John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

If I had just one verse to share from the Bible in order to witness to another, instead of John 3:16 as is the favorite of many, I’d choose John 5:24. In just one verse Jesus sums up the Gospel. He says that who believes in Him already HAS everlasting life. Not sometime in the future, now. That this salvation Jesus spoke of is SO GREAT, that the sinner will NOT come into God’s judgment.

So let’s break it down further. When Jesus said “everlasting life”, it means eternal, never-ending. This would refute all those “you can lose your salvation” religions who are guided by Satan, because in order to believe that, you must also believe Jesus lied. Jesus then goes onto say, so there was NO confusion on what He just said, that this sinner would NOT come into judgment, of which He is alluding to the final judgment at the end of time.

Yet, it doesn’t prevent some from ARGUING with Jesus on this, because their world religion such as Catholicism teaches something VASTLY different. They do not teach one is granted eternal life here and now, that comes at the final judgment by which God will weigh their good works, their faith, their sacrament participation, their commandment keeping and then give them a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

But do you notice the CLEAR PROBLEM with looking forward to a final judgment? You WILL then be judged by a comparison to God’s holiness. This is why Jesus said a saved believer will NOT come into that judgment, they have already been granted eternal life, their sin debt was paid in full by nothing other than faith alone in Him.

So if you are in a church or religion which has you grasping at straws, making you uncertain of what your eternal future holds, they are preaching AGAINST John 5:24, what Jesus clearly promised. They are telling you that you WILL come into judgment, “so try to be good enough”. And I am here to tell you that NO ONE will be good enough outside the person and work of Jesus Christ, NO ONE.

Consider this promise God made several times “He will not forsake you nor destroy you“, again it doesn’t prevent some religions as Catholicism and other others to say “not so, He will forsake you and destroy you, so be good”.

Romans 8:1 teaches “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”  Yet I have witnessed to some in these religions who argue day and night that this is not true. Notice what Paul said? He included the word “NOW”, meaning salvation is not sometime in the future at a final judgment, it is a present tense.

Once again Paul taught in Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Again, I have witnessed this passage to those in worldly religions who argue day and night, that there is NO peace with God until a final judgment. When by simple reading comprehension, Paul said “have peace”, which is again a PRESENT tense.

I ask the reader to read and study every word of John 5:24. Are you arguing with what Jesus said, or agreeing with. Are you skeptical of non-trusting of what Jesus promised? If so, you do not have faith in Him, most likely your world religion has indoctrinated you NOT to believe in Him, but to distrust His clear promises.