the globe.

Having defined what we mean by “religion,” we can say that the “religious use” of the word “Christian” is when the word refers to an adherent of the “Christian religion.” For, unlike religions, Christianity does have a living, life-changing genuine article. The genuine follower of Jesus, the one who has repented of his sin and has trusted Christ for salvation, has been born again (John 3:3, 5) and has passed from death to life (John 5:24) and has become a living “Christian.” But the word “Christian” is more commonly used as a religious term to describe one who, to some degree or other, identifies with the Christian religion without any reference to Jesus or the Bible or having been born again. This latter is the “religious use” of “Christian.”

THE BAGGAGE CARRIED BY THE WORD “CHRISTIAN”

After this necessary aside to talk about religions, we remember that the point of this article is to show that “disciple of Jesus” is preferred to the identity “Christian” because of the religious baggage carried by “Christian.” In our American culture, when the word “Christian” comes up in a conversation, either in the public forum or among unbelievers or among “religious Christians,” it is these false “baggage” images that are almost certainly in their mind. Here are some examples of this baggage.

A “religious Christian” is a person who identifies as a Christian but there is nothing distinctly Christian about their words or their behavior that would mark them as followers of Jesus Christ. Their life is no different than a person who does not identify as a “Christian.”

A “religious Christian” (RC) typically has vague ideas about the basic tenets of biblical Christianity, like beliefs about God, Jesus, the Bible, the Holy Spirit, the local church, salvation, sin, or the condemnation that abides on the sinner, to name a few. There are no convictions.

For the RC, “Christian” is just one of the roles he plays in life. He may occasionally go to church on Sunday (or he may not), but “Christian” is just a Sunday role for him.

For the RC, “Christian” is his religious label, like Buddhist or Muslim. He received the label at some point in the past (at birth or at his baptism or at confirmation or at a revival event), but there is no current, living experience with God or evidence of a vital, living faith.

A RELIGIOUS LABEL CONVEYS A FIXED STATE OF BEING

When an RC uses “Christian” as a religious label, he is conveying a fixed state of being. This is because the declaration of one’s religion implies that a destination has been reached and is now unchangeable. Religious positions intentionally give this impression. Religion is presented as a fixed characteristic of a person, like gender or ethnicity. In fact,

Whether it is “Catholic” or “Hindu” or “Muslim” or “Christian,” the declaration of one’s religion implies that a destination has been reached and is now unchangeable. Religious labels intentionally communicate a fixed characteristic of a person, like gender or ethnicity. This is as true of the label “Christian” as it is of any other religion. Thus, when a genuine follower of Jesus declares he is a Christian, it is very likely that his hearers assume this is a religious label.

RELIGION IS DEAD BUT “DISCIPLE OF JESUS” IS ALIVE

One other comment should be made about religions. In religion, there is no growth because lifeless things do not grow. Religion is dead and cannot offer growth. That means that, when used as a religious term, a “Christian” is also not growing.

All of this baggage is possible when a follower of the Lord Jesus identifies themselves as a “Christian.” But now consider what happens if instead the follower of Jesus identifies themselves as a “disciple of Jesus.” As we have said before in these posts, the environment is materially changed. A disciple is a learner which conveys the idea of growth. A disciple is learning about the Bible and about how to pray and learning how to share their faith. One who is a disciple has begun a journey and he is moving toward a destination. There is motion and growth and life.

And he is a disciple of Jesus. Whether you love Him or hate Him, Jesus is the most interesting, compelling, controversial, fascinating person who has ever walked this planet. No dusty, dull religion here when we are walking with Jesus! The disciple of Jesus has a personal relationship with the great one, the Lord Jesus, so the disciple has a living relationship, not a dead religion.

For these reasons, a “disciple of Jesus” is a more powerful identity than “Christian” with none of the religious baggage.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 12/30/2022                 #606

The disciple’s justification (Phil. 2:12-13)

POST OVERVIEW. This post begins a short series of articles on Philippians 2:12-13, exploring how the disciple of Jesus can work out their salvation with fear and trembling. The first post examines the doctrine of justification as background for study of sanctification.

The New Testament introduces us to the incarnate Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and has as its central theme the gospel of salvation. This gospel states that, for anyone who will place their faith in Jesus and confess Jesus Christ as Lord, God will forgive their sins and will save them from His wrath and give them eternal life. After this salvation event, the believer commits to walk with Christ for the rest of their life in obedience to His commands. One of the words the New Testament uses for the event of salvation is justification, and the believer’s subsequent walk of increasing holiness is called sanctification. This short series is mostly on sanctification, but we first need to understand justification in order to fully understand sanctification.

JUSTIFICATION

We have already spoken about the salvation event as justification, but we need to be a little more precise. Justification is the event whereby a sinner is declared fully and forever righteous in the sight of God because of the sinner’s professed faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Three things should be noted about this definition. First, this justification is an event, not a process. Although the journey to the point of salvation may take years, justification itself occurs at a point in time. It is a one-time, once-for-all event that has eternal results. This is the moment when the sinner passes from death to life (John 5:24). This is the moment of spiritual birth when one is born again (John 3:3, 5). God justifies the sinner when he initially professes his faith in Jesus. So, event, not process.

But second, in justification, the sinner is declared righteous on the basis of their profession of faith in the Lord Jesus. God declares as righteous the one who confesses Jesus as Lord. Thus the believer, having been declared righteous upon their initial faith in Jesus, is forever viewed as righteous. This also means that all true followers of Jesus are equally justified and equally righteous, even though there may be great differences in terms of the disciples’ actual progress in practical holiness. Justification is God’s declaration of righteousness, not a reward for the disciple’s own efforts.

Third, justification is based solely on the repentant sinner’s initial profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. That is, “having heard the message of truth, the gospel of salvation” (Ephesians 1:13) and having understood that Jesus has come from heaven to die on the cross as a “ransom for many” (Mark 10:45), the sinner believes in Jesus and publicly professes Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior.

JUSTIFICATION IS ENTIRELY THE WORK OF GOD

Notice that, in justification, God is the only actor. The Bible presents justification as entirely the work of God. God is the One who justifies (Romans 8:33). God is just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26 in the powerful verses of 3:21-26). God is the One who justifies the circumcised (Jewish people) by faith and the uncircumcised (Gentiles) through faith (Romans 3:29-30). All this attests to the fact that our God is the One who does the work of justification. In justification, God is active and the believer is passive. God declares righteous and the believer receives righteousness. God is the actor and the believer is the object. It is God alone who “delivers us from the domain of darkness and transfers us into the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13).

Having gotten a good handle on justification, in the next post in this series we will turn our attention to the corresponding subject of sanctification.

SDG                 rmb                 10/5/2022                   #579

“They will come to Me” – (John 6:37 – Part 4)

INTRODUCTION: This is the last post in this series studying John 6:37, a verse in which Jesus teaches us about the sovereignty of God in salvation. In this series, we will examine not only what Jesus explicitly teaches in this verse, but also its implications based on other passages of Scripture and plain reasoning.

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” – John 6:37 (NASB)

In our third study in this series, we considered the phrase in the verse, “will come to Me” and sought to answer the question, “What does it mean for the sinner to ‘come to Jesus’?”  (See post #469 on 12/11/2021.) This article gives a clear explanation of what it means to come to Jesus in repentance and in faith.

In this fourth and final article from John 6:37, we will be discovering what Jesus promises to the one who comes to Him in repentance and faith. Our Lord says, “The one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” What does this mean? What is Jesus’ purpose in this teaching?

THE BELIEVER IS NOT CAST OUT

There are many ways that we can understand this expression.

The reason Jesus said this was to give confidence to the person who has believed in Him. Jesus’ purpose was to let the one who trusts in Him for salvation know that the believer is held securely by the Savior. That is, the believer is saved forever. There is no possibility that the one who has trusted in Jesus will ever be lost again. Eternally secure.

We already know that the one who comes to Jesus for salvation has passed from death to life (John 5:24). That is a one-way ticket. There is no return flight. The death of Jesus has been applied to the believing sinner’s sin and believer’s sin is atoned for. All the sins of the believer are covered by the blood of the Lamb and are therefore forever separated from the believer as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

By faith in Jesus, the sinner is born again (or born from above). The twice born can never suffer the condemnation and punishment of the once born. The one who has believed in Jesus has been “delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of Jesus Christ, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). Again, this is a one-way trip. There is no path back into the darkness for the true believer.

There is therefore now no condemnation for the one who has trusted in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Not now, not ever.

So, Jesus is here proclaiming that the one who has trusted in Him as Lord and Savior is certainly bound for heaven and will be there eternally. That is the entire purpose of Jesus’ statement. Therefore, believe in Jesus.

SDG                 rmb                 12/20/2021                 #472