Declarative Versus Imperative

STATEMENT OR COMMAND?

I have found in my studies that one serious error in Bible interpretation is to take a declarative statement as an imperative. Declaratives simply state a fact. They declare the truth. In contrast, imperatives give commands. They state what must be done.

DECLARATIVE EXAMPLE

"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." (John 5:24)

The verse simply states that a person who hears and believes in Jesus Christ has eternal life. This person has already passed from death unto life and will never be condemned. Yet many take this verse as an imperative that teaches that for one to have eternal life, one must hear and believe. This is an error. This misinterpretation puts a burden on people to do something to get eternal life when its purpose instead is to provide assurance that hearing and believing in Jesus Christ is EVIDENCE that they already are sheep and that they already have eternal life.

- Sonny Bonner