The Berean Manifesto

EP36 John 8:12

In the book of John, Jesus makes the statement I AM 20 times. 7 times, however, Jesus follows up the statement with a metaphor that gives us a glimpse into who Jesus is. Last week we looked at the first of those statements in John 6:35, John 8:12 is the second of those 7 statements.

To really understand what Jesus is saying here we need to go back to the beginning of the book of John and see what John has to say about The Light leading up to this statement by Jesus. In chapter 1 verses 4 and 5 John says, "In Him was life, and the life was Light to live by. The Light blazed out of the darkness, the darkness did not understand it and couldn't put it out." In the King James version verse 5 says that the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness couldn't comprehended it. And in verse 9 John says, "There it was, the true genuine light: which enlightens everyone." He didn't mean there enlightens as in I shine a flashlight on your face and it "enlightens" your face. He means it in the way we think of the word enlightenment. He puts it that, The Light is true enlightenment for everyone that the darkness can't stop, delivered in the person of Jesus Christ. Short of one more statement about The Light in chapter 3 verse 19 that I'd like to cover later in the podcast that brings us up to this I Am statement by Jesus in John chapter 8 verse 12.
"I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life." With what we learned earlier in John that gives us Jesus saying, "I am enlightenment for the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the true enlightenment of life." Whenever Jesus talks about life it's been my experience that He's talking about spiritual life, not physical life. So what He's offering here is true spiritual enlightenment. This means that as followers of Christ we won't be ignorant of spiritual matters, but will have the understanding of the spiritual truths that bring eternal life.

A problem arose though, for those that were following Jesus at the time when He was alive that Jesus points out to them in John chapter 12 verses 35 and 36 when he says, "The Light is among you for only a little while longer. Walk in the Light while you still have it so that darkness doesn't destroy you. If you walk in darkness you don't know where you're going. While you have the Light believe and trust in the Light so that the Light will be within you and you may become children of Light." Jesus later gives the solution to this problem in John chapter 14 verse 26 when he tells the disciples that the Father will send, "the Comforter as my representative - that is, the Holy Spirit - he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you." If Jesus is the true spiritual enlightenment and the Holy Spirit picks up where He left off and reminds us of His words then that would seem to add more importance to receiving the Holy Spirit.

We talked about the Holy Spirit in episode 31 when my son was pretending to be me; Luke chapter 11 verse 13 says, "So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him." And Acts chapter 1 verse 8 says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere - in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Again in John chapter 12 verse 46 Jesus calls Himself the Light, He says, "I am Light that has come into the world so that all those who anchor their hope in Me and rely on the truth of My message won't have to stay any longer in the darkness." Last week we talked about Jesus teaching the basics of salvation being faith and hope. Here he's saying the same thing and a step further  not only is salvation available through faith and hope in Christ, but also true spiritual enlightenment that will forever free you from spiritual ignorance. Is that something you want? Do you want to be set free from being ignorant of the things that are hidden from your physical eyes? It's certainly something I want and am glad that I have in my relationship with Christ.

Now I'd like to address John 3:19. Most people in the Western world have heard of John 3:16 and some are familiar with John 3:17. They read, "God loved the world so much that He sent His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God didn't send His son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world might be saved through Him."

That is the good news of the gospel and also where most people stop, but it goes on in verses 18 and 19 to say that anyone who believes on Jesus isn't condemned, but everyone who doesn't is already condemned because they've chosen not to believe. And here's the thing that condemns them is that the Light came and you ran away from it because you knew you were guilty." Don't run from the free gift of love, salvation, and enlightenment because you're afraid that your imperfections will be found out by God. God already knows your imperfections, or sins if you'd rather, He knows them better than you do and it doesn't phase Him in the least.

We've talked in previous posts a little bit about what I've come through in my life; before I came to Christ I hated God with a fiery passion and would give anything to have been able to spit in His face if I had the opportunity. Not long after I received salvation, in my prayer time I had a conversation with God and he told me that on the day I decided that I hated Him and started running away from Him, He started visiting me in my bedroom at night while I was sleeping to sing over me. Zephaniah 3:17 says, "The Lord your God is in your midst, A Warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with joy; He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." You see Gods love isn't just some thing that He once acted on or even waits to be reciprocated. God loves us so much that even in our hate He's focused on healing our pain and declaring our salvation. That's the God that loves us and that's the God we need to be out there showing to others.

Until next time...

EP 35 John 6:35

In the book of John, Jesus makes the statement I AM 20 times. 7 times, however, Jesus follows up the statement with a metaphor that gives us a glimpse into who Jesus is. John 6:35 is the first of those 7 statements.

In John chapter six Jesus feeds the crowd of five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish. When everyone was full they collected twelve baskets of left over bread. This would have been seen as a significant sign to the people of Israel. A prevalent belief of the day was that when the Messiah came He would perform the same miracles that Moses had when the Israelites were delivered from Egypt. Not only were they looking for someone to perform those miracles, but it was also believed that when the Messiah came he would re-institute the daily bread that the Israelites enjoyed in the desert after they left Egypt so that they would never hunger again. Sensing that the crowd was putting this together Jesus perceives that they are going to seize Him and make Him a king, so he retreats into the mountains and leaves his disciples to handle the crowd.

The very next day on the opposite side of the sea the same crowd of people are looking for another free meal and ask Him for a miraculous sign to prove that He is the Messiah. They bring up the miracle of the bread from Heaven that Moses provided for their ancestors. Jesus corrects their error in thinking telling them first that it wasn't Moses that had given them the bread from heaven, but God. Second He tells them that God will still give them bread from heaven and that bread IS the one who comes down from Heaven to give life to the world.

It's pretty clear to anyone who's spent some time in the Christian church that Jesus is talking about himself here. But, through the lens of the life of a Jew at the time they still didn't quite get it. So they reply to Jesus, "Lord, forevermore, give us this bread." They are still having trouble seeing through the indoctrination of years of teaching by the religious leaders who completely missed the point of the words of the prophets who told of the coming of the Messiah.

This is where we get to our current verse and I AM statement "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." He goes on to preach what a modern minister would count as probably the most unsuccessful sermon they had ever delivered. It went right over the head of the crowd and of the what was believed to be up to 120 disciples at the time, only 12 of them stay with Jesus because of this sermon.

He says, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he who believes in Me as Savior already has eternal life. I am the Bread of Life the Living Bread which gives and sustains life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the Bread that comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the Living Bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever. And the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up from the dead on the last day. For My flesh is spiritual food, and My blood is spiritual drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in the same way remain in him. Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, even so the one who feeds on Me will also live because of Me. This is the Bread which came down out of heaven. It is not like the manna that our fathers ate and eventually died; the one who eats this Bread will live forever.”

It's not hard to understand why the crowd and most of the disciples had a hard time with that message. Even now we look back and reading these words it's hard to grasp exactly what Jesus is teaching here. It's even hard just to read through. You see, Jesus preferred to use metaphor when He taught and let the listener own the revelation of the knowledge and enlightenment they had earned. Peter got it. Jesus asks His 12 remaining followers if  they are going to leave too and Peter answers, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life. We have believed and confidently trusted, and even more we have come to know that You are the Holy One of God; the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
This is exactly what Jesus was preaching here, when Peter says, "We have believed and confidently trusted..." he is parroting Jesus' teaching back to him without the metaphor. They're talking about salvation, we put our Faith and Hope in Christ. It's our response to Christ finishing the covenant that God started with Abraham. It's what redeems us from the sin and eternal death that we're all headed towards because of the actions of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It's the good news of the gospel that Jesus didn't come to condemn us for who, or what, and where we are, but to bring us hope of a free gift. The gift of salvation.
Go back and read that passage where Jesus is preaching in John 6 where he talks about all that bread of life and drinking of my blood and realize that when He's saying that He's talking about Faith and Hope. He's talking about spiritual matters not physical matters. There are those that have equated what He's saying there to Holy Communion. That He's talking about taking of the sacraments, the bread and the wine, or grape juice as a lot of churches use. But, here he says that these things are a requirement for salvation, and Paul talked about the only requirements for salvation, we covered this is episode 33, are the belief of your heart and the confession of the mouth of that belief. That there are no other hoops to jump through. Jesus is literally talking about Faith and Hope in this message.

We need to understand how the basics of how our salvation works. This is it, this is the basics of salvation. Once we grasp that, we need to get out there and love on those that don't have faith in Christ like we talked about in episode 34, and when they ask whats different about us, let's be prepared to share that free gift that we received.

Until next time...

EP34 Mark 12:31

At the end of last week we finished up with what Paul said in Galatians 5 verse 14, “Everything that we know about God’s Word and the Law concerning human relationships is summed up in a single sentence, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That is an act of true freedom."

I really like the idea expressed there by Paul that loving your neighbor as yourself is an act of true freedom. I want to take a moment to talk about the word translated as "neighbor" there. In the original it is:

G4139 πλησίον plēsion play-see'-on Neuter of a derivative of πέλας pelas (near); (adverb) close by; as noun, a neighbor, that is, fellow (as man, countryman, Christian or friend): - near, neighbour.

It means near to you or close by. It's not necessarily how we use the word neighbor in modern English, but it's literally everybody around you where ever you find yourself.

We find similar language, but with a slightly different idea expressed in the law given to the Israelites in Leviticus. Chapter 19 verses 17-18 says, "Don't secretly hate one another. If you have something against someone, get it out into the open; otherwise you're an accomplice in their sin. Don't seek revenge or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but love one another as you love yourself."

I really want to take a minute to dissect that little bit because I've seen Scriptures like this used as an excuse to violently confront those who haven't put their faith in Christ about their sin. But that's not what this scripture is saying and I'm hard pressed to find any scriptures that would lead me to head out on the street with a microphone and broadcast accusations of sin on passerbys who really need the message from John 3:17 that Jesus didn't come to condemn the world. He came because He loved us.

"Don't secretly hate one another..." that one another there is:

H251 אָח 'âch awkh A primitive word; a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relationship and metaphorical affinity or resemblance (like H1)): - another, brother (-ly), kindred, like, other. Compare also the proper names beginning with “Ah-” or “Ahi-”. 

It's brother or kindred, in context it's telling the Israelites that this is specifically concerning other Israelites. The modern equivalent for Christians would be other Christians. "Christians, don't secretly hate other Christians, if you have something against someone, get it out into the open; otherwise you're an accomplice in their sin."

That word "someone" there is the Hebrew word neighbor, but not in a Greek sense like we read earlier, and certainly not like we use it today. This is talking about someone you're in companionship with, a comrade, or a kindred fellow. Today we would say fellow believer. So with that a modern equivalent applied to our Christian life of this verse in Leviticus 19 would read something like, "Christians, don't secretly hate other Christians, if you have something against a fellow believer, get it out into the open; otherwise you're an accomplice in their sin."

The way we as believers "get it out into the open" is found in Matthew 18 verses 15 through 17, “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense." I want to take a second to say that this can be applied to sinning period. They don't have to offend you personally. Because we're all in his family of believers together, we have the right to approach each other and to help each other live the best Christian lives we can. Getting back to the scripture, it says, "If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector."

So it's an act of love between believers to not keep secret offense between you and to confront that sin in each other's lives. If you don't love your fellow believer enough to confront the imperfections in their lives that may be blocking the blessing and prosperity in their life then you don't truly love them. What about unbelievers though? I like how the amplified puts it in James 2:8, it says, "If, however, you are [really] fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, if you have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit]” you are doing well." That's that Greek word for neighbor that we talked about earlier meaning everyone around you. It doesn't talk here about confronting sin in their lives.

I'm not ignoring the fact that Jesus confronted sin a lot in the bible. In fact I'm very aware that Jesus, John the Baptist, Paul, Peter, and the other pillars of our faith did an excellent job of upholding Leviticus 19 that tells Israelites to confront the sin in other Israelites lives. They even did an excellent job of confronting sin in the lives of other believers. What you won't find in the scriptures, however, is any of them confronting sin in the lives of those who weren't Jewish or believers in Christ. Paul went as far to say in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 12 that he has no business judging the non-believers and continues in verse 13 to say that God alone sits in judgement of those who are outside the faith.

We're left with doing things for others benefit to show love. Think of ways to really bless unbelievers in a way that gets you nothing back. Let it open the door to their heart and the Holy Spirit can take over from there and handle the conviction of sin side of things. This doesn't just apply to the folks at work, or in the apartment complex or neighborhood you live in, or people at the store.

Lately I've been thinking about the people I see at intersections relying on the mercy of other people. You've seen them , standing there with cardboard signs in-between red lights going from car to car. I get it, I get that some of those may be scammers, but that issue is between them and God. As for me, we're going to be putting together some care packages for the homeless at The Ekklēsian House, some socks, water, snacks, and other things. They're simple to put together, and after a Google search, theirs lots of info online on what's best to put in them if that sounds like something you want to do. This is just one example.

I encourage you to really put some thought into what you can do to unselfishly love those around you everywhere that you are. Once you've picked something, once you've decided what you can do recruit some other Christians and motivate them into some acts of Love and Good Works. That's what we read in Hebrews 10 right? That we're supposed to be motivating each other to acts of Love and Good Works. So let's do that. Let's go out there and love on those people who need good news, who need the gospel, who need to know that Jesus came not to condemn them, but to love them.

Until next time...

EP33 Psalm 51:16

"You do not delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it." David goes on to say, "You are not pleased with burnt offering, my only sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent. Such, O God, you will not despise."

Recently we talked about the covenant that God cut with Abraham and how Abraham wasn't perfect so he couldn't finish his part of the covenant. This was a problem for two reasons. 

1. After a covenant is fulfilled both parties should have a mark like a scar or a piercing or a token like a clay tablet or a ring, like a wedding ring, as proof of the covenant. 

2. Without that proof of the covenant neither the enemy nor other people would know about or respect the covenant. In this case the covenant between God and Abraham. 

So, God gives Abraham a way to show proof of the covenant they had cut and his commitment to it. In Genesis 17 starting in verse 9 God says, "You will honor my covenant, you and your descendants, generation after generation. This is the covenant that you are to honor, the covenant that pulls in all your descendants: Circumcise every male. Circumcise by cutting off the foreskin of the penis; it will be the sign of the covenant between us. Every male baby will be circumcised when he is eight days old, generation after generation—this includes house-born slaves and slaves bought from outsiders who are not blood kin. Make sure you circumcise both your own children and anyone brought in from the outside. That way my covenant will be cut into your body, a permanent mark of My permanent covenant. An uncircumcised male, one who has not had the foreskin of his penis cut off, will be cut off from his people—he has broken my covenant"

Now you're probably saying, "Woah, why are we talking about circumcision? This is weird, and how does it tie into Psalm 51:16?" Give me a little leeway, because I'm going somewhere with this.

In Galatians 5 Paul is addressing those who were teaching that salvation required circumcision. In versus 11 and 12 he says, "As for the rumor that I continue to preach the ways of circumcision (as I did in those pre-Damascus Road days), that is absurd. Why would I still be persecuted, then? If I were preaching that old message, no one would be offended if I mentioned the Cross now and then—it would be so watered-down it wouldn’t matter one way or the other. Why don’t these agitators, obsessive as they are about circumcision, go all the way and castrate themselves!" Woah there Paul, you been hanging out with Peter lately? This doesn't sound like your normal stuff that you write.

So what changed? If Jesus fulfilled the law and finished the covenant of Abraham and didn't do away with the law and the old testament then why would this requirement be different now. In Romans 2:29 Paul says, "But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and true circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the fulfillment of the letter of the Law. His praise is not from men, but from God." That sounds a lot like what David said long before the time of Jesus in Psalm 51:17, we read it earlier, "My only sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; A broke and contrite heart broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent, such, O God, You will not despise." The key here is that both David and Paul were filled with the Holy Spirit. We know David was spirit filled because Samuel 16:13 tells us he was; it says that, Samuel took his flask of oil and anointed David, while his brothers stood around and watched. "The Spirit of God entered David like a rush of wind." That's what changed. The difference, and it's a big one, is the Holy Spirit.

We talked about the Holy Spirit in episode 31, when my son was pretending to be me, as being a power house who comforts us, teaches us, reminds us of what Jesus said, and is freely available to everyone who puts their faith in Jesus by simply asking God for it.

 

The whole point here being, I told you I was getting around to something, to drive home that salvation is contingent upon the confession of your mouth that Jesus is Lord and the belief in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Any church, any religion, or sect that tells you that there's more sacrifice required or hoops to jump through is leading you astray. In Galatians 5 Paul puts it this way, “The moment any of you submits to a rule keeping system as a supposed requirement of salvation, Christ will be of no benefit to you for you will lack the faith in Christ that is necessary for salvation. Every man who receives these supposed requirements is under obligation and required to keep the whole Law.

I don’t suspect that you would ever intend this, but this is what happens. You are severed from Christ when you seek to be justified; that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing through the Law. You have fallen from grace; lost your grasp on God’s unmerited favor and blessing. Meanwhile we confidently wait, not relying on the Law but through the strength and power of the Holy Spirit by faith, for the hope of the completion of our salvation. For in Christ neither religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is only faith activated and expressed, working through love.”

I love that phrase, "For in Christ neither religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything." Christ isn't looking for perfect people who know what i's to dot and t's to cross, I'm not looking for that, and the church as a whole shouldn't be either. However, Paul does go on to say, “It is absolutely clear that you were called to a life of freedom. Just make sure that you don’t use your freedom as an excuse to embrace your sinful nature, but through love serve and seek the best for one another; that’s how freedom grows. Everything that we know about God’s Word and the Law concerning human relationships is summed up in a single sentence, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That is an act of true freedom."

This is Pastor Bill saying, Until next time...