I am telling you the truth is the same expression discussed in 1.51.

My words is literally “my word” (Revised Standard Version) and is equivalent to “my message.” In the present passage the verb hears is probably used in the sense of “obeys”; Moffatt and Jerusalem Bible have “listens to,” while New English Bible has “gives heed to.” In the Old Testament the verb “to hear” is frequently used in this sense, and the parallel to believes in the present passage would suggest the same meaning here. In some languages, whoever hears my words must be rendered “if anyone listens to and obeys my words” or “if anyone listens to and does what I say.” As these renderings suggest, it may be useful to combine in the rendering of hears the two components of listening to and obeying.

It may be necessary in some languages to specify the referent of him in the phrase believes in him who sent me. One can, for example, translate “trusts in God, who sent me” or “puts his confidence in God, who sent me.”

It is essential to keep the contrast between the verb tenses in this verse, as elsewhere in the Johannine dialogue: has eternal life … will not be judged … has already passed from death to life. Throughout John’s gospel there is always a tension between present and future. The believer already experiences in some degree the reality of eternal life which he will fully experience only at the end of time, and the one who refuses to believe is presently under God’s Judgement—a judgement which will be fully manifest only at the end of time. This means that just as eternal life is a present reality, so eternal death is also a present reality. This tension is clearly expressed in the following verse: the time is coming … the time has already come.

In some languages it is difficult to speak of “has eternal life,” since eternal life would seem to refer to something in the future. However, it is essential to indicate that this kind of life has already begun. It may be necessary to translate “has already begun to live the life that will never end” or “has already started living in a way that will always continue.”

Certain problems are involved in the passive expression he will not be judged. It can be made active, and the normal expression for judgement would suggest God as the agent, for example, “God will not judge him.” Since, as indicated, judgement has been passed to the Son (verse 22), one may translate “I will not judge him.” However, it is better, if possible, to employ a so-called pseudo passive, for example, “he will not experience judging” or “he will not suffer the consequences of judging.”

In some languages it is not easy to translate “has already passed from death to life.” Often it is necessary to make it a type of simile, for example, “he is no longer, as it were, on the road that leads to dying, but has already begun to live.” It may even be possible to say in some languages “he has already passed through dying and has begun to really live.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .