Shall Not Come Into Condemnation

2006-01-24

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24)

Jesus said this. When Jesus walked the land of Palestine, He exhibited many convincing proofs that He was the Son of God. He taught with authority, He had compassion on the lowliest of outcasts, and did many miracles in the sight of the people. The people who listened to Him when He taught knew He was from God, and they firmly believed that He would provide salvation for His people. But what they thought they needed to be saved from was the problem. It was over this misconception that the people of Jerusalem were cheering for Jesus on Palm Sunday, and five days later were shouting, “Crucify Him!”

The people in Jerusalem were convinced that Jesus was going to save them from Roman rule. No doubt there is a reality when Jesus will return to the earth in the future and rid the world of heathen government. But first Jesus had to save people from their sin, their rebellion, the very thing that stood between them and their God. It is the same thing that stands between God and us today.

John 5:24 tells us how the gap between us and God has been bridged, and how we can be saved from the judgment our rebellion deserves. When we place our trust in God, who sent His only Son to die for us, we receive eternal life. When I say “die for us” I mean that Jesus suffered the punishment we rightfully deserve for our sin. If you’re looking for true love, this is it. Jesus loves us so immensely that He died for us when we never gave Him a thought. He rose from the dead and commissioned those who believe in Him to take this message to the ends of the earth.

The tenses of the verbs are noteworthy: He who hears and believes has eternal life, and will not come into condemnation. It is this work of God on the cross that has saved us. When we trust in Him, we are no longer condemned by God, but have passed from eternal death to eternal life.

I do not know how many people I have met that believe that one goes to heaven based on being a “good person.” But for God who demands perfection, there are no “good people.” Not you, not me: for the Bible states, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It is only now, knowing that Christ was killed for our sin, that we have a decision facing us: will we trust in Him alone to be saved from our sin and the coming judgment, or will we reject Him and try to live our own way? It is this latter decision that will surely be our ruin. But if we trust in Him, our lives will never be the same.