ACC ~ John 5 v24

WORDS CHOSEN CAREFULLY TO AVOID BOASTING

CHRYSOSTOM: Christ did not say, “He who hears my words and believes in me,” since they would have thought this was empty boasting and arrogance…. To say “believes in him who sent me” was a better way of making his discourse acceptable when they learned that those who hear him believe in the Father also. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 39.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:139**.

WHO WILL NOT COME UNDER JUDGMENT?

AUGUSTINE: But who is this [favored person]? Will there be any one better than the apostle Paul, who says, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ”?… And do you dare to promise yourself that you shall not come into judgment? I would never promise this to myself, you say. But I believe the one who made the promise. The Savior speaks; the truth promises. He is the one who said these words to me…. I then have heard the words of my Lord, and I believe. Although I was an unbeliever, I now have become a believer. As he instructed me, I have passed from death to life so that I do not come into judgment. This was not by my presumption but by his promise. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 22.4. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:145-46**; CCL 36:271-73.

HONORED BY THE JUDGE

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Actually, he tells what the benefit is for those who honor or believe in him…. The one who obeys, he says, my words and believes is made a participant in eternal life. Such a person will not only avoid the judgment, that is, the tribulations of judgment, but will even be held in honor, and certainly honor will be attributed to him by the judge himself. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.5.24. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:117-18.

FROM DEATH OF UNBELIEF TO LIFE OF FAITH

AUGUSTINE: Just in case you think that faith will save you from bodily death… be assured that you will pay the penalty, death, which you must pay for Adam’s transgression. For Adam, in whom all of us were then, heard the divine sentence, “You shall surely die.” And the divine sentence cannot be voided. But when you have suffered the death of the old Adam, you shall receive the life of the new and shall pass from death to life. Meanwhile, make the transition of life now. What is your life? Faith: “The just shall live by faith.” [1] … Christ has enlightened you, and now you believe, passing immediately from death to life. Abide in that to which you have passed, and you shall not come into judgment. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 22.6. [2]

[1] Hab 2:4; Rom 1:17.

[2] NPNF 1 7:146-47**; CCL 36:226. In Letter 55.1 Augustine interprets this passage in light of the Passover from death to life (NPNF 1 1:303-4).

THE CARE AND LABOR SPENT ON LENGTHENING LIFE

AUGUSTINE: Because people love being alive on this earth, they are promised life. And because they are very afraid of dying, they are promised a life that is eternal…. But we see the lovers of this present transitory life strive so hard for it, that when the fear of death looms up they do everything they can, not to eliminate death but simply to put it off. The pains a person will take, the trouble he will endure when death looms ahead, running away, going into hiding, giving everything he has and paying his ransom, struggling, enduring all sorts of torments and afflictions, bringing in doctors and whatever else a person can do! But notice how one can take endless pains and spend all of his means in order to live a little longer; but when it comes to living forever, he can do nothing. If so much care and labor then is spent on gaining a little additional length of life, how ought we to strive after life eternal? And if those people who try in every possible way to put off death are thought to be wise, even though they can only live a few days longer, how foolish are they who live in such a way that they lose the eternal day? SERMON 127.2. [1]

[1] WSA 3 4:282**; PL 38:707.