Transcription
A common argument employed by some who seek to redefine faith as faithfulness is an appeal to the present tense form of the verb believe, which they claim inherently signifies continuous action rather than a punctilar act. In other words, when Jesus said, "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," he is taken to mean that whosoever continues to believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life. This interpretation, according to them, is demanded by the presence of the present tense.
However, is this a grammatically sound argument? As Pastor Tom Steaggle observes in "Must Faith Endure for Salvation to Be Sure," the view that the present tense in New Testament Greek inherently indicates a continuous habitual linear action or state is a deeply ingrained misconception. Don't miss that. Despite the popularity of this view, it is a well-known fallacy among current Greek language scholars. The use of the present tense does not automatically refer to an ongoing action or state. And similarly, the use of the aorist tense form does not automatically mean a once-for-all action or state.
Those who teach erroneously that the present tense must indicate continual or habitual belief often make a similar unfounded claim regarding the use of the aorist tense of believe. They sometimes say that there are no examples of pistuo in the aorist tense form in eternal salvation contexts, or that such instances occur so infrequently compared to the present tense that we must conclude that the New Testament writers used the present tense predominantly to make a theological point about the ongoing nature of true, quote, "saving faith." Both of these claims are patently false.
John chapter 1, verse 12 is particularly significant, since it uses both the aorist and present tense forms. "But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name." The phrase "those who believe" is another instance of the substantive participle function of the present tense articular participle form of pisto, but it occurs in opposition to "those who received," which is an aorist tense verb. This effectively equates the aorist tense verb "received" with the present tense participle "believe." It's also important to note that the present participle identifies the kind of person in view, "those who believe," not the duration of the action, and therefore cannot by itself be used to impose a requirement of ongoing belief.
Pastor Steaggle goes on to say, "The claim that the present tense portrays ongoing belief in contrast to the aorist tense is disproven by this verse," referring to John 1:12, since the action of receiving Christ, aorist tense, is used interchangeably with believing in his name, present tense.
So, now that we've addressed this very popular grammatical misconception, let's turn to the scripture itself to determine how Christ describes the nature of saving faith. Jesus said in John chapter 3, starting off in verse 14. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." An obvious reference to the Old Testament, Jesus is illustrating an important truth about salvation.
Numbers chapter 21, look at verse 8. "And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live.'" And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole. And it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Notice, life was promised to all who simply looked upon the brazen serpent. The children of Israel were not required to continually look upon or to continually behold the serpent in order to receive healing. Rather, one look resulted in life. In the same way, those who behold the crucified Christ, believing in him, receive eternal life. A moment of faith has eternal ramifications.
John 4, look at verse 13. Jesus answered and said unto her, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." The woman saith unto him, "Sir, give me this water," notice this, "that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw." The contrast is drawn by Christ between the physical and spiritual. The physical water drawn from the well quenches the thirst of the individual temporarily, thus necessitating that the individual returns to the well to draw drink again. However, the individual who drinks the water that Christ gives will never thirst again. Meaning, one drink sufficiently satiates the individual forever.
These passages clearly articulate that the reception of eternal life is conditioned upon a non-meritorious moment of faith. Predicating salvation upon the perseverance of one's faith or faithfulness not only exceeds what Greek grammar can sustain, but also undermines the very contrasts Christ himself employs to explain the nature of saving faith.
If you are not 100% certain that you're going to heaven when you die, I encourage you, my friend, to watch the video in the description below, "The Bible Way to Heaven," and be saved today. God bless.