John 8:51 — “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.”
In the recent posts of this series, we have seen that God's Word is a primary means God uses to sanctify His people. It feeds our souls, revives us, gives us strength and comfort, wisdom and understanding. It produces reverence for God and is the sword of the Spirit, a weapon we can wield both to defend ourselves and to attack the enemy's strongholds. Finally, in the light of all this, it provides a firm foundation for life. We have also been at pains throughout this series to stress that it is not merely the possession of God's Word that will produce these effects in us - we must actually apply it, use it, keep its precepts.
Jesus confirms all of these things in our text this week. If we read and hear God's Word and obey it, all these results will be produced in us because we will have crossed over from death to eternal life. So He is not telling us something we must do to earn salvation, but something we will do if we have received it. One noteworthy point in the words of Jesus quoted above is how He begins His statement. "Truly, truly," He says, or "Amen, amen." Used once, this word is a strong affirmation of what is being said. Used twice in a row, the statement takes on a force and a solemnity that we should not overlook. Jesus wants us to be absolutely sure of what He is saying. This is the One Who declared Himself to be the Truth. He is the Living Word of God and we should expect everything that comes from His lips to be incontrovertible truth. Yet He goes to great lengths to underline for us that this statement is solid, firm, certain and utterly trustworthy. If anyone obeys the Word of God, he will never see death!
Perhaps we should explain that Jesus is not talking of the physical death that we will all see, unless we are among those who are alive when Jesus returns in judgment. Rather, He is referring to what Scripture calls the "second death", in which those who have not obeyed God's Words are eternally and justly punished for their offences against a holy God. Jesus tells us most surely that the way to eternal life, rather than eternal death, lies in listening to His voice in the Scriptures and doing what He commands. This is sure and certain.
So let's not only read God's Word this week, but let's also be careful to do all that God commands in it!
