Eternal life is the critical issue, it is to be born again. Jesus promises the one who believes in Him has eternal life and has passed out of death and into life. That is a spiritual resurrection has taken place, he has heard the voice of the Son of God. And Jesus promises the born again person will never come into the final judgment (see John 5:24-25). Forgiveness is only mentioned once in the Gospel of John and it’s not free gift language (see John 20:23). But eternal life is mentioned over and over to the one who simply believes (see John 1:12-13; 3:15-18; 4:10,13-14,25,26; 6:47; 10:28-30; 11:25-27; 30:30-31).
AD. 100 to AD 1500 is nonsense. To hear the voice of the Father in the Scriptures was to have His words abiding in them (see John 5:38). They were drawn by the Father, and taught by the Father (see John 6:44-45). The Son said they were the Fathers, and then He gave them to the Son (see John 17:6). When the Father gave them to the Son they heard the voice of the Son of God and were made alive (see John 5:25). That is they heard the command the Father gave the Son to speak which was the command of eternal life (see John 12:50). Remember that the Son is the Word of God, He spoke everything into being (see John 1:1-3,14). The two signs (John 4:50; 5:8) showed the power of Jesus word, the healings were by His word and caused instantaneous results. And the explanation for the two signs is given in John 5:17-29. Showing that not only with the signs, but regeneration itself both the Father and the Son are at work together in perfect harmony. The Son has been given authority not only to give eternal life, but also in judgment for resurrection at the right time. Either to resurrection to life or resurrection to judgment. This goes to show that all anyone needed to be born again during AD 100 and AD 1500 was to have the word of God read to them, and the Father would draw them and teach them, and then give them to the Son. This was revealed (divine revelation to babes “teachable” see Luke 10:20-22).
Zane Hodges “Faith In His Name” page 72 Commentary on John 4:10 Jesus does not respond to the question she has asked. Instead, He states, He has a “drink of water” for her. She will be unable to take it, however, unless she knows two fundamental things: (1) “the gift of God” (that is, eternal life: v14) and (2) “who it is who says [this] to you.” Here we have John’s doctrine of salvation in a nutshell. The two fundamental items of knowledge that underlie saving faith are (1) the offer of eternal life as a gift, and (2) the identity of Jesus as the Christ. Clearly these are the very items specified in the thematic statement of 20:30-31. To add additional provisos to these simple terms is to alter the Biblical gospel of God’s saving grace. No one has ever believed in Jesus as the Christ who freely gives him unending spiritual life without getting eternally saved.
The purpose of the eight signs in the Gospel of John is to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing have life in His name. (See John 20:30-31) “Paul” uses the eighth sign the death, burial, and resurrection for that purpose. Jesus the Christ is to be the object of faith. John says in his First Epistle…Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God…which is the purpose of John 20:30-31 and John 1:12-13,and for a definition of “the Christ” see John 11:25-27. Also see Paul’s pattern for the ones who are going to believe Jesus FOR everlasting life 1 Tim 1:16 and divine revelation 2 Cor 4:3-6 ; Matt 16:15-20.
