31 “He who comes from above is above all; the one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What He has seen and heard, of this He testifies; and no one accepts His testimony. 33 The one who has accepted His testimony has certified that God is true. 34 For He whom God sent speaks the words of God; for He does not give the Spirit sparingly. 35 The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand. 36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Observations
John reminds his disciples where Jesus comes from. He says that Jesus comes from above. The Greek word for above is anothen, which can mean the heavens but also can mean from the beginning, which would underscore Christ’s divinity. Adding emphasis, John then says Jesus came from heaven. The word used for heaven is ouranos which means the heavens, either visible or spiritual. John is asserting Jesus’ supremacy and authority over all.
32 What He has seen and heard, of this He testifies; and no one accepts His testimony. 33 The one who has accepted His testimony has certified that God is true.
John then reminds his disciples of what Jesus has said. Throughout scripture Jesus repeatedly tells us that He can only do what He sees the Father doing. What Jesus has seen and heard refers to the intimate communication He has with the Father, predating time and the incarnation. But very few people believe Jesus. Because the Father and Jesus are so intimately connected, if you reject Jesus you also reject God. You cannot have one without the other since Jesus and the Father are one (see John 10:30).
34 For He whom God sent speaks the words of God; for He does not give the Spirit sparingly. 35 The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand.
It follows that if Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit are truly one, then each of them represents one another perfectly in thought, word and deed. In the Old Testament, the prophets were given the Spirit only in part, or temporarily. However, this verse says that God gives the Holy Spirit to His Son unsparingly, meaning without measure, continuously. If Jesus has the permanent presence of the Spirit, this is yet another proof that Jesus is God incarnate.
36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
When you place your trust in Jesus, when you believe in His claims, then at that point you receive eternal life, for you become one of the redeemed, your sins are forgiven, covered by Christ’s sacrifice. However, if you do not believe in the Son, you reject the only way for your sins to be forgiven. Hence, you are unprotected from the righteous judgment of God. Jesus sacrifice is like a bullet proof vest, protecting us from God’s wrath.
Application
Faith Alone vs. Works
There are physical laws in this universe, if you defy them, no matter how much you believe they are false, physical laws will prevail. If you jump off a 12 story building, no matter how much you believe that you can fly, gravity will pull you to your death. Similarly, when one dies, there are spiritual laws and realities that will act upon your soul, no matter how fervently you believe otherwise. Just as we cannot escape gravity, we cannot escape the judgement of God, unless we are protected by the blood of Jesus.
So when it comes to eternal life, what are you placing your trust in? Are you trusting in grace alone or are you also trusting in your good works? We love to control own own destiny and our pride blinds us to how sinful we are compared to a holy and perfect God. Scripture says that if we stumble in keeping even one small part of God’s laws, we are as guilty as if we had broken every one of them (James 2:10). Therefore, we could never possibly be saved by our works.
The good things we do can be driven by a works oriented mindset. Doing good things does not make you more worthy of salvation or of God’s love. Take a moment to reflect on ways that you might be trying to earn your salvation.
- Becoming disciplined in daily bible reading.
- Tithing regularly or generously giving to charities.
- Serving regularly in church or community.
- Spending a large amount of time in prayer.
- Attending church every week.
- Memorizing a large number of scriptures.
- Evangelizing with fervor, keeping track of the number of people “you” have won to Christ.
Be on guard. Human pride has a way of blinding us to the real motives that lie in our hearts. We love to boast in the things we accomplish. Accomplishing good things does not make God love you any more or less. Nor are we rewarded for the good things we have done with salvation. It is a gift. If salvation can be earned, then Jesus’ death on the cross was not sufficient. (Ephesians 2:8,9)
We All Fall Short
You may be thinking, “But the verse says that if you do not obey, you will not inherit eternal life. You must have to “do” something to get to heaven”. The Greek word used for the phrase ‘not obey’ is apeitheó, meaning to rebel or to refuse to conform. Therefore, this verse is saying that if you rebel against or refuse to conform to the message of the gospel that Jesus proclaimed, then you there is no other solution for your sin. There is no other way for you to receive eternal life. The way to eternal life is through Jesus. The gospel is good news as it is God’s eternal solution to the human problem of sin. All of us are in the same predicament. We are all a mess without Christ. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
For more information on why salvation by works is the predominantly held viewpoint, click here.