Author: RB May IV

A New Year’s Thought – 2015

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With the beginning of the New Year two things always crop up in my mind and that is the past and the future. There are two ways that I tend to look at the past. It is either with regret for the things I’ve done wrong or with fondness over the happy memories. I am a journaler so I’ve been taking a look back through this past year. It flew by! I’ve had a lot of ups and downs this last year. But really the Lord took care of me and brought me through it. He also brought a verse to mind as I reviewed this last year.

That verse is Philippians 3:13: “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,” (English Standard Version).

Forgetting what lies behind. That is something powerful. As I looked into this verse I’ve seen many arguments of the sort that “Our actions define who we are so shouldn’t we hold onto the past?” I feel as though it is more of a letting go of the past so we don’t regret, fret or worry over what we’ve done wrong because it is covered by Christ’s blood.

I came across a metaphor about this. You can think of yourself like a piece of paper. All your sins (before repentance) are written on you. Then you are washed in Christ’s blood. What happens? Does it change you from being a piece of paper? No but it does blot out all the writing that was on you. Even if we are to try and write another sin on the blood covered paper does it show up? No it too is covered by the blood.

The other reason that we are to forget the past is because we have something amazing to look forward to. That is the Second Coming of Christ. How are we to keep a watch for Christ’s return if we are busy holding onto the past.

John The Testimony of John the Baptist (1:19-34)

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Part 3: Testimony of John the Baptist (John 1:19-34)

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Next we’re going to take a look at what John the Baptist said – specifically – about not only who he was, but also who Jesus was. This section is verses 19 through 34. Here we are going to get to see a lot of exciting things. Though John the Apostle doesn’t actually ever show the baptism he uses the Baptist’s own testimony to show it. We’ll see how the Baptist points out his own purpose on the Earth and then points out Jesus’ purpose. Finally in this section we’ll see the Baptist point Jesus out as the One he is speaking about – who is the Son of God.

Let us get into the text. The Apostle starts off here pointing out that this is exactly what John the Baptist said. The Baptist starts off, here, answering questions about himself and who he is. He tells these Jews (who were priests and disciples of the Pharisees) that he’s not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet. Let’s deconstruct this section for a moment. Why is it so important what this scene is explaining? First let us look at who John’s interviewers are: Priests, Levites and Disciples of the Pharisees (1:24).

Why is this important? Really it is important because John the Apostle is pointing out that these are people who should have known the scripture and known the prophecies. They shouldn’t have had to ask who the Baptist was. They should have known! They ask him multiple times who he is, but there is three important people they’re asking about. These people are the Messiah, Elijah and the Prophet. Who are these people?

First let us start with the Messiah. We know who the Messiah is, but what did the Scripture of the time say of Him? The entire Old Testament is laced with prophecy about Him. Starting with the simple fact he would be born of woman (Genesis 3:15) all the way through His entire life to the crucifixion as a substitution for our sins (Zechariah 12:10–13:1). Even the Psalms have prophecy about Jesus. It’s everywhere. The key point is they should have been able to tell who the Messiah was.

Next is Elijah. Why would the Jews think he was Elijah? Elijah was one of the greatest prophets to ever have lived. He lived in the 9th century B.C. (approximately 875–850 B.C.) and preached heavily against the pagan religions to which Israel had turned. But again why would they think that John the Baptist was Elijah? First it was because if you read the story of the end of Elijah’s Ministry he doesn’t die (2 Kings 2:11). And secondly it was because of prophesied by the Prophet Malachi that God would send Elijah before the “Day of the Lord” comes.

This is important to understand, though, as a prophecy of the second coming of Christ. This is because every use of the “Day of the Lord” is talking about the end times. We can look at several examples from the New Testament where we are shown that the Day of the Lord has not happened yet. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians is on this very subject and in Chapter 5 he brings up the phrase for which we’re looking. It says “You guys understand completely that the day of the Lord comes like a thief at night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2 emphasis added). Paul is saying it hasn’t happened yet. So we can tell that this is the Second Coming of Jesus. Then why would the Jews think Elijah was coming?

The answer is they don’t see a first and second coming. They only see one coming of the Messiah. So what does the rest of Scripture say about being Elijah? Jesus, Himself, in Matthew 11:13 said that John was Elijah. This can be confusing because why are they contradicting each other? Luke tells us in 1:17 that John “will go out before Him and he will minister in the same way, in spirit and power, as Elijah.” So John the Baptist would come as a type of Elijah and fulfilled the prophecy about the messenger that would go before Jesus but was not Elijah himself.

Third is The Prophet. Where is the prophecy about this Prophet? It actually comes all the way from Deuteronomy. In chapter 18 God is talking to Moses and tells Moses that He “will put in place another prophet and he will come from among themselves. He will be like you, Moses, and I will put My words in his mouth and he’s going to tell them everything I command him to.” This is the Prophet they are talking about. Who was this man to be? John says it’s not him and we already see he fulfilled prophecy about Elijah. Who was he then? The prophecy seems a little open ended. It seems like it could include all the prophets of Israel except for the word is singular.

Peter thought that this was Jesus. In Acts he quotes Deuteronomy (Acts 3:22) and points it out to be Jesus. Stephen thought so as well in chapter 7 of Acts (specifically Acts 7:37) and he also quotes the Deuteronomy passage about the coming prophet. Where would these men get such an idea though? They got it from Jesus, Himself. As we’ll see later on Jesus said in chapter 5 that if the Jews “really believed what Moses said then you would believe Me too, because Moses wrote about Me.” This is Jesus speaking of Moses writing where we get this prophecy.

So the Baptist tells us he is none of the three that the Jews were asking about. Who is he then? For his answer he takes us all the way back to Isaiah, specifically Isaiah 40:3, which is the verse he quotes here. He says “I am the voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Make the path of the Lord straight.’ ” That’s who he is: a forerunner or someone who comes before. A messenger sent before the Lord. The prophet Malachi spoke of him too. In Malachi 3:9 God sends His messenger who will prepare the way before God. This is who John the Baptist is.

These people either didn’t believe him or still didn’t understand because they go on questioning. John the Baptist’s answer points further to his role as a messenger that would come before Jesus. What he tells them is also pretty ironic too. He tells them that they didn’t even know anything. He says to them, “There is One among you and you don’t know Him. It’s Him who comes after me.” The WEB translates this as, “Among you stands one whom you don’t know.” (Emphasis added.) This is a very strong statement being made by John the Baptist. But why is it so?

It turns out to be so strong because John is telling the Priests, Levites and Pharisees that the promised Messiah stands among them already. That is powerful, because he is pointing out to them how ignorant they are. He is also showing them to be fools by their own definition (Proverbs 1:5-7). They’re not listening to instruction. John moves on to tell us that this person who was among them was so great that John was not even worthy to touch His sandals. The Apostle moves on to the next even in John the Baptist’s testimony. Here we have the Baptist specifically pointing out Jesus. The Baptist wasn’t just some exegetical teacher who spoke in riddles about someone who would come after him. He specifically points Jesus out.

First he points Jesus out then he refers back to what he had said previously about Jesus. It is interesting to notice, here, that this is the third time that this statement has been repeated. This is also one of the many phases that the Gospel of John and the other three differs. Matthew, Mark and Luke all show the Baptism of Christ (Matt 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22) but John’s Gospel doesn’t show us the Baptism. Instead he gives the Baptist’s witness of the Baptism.

John the Baptist was an eye witness of the Baptism, as he performed it. Here he points out the Spirit coming down out of heaven like a dove. John tells us that this was to fulfill what the Lord had told him already. John also gives us a summary of Jesus’ post crucifixion ministry. We can see this because John the Baptist tells us of Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit. For now, though, we must look at the Baptist’s final statement: “This is what I have seen and told you, that this is the Son of God.” With these words the introduction to Jesus’ Earthly ministry ends and next we get to look at Jesus on the Earth.

John Prologue (1:1-18)

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Part 2: Prologue (John 1:1-18)

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OK, let’s take a look at the Gospel of John. John starts off showing us just how educated he is. His opening line appears to give a sense of blended philosophy. “In the beginning was the Word,” (1:1). This calls your attention all the way back to Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God,” as well as it has overtones of Greek philosophy.

But what is John’s point in this passage? “In the beginning was the Word”? What does that mean? He follows this explaining that the Word “was with God, was God.” Wait a minute God is a word? Or was with Himself? … Are you getting confused yet? Should one of the “Gs” in “God” be lower case? Verse 2 summarizes one of these ideas: “and existed in the beginning with God.” But didn’t he say in verse 1 that the Word was God? The English Standard Version (ESV) translates verse 2 as “He was in the beginning with God.” This makes it clear we’re talking about a different person.

To really understand the concept in these verses we must look at the purpose behind them. In John 20:31 John says his purpose is that we might believe that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God. The Song of God then is what we are reading about, right? Since we believe in the Trinity – the God who is three persons in one God or Triune – this makes much more sense.

John is doing several things in these opening verses, because he continues with his look back at Genesis: “Everything was made through Him.” This is again pointing us back to the Genesis story. “In the beginning God made the universe (the heavens and the Earth)” is how Genesis starts out. It moves into God speaking things into existence. So everything must have been made through the Word “without whom there would be nothing.”

After making the universe what did God make? The answer is light, of course! John fulfills this as well. In verse three “Everything was made through Him,” then in verse four “And through Him life was what was made, and that life is a light to all people.” The very next thing mentioned is light. Isn’t our God great? The light He made nothing can put out!

This ends the first section of these verses (1-18) and already John has given us a lot to think about. One key point of these verses as a whole is Jesus, the Son of God, is the Word of God, which is the action of God. Think about it, in creation how did God create? Through speech. He spoke things into being and if He spoke them into being then isn’t it Jesus performing these acts of creation? Jesus, Himself said that He could do nothing by Himself but He did the will of the One who sent Him (John 5:30) and that His food was doing the will of the One who sent Him (4:34).

So if Jesus is active full of actions and doing things then we who are being conformed to His image (Romans 8:29 and 2 Corinthians 3:18) are being conformed to what? We are being called to act! It is just as James (who was Jesus’ brother and John’s cousin as well) said in his letter, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). This is faith without action is dead. Think on that: dead, gone, worthless, useless, all these are terms that convey the same message. We are called to action!

In the next verse John introduces us to his first human character: John. Wait a minute is he introducing himself here? Our answer comes out of a later verse where we get more of a picture of this John. In 1:25 he is asked, “Why are you baptizing?” This is a key to which John we are talking about. John the Baptist was a forbearer of Jesus. He was the one who came to prepare the world for Jesus’ coming. John came to tell about Jesus but was not the promised Messiah himself. His purpose in life was to tell the people who Jesus was and why He had come. Verses six through eight give a summary of John the Baptist and we’ll see later, by his own words, what his purpose was. For right now though we have to contend with just receiving a small summary of what John’s call on his life was.

This moves us on to a new ides taking place in this prologue. The Apostle John has moved from equating Jesus to the Word of God to equating him to “the Light”. This happens not only in this section (vv. 6-8) but the next (vv. 9-13) as well. As we transition to this next section we get to a point that we get to see a preliminary stating of John’s purpose for writing.

Out next section starts off continuing the theme of making a distinction between John the Baptist and Jesus. “The actual light” gives us a clear difference. This “Light” which gives light to everyone was now entering the world. The stage is being set for Jesus’ ministry. Now the Apostle John gives a summary of Jesus’ entire ministry on the earth. He starts out by reminding us that the earth that Jesus – the Light – came to was made through Him. This is important because John is pointing out that the Light is the same as the Word which all things were made through. The big irony is that the world was made through Him but no one knew about Him at all. He even came to his own people (the idea being they out of everyone on the earth should have known Him) and they didn’t even know Him.

John, here, points out to us at the very beginning of his writing what his purpose is. He shows us that, though, no one knew Jesus and His own people rejected Him, those people who did receive Him – believe in His name (you can think of chapter 4 with all the Samaritans and the Official’s household) – He gave the ability to become children of God. This is the “New Birth” not of flesh, but of God. This is understood as – or could be read as – He gave them Salvation, neither by their own flesh nor merit, but from His. This is John’s purpose in writing: that we, too, might believe and gain salvation.

This moves us into the final section of the Prologue (vv. 14-18). Now John points out something that is very important. He starts it so simply: “And the Word became flesh”. Why is this so important? It is so important because there were a lot of people questioning whether or not Jesus really was the “Son of God” or if the Spirit had descended upon Him at His baptism and left Him at the crucifixion or whether He only came as a spirit and His birth and death were some sort of great cosmic lie. John points out here that there was no lie or Jesus was not just a man with the Spirit on him, but He is the Son of God who did become flesh and gave Himself fully for our sin.

John makes a very second point that is also quite important in this verse. This is a statement that points to John the son of Zebedee (John the Apostle) as the author. He says here: “and He dwelt among us”. This is important because it points out that the author is an eyewitness who knew Jesus in the flesh. He continues pointing out the fact that he is an eyewitness as he says that “we have seen His glory”. His glory is shown to appear as that of the only Son of the Father. We can look at this as the only son of a father is showered with love and taught to be an man (adult) through the example of his father. So the Son would shine as an example of the Father. Just as Jesus will later say, “If you have seen the Me, you have seen the Father” (14:9). Then what was Jesus’ glory (or image)? It was full of grace and truth.

The Apostle here comes back to the testimony of John the Baptist. Here the Apostle shows that John the Baptist specifically pointed out Jesus as the One who would come after him. The Apostle here uses John the Baptist to be pointing Jesus out. He will get into this deeper later, but for now he moves onto telling us more about Jesus’ glory.

John tells us now that out of Jesus’ fullness – or abundance – He has given us so much grace that it could never be measured. He puts it “grace upon grace” or “gracious gif after gracious gift”. This is so much grace there are not even words to express the idea to you of how much grace this is. To make his point further he shows us that the Law came through Moses and grace and truth came through Jesus the Messiah.

I want to pause here and discuss words. Something we need to look at is some of the words we use in “Christianese”. Here in most translations this word is left in Greek, just transliterated. Messiah and Christ, however, are the same word, one is just in Hebrew and the other is in Greek. The fact of the matter is the authors of the New Testament were writing in Greek as they would have written (or translated Messiah to) Christ. So here I prefer to use Messiah so we can remember that Christ was not Jesus’ last name.

There is one final verse in the prologue. Verse eighteen gives us one final point about Jesus being the Son of God. This is that no one has ever seen God, but the only Son of God (who is God) who is at the very heart of the Father has explained Him. This is a similar idea to what John wrote in verse fourteen. The same as the John speaking of the Jesus’ glory is an example of the Father because He is an example of the Father. With these words John ends his Prologue. By telling us that Jesus has explained (or made known) the Father, he leads us into Jesus’ ministry. In essence Jesus’ ministry was explaining the Father; cluing us into the Father and the truth of the Father. Just as John said in 1 John 4:8b “God is love” this is what Jesus was showing us. What do you think the most important thing Jesus revealed is?

John Introduction

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Part 1: Introduction

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Let us start out by first introducing our topic of study. We’ll be looking at the Gospel of John and if we are to look at the writing, first then, we must look at the author. John was a young man when called by Jesus. He was the younger son of Zebedee and Salome and the cousin to Jesus. He and his brother, James, were fishermen and partners with Simon Peter and Andrew (Luke 5:10). That is John’s background, fishing, and Jesus used this to tell him his future when he told Peter, Andrew, James and John that He would make them fishers of men (Luke 5:10).

John would go on to become a significant leader of the Believers (Christians) and later – more specifically – of the Ephesian Church. Ephesus is most likely the location from which John wrote this Gospel. He wrote much later then his contemporaries, sometime after 70 AD. Most sources point to sometime at the end of his life between 90 and 95 AD. And he wrote with a specific intention in mind. He was a well educated man who was writing to both Jews and Gentiles. He often translates Aramaic and Hebrew terms to Greek (see 1:38, 1:41 and 42, and others) and explains Jewish customs and Palestinian geography. But beyond this his main purpose of writing is stated in the text itself in John 20:30-31. In these two verses John states quite a few concepts. He starts with the fact that his is not a complete account of Jesus’ ministry on Earth but rather specific occurrences. He then tells us that these specific occurrences were chosen that the reader may believe (or keep believing as recorded by some manuscripts) and through this belief have eternal life.

Quick Update

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This is just a quick Update so that you can know that all my essays will soon be available in PDF format. I will soon go through and update all the posts with a link to a PDF version of the articles. All future articles will also be available in PDF format with a link to that at the top of each article.

If you have any questions about any of my articles or you just want to talk about one of my articles you can e-mail me at BelieveBetter.89@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.

Working on a New Series

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I will be working on a new series of writings. Rather than just a ragtag group of essays as I have published before I will be writing out a specific teaching on specific book of the Bible. This book is the Gospel According to John. I will be working on this all summer long and will probably post it starting this fall.

I have a good start and will be looking forward to putting it up where I can get feed back. I am planning on posting it in at least two formats (which will be PDF and Text here on the site) making it where you can download it to your computer. I’m thinking of possibly putting it in audio format as well. That is my plans for the immediate future.

On Condemnation

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On Condemnation

By Ray B. May IV

There is a lot that can be said on the subject of condemnation. My point is this: If you are a Christian then you are not under condemnation and should therefore not condemn others, but relate to others in the same way God chooses to relate to us: with grace and love. There are many points of view that differ from mine but I will hope to give you a concise understanding of my point. If you disagree with me, that does not bother me and it will not change my belief. I hope that you, as I will, will be able to prove from scripture that your belief is correct. For the purpose of this paper “Christian” is defined as one who believes in Christ as their savior, regardless of denomination, orthodoxy or other differences in belief; “Condemnation” as judgment passed on a person(s) and legalistic “rules to salvation” ideas/methodologies; “Grace” as the free gift God gives us that we may have a relationship with Him. In this paper you may have arguments with my definitions, but, again, this is a paper of my point of view.

What is condemnation? This is a question we need to ask ourselves. The answer hits closer to your heart than you think. Condemnation is judgment and judgment comes from the idea that we can find justice. Justice is something that we only want for others, because we want others to live up to the rules when we know we can’t. As Christians we are called to “forgive those who trespass against us,” not to judge (and therefore condemn). Jesus even says “Do not judge.” Point blank are His words and there are no other qualifications for His next words go on to say that “in the same way you judge others, you will be judged.” This is the way Jesus speaks of condemnation and judgment. Sadly His followers – Christians or the Followers of the Christ – do not say the same thing about condemnation and judgment.

One of the next questions we must answer is, sadly, a hard question for us (believers) to even hear. This question is: “Who do Christians condemn?” The answer – and it hurts my heart to write it – is everyone. Every person on the face of this planet is in some way condemned by the current church. We, Christians (and yes, I am including myself here), even condemn and judge each other. I have noted through conversations with others that we evangelize to non-Christians, but judge and condemn other Christians. A close friend summed up the idea: “We bring people to Christ so we can judge and condemn them.” Is this not backwards? We do not condemn non-Christians very strongly because they do not have the knowledge of our beliefs. But when it comes to Christians, they know and therefore they need to be judged. Does that make sense? Not only did Jesus tell us not to judge, but He told us what His mission on Earth was. In John 3:17 Jesus says that He did not come into the world to condemn it but to save it. Let us think about this verse logically. First let us look at “the world might be saved.” What did He have to save us from? The verse tells us: “to condemn,” this is condemnation. So what did He come to save us from? Condemnation, so then why do we condemn each other? or anyone else?

In the next verse (3:18) Jesus says “Whoever believes in him is not condemned,” (John 3:18 ESV). This simple phrase should stop condemnation in its tracks. For those who believe in Him (Christians) there is no condemnation. Paul agrees and told us in Romans – specifically Romans 8:1 – that there is no condemnation for those in Christ. The full verse reads: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 ESV). So if there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ” then what reason do we have to condemn? I cannot speak to an exact reason for it is different for each person and each denomination. For the most part it comes from a legalistic idea from which we approach all things. Paul speaks over and over of the gospel (good news) of grace. A gospel that defeats the idea that there can be a legalistic point of view applied to the teachings of Jesus. Think of the thief hanging on a cross next to Jesus’ own. “Remember me,” was all he said. Jesus responded with: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Jesus did not apply legalistic rules but in fact rebuked the Pharisees and broke down their legalistic ideas.

So if we are not to apply a form of legalism to ourselves or others, how are we supposed to relate with one another and the world around us? The answer is the same way God relates with us: grace. Grace is how we are supposed to relate to everyone. If this is how we are supposed to relate to one another than what is grace? Paul in his letter to the Romans explains grace very thoroughly. If legalism is a set of rules that we must follow then grace is the exact opposite. Grace takes those rules and breaks them all up and throws them away. There is a glorious metaphor way back in Exodus chapter thirty-two when Moses has just received the Ten Commandments for the first time. Moses has just come down from the mountain and has the two tablets. He sees what the Israelites are doing and throws the tablets at the ground destroying them. This metaphor can be seen in the cross. Christ on the cross, body broken and utterly destroyed freed us from the condemnation of a legalistic system. That is grace. Grace is the free gift God gives us that we may have a relationship with Him.

Our definition may make a few more questions arise. One major question is: Where does this grace come from? The answer usually leaves people unsure of God, Himself. This is because the answer is grace completely and totally comes from God. Then what about the Ten Commandments? That is a picture. It is a picture of God’s character. The Law (the first five books of the Bible) is a statement of what holiness is. It gives us a very clear definition of holiness and it points out that we (human beings) do not measure up. If no one measures up to this definition of holiness except God then the cross was the only answer. In the blood sacrifice on the cross a Holy God is able to forgive his wretchedly sinful creation. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians points out that grace comes from God alone: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast,” Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV.

This answers another question often asked as well. Why Grace? The answer to this takes us back through the information we have already trodden. We look at the Law and the fact that no one can measure up to the Law. Even Paul, himself, who was able to count himself blameless before the Law could not measure up. Paul said to the Philippians: “though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ,” Philippians 3:4-7 ESV. Paul couldn’t even measure up. That is the “why” God sent His Son and gave us grace.

So if we have grace then do we not also have freedom? Paul seems to think so. He tells the Galatian churches of this freedom. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery,” Galatians 5:1 ESV. Christ has set us free! But the question is: Free from what? The answer is we are set free from the legalistic system of condemnation and judgment. This takes us back to the point made in John 3:17. As I have stated before, Christ’s mission on Earth was to save us from condemnation. Salvation is freedom; freedom from an otherwise endless cycle of condemnation and judgment. The Law did not breed freedom and love in the hearts of mankind, but condemnation, judgment and fear. This is not freedom, but slavery and Paul tells to not submit to a yoke of slavery.

Those who argue against me will no doubt say: What about Sin? If a person is completely free in Christ what is to stop them from sinning? The answer is harder to swallow than anything else I have yet stated: Love. Paul says that the entire Law is fulfilled in the phrase “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If you truly love someone (be it God or man) would you do those things against them? The answer is no, of course not! Would you cheat on your spouse? For couples who love one another the answer always is no. In the same vein what is the most common reason people give for adultery? “There wasn’t any love in our relationship anymore.” It is hard to truly love others.

“Love is so messy and rules are just easier.” My opponents say. Do we have to love? Yes we do! We are brothers and sisters in Christ, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ; any way it is stated it all comes back to love. Love frees us from condemnation because love does not use condemnation. God – who is the perfect embodiment of love because He is love (1 John 4:8) – sent His Son to Earth, suffered through human life and gave His life completely and totally on the cross. Why? So we could be saved and live eternally with Him. Love does not condemn. What does love do then? It convicts our conscience so that we do not want to sin. If someone loved me that much (as much as God) my life goal would be to make them happy in every way possible. Conviction reminds us of God’s love. Conviction does not make us feel guilty but reminds us of the calling on our lives. Conviction is bred out of love. Conviction makes us want to change our lives for the better, where as condemnation just makes us feel guilty. Conviction comes from love, where as condemnation comes from judgment. This is why we must love. (That is apart from Jesus’ words in John 13:34.)

In conclusion every Christian will tell you condemnation is wrong and we are not to do it to others. At the same time they tell you it is wrong, though, they will be doing it to the other people around them. Some Christians do not even realize that they are condemning others, or passing judgment on those they love. If we are to pass upon ourselves a list of rules – even ones that are not necessarily found in the Law – then all we do is put ourselves under the Law and condemnation, yet again. If we are going to judge others then we will be judged in that way. God tells us that we are to forgive others. Finally it is very important for us to remember that condemnation only brings us pain and fear. Is that what our relationship with God is supposed to be? Is that the way that the God, who is love, wants us to relate to Him? No He wants us to love Him, others and ourselves. The entire Bible is laced with the idea, especially, though, the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus. Look up Matthew 22:36-40, Galatians 5:14, John 13:34 and 1 John 4:7-8 to get a small taste. Read though the Word and look for God’s love. You will see it on every page. That is His purpose for us: Love!

Am I saved?

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Can I really answer this question with certainty? I feel no one can tell you if you are or aren’t saved. The only person who knows whether you are saved is you. It has been important for me to remember that being saved means that I have a close personal relationship with a being far greater than myself. Just as I said in my last paper: God is love. I want to point out that God is love and He loves us. That is what being saved means.

What does it take to be saved? and am I saved? These are important questions to my faith. If you think about it how can I have faith if I can’t answer these questions? It shakes the foundations of my belief, it shakes the foundations of every belief. Why believe if you are not saved, or made better by that belief? If you cannot answer this question about your beliefs maybe you should be the one writing this article. I know there are different beliefs than mine that have vastly different views on a surety after death. Mine, however, are the ones that I know and the ones that have touched my heart, so mine are the ones that I will be figuring out.

To answer our question I need to find out what the Bible says on the matter of Salvation. This take us back to my last article I wrote, and a major verse that I brought out in that article:

“For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”

John 3:17 KJV

I still hold onto my view that this is a better verse for our times than 3:16, but what does it say? God sent Jesus to save the world, and later Jesus tells us what the work of God is:

“Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.’”

John 6:29 KJV

God sent His Son to save the world, and His work is that we would believe in the one He sent. In his letter to the Romans the Apostle Paul sums up the point that Jesus said.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Romans 10:9 KJV

If I believe my God to be the only one, and if I believe the Bible is His unchanging Word, then I can make the conclusion that I am saved. Not everyone can make this conclusion (for their own reasons); not everyone can make the primary leap of faith (that there is one god who is triune – a trinity; three in one). Not everyone can make the second leap of faith either (that the Bible is the true Word of God).

It is not for me to decide what is right for others. All I can do is follow my own heart. This is also key to my salvation. For I have made the conclusion that I am saved, but what does it mean to be saved? If you are, were or know a Christian person you probably know or have hear the term “Walk with God” or “Christian Walk.” This is used all over the New Testament to refer to the way that someone lives (i.e. their walk). Some Christians today call it the “Christian Life” rather than walk.

But, once you have truly made the leap of faith (to become saved) then you must walk the walk. What is the walk? To love, it is that simple. You must love. I quoted 1 John 4:7-8 in my last article which says that Christians must “love one another.” Also the Christian is charged to love his neighbor. It does not say “If your neighbor is a Christian then love him as yourself,” but rather:

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:31b KJV

And if our walk is to love than it is also to have a relationship with God. And a second time I make my end with this verse; but if we love then 1 John 4:7 tells us we will know God:

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.”

1 John 4:7 KJV (emphasis added)

Am I a Watered Down Christian?

/ RB May IV / 5 Comments

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This possibility scares me beyond anything else out there! But I have had to look it in the eye. Am I? Am I someone who is not willing to stand up for their beliefs? I have thought a lot of things over lately and I am writing out a letter to the church (only a format, not really going to send a letter) about what my beliefs are and I have to ask myself. Have I watered down the gospel? Or merely misunderstood Jesus’ teachings?

I have always thought grace and love were the number one call of the Christian. Am I wrong? I have friends who are gay and I know most Christians would condemn them for being so. But I don’t. I love them. I love how accepting they are. Is this wrong of me? I have always been a fervent believer in the love the sinner hate the sin, but is this wrong? I am not the type to go from person to person handing out tracts or sharing the gospel with people.

Every friend I have – be they Christian or non-Christian – knows that I am a believer and I am a Christian, but have I fallen away? Have I misinterpreted God’s word? Have I watered down my testimony for fear of sharing the Bible with people? Have I fled discomfort and settled into a lukewarm state that will bring about no fruit?

I am scared.

Scared of the possibility that I have. Scared that I have given up on my friends.

I have always thought of the Gospel (which means Good News) preached of grace and love for one another. John 3:16 is the most quoted verse but 3:17 seems to be a better verse for our times. Most people who live in the U.S. know that Jesus came and died, but do they know why?

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

John 3:17 (KJV)

I can’t tell you how important this verse is to me. Jesus came not to condemn us! He came to save us. My friends who are gay should I condemn them? According to this verse I shouldn’t, but according to Christianity I should. Why has Christ and Christianity differed? What is wrong with those who follow Christ? Why do they then condemn the world when the founder of their religion did not? Why do Christians not follow Christ?

I was told today by someone that they “Hate organized religion.” I have to agree with this person. I do not believe in a religion. I believe in a Savior! The Gospels don’t speak of religion. They only speak of Jesus and his teachings. 1 John 4:7&8 points this out:

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

1 John 4:7&8 (KJV)

Why do we then believe that we can condemn people? We even condemn each other! We condemn this Christian for being part of this denomination and that Christian for not believing in this “Biblical Principle”. What Biblical Principle allows those who are not God to condemn anyone? Just as I pointed out before in John 3:17 God doesn’t even condemn us why do we?

I am rambling now. That is all I have to say for now.