Bible Strands
John 6:63
The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to his disciples during the bread-of-life discourse, after they have stumbled over his teaching about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. He is moments from identifying those among them who do not believe.
The words — ζῳοποιοῦν (zōopoioun), "life-giving," is a present active participle: the Spirit is a continuous source, not a one-time gift. Against it stands σὰρξ (sarx), "flesh," which the verse flatly declares profits nothing.
The thread — Galatians 5:25 ties living by the Spirit to daily conduct; Hebrews 4:12 calls God's word "living and active"; Psalm 119:93 credits the precepts with revival. All three echo the same claim: the Spirit and the word are the source of life, not human effort.
Why it lands — It removes the option of treating Jesus' words as information to be filed away. The reader is asked to receive them as life-giving or to acknowledge that they have received only flesh.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Cross-references
- Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.
- Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
- Psalms 119:93 I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have revived me.
- John 6:68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
- Psalms 119:130 The unfolding of Your words gives light; it informs the simple.
- Psalms 119:50 This is my comfort in affliction, that Your promise has given me life.
- 1 Peter 1:23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
- Deuteronomy 32:47 For they are not idle words to you, because they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
- Romans 10:17 Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.