Monthly Archives: April 2022

SIN THAT LEADS TO DEATH

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SIN THAT LEADS TO DEATH

If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who is bon of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them (1 John 5: 16-18).

John seems to be speaking in riddles here. What is the sin that leads to death?

First of all, we know that all sin leads to death. “The soul that sins shall die,” said Ezekiel (Ez 18:20). Sin brings death. Adam and Eve died to God when they sinned in the Garden of Eden.

Through Christ, however, God has forgiven all sin and he forgives the sin of those who repent and turn to Him. How, then can there be a sin that leads to death?

Jesus spoke of two sins that God cannot forgive, and for a very good reason. The first is the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to attribute the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil. If we deny the work of the Holy Spirit, there is no one who will apply the work of Jesus to our hearts.

Jesus had just driven a demon out of a man when the Pharisees accused Him of driving out devils in the power of the devil.

All the people were astonished and said, ‘Could this be the son of David?’ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, ‘It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.’ (Matt. 12: 23-24).

Jesus responded by reminding them that a divided kingdom would not last. The Pharisees were uttering dangerous words. They accused Jesus of casting out demons in the power of the devil. Jesus, however, knew that He had been anointed by the Spirit of God to release captives from Satan’s power.

If it by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you (Matt. 12: 28).

Then He spoke these sobering words to His accusers:

And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgive, either in this age or in the age to come (Matt. 12: 31-32).

The second sin which God cannot forgive is the sin of unforgiveness. Peter asked Jesus a question:

Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times? (Matt: 18: 21).

Peter thought he was being big-hearted by being willing to forgive his brother seven times for the same sin. Seven is the number of completion – the number of God. Peter believed that seven times was enough to please God.

Jesus responded to Peter’s question with a story about a king who called his servants to account for the debt they owed him. One servant owed him an unpayable amount. The king was about to sell him, his family and all his possessions to pay the debt when the servant pleaded for mercy. The king has compassion on him, cancelled the debt and released him.  

The same man found a fellow-servant who owed him a small amount of money. Instead of treating him with same compassion as he had received, he grabbed the man by the throat and demanded immediate payment. No amount of pleading would soften his heart. He had his fellow-servant thrown in prison until he could pay.

The other servants reported him to the king who recalled him, reinstated the debt, and handed him over to the jailors to be tormented until he repaid the full amount. Jesus concluded His story with these words:

This is how my heavenly Father will treat each one of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from you heart (Matt. 18: 35).

The issue is not how many times must I forgive but why I should forgive. The unforgiving servant did not appreciate the measure of the king’s mercy towards him. God has forgiven us so much that any debt that our fellow man owes us is minuscule compared with the debt we owed God.

Jesus said that these two sins are unforgiveable. Therefore, it is useless to pray for anyone who has committed either of these two sins because God will not forgive them, even if we pray for them.  

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER

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GOD ANSWERS PRAYER

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence that we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we ask of Him (1 John 5: 13-15).

Arrogance or assurance? Unbelievers accuse believers in Jesus of being arrogant because we claim to know that we have eternal life. Is it arrogant to know that we have eternal life when Jesus said . . . ?

God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3: 16).

In John’s day, in the midst of severe persecution, it was dangerous to be a Christian. The Roman government, during the reign of Nero and those who succeeded him, launched a vicious campaign to exterminate believers because they refused to confess that Caesar was Lord. The Caesars made outrageous claims for themselves, titles which belonged to Jesus alone – Son of God, Prince of Peace, Saviour and Lord.

Domitian, who succeeded Nero on AD 81, was so cruel that he earned the nickname “the beast”. He demanded worship, and those who worshipped him received a mark by which they had access to the local market. Those who refused to worship his image were denied access to the market and could not buy or sell anything. Without the “mark of the beast” to protect them, they suffered for their faith in Jesus.

John wrote many things in this letter to encourage his readers to stand firm in the face of persecution. They had to be sure that they based their faith in Jesus on a solid foundation. John wrote to them from personal experience because he had known Jesus as a human being who had lived, died and risen from the dead.

The Holy Spirit lived in them. He had changed them from self-centred people to those who loved God and showed their love by obeying His commands and loving people. He reassured them that, if they had Jesus, they had eternal life despite the threats against them and the persecution which took many of their lives.

Just as God had saved them, given them His Spirit and showed them His love in the midst of suffering, so also He promised to answer their prayers. Unlike Domitian who demanded worship as a god, or the plethora of idols the Greeks and Romans worshipped, the one they worshipped was the true God. Jesus said He would answer their prayers if they asked “in His name”.

I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:13-14).

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you with and it will be given you (john 15: 7).

These verses teach us that we must fulfil the conditions if we want God to answer our prayers.

  1. We must ask according to God’s will. It is always the will of God to do what brings glory to Him. We can be sure that God will answer us if what we ask for reveals His character. He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness, forgiving sins.
  2. We must ask in Jesus’ name. We know that He will answer us if our request is in line with the character of Jesus and the Word of God. God will never give us what falls outside of His righteousness, goodness and mercy.
  3. We must remain in Jesus and in His Word. We must keeping trusting Him and doing what His Words requires of us. We will receive what we ask for if we keep Him in the centre of our lives.

We sometimes treat God as though He is obliged to answer our prayers because we quote His Word to Him. We almost hold up, “You said” to Him as a threat. You said it and therefore you must it otherwise you are a liar.

Many of God’s promises are conditional and the response depends on our willingness to do what He wants. Yes, God does answer prayer, but His answers always fit into the bigger picture and He always answers for our good. When He does not answer exactly according to our demand, we will see, in the end that what He did was the best possible answer for us,

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

SON OF GOD OR LIAR?

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SON OF GOD OR LIAR?

Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar because they have not believed the testimony God has given about His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:10-12).

John, you are either a bigot, or you are telling the truth! Why should we take John’s words seriously? On what grounds can he make such a statement? Why is he intolerant of other religions? Don’t all religions lead to God?

Many have accused those who believe the Bible of hate speech because they claim that the Bible alone has the truth to the exclusion of all other sacred books. It is impossible for me to write an apologetic on the Bible’s claim here. I want only to examine what John said about Jesus.

John spent three years with Jesus. He heard His words; he watched what He did and the way He treated people until he was thoroughly familiar with Him. If anyone should have been sceptical or disillusioned about Jesus, it should have been John or one of His other disciples. It is not possible to live in such close contact with a person and not get to know Him.

Jesus had made some startling claims about Himself, about His relationship with God and about the purpose of His presence on earth. He said, for example, that the Father had sent Him. That presupposed that He was alive before His birth. Unless a person believes in reincarnation – and there is no evidence that reincarnations happen – no one exists or remembers anything before he is born. However, Jesus told Nicodemus that He knew about life with God because He came from God.

Jesus persistently called God His Father and said He was His Son. This enraged the Pharisees and religious leaders because they knew He meant that He was God. They charged Him with blasphemy and crucified Him because of His claim. He even applied the Scriptures that spoke of God to Himself. He called Himself “I am” which the Jews knew was God’s name.

Jesus did many miracles in the Father’s name through the power of the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus knew that God was with Him because no one could do the miracles Jesus did on his own. God’s power had to be at work through Him. If God did miracles through Jesus, how could He be a liar and an imposter?

Jesus told the Pharisees that God had given Him the authority to judge and to give life to those who believed in Him. Once again, He was either a madman or He was telling the truth. Only God has the right to judge people and only God can give those who believe in Jesus eternal life. Therefore, Jesus must be God.

Jesus made the boldest and riskiest claim of all when He insisted that no one could take His life from Him. He would lay it down and He would take it up again.

The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father (John 10: 17-18).

Anyone can make a claim like that, but no one can pull it off unless he were God. As far as everything Jesus said about Himself is concerned, this was His trump card. Many brilliant legally trained people have attempted to disprove the resurrection but to no avail. Not only is the Biblical and non-Biblical evidence overwhelming, but the existence of the church 2000 years after the resurrection, despite every effort to stamp it out, proof enough that Jesus is alive.

Until the world can prove that Jesus is a fake, those who believe in Him will shrug off the accusations of intolerance and hate speech. We are not proud; we are confident that what He said is true.

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand (John 10: 27-28).

If Jesus said it, I believe it and that settles it. I would much rather be safe than sorry.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THREE WITNESSES TESTIFY

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THREE WITNESSES TESTIFY

Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the one who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept human testimony but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God which He has given about His Son (1 John 5: 5-9).

In this letter, we again encounter the writing of a Jew who needed to ensure that his readers believe what he had written. It was important to prove authenticity of what he wrote if his readers were to believe his testimony about Jesus.

During a debate with the Pharisees, Jesus also produced witnesses to the claims He made. Without genuine witnesses, He had no case for His expectation that they would believe what He said would witness to Himself. Their law did not permit a person to charge another of wrongdoing without calling at least two witnesses who saw the accused committing the crime.

One witness is not enough to convict any accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses (Deut. 19: 15).

Jesus appealed to three witnesses to establish the accuracy of His claim:

If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies in my favour, and I know that his testimony about me is true. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth (John 5: 31-33).

Jesus appealed to John’s testimony about Him because the people revered John and believed that he was a prophet of God.

I have a testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish – the very works that I am doing – testify that the Father has sent me (John 5: 36).

Jesus’ miracles testified to His identity as the Son of God.

And the Father who sent me has Himself testified concerning me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form, nor does His word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one He sent. You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life (John 5: 37-40).

His hearers supposedly believed the Scriptures, but they refused to believe that Jesus was the Son of God although God wrote the Scriptures and His word testified to Jesus as their Messiah.

In this letter, John also produced three witnesses to testify about Jesus: the Spirit, the water and the blood. It is difficult to understand this verse because John does not explain what he had in mind. He seems to take for granted that his readers knew what he meant. Was he referring to baptism and the Lord’s Supper as witnesses to Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God?

It is important to remember that the reality of Jesus’ work on the cross depended on His identity as the Son of God.  If He was not God’s Son, His death on the cross would mean no more than the death of any other sinner. Saying He was the Son of God was not enough. We need proof if we are to believe what He said and what He did to save us from sin. We have no right to approach God without the forgiveness of our sins.

Why did John appeal to the Holy Spirit as a witness that Jesus is the Son of God? The Holy Spirit applies the blood of Jesus to those who believe in Him. He quickened our spirits and made us alive when we were dead in sin. He witnesses with our spirits that we are children of God (Rom. 8: 15-16). The Holy Spirit produces the fruit of God’s nature in us (Gal. 5: 22-23).

When we participate in the ordinances Jesus commanded us to observe, i.e., baptism and the Lord’s Supper, we testify to our faith in Him and to our identity with Him in His death and resurrection (Rom. 6: 4-5).

Anyone who believes in Jesus does not subscribe to a doctrine but participates in the life of Jesus. He is much more than a historical figure who taught us some important truths. He is the Son of God who lives in us by His Spirit and who transforms us from one degree of glory to another as we continue to contemplate Him (2 Cor. 3:18). 

So, water points to the historicity of the human Jesus. The “Spirit” and “the blood” bear witness to the power of God in us to reconcile us to God.  If “water” refers to His baptism as a truly human Jewish man whose baptism identified Him with humanity, and the Spirit and the blood witness to the work He did on the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit to apply that work in our lives, then we have every confidence to believe in the message John brought to his readers as the truth from God.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

OVERCOMING FAITH

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OVERCOMING FAITH

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves His child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep His commands. And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith (1 John 5:1-4).

John was soaked in the teachings of Jesus. One can feel his love for his Master pulsating through every word he wrote. He had taken Jesus’ instruction seriously about the Holy Spirit and His role in their lives. John had built his life on the foundation of Jesus’ words and it was now his task to pass them on to his readers so that they would also have a solid base on which to build their lives. 

I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

Jesus spoke these final words to His disciples before they left the upper room and made their way to Gethsemane. He had taught them about the Holy Spirit and His role in their lives after His return to the Father. He had assured them that He had overcome the world and that they would have victory over sin and Satan through their faith in Him.

What did John mean? This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Without the background of Jesus’ teaching, John’s encouragement would make no sense to his readers. He must have taken for granted that they knew what he was saying because he had already inspired them with Jesus’ words.

What did Jesus mean by His words, “I have overcome the world”? Jesus’ world at that moment was the world of God’s people, the Jews among whom He lived. Their religious leaders, who tried slavishly to obey the teachings of Moses, demanded that the Jews also keep their unreasonable requirements. His people’s “world” was the burdensome system of religion as well as the oppression of their Roman overlords. They were taxed so heavily that many of them lived in poverty. Their fellow-Jews who served Rome as unscrupulous tax collectors, added to their burden, demanding more tax than Rome required to enrich themselves.

The world had overcome them. Instead of responding to Jesus’ teaching, like their countrymen, Jesus’ disciples reacted to the oppressive world system in sinful ways; with resentment, anger, rebellion, hatred, bitterness, adding to their burden of guilt.

Jesus modelled the response that would not permit the world to overcome Him. He did not resist arrest. He submitted to the soldiers’ torture without threat or complaint. He accepted injustice without accusation. Peter’s summary accurately describes Jesus’ attitude to the “world” which rejected Him and treated Him unjustly and cruelly despite His innocence.

When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed (1 Pet. 2:22-24).

How did Jesus overcome the world? He absorbed in Himself everything evil that was levelled against Him. The worst that human cruelty and hatred did to Him could not move Him to retaliate. He forgave and prayed for His tormentors. He proved both to the powers of darkness and to the world of sinners that it was possible to live in obedience to the Father and without sin despite what the world did to Him.

In His life, He demanded of His enemies, “Who of you accuses me of sin?” to which no one could reply. In His death, He remained unaffected by those who hated Him. He steadfastly trusted in His Father’s love. His resurrection proved that He had no sin because death could not hold Him.

Jesus provided both a model for us under unjust suffering and he also provides the power to overcome the sin of others against us. What was His secret? He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. By entrusting Himself to the Father, Jesus turned His attention away from His suffering to the one who sustained Him. The assurance of His Father’s love enabled Him to endure the cross.

Likewise, for us who have given Jesus the right to reign over us, we are free to trust the Father to bring good out of the worst of circumstances. It is true that we will suffer in this life because human suffering is part of this fallen world, but God works for our good in all things for one reason – He is restoring in us the image of His Son.

Jesus loved the Father and trusted in His love to the extent that He submitted to the Father’s will and obeyed Him in everything. Submission and obedience are to be the hallmark of God’s children, based on confidence in His perfect love.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.