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Does John 5:28-29 Teach Works Salvation?

John 5:28-29

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

This passage from John chapter 5 is sometimes used to teach that we get to Heaven, at least in part, by living a good life, and will go to Hell if we live a wicked life.

Is that a reasonable interpretation of what the Lord is saying?

Avoiding Damnation in Context

Just before the passage in question, the Lord explicitly says what needs to be done to avoid coming into condemnation - or as He goes onto say - being raised in the "resurrection of damnation":

John 5:24

24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

If anyone believes on Jesus Christ - described as "believing on Him that sent me" in the passage, because in context Christ is preaching on how He didn't bear record of himself, but the Father did (John 5:36-37), and so believing in Jesus Christ is also believing in the witness of the Father regarding Jesus (John 12:44: 1 John 5:10-11) - then they "have Everlasting Life, and shall not come into condemnation". Certainly, the "resurrection of damnation" involves "coming into condemnation", and so no believer will be raised to that fate.

Therefore, if someone has believed, they have "done good" (John 5:29), and if they have not done that, they have "done evil" (John 5:29). This mirrors other dichotomies from earlier in the book (John 3:18, 3:36), where it's made clear that faith in Christ is the only thing that determines one's standing before God.

Apart from the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, there is "none good, no, not one" (Romans 3:10-12, Psalm 14:2-3), and it is "impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6). This topic receives a spotlight in the article titled The Path to Perfect Righteousness.

Conclusion

This passage does not teach that people get to Heaven by doing some nondescript level of "good" works, or that they avoid Hell by shunning some unknown degree of "evil" works. Even the immediate context of the passage makes that interpretation impossible, not to mention other clear statements in Scripture (Ephesians 2:8-9, etc.).