John3:18: The one who believes (or is believing)
into / in / with respect to Him (Jesus – God’s Son – the Son of Man in context)
is not condemned / judged, and / but the one who does not believe (or is not believing)
into / in / with respect to Him is / has been condemned / judged already, (depending on the perfect verb emphasis being on the current state (“is”) or the past action (“has been”) – either way, the perfect is saying nothing beyond a current condition)
because (cause of the condemnation / judgment is)
he does not believe / has not believed (again depending on the perfect verb emphasis being on the current state (“does not”) or the past action (“has not”) – either way, the perfect is saying nothing beyond a current condition)
into / in / with respect to the name of the only / uniquely begotten Son of God.
1) Some believe Biblical Belief can be temporary. Some believe Biblical Belief must be ongoing. The participles “believes,” and “does not believe” are present tense. How do we agree on translating them when we have different beliefs about Belief?
2) John uses the word “
eis” (most simply “into”) instead of “
en” (most simply “in”) – “believes
eis Him.”
Eis can mean the same as “
en.” If we look at these 2 words spatially,
eis is transitional & speaks of entering into.
En simply means in, carrying the sense of within or inside.
Eis can also have other meanings, such as “with respect to.” One of the things I find interesting in GJohn is how much detail John provides about the person and work of Jesus Christ. Before GJohn speaks of “belief” the first time (J1:7), this is what John has told us about Jesus Christ:
- Jesus is The Word
- Jesus pre-existed creation
- Jesus pre-existed with God
- Jesus was the pre-existing God
- Jesus was pre-existing in the beginning with God
- All things were made through Jesus
- Not one thing was made independent of Jesus
- Life, men’s light, was pre-existing in Jesus
- Jesus, The Light, shines in the darkness
I personally think John is trying to tell us something that we, in typical western, microwave style, just want to shelve, in order to cut to the chase (to our great detriment) about Belief & Jesus Christ. There is an abundance of
content John provides with respect to Jesus Christ between each “believe” verse in GJohn. By 3:18 this
content is already extensive.
3) The perfect tense “is / has been condemned/judged” and “does not believe / has not believed” is telling us nothing more here, than the judgement took place sometime in the past and exists at the time of it being applied in the eyes of the speaker. So, from this verse only, either translation & emphasis could be accurate: The person who does not believe is judged already – The person who has not believed has already been judged. As for “never believed” or “believed and then unbelieved,” both are inserted choices based upon differing personal beliefs.
4) I personally find fascinating the judgment as it’s explained in 3:19-20: Those whose works “were being” (imperfect tense = a video vs. a snapshot of what was happening when they did not believe) evil / worthless. These evil /worthless works are elaborated with a different word meaning low grade / base / inferior / low quality / morally substandard. Those doing /accomplishing such bad works simply do not want them exposed, so they love the darkness and hate the light, and don’t come to the light (believe Jesus is the Christ – the Light per J1), which will publicly expose them for what they are.
5) Since the judgment is explained, it seems to me:
a.
If Biblical Faith is ongoing, then coming to the light means we remain in the light where our doing the truth (3:20) is ongoing.
b.
If Biblical Faith is temporary, and salvation
can be lost, then remaining in the light may not last, doing the Truth may not be ongoing (3:20), we may return to the worthless works and may stay there doing /accomplishing them again, and in doing so lose the salvation we had or could have had (which brings in the question of what the full scope of Biblical Salvation is).
c.
If Biblical Faith is temporary, and salvation
cannot be lost, then remaining in the light may not last, doing the Truth may not be ongoing (3:20), we may return to the worthless works and may stay there, and in doing so retain the salvation we had and still have.
Seems to me the there’s really no way to answer between the 3 from the language of J3:18. Nor is there a way to decide between “have never believed” vs. “have not believed” vs. “don’t believe.” I do agree with Doug that “never” is not contained in the perfect tense & could easily have been stated to make it clear. But that’s not always done in Scripture.
I know osas is under debate here, and surely looking like it won’t be resolved, but
coming to the Light and then returning to doing / accomplishing evil / worthless / low grade / base / inferior / low quality / morally substandard works, wanting to keep them hidden in darkness, hating the Light – Jesus Christ who will expose them publicly, is not the description of a Christian – whether or not ever or never a Christian.
I don’t see J3:18 in itself resolving the osas debate. Neither did I see Acts16:31 resolve the debate. I did see Matt10:26-28 as stating against temporary faith for eternal life.
I also think I said a lot about what Biblical Faith has to be (abiding/remaining) for Eternal Life in post #648 and only Doug (as far as I know) took me up on it (and agreed).
And, I think JLB gets it:
God promises eternal life to those who remain in Christ.
