The Gospel of John is the big book of faith. Although the noun pistis (“faith”) does not appear in the book, the verb pisteuō is ubiquitous.
Consider how the Fourth Gospel opens and closes:
“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12).
“But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
And yet, at one of the key points of the Gospel, in one of Jesus’s major discourses, he emphasizes the need for works to attain salvation at the final judgment.
The Johannine Jesus memorably declares, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come under judgment but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). This is MY favourite verse in the Gospel of John, faith, new exodus, death to life!
But note what immediately follows:
25 “Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, 27 and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be astonished at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and will come out: those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.
There are a few ways to understand the passage!