Charles Ellicott Commentary John 3:36

"He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." — John 3:36 (ASV)

Here too we have, in the words of John, thoughts which we have found already (John 3:15–16), and will find again (John 5:24), in the words of Christ Himself.

He that believeth not the Son.—Better, he that obeyeth not the Son. The word, which occurs only here in the Gospels, is not the same as that at the beginning of the verse, and shows that the faith there intended is the subjection of the will to the Son, to whom the Father has given all things (John 3:35). (Compare to obedience to the faith,Romans 1:5.)

Shall not see life is contrasted with the present possession of the believer. He has life; the man who disobeys has not, and while he disobeys shall not see life, because he cannot be a subject of a kingdom to whose laws he refuses allegiance. But there is also a fearful positive contrast. There is for him a present possession, which will also remain.

The wrath of God abideth on him.—Once only in the four Gospels does this term, so full of tremendous meaning, meet us, and that in the Gospel of fullest love, and in a context which speaks of the Father’s love to the Son, and of eternal life, which is the portion of all who believe on the Son.

It must be so. This wrath (Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 3:8; Revelation 19:15) is not the fierceness of passion, nor is it the expression of fixed hatred. It is the necessary aspect of love and holiness toward those who reject love and willfully sin.

It is not here spoken of as coming upon them, or as passing from them. It abides, ever has and ever must, because the wrath of love must abide on hatred, and the wrath of holiness must abide on sin.

But no one needs to hate, and no one needs to live in willful sin. He that believeth—how vast the love and bright the hope of the all-including words—hath eternal life! (Compare to Note on John 6:56.)