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Jesus says in John 5:24 that those who believe already have eternal life. Does that mean once we’re saved, we’re always saved? In this episode, I explain why that conclusion doesn’t follow and how understanding what Jesus means by “eternal life” helps clarify the issue.
TRANSCRIPT:
The Catholic Church teaches that it’s possible for a Christian to lose his salvation.
But then we come across a verse like John 5:24, where Jesus says that if we believe in him we have eternal life.
And that raises an obvious question.
If it’s eternal life… how could we possibly lose it?
Wouldn’t that contradict the very meaning of the word “eternal”?
Well—not quite.
Stick around, and let’s talk about it.
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Alright, let’s jump in.
The question of whether Christians are eternally secure in their salvation is a hotly debated topic among Christians.
For those who think the answer is yes, John 5:24 is often a go-to passage. Jesus says:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
The late Protestant theologian Norman Geisler, along with Ralph MacKenzie, on page 71 in their book Roman Catholics and Evangelicals, interpret this passage to mean,
“Those who truly believe now can be certain now that they will be in heaven later.”
This leads them to conclude,
“Eternal life is a present possession the moment people believe, and this assures Christians they will never be condemned.”
So the question is:
Does John 5:24 really mean that?
Let’s take a look.
I think the best place to start is by asking a simple question: “What does Jesus actually mean by “eternal life”?”
Geisler and MacKenzie take it to mean heaven itself. Once you believe, heaven is guaranteed.
But notice something important in the passage.
Jesus doesn’t say we will come to possess eternal life later. He says the believer has it now.
The Greek verb echō there is present tense. But clearly believers here on earth don’t have heaven yet.
So Jesus must be referring to something other than the final state of heaven, even if it’s closely connected to it.
So what is it?
Well, Jesus describes it as a life that keeps us from condemnation.
And that tells us something important: it’s a life of union with Christ.
As St. Paul says in Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Jesus also contrasts this life with death. He says the believer “has passed from death to life.”
The “death” here isn’t physical death—it’s spiritual death, the state of being separated from Christ.
Since the death is spiritual, and the life give us spiritual union with Christ, it follows that the “life” Jesus speaks of is spiritual life. In Catholic theology, we call this sanctifying grace—the life of God in the soul.
As St. Peter says in 2 Peter 1:4, through grace we become “partakers of the divine nature.”
So eternal life in John 5:24 refers to the spiritual life that unites us to Christ.
Now once we understand that, Geisler and MacKenzie’s argument starts to fall apart.
Recall, their claim is that if we possess this spiritual life now, that means we must possess it forever.
Now, that could be true if Jesus were to have said that. But he doesn’t. He simply says whoever believes his word and the Father who sent him has this spiritual life and isn’t under condemnation or judgment.
So, the only way our current possession of this spiritual life could entail our perpetual possession of it is if the concept of this spiritual life already includes permanence.
But it doesn’t.
There’s nothing about our current union with Christ in this life that logically guarantees that union can never be broken.
Now if we were talking about that life as possessed in the Beatific Vision—the perfect vision of God in heaven—that would be different. In heaven the will is irrevocable in relation to God—that’s to say, it’s fixed on God forever.
But that’s not the state we’re in now.
Right now we possess that spiritual life in seed form, not in its perfected form.
For more details on the irrevocability of the will after death, check out my article “Why We Can’t Change Our Soul After Death.”
At this point someone might object:
“Wait a minute. Jesus calls it eternal life. If you can lose it, it wouldn’t really be eternal.”
That sounds persuasive—but it assumes something about the word eternal that the text itself doesn’t support. It assumes eternal refers simply to living forever—a quantity of life.
But the context shows that can’t be the whole meaning.
Just a few verses later, in verses 25-29, Jesus talks about the final resurrection and judgment at the end of time. In vers 29, he contrasts those who have done good with those who have done evil. The good rise to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil rise to the resurrection of judgment.
The “resurrection of life,” of course, refers to that perfected state of the “eternal life” spoken of in verse 24—heaven. The “resurrection of judgment” refers to hell.
If by “eternal life” Jesus meant simply that we will live forever in a quantitative sense, then it would equally apply to the damned, since they live forever too. But surely, the damned don’t have “eternal life” in the same sense that believers do.
So clearly the phrase “eternal life” means more than just living forever.
It refers to a kind of life—the divine life of God that we share through grace. And that concept of itself doesn’t have the note of everlasting life.
Now, does it relate to living forever with Christ in heaven? Yes. The spiritual life that unites us to Christ now is the life that will allow us to live forever in heaven. The difference is that in this life it’s not perfected, like it will be in the Beatific Vision. You might say that the spiritual life we have now is heaven’s life in seed form. This is why this spiritual life is rightly called “eternal life.”
Alright! So much for our first response.
My second focuses on the condition for having this spiritual life: belief in Christ. Jesus says the condition for having “eternal life”—the life that spiritual unites us to Christ—is belief in his word and the Father who sent him.
But Jesus also teaches that a true believer can stop believing.
For example, in Luke 8:13, Jesus describes some who hear the word and receive it with joy. He says: “They believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.”
So it’s possible for someone to believe for a time and then fall away. And if belief is the condition for possessing eternal life, then losing belief would mean losing that life.
Thus, the present possession of “eternal life” via belief doesn’t mean the person will always possess it.
Here’s a third response.
The logic used to defend eternal security from John 5:24 actually creates problems elsewhere in Scripture, like in John 3:36b.
John 5:24 says:
“He who believes does not come into judgment.”
But John 3:36 says:
“He who does not obey the Son shall not see life.”
The grammatical structure is parallel. Each stipulates a condition and a consequence when the condition is met.
Now, Geisler and MacKenzie interpret John 5:24 to mean that once the condition of belief is met, the consequence of not coming into judgment is secure. But if we were to apply that logic to John 3:36b, we’d have to say that once the condition of not obeying the Son (or not believing) is met, then the consequence of not seeing eternal life is secure.
But that would contradict the entire New Testament call to repentance.
Jesus says in Mark 1:15, “Repent and believe in the gospel.”
The apostles say the same thing in Acts 2:38: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”
Since Geisler and MacKenzie’s interpretative logic can’t be applied consistently to John 3:36b, we’re justified in rejecting it as they apply it to John 5:24.
John 3:36b and John 5:24 are not addressing whether someone’s condition can change (believer or non-believer). They’re simply describing what happens while someone remains in that state. As New Testament professor Robert Picirilli points out in his book Grace, Faith, and Free Will, the emphasis is on the fulfillment of the promise “to those who persist in the respective state described.” (pg.6)
There’s one last response: the Bible doesn’t speak of eternal life only as something we have now. It also speaks of it as something we will receive later.
For example, Romans 2:7 says that God will give eternal life to those who persevere in doing good.
And Galatians 6:8 says that those who sow to the Spirit will reap eternal life.
So eternal life has both a present dimension and a future dimension.
Right now we possess it in seed form through grace.
But its full perfection comes in heaven.
And Scripture consistently presents that future fulfillment as conditional on perseverance.
Now, Geisler and MacKenzie can’t possibly know that current believers will in fact continue to meet those conditions until death. Consequently, they can’t assert that believers who fulfill those conditions to have “eternal life” now will forever meet those conditions to have “eternal life” in heaven.
So let’s bring everything together.
Some Christians argue that John 5:24 proves once saved, always saved, because Jesus says believers have eternal life.
But that conclusion doesn’t follow.
First, eternal life in this passage refers to the spiritual life that unites us to Christ, irrespective of whether it is possessed in heaven or this life. The context reveals Jesus is referring to possessing it in this life. Thus, the present possession of that life doesn’t logically entail always possessing it. That was our first response.
Second, Jesus teaches the condition for having that life—belief—can be lost.
Third, the logic used to defend eternal security creates contradictions elsewhere in Scripture.
Finally, the Bible teaches that eternal life also has a future aspect that depends on perseverance.For those reasons, John 5:24 does not teach “once saved, always saved.”
Well, my friends, that’s it for today.
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God bless.