I have chosen the Gospel of John as the subject. I pray that these will be a blessing and an edification for the saints.
JOHN 5:38-39
38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. 39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
The LORD GOD didn't settle for a general revelation of Himself to His creatures; specifically to those of us of the human (not angelic) race. The general revelation consists of what we know of GOD by His creation: that He is a GOD of absolute order, of wondrous beauty, of staggering detail, a GOD of incontestable power. General revelation also included the mind of man, in that He has granted us a conscience whereby we know good from evil. We are beings who, unlike the animals are self-aware so that we ask certain questions: Why am I here? What is my purpose? Will my life end at my physical death or is there something beyond death?
No, the LORD was not content to reveal Himself merely with general revelation; He brought to us His special revelation whereby He intentionally and specifically revealed Himself through the prophets in the various Scripture that we have in its entirety today.
These 66 books (or 70 books, if you count each of the books of Psalms separately) have been penned by prophets and apostles over thousands of years, from various professions and stations in life, from three different continents, in different languages - and most of them never had contact with any of the others - and yet when one considers the book of the Bible as a whole, giving due consideration to the many dispensations throughout, it flows like a fluent river of truth!
On an aside, there are many that assert that there are 'lost books' of the Bible that were uncovered in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, such as the Gospel of Barnabas, the Book of Ezdras, the Book of Enoch, that should be included as inspired writings; however there are justified reasons why these and many other books are excluded from Holy Writ and that has to do with the measure of canon. Some mistakenly believed that the different councils held in history decided for themselves what should be put in the Bible and what should not, but the councils that really mattered did no such thing: they merely recognized the tell-tale signs of what was truly inspired and what was not. So, what were those tell tale signs you might ask? For those interested, you can check out this three part series from The TRUTH Under FIRE: The CANON of SCRIPTURE - Part One; Part Two, Part Three.Meanwhile let's proceed:
The LORD Jesus blatantly pointed out that the religious leaders of His day had not the Word of GOD abiding in them, and what did He have for evidence? Remember that these were for the most part Pharisees, and lawyers and such, who had vast volumes of Scripture memorized, especially the books of Moses! How could the LORD say that they didn't have the Word of GOD abiding in them?!
Yet that is what He plainly declares! Proof positive that religion of itself can do nothing to transform wretched sinners into righteous saints! Religion is a false, man-centered artificial form of righteousness, a plastic, cheap imitation of 'the real deal' which is provided by GOD Himself. Religion can only change at best the external aspects of man, and do nothing to change the internal. It's like dressing a dog up in a pig suit and expecting the dog to start oinking!
MATTHEW 23:27
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
While they could quote 'chapter and verse' metaphorically speaking (in those days Bibles didn't have chapters or verses), the very Spirit of truth that inspired those writings was not present with these religious leaders. They thought that in reading, memorizing, and performing the outward acts of Scripture, adhering to the letter of the Law, but nothing of the Spirit, that they had "eternal life" (vs. 39) And how do we know that?
The Holy Spirit testifies of Who? Right! The LORD Jesus Christ (JOHN 15:26) but not only did they not believe on the LORD Jesus, they were guilty of sin because of this (JOHN 15:20-25) intent on destroying Him (MATT 12:14)!
We can tell who truly has the Word abiding in them, depending on what their view of Jesus is for one (Is He LORD? Is He Savior? Is He fully GOD and fully man [what's referred to as the hypostatic union]? Is He the Head of the Church and also the Messiah-King of the future kingdom of Israel?) and what sort of fruit is being produced in their lives (are they growing in Christ-like character, in godliness, in the fruit of the Spirit?).
Not only did the Pharisees and religious leaders reject the LORD Jesus as the Messiah, but rather condemned Him for 'blasphemy against GOD' but their character was one of hypocrisy, covetousness and pride (See MATTHEW 23 and you have an apt description by GOD Himself of what these religious leaders were like!).
Conversely, those who do have the Word of GOD abiding in them - who rightly perceive the Person of Jesus for Who He is, and who have evidence of GOD's salvation at work in their lives by His sanctification process* - these may rejoice that the WORD has indeed revealed the Word to them, and that His special revelation is open to their eyes (LUKE 24:45; EPH 1:18), receptive to their hearts and minds and effective in transforming them more and more into the likeness of Jesus Christ our LORD (1 THESS 2:13; 1 JOHN 2:27).
* It must be stressed that the justification of sinners through Christ is wholly based upon the Person of Christ and His finished work on the cross. There is no need, or room for that matter for man to add his paltry and pathetic rags of self-righteousness (ISAIAH 64:6) to this finished work! To attempt to do so is blasphemy because such a one is equating his own contribution on par and equitable to the very righteousness of Christ. Yet the fact that we are sinners, condemned by the Holy Law of GOD proves that such is an impossibility (ROM 3:19)! Once a soul is saved, indwelt by the Spirit of GOD, and has the WORD of GOD's Holy Scripture activating their new nature to produce fruit of the Spirit - this is not to provide salvation, but something produced as a result of genuine repentance and justification.Let us rejoice saints, that we have received what is, bar none, the greatest treasure trove of truth, indeed, the exclusive truth source found anywhere in any book, in any of the multitudinous libraries the world over - contained within the binding of the Holy Bible; GOD's special revelation given to us who love Him and have His Word abiding in us!
This Christmas season, let us not forget, while opening up this present and that, from those who love us, to also open the GIFT of GOD that keeps giving, and reveals the heart of the One Who gave it to us: our Heavenly Father that granted to us, His Holy Bible that has on every page the portrait of JESUS CHRIST our LORD!
PSALM 40:6-8
6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, 8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
Remember the old adage:
"This Book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this Book!"
Next time we'll be looking at JOHN 5:40-43 - No Love Life.
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