John 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

I view salvation as a miracle. It is such an amazing work of God that cannot be accomplished by man. It is important for those who are saved to take God’s Word as their authority, and not the words of man. We must be careful not to allow the enemy of the soul to diminish the special nature of God’s salvation.
Jesus had much to say about salvation. He is the Author of salvation.

Hebrews 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

In our text Jesus talked of those who hear His Word. It is important for those who are saved to be bold in speaking the truth to the lost. The lost need to hear the Word of God. We are living in a time where we can broadcast across the world for very little money. A number of years ago we had a 15 minute radio broadcast that cost us $150.00 per week. That broadcast only went a few hundred miles. We were happy to have that opportunity to reach out into that area. Now we can go into many countries and so far we have the liberty to broadcast the Word of God for very little cost. It is a blessing to be able to make God’s Word known to as many as would choose to seek us out and click on our site.
Jesus went further than hearing. We need to do something about what we hear. It is important to believe on God the Father. God the Father sent Jesus Christ to this earth. Jesus Christ is the second person of the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, work together in unity. Jesus Christ is everlasting just as His Father and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ came to this earth at just the right moment. He left Heaven’s glory in order to take on flesh through the person of Mary. Mary was a God-fearing virgin who was willing to listen to God and accept His will for her life. She is not worthy of worship. God alone is worthy of worship.
Jesus subjected Himself to going through the normal process of growing as a human being. He grew up in a normal manner except that He is deity and thus had no sin nature. He is the God-man.
Jesus promised that every person who hears His Word and believes in God the Father has everlasting life. Those who listen to what God says, and acts upon it in obedience to God’s Word, has everlasting life. He does not need to wait for that to happen. The apostle Paul wrote:

Philippians 3:20  For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

The Greek word translated as “conversation” here speaks of citizenship. Those who are saved live with the anticipation of being in heaven soon. The saved person needs to gage everything they plan and do with the fact that we can leave this earth in a moment’s notice. The true child of God is looking forward to being in the presence of the Lord, but while living with that hope and promise, we also conduct ourselves in a different manner while here on this earth.
This is again why it is so important to be careful in dealing with the lost souls that God sends our way. We want each one to identify the work of God in their heart. We want each one to act on the truth because their hearts have been pricked by God. We do not want to rob any one of that need.
Jesus taught that the person who has everlasting life is changed.
He stated that the saved person shall not come into condemnation. What a blessed promise that is. Jesus is not saying that the saved person now has the licence to sin. He is not agreeing with the Nazarene position that a saved person does not sin, and thus they redefine sin. The Nazarene position is that their people can commit the same act of sin that a lost person commits, but because they are now “saved” it is not sin to them.
That is a strange position and it is certainly not a Biblical position. The saved person shall not come into condemnation because he is passed from death unto life. There has been that fundamental change that has happened. You notice that this change is a present tense change — “Is passed”. At the moment of salvation the saved person will no longer face that spiritual death they were born under. They now have everlasting life. They now have that gift of spiritual life. Now they can hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, and they want to follow that voice.
The lost person can hear that voice, but he or she resists following that voice. They want to remain in their sin. They want heaven, but they want it on their own terms. The heaven they imagine is nothing like the heaven that God provides for those who are saved. Their heaven is a distortion from the devil and they will find themselves in hell at death.
Jesus gave the words of our text to encourage the hearers with the facts. Salvation is not complicated. It is not beyond the reach of the lost. It is not reserved for the “elect”. Salvation is offered to all. The person who will hear Jesus’ Words and will believe on God the Father and God the Son, has everlasting life. It is a present tense reality. That reality makes all the difference in the true child of God.
The true child of God does not walk around as a spiritual cripple. He has been given everlasting life. He has the power to say no to sin and yes to God. He is no longer in bondage to sin.

Romans 6:12  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

The true child of God must choose to put the old man to death. He has the ability to do that because he “is passed from death unto life.” He does not want to feed the old man. He wants the sincere milk of the Word and to grow in the Lord. He not only wants to do this mentally, but he is able to actually do so. The false teaching that suggests that Christians can be so bound by their sin that they just cannot get the victory over it is a foreign thought. It is not found in the Bible. It might be implied by false teachers, but the truth shall make you free.
Take what God says and trust in Him for your salvation and you will be amazed at the wonderful work of God in your heart. You will be rejoicing in His blessings and your life will be changed. Sin will not rule in your heart and life. As you grow you will be strengthened in the inner man and that change will be evident on the outside.
Pastor Bartel