In the first part of John 5:21, Jesus taught that the Father "raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them..." Jesus prophesied in this statement that in the end of the world God will absolutely recreate everything that He originally created including all humans. Revelation 21:5. In order to do this, God must recover the lives of all the dead still in their graves to be recreated. Revelation 20:5. From the recovered, good elements of their lives, God will recreate a righteous human race to live on His recreated earth. Revelation 21:3. The separated dead that God will cast into the lake of fire will be totally evil. Revelation 20:15; Revelation 21:8.
In the second part of John 5:21, Jesus taught that "the Son quickeneth whom He will." By this statement, Jesus taught that He held the power to abolish spiritual death in His believers and replace it with spiritual life while they are still alive in the flesh. In this way, Jesus described the "born again" experience. But in order to be able to do this, Jesus had to shed His blood on a cruel cross so that His Spirit could wash the repentant believer's inner being clean of all sin so that His Spirit could recreate the believer's inner being with the gift of the righteousness of Christ. I Corinthians 6:11; II Corinthians 5:21; Revelation 1:5. This means that while still in the flesh in this world, God can cleanse and recreate the souls and spirits of any believer in Christ to a state of absolute purity that allows that person to enjoy fellowship with God as Adam and Eve enjoyed in the garden before they sinned.
In verse 22, Jesus taught that His Father had submitted all judgment to His Son. This means that only Christ holds the power and right to judge. God strictly prohibits believers from making eternal judgments. Matthew 7:1-2. According to Matthew 7:20, God allows believers to recognize sin in any one's life, but He does not allow believers to make final judgments about how Christ will judge that person. According to Hebrews 9:27, only Christ can judge every person who comes before Him as He wills.
In verse 23, Jesus taught that His Father desires that all people honor the Son as being equal with His Father. Jesus clearly taught here that He is God. Believers saved by grace always honor the Son as being God. Those who fail to do so cannot be believers saved by grace.
In verse 24, Jesus again describes the "born again" experience of the believer. For those who will believe in His equality with His Father and His power to save from sin, Christ will perform a miracle in their inner being that will transform them from spiritual death to spiritual life which is the eternal life of Christ Himself. Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3-4. Christ will never condemn His believers, meaning He will never judge them to be separated from Him. God will certainly punish backslidden believers for their correction, but God will always accept the recreated souls and spirits of Christ's believers into heaven because of Christ's absolute righteousness which He has given them. Romans 5:17; I Peter 1:3-4.
Verse 25 has a double meaning. When Jesus said "the hour is coming..." He prophesied that in the end of the world, God will resurrect the lives of all the dead in their graves for God to recreate. When Jesus said "and now is..." He meant that all those alive in the flesh who hear and believe the gospel, He will raise from spiritual death to spiritual life, and they will always belong to him.
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