This paper applies principles of linguistic grammatical analysis expressed by M.AK. Halliday, Robert E. Longacre, Stanley E. Porter, Ronald D. Peters to articular substantival participles of πιστεύω in the Gospel of John. Ronald D. Peters analyzes the functional discourse implications of the Greek article, including its presence with the participle. Peters concludes that a speaker or writer uses the definite article to subjectively concretize the part of speech that the definite article modifies (The Greek Article: A Functional Grammar of ὁ-Items in the Greek New Testament with Special Emphasis on the Greek Article, Linguistic Biblical Studies 9 [Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2014], 67).
My research in this paper is the final installment of a study of John’s use of the articular substantival participle presented in the New Testament Greek Language and Exegesis Section at the 2022 and 2023 ETS Annual Meetings. In 2022, I traced John’s use of the articular substantival participle in 1 John, noting that nearly all of this grammatical form is restricted to human agency. In 2023, I investigated the Apocalypse and observed that John uses articular substantival participles not only for human agents (forty-four times for believers and thirty-four times for unbelievers) but also for Persons of the Godhead (twenty-one references to the Father, eighteen to the Son, and one to the Spirit), and demonic beings (twice).
In this paper, I look at one lexeme John uses for human agency in his Gospel. There, John repeatedly collocates the articular substantival participle of πιστεύω with the concept of eternal life (3:15, 16, 18, 36; 5:24; 6:35, 40, 47; 11:25, 26). One way to articulate John’s lexicogrammar in these instances is that he provides a future-time orientation to the concretized role of ὁ- πιστεύω. The believer in Jesus follows Him now in light of what is to come. John emphasizes the afterlife experience during which believers in Jesus will continue to relate with Him, experiencing the fullness of their saving faith.
In this paper, I demonstrate that the density and collocation of articular substantival participles of πιστεύω in the Gospel of John help us to understand the vital concept of eternal life promised to all who believe in Jesus. As a result of this paper, my readers will (1) grasp the lexicogrammatical basis for understanding faith in Jesus and the promise of eternal life, (2) identify the way that articular substantival participles contribute to soteriology in the Gospel of John, and (3) find courage and hope to follow Jesus today in light of the eternal life Jesus promises to all who believe in Him.