Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world” (John 11:25-27).
Scott sent me an article claiming that Martha’s response in John 11:27 proves she did not believe in Jesus for everlasting life. In this view, Martha believed that Jesus was the long-promised Messiah, but she did not believe that He guaranteed her or anyone else everlasting life. Martha did not know whether she would be in the kingdom. She believed that if she persevered in good works, then she would gain everlasting life. That belief was sufficient for her to be born again, even though she did not know it. Here is what the author, simply identified as Vince, wrote:
GES acknowledges that Martha’s confession in John 11:27…is the paradigmatic statement of saving faith…But that confession is entirely Christological, not promissory. Martha does not say, “I believe you will give me everlasting life.”i She confesses who Jesus is. GES is therefore forced into the awkward move of claiming that to believe Jesus is the Christ is to believe Him for everlasting life—which effectively concedes the messianic-identity thesis whilst refuting to name it.
Let’s work our way through that statement.
A paradigmatic statement of saving faith is a crystal-clear statement of what one must believe in order to have everlasting life. We agree, but only if one properly understands what Martha was saying. Vince does not understand what Martha meant.
To say that her statement was entirely Christological and not promissory is misleading. Of course, she was not promising anything in this statement. That is what promissory means. The author means that she was not saying anything about Jesus’ promise of everlasting life. In his view, Martha was simply saying that she believed He is God’s Anointed One, the long-promised Christ.
While it is true that Martha does not specifically mention everlasting life, she clearly was affirming that she knew she had it.
Every commentator on John’s Gospel points out that in that Gospel, to believe in [pisteuō eis] Jesus is the same as to believe that [pisteuō hoti] He is the Christ. That is clearly seen in John 11:25-27. Vince, however, seems unaware of this point.
Vince fails to point out that Martha was answering a question: “Do you believe this?” To understand her response, we must know what this is.
The Lord Jesus had just made two promises concerning the one who believes in [pisteuō eis] Him: 1) The believer would be raised from the dead to enter Jesus’ kingdom, and 2) the believer would never die spiritually. Both of those are statements of eternal security. Scripture teaches that everyone will be raised from the dead, including those going to the lake of fire (Rev 20:11-15). Jesus was referring to glorification. When believers are raised, they are glorified.
This in “Do you believe this?” refers to the promise of everlasting life that can never be lost. It is impossible to believe John 11:25-26 and yet not believe that you will never die spiritually.
When Martha answered, “Yes, Lord,” she was saying she believed what Jesus had just said. Then she stated why she knew that was true: because He is the Christ, the Son of God. In John’s Gospel, as well as 1 John 5:1, to believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe that He guarantees everlasting life to all who believe in Him.
If you think John 11:25-27 does not show that Martha believed in Jesus for everlasting life, I encourage you to memorize those verses and meditate on them. Ask the Lord if He was saying that any living human being who believes in Him will never die spiritually. Ask Him to show you how you can be sure you will never die spiritually.
Keep grace in focus, and you will correctly interpret John 11:25-27 and share it joyfully with friends and loved ones.
i Note that the author says that Martha did not say that she would receive everlasting life in the future. He is right in that. Martha knew she already had that life. Jesus is “the life.” Any living human being who believes in Him has that life right now and will never die spiritually.
