In the last post we noted that John the Apostle is the only biblical author that uses the term “antichrist.” My conclusion was that the singular form of that term in 1 John 2:18 was synonymous with the “spirit of antichrist” mentioned in 1 John 4:3, which is also defined as the “spirit of error” in 1 John 4:6. And I also concluded that the plural form of the term used in 1 John 2:18 refers to the false teachers/false Christians.
Continue reading “Beware of Antichrists”
The tendency many have when studying end times theology (i.e. eschatology) is to link everything together too quickly. We want a system we can memorize and check off our list of things we know with certainty. The problem in our rush to have a systematic eschatology we often end up with an unbiblical eschatology. Our goal must be to know what the Scriptures say. We must approach each passage and each term in its own Scriptural context. We mustn’t read our theological systems into the individual passages. If we do read into these passages, we will come away with a perfectly consistent eschatology, but we will not have a biblical eschatology.
A sacrament is a ceremony established by Christ that shows us the meaning of the New Covenant.
The sacraments of the New Covenant are water baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
In baptism a person is immersed in water showing that he has been buried with Christ and has died to sin, and then he comes up out of the water showing that He has been risen with Christ to live a new and holy life for God.
Baptism is only for those who have repented of their sins and trusted in Christ for salvation.
In the Lord’s Supper the bread is broken representing the body of Christ that was broken for us on the cross, and the wine represents the blood of Christ that was shed for the forgiveness of our sins.
When people share in the Lord’s Supper they show that they trust in the sacrifice of Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and commit to take up their cross and follow Him.
Only those who have repented, believed and been baptized can share in the Lord’s Supper.
John 11:47-53
So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
Continue reading “Died to Save, Died to Gather – John 11:50-52”
Galatians 2:15-16
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
James 2:18-24
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe -and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” -and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Galatians 2:15-16
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
Romans 3:28
For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
James 2:18-24
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe -and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” -and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
When we read these passages side by side they seem to offer conflicting views on how we are justified (i.e. forgiven and accepted by God; considered members of God’s people in good-standing). Paul in the books of Galatians and Romans seems to make it clear that we are accepted by God because of our faith alone, apart from anything we do. But James says with equal clarity that we are “justified by works and not by faith alone.” Knowing whether we are right with God or not, is a very important bit of information to have. So this is something we must wrestle with until we understand what James and Paul are trying to tell us.
Continue reading “Saving Faith According to James”
(For the first post in this series click here.)
John 6:37, 44 and 65
All that the Father gives me will come to me…
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him….
And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
Congratulations to both of us! We have made it to the end of this extremely long series of posts on John chapter 6. I believe that those who are seeking to understand the context of John chapter 6 will not be able to ignore the abundance of evidence that the context provides for my interpretation. I am certain there are many subtle mistakes in my understanding of theses verses. I know this because I keep finding such mistakes as I meditate more on the context and wording of these verses. But I am confident that my basic perspective on these verses is fully supported by the Scriptural and historical context of John’s Gospel. This present series of posts is merely a seed (though obviously not as small as a mustard seed;) for those who are seeking to understand Jesus’ teaching in John chapter 6. I expect that those with honest hearts will not rest until they have searched the book of John to see whether or not these things are so. And I am confident that even if I have failed to make Jesus’ words completely clear, God’s word will not.
Continue reading “Drawn by the Father – John 6 (Part 7 – Application)”
(This post is part of a series on John chapter 6. To read the first post in the series click here.)
John 6:37, 44 and 65
All that the Father gives me will come to me…
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him….
And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
How Did God Give People to Christ?
We have discussed the context of Jesus’ conflict with the Jewish authorities and the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant in the Gospel of John. Now all that is left is to finish un-wrapping the other two so-called “Calvinist verses” in John chapter 6.
We have seen that the Father was placing his faithful followers under the Lordship of Messiah. And since they are obedient to the Father, Christ is able to confidently say, “They will come to me.” When we consult the context of John 6:37 we discover that there is not the slightest hint of Calvinism found in it. Reformed theology has read its doctrines into the verse and then tried to validate its error by appealing to it.
Now we need to turn our attention to John 6:44 and 65. We started off by asking who God gave to Christ, now we must ask how he gave them. These two verses are closely related to John 6:37. John 6:37 tells us that the Father is giving his followers to the Son. John 6:44 tells us how he gives them, namely by “drawing” them to Jesus. And John 6:65 reiterates John 6:44 using different words.
Continue reading “Drawn by the Father – John 6 (Part 6 – Father’s Testimony)”
(This post is part of a series of posts on John chapter 6. To read the first post in the series please click here.)
John 6:37, 44 and 65
All that the Father gives to me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
Preparing the Way
In the last post we concluded by giving the proper interpretation of John 6:37. We will soon turn to consider John 6:44 and its parallel verse 6:65. But before we do we should tie up a few loose ends. Whenever we have a paradigm shift in how we view different aspects of God’s word, many new questions begin to present themselves to our thinking. The questions I would like to address here are, “What about those Israelites who were not faithful to God? Did Jesus come to save them? Is there any hope for them? Does John 6:37 only apply to men like Nathanael, or also to men like Zacchaeus, the corrupt tax collector?”
Continue reading “Drawn by the Father – John 6 (Part 5 – Getting Prepared)”
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