Metochoi Learning

As Moses had lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert, so God’s Son would be lifted up on the cross of Calvary. Therefore, as God’s appointed Savior for sin-stricken humanity, anyone could look to Him in faith and, like the Israelites of old, find life instantaneously. A single look with eternal life the result. What could be plainer? But obviously, here too there is no thought of looking and looking and looking. Just as the single drink of living water was an effective appropriation, so too is the single look of faith. . . . For at the precise instant when a man or woman believes in Christ, at that moment, eternity itself invades human experience and transforms our inner beings into something wonderfully and permanently new.

When Jesus promises eternal life, He does not offer temporary life, probationary life, or life that depends on our ability to hold on. In John’s Gospel, eternal life is permanent because it rests on Christ Himself.

The Apostle John doesn’t leave you guessing why the author picked up the pen. In the climax of his Gospel, he provides an explicit blueprint: “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). Salvation is not a labyrinth of moral performance or lifelong striving; it is a free gift received through a single act of faith.