What Does Not Obey The Son Mean In John 3:36? - Part One

In John 3:36, John wrote,

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Some pastors, teachers, leaders, and disciplers use the above verse to manipulate people to adhere to a life of legalistic, fear-based obedience by convincing people that it is not belief alone that saves but belief plus obedience to Jesus.

Some who are involved in toxic discipleship tell those they are discipling that unless they obey the words of Jesus in The Great Commission to be a disciple and make disciples, then they are not saved because they are not obeying Jesus.

Jesus never said these words in The Great Commission. To read what he did say, CLICK HERE.

Those who use John 3:36 to manipulate believers into legalistic, fear-based obedience are incorrectly using this verse.

The Greek word for not obey in John 3:36 is used throughout the scriptures to refer to the rejection of Jesus as the Christ or disbelief in Jesus.

The Greek word for not obey in John 3:36 is apeitheó.

Apeitheó means to disbelieve, to reject, to refuse to believe.

Apeitheó is used 14 times in the Scriptures. 11 of these times are to describe the person who rejects Jesus through disbelief.

Let’s look at all 14 times apeitheó is used.

Acts 14:2
But the Jews who refused to believe [apeitheó] stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

In the context, the Jews were presented the message about Jesus being the Christ and the message about God’s grace, which is justification through faith in Jesus apart from the law of Moses. The Jews in the synagogue at Iconium, rejected the message about Jesus being the Christ and his work of grace on the cross.

Acts 19:8-9
Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe [apeitheó] and publicly maligned the Way.

This is the rejection of Jesus as the Christ and his work on the cross for justification. This rejection was committed by the unbelieving Jews in the synagogue in Ephesus.

Romans 2:7-8
To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth [apeitheó] and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

Paul builds the case of righteousness by faith in Romans 1:18-20. He is describing the condition of all humanity in Romans 1:18-3:20, proving that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). He goes on to write that all have rejected the truth. There are none who do good. All like sheep have gone their own way. All are under the wrath to come when God removes all sin and sinners from the earth and establishes the new earth. After showing there are none who are righteous, Paul then reveals that God has freely provided righteousness for all people. It is a gift that is received by faith in Jesus. Jesus took our sinfulness upon himself at the cross and freely offers us his righteousness, which we receive by faith.

Romans 10:16-21
But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” [Isaiah 53:11] Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” [Psalm 19:4]

Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, “I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.” [Deuteronomy 32:21]

And Isaiah boldly says,

“I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” [Isaiah 65:1]

But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient [apeitheó] and obstinate people.” [Isaiah 65:2]

The context of these verses is the comparison of the Gentile’s acceptance of Jesus and Israel’s rejection Jesus.

Romans 15:31
Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers [apeitheó] in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there,

Hebrews 3:18-19
And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed [apeitheó]? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

The context is the Jewish people’s sinful, unbelieving hearts (Hebrews 3:12) to the identity of Jesus as the Christ and the new testament he established in his blood. The writer is comparing the Hebrew people who rejected Jesus in unbelief with the generation that refused to enter the Promise Land because of unbelief.

Hebrews 11:31
By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe [apeitheó], when she had received the spies with peace. (NKJV)

In the context of Hebrews, the writer of uses apeitheó to refer to unbelief in Jesus – a lack of faith. Rahab believed the spies, she did not refuse to believe them.

1 Peter 2:7-8
Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” (Psalm 118:22)

and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” (Isaiah 8:14)

They stumble because they disobey [apeitheó] the message.

Peter is writing about Jewish people who were presented with the message of Jesus being the Christ but rejected him as the Christ in unbelief.

1 Peter 3:1
Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe [apeitheó] the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives.

Peter is telling Jewish wives whose husbands do not believe the Jewish Scriptures Peter quoted in 1 Peter 2:2-8, that reveal Jesus is the Christ, to not argue with their husbands about Jesus but to win them over with their kindness.

1 Peter 3:20 (Young’s Literal Translation)
...who sometime disbelieved [apeitheó], when once the long-suffering of God did wait, in days of Noah — an ark being preparing — in which few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water;

Peter is writing about those who refused to believe the message of Noah and were swept away in the flood.

1 Peter 4:17
For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey [apeitheó] the gospel of God?

The gospel is that Jesus is the Christ who died for our sins and rose to give us eternal life. Peter writes about those who rejected the message of the gospel in unbelief.

From these uses of apeitheó, we see the context is refusal to believe.

This is also the context of John 3:36.

The Jewish people refused to believe in Jesus as the Christ; consequently, the wrath of God remained on them.

The wrath of God is the removal of all sins and sinners from the earth just before he establishes the new earth, where there is no more pain, sorrow, mourning, or death.

To Read Part Two of John 3:36: CLICK HERE