Jesus spoke of a time when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and will be resurrected - those who have done good to a resurrection of life and those who have done evil to a resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29).
But the kind of resurrection we will have is not based on our deeds.
The good that Jesus spoke of is believing in Him and the evil is rejecting Him. This harmonizes with John 6:29: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent," and John 3:36, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
When Jesus spoke with Martha, He said, "I am the resurrection and the life." As the resurrection, He promises to resurrect all who believe in Him (John 11:25).
Another reference in John identifies those who are condemned and those who are not.
"He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). Once again, the ones not condemned are those who believe and the ones who are condemned are those who don't believe.
So, if you are a believer, you are in the group that has "done good." You have eternal life, shall not come into condemnation, and have passed out of death into life (John 5:24).
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 0
Be the first to post a comment!
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.