John 3:36

Now we come to the result, as far as man is concerned, of the presence and work of Christ on earth, and of the going out of all in gospel testimony… For all it must be either the life or the wrath. The blessing cannot be had without faith in the Person in whom the blessing is.

Further, as Son the Father loves Him, and has put all into His hand… He is set up as God's testimony, with God's words from heaven, from where He came… Eternal life and wrath depend on His being believed in or the contrary.

If the word in John 3:15-16 is that the one who believes should have eternal life, it is very definite in John 3:36 of the same chapter that the believer on the Son has eternal life… We do not have to wait until we get to heaven to receive this divine life, or to learn whether it is ours. We have it now, and God's word assures us that we have it now.

The force of "the wrath of God abides on him" is that he has deserved it, and that if he rejects Christ, he lies under it still… In this last verse of the chapter "the wrath of God abides" if they do not bow to Christ's authority. It is not disobeying Him in the details of a command, or anything of that sort; the "believes not" means "is not subject to" Him.

Practical obedience flows from submission to His Person, and proves the reality of the heart-subjection of faith.

He that believes not the Son — not obeying Him to whom the Father has given all things — "shall not see life, but the wrath… of God." Not the wrath of the Father. There is no wrath there, not an atom, but perfect fullness of blessing, of love. He is Father, always Father, and nothing but Father in love and perfectness: "the Father loves the Son."

This verse entirely sets aside the notion of all being restored and eternally saved… It is quite true they shall not see life; but — tremendous fact! — "the wrath of God abides on him." This, beyond all question, flatly contradicts annihilationism. If the wrath of God is to remain on the unbeliever, it is utterly impossible that he can be made an end of. Annihilation and abiding wrath are completely incompatible. We must either erase the word "abiding" from the inspired page, or abandon the notion of annihilation entirely. To hold both is out of the question.

The unbeliever is "judged already." His whole condition is settled by the very fact that he has rejected the Son of God. The wrath of God, instead of His favour, now rests on him and has become his condition. Only one thing reverses it: his coming to terms with the Son of God before it is too late. Otherwise that wrath becomes his fixed and abiding condition for an eternity without end.

I think the internal evidence is clear that the testimony of John the Baptist closes with verse 34, and that verses 35 and 36 are the comment of the Evangelist. For John's answer from verse 27, however given of God, does not go beyond the measure of his spiritual knowledge, while the closing verses 35 and 36 reflect the deeper and higher truth which the Lord taught His disciples.