February 04, 2026 | Be Connected
Jesus Promises Eternal Life to Believers
Scripture: John 5:24-30(NIV)
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
Devotional
In the Oxford English Dictionary, "verily" means "truly," "in truth," or "really.” The repetition, "verily, verily," is a Biblical way of emphasizing importance and certainty. In this passage, Jesus is telling us to get ready to listen to His important message about eternal life and deliverance from condemnation by faith in Him. Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life” (v. 24).
When I was 21, I personally accepted Christ as my Savior. At that moment, I had an eternal home in Heaven. Hallelujah! I believe this new life in Christ is more than a future reward, “but a present reality experienced by a transformed quality of life and a relationship with God that continues into the afterlife” (Spurgeon).
Recently, I read a devotional about this new life in Christ. When we accept Christ as Savior, we become “two people on the inside.” We have the mind, emotions, and will that we were physically born with, but we now also have the mind, emotions, and will of Christ within us. “We have a spiritual ‘implant’ of the life of Jesus Christ within our bodies, in the person of the Holy Spirit” (A. G. Lotz). This implanting of the life of Christ is a supernatural miracle. It is something God does in response to our humble confession and sincere repentance of sin coupled with our deliberate, personal faith in His Son (Lotz). Upon accepting Christ as Savior, we die to self. “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).
This new life in Christ offers us a personal relationship with God. “Now this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). If you’re a believer, you have eternal life right now. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new Creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). This doesn’t take anything away from Heaven, but we are supposed to have “a close, intimate, personal relationship with God our Father and Jesus Christ His Son right now. It’s not ‘pie in the sky by and by’ but rather ‘steak on your plate while you wait’” (Spurgeon). Praise the Lord! This new and everlasting life is found only though faith in Him as our personal Savior.
Are you living in a close relationship now with Christ as though you were already in Heaven?
