Passed from Death to Life (Part 1)

May 22, 2025

Am I making mole-hills out of mountains?

===

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 5:24 (ESV)

===

Ever since I studied Greek in seminary, I’ve found the word “believe” to be fascinating.

Often — and this verse is one of those times — “believe” is rooted in the Greek word for “faith”.

I think that paints a more compelling picture of what it means to believe. We must “faith” in the Father who sent Christ. Of course, faith is not a verb in English. So we substitute the word “believe.” I understand that, but I also think it loses some aspects of the commitment found in this particular kind of belief.

Thus, sometimes I like to verbalize the word “faith” here:

“Whoever hears my word and faiths him who sent me has eternal life.”

See? A higher commitment level.

It’s sort of like how the Greeks had different words to describe different kinds of love. In English we have to rely on context & culture to help us understand what someone means when they say the “love [something].”

But in Greek, they can just pick out the right word for love and you understand.

Well, here, believe is a little too soft, too flexible, for my taste. But “faiths” doesn’t actually exist as an English word.

What to do?

Maybe I’m making mole-hills out of mountains, but I much prefer the more active role of “faithing” in Christ than the more passive “believing.”

After all, faith in Christ is active.

There’s a lot of work left to be done for the soldiers of Christ’s army that remain here on the earth.

…

I’m out of time; more tomorrow.

— Ricky Ketchum

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Daily Scripture Minute

Discussion about this post

Ready for more?