Tag Archives: a liar

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.

THE MEASURE OF TRUTH

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THE MEASURE OF TRUTH

We know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commands. Whoever says, ‘I know Him,’ but does not keep His commands is a liar and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in him. This is how we know that we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did. (1 John 2: 3-6)

What a difference between the standards of God’s Word and the standards that are applied in many parts of the church today! In some denominations, doctrine has become the standard of acceptance. If its members adhere to the right doctrines – or at least to the doctrines they believe in – everything else is acceptable.

One denomination I know of makes infant baptism the test. If any of its members dares to be baptised by immersion as a believer in obedience to Jesus’ command, he or she is immediately excommunicated because he has “undone his salvation”. Others make premillennialism the criterion. Its members must believe in a secret rapture, an evil antichrist political world ruler and seven years of tribulation before Jesus returns.

Sometimes the standards of the church are whittled down to what is socially or politically acceptable, regardless of what the Word of God says about it. The gay agenda is a case in point. God’s clear condemnation of homosexuality is smoothed over by fine-sounding arguments and rationalisation until it sounds as though we know the truth and God is at fault.

Now I ask, “Where did they find those requirements among the commands of Jesus?”

Peter had blown it badly. He was in the depths of despair because his beloved Master, whom he professed to love, was dead, and he had no opportunity to seek His forgiveness for his terrible words on the eve of His death. Jesus had warned him about a coming test, but Peter had brushed it aside with a cock-sure denial of his weakness. “Even though everyone else forsakes you, I will never do it!”

Then it happened. Peter was caught off guard by a servant girl in the courtyard of the high priest’s house. He lied, and he could not take it back. Instead of owning up, he lied again, twice more and then the cock crowed. It was Jesus’ look that undid him. He remembered Jesus’ warning – too late, and that look of compassion cracked him up. He wept as he had never wept before – big, tough, blustering, motor-mouth Peter!

No, it was not that he did not believe in the right doctrines, or that he failed to carry out the right rituals. He lied about his association with Jesus.

However, there was a sequel to Peter’s failure. Jesus was back among them, alive, as He said He would do. He found His disciples in Galilee, back fishing. He prepared a delicious fish barbeque for them and invited them to join Him. After breakfast, when their hunger was satisfied, He turned to Peter with an unexpected question. “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Not, “Why did you do it?” or “Do you promise never to do that again?” but a simple, “Do you love me?” Jesus said nothing about Peter’s failure. Not a word of accusation. Not a whisper of reproach. Just “Do you love me?” Three times, “Do you love me?” Peter must have had to think very deeply about his response. Did he really love Jesus? Why did He ask him that question? Any other question would have been easier to answer.

But, you see, that’s the difference between belonging to a club or organization and belonging to Jesus. We don’t keep the rules because we love the club. We keep the rules so that we are not thrown out, but belonging to Jesus is based on a different criterion.

If you love me, show it by doing what I have told you. (John 14:15 – The Message)

We have already talked about the essence of God’s nature. God is love. Love is the energy that drives Him. Everything about Him is motivated by love. It stands to reason, then, that love is the glue that binds Him to us and, therefore, should bind us to Him.

Our love for Jesus is the power behind everything we do or should be. If we find it difficult to obey Him, we need to ask the question of ourselves that Jesus asked Peter: “Do I really love Him?” Love is the only force that will keep us in union with Him. When we are driven to obey by the fear of punishment, we are still slaves at heart. When we are motivated by love for Jesus, we are the true children of God. 

Not our belief systems or adherence to our church’s requirements, but our love for Jesus, demonstrated by our obedience to what He told us in His word, is the acid test. Our love for Him is expressed by the way we hate what He hates and care about what He cares about. It’s not about keeping rules or else . . . It’s about loving Jesus enough to uphold everything that is important to Him.

Do you really love Him?

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