"Has everlasting life." Everlasting life is a kind of life, like biologic life. It is not referring to eternal existence. All spirits have eternal existence but not all have eternal life. Eternal life is the knowledge and Presence of Christ and God.

When we truly hear the word of Christ and believe in God, a new life enters our personality. We have a sense that our sins have been forgiven and God is hearing our prayers. We feel renewed and refreshed. It really is the best of all experiences one can have in the present world.

"And shall not come into condemnation."

Here is where the confusion enters. It is assumed that once you hear the word of Christ and believe in God you never can be judged or condemned. This is disproved by numerous passages of the New Testament. We are mistaking birth for graduate school. We are mistaking the nursery for a Ph.D.

Paul, in the eighth chapter of Romans, explaining the superiority of the new covenant to the Law of Moses, states there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. This is the absolute truth.

Then Paul goes on to explain what it means to be "in Christ." And this is where the misunderstanding exists.

To be "in Christ" means we are living each day according to the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. It means we are married to Christ and bringing forth in our personality the fruit of righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God.

We have taken what is intended to be a loving invitation to leave the Law of Moses and come into union with Messiah, and changed it into a legal transaction.

I have heard the word of Christ.

I believe in God.

Therefore I will live forever.

Therefore I can never be judged or condemned whatever I do.

Therefore I now have passed from death to life.

So there!

And now I will do whatever I please because the document has been signed, sealed, and delivered.

I have said before, I think the Holy Spirit has put some passages in the Bible so if our heart is wrong we can justify our actions from the Scriptures. If so, then John 5:24 is certainly one such passage.

If you think for one minute that John 5:24 is a legal transaction that has no bearing on your daily relationship to Jesus Christ, and that He will not whip you good if you misbehave, you know little or nothing of the Lord.

Jesus is not a scheme with which we can evade the laws of God! Jesus is the One who makes it possible for us to come into a life filled with love for God, appreciation of Him as our Father and Jesus as our elder Brother, upright, holy behavior, and stern obedience to the Father both as to His written Word and also concerning His personal guidance of our life.

To be continued.