Passed From Death Into Life Through Jesus Christ

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.”. (John 5:24–27)

This truth is of tremendous importance. Those who have believed in Jesus Christ are not waiting for eternal life to begin at some future time. Through a living faith in Him, everlasting life has already been received. The very moment a person believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, something eternal takes place. Through the redeeming work of Christ, there is a divine transfer from the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son.

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: This becomes true for those who personally accept by faith the redemption accomplished through Jesus Christ.

The old Adamic condition, spiritually dead, separated from the Father, enslaved by sin, and standing under the certainty of righteous judgment, is brought to an end through the Cross of Jesus Christ for all who receive Him and believe the Gospel. The Father’s purpose was never merely to improve fallen humanity. Through the redemptive work of His Son, the old man was crucified, judged, and brought to its rightful end. Jesus Christ did not come to repair Adam; He came to provide a new creation.

Through His sinless life, His substitutionary death, and His glorious resurrection, Jesus Christ accomplished everything necessary for the salvation of fallen humanity. Through Jesus Christ, as believers, we are delivered from the power of darkness, and have been reconciled to the Father, we are made new creations, and have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

There was a divine crossing over that humanity could never achieve through its own effort, merit, works, or religious performance. Redemption was accomplished entirely through the work of Jesus Christ. By faith in Jesus Christ, we as believers are born again into a new realm of existence and become partakers of everlasting life.

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6)

To possess everlasting life is not merely to possess endless duration of existence. It is to partake of the very life of Almighty God Himself. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

It is a life marked by His nature, His righteousness, His power, His peace, and His fellowship. This life, often described as Zoe life, is not something reserved solely for the age to come. It is the present possession of every believer because Jesus Christ Himself lives within them through the Holy Spirit.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:7–10.

The glorious reality of redemption is that believers will never again face condemnation for the sins of their former Adamic nature. The judgment those sins deserved was fully poured out upon Jesus Christ at Calvary.

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6.

Jesus Christ became our substitute. He bore the penalty for our sin, our rebellion. He satisfied every righteous demand of divine justice.  Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we as believers have been justified and declared righteous before the Father. Jesus Christ did not merely make salvation possible. He accomplished it. “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” (John 19:30) 

This is a foundational truth concerning the believer’s standing before the Father. Acceptance with the Father is never achieved through our striving, our performance, or anything of our human effort. It is found entirely in Jesus Christ. Because believers stand in Christ, they stand accepted before the Father. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) 

They are no longer journeying toward life as though it remains unattained. Through a living union with Jesus Christ and through the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit, we now possess His life and are called to live out of that divine reality. This is the glory of the New Covenant: believers are in Christ, and Christ is in them. “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.” (John 14:20) 

Through His finished work, the barrier that separated us from Almighty God has been removed forever. The Father’s desire has been fulfilled through His Son, bringing redeemed men and women into living fellowship with Himself.

For this reason, every believer must remain steadfast in communion with Jesus Christ, the True Vine. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide or remain in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this, My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.””As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.“ (John 15:1–9)

The Holy Spirit of God is not an occasional visitor within us as believers. Through the work of redemption, He has made the believer His dwelling place.

• His life is now our life.
• His righteousness is now our righteousness.
• His peace is now our peace.
• His access to the Father is our access.

What then does it mean to live out the life within? It means living in the reality of what Jesus Christ has accomplished. It means no longer walking under a consciousness of condemnation, rejection, or separation from Almighty God. It means approaching the Father, not as spiritual beggars seeking acceptance, but as redeemed sons and daughters who have already been accepted in the Beloved.

Through our standing in Jesus Christ as believers, we have truly passed from death into life; we must no longer live as though death still defines us. The life of Christ within our reborn spirits is not passive. It is powerful, purposeful, and fruitful; it is through the newness of the life of the Holy Spirit in our lives that we are to live in this world.

Through the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit, believers are continually being shaped, transformed, and conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. We have not been redeemed merely to exist, endure, or survive. We have been redeemed to reveal the life of the Son. The character of Christ, the power of Christ, the love of Christ, and the purposes of Christ are to be manifested through our lives unto the glory of the Father.

This is the wonder of redemption: through the finished work of Jesus Christ, those who once were dead in trespasses and sins have passed from death into life, from condemnation into acceptance, from separation into fellowship, and from darkness into the glorious light of the Kingdom of God. The believer’s life is no longer defined by what was lost in Adam, but by what has been fully restored and secured in Jesus Christ.

Through His death, resurrection, and exaltation, He has brought His people from death into life, from judgment into acceptance, and from separation into fellowship with the Father. The call now is not to strive for life, but to live from the life that He has already given. The life they now possess is not their own it is the very life of the risen Christ living within them.

There is an essential requirement in the lives of every believer to receive an important admonishment from the Lord Jesus Christ. As glorious as our salvation is, this glorious truth must never lead to complacency or presumption. The same Lord who declared that believers have passed from death into life also repeatedly called His disciples to continue, abide, remain, watch, and endure.

The Lord Jesus said: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.” (John 8:31)

And again:  “Abide in me, and I in you.“ (John 15:4)

The believer’s confidence is not found in a past experience alone, but in a living and ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ. The life that has been received through Him is a life of continual dependence upon Him. The branch must remain in the Vine.

Therefore, the Father. Let none drift from fellowship with Jesus Christ through neglect, compromise, love of the world, or the deceitfulness of sin. The Lord who lovingly receives His people also faithfully warns them. He calls His disciples to remain steadfast, watchful, obedient, and fruitful.

The Father has provided so great a salvation through His Son. The life that has been given is precious beyond measure. Therefore, believers must hold fast to Jesus Christ, continue in His Word, walk in the Holy Spirit, and remain faithful to the end.

The call of the Gospel is not merely to begin well, but to continue steadfastly in Jesus Christ. Having passed from death into life through His redeeming work, believers are exhorted to abide in Him daily, to treasure fellowship with Him above all else, and to guard their hearts diligently.

Those who continue in Christ will discover ever-increasing measures of His life, His grace, His fruitfulness, and His glory, until the day they stand before Him face to face. “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:13)