Category: Jesus

What does it mean to walk in the light as God is in the light? This first of two articles examines the text of 1 John 1. The following article will consider some misuses of the text.

We all have loved ones that we long to see converted and saved.  What will save the sexually immoral homosexual, fornicator and adulterer?  That which…

Hell is not a place where anyone should want to spend eternity. Jesus has shown us the way to avoid Hell, but He leaves the choice up to us.

You should be ambushed by the amount and quality of the evidence that Jesus is the unique Son of God. There have been defendants carted off to the death chamber on much less convincing proof. The case for Christ is conclusive.

Are you swimming upstream against a strong current of evidence? You need to go in the same direction that the torrent of facts is flowing. That is reasonable, rational, and logical.

There is not a single explanation that fits the evidence of history nearly as well as the conclusion that Jesus was who He claimed to be: the one and only Son of God.

God has given us light and all the blessings that accompany it. This light has been introduced in our world at different times. Physical light came at the creation. Spiritual light came with Jesus Christ. This “light of life” came to us personally as we came to believe and obey the gospel.

The Christian’s belief that Jesus is the Son of God is not based upon feelings, traditions, or cultural beliefs. It is based upon evidence that is recorded in the Word of God.

The New Testament abounds with evidence that Paul was a genuine apostle of Jesus Christ. He possessed the authority of an apostle, and his epistles contain the teachings that we are to follow today.

John 4:25-26 At the end of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4, the woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is…

No one should deny that the Spirit dwells in the Christian. The Bible teaches that the Spirit dwells in us through our faith and acceptance of His word. The Spirit can be said to dwell within us as we manifest the Spirit’s influence upon our lives. The fact that we dwell in the Godhead, and that the Godhead dwells in us, shows the closeness of the fellowship that we have with the Godhead. However, I believe we are in error to take the position that the Holy Spirit literally dwells within us. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit all dwell in us through our faith, and operate upon our lives through the word of God.

Peter, James, and John formed an “inner circle” among the Lord’s twelve apostles. We cannot know for sure why these three men were singled out, but we benefit greatly from the blessings they were allowed to experience.

Jesus is our Lord and Savior. He has established His own covenant, and has revealed to man what true worship under that covenant will be. It is left for us to search out His will, and submit to it fully. Only then will our worship of Him be, “in spirit, and in truth.”

(John 4:1-15)

After Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus (John 3), He left Judea, and traveled through Samaria on His way back to Galilee. Many took a circuitous route between the two regions to avoid the Samaritans, who were despised by the Jews. However, Jesus determined to cross through Samaria, and immediately struck up a conversation with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in the city of Sychar.

Jesus’ disciples had departed into the city to buy food, and upon their return (vs. 27) marveled that he had talked with the woman. Jesus’ actions, and the content of the conversation itself, made clear that His purpose in coming to earth was to save all men, not just the Jews.

The beginning of the conversation supplies for us a wonderful application regarding the work of evangelism. Jesus used a mundane request, “Give Me a drink,” (vs. 7), to introduce Himself to the woman as the Messiah. But first, he had to deal with the woman’s perception of Jews. She wondered why he was talking with her, because, as she said, “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (vs. 9). Instead of directly answering the question, which was most probably an expression of her animosity, He intimated that He was the Messiah. He said, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (vs. 10).

The phrase “gift of God” is a bit obscure, as it could refer to the giving of Jesus himself (cf. John 3:16), or perhaps the gift of salvation. The phrase “living water” was likewise obscure, at least to the woman, as she made the same mistake as Nicodemus, assuming that Jesus was talking about the physical rather than the spiritual. However, Jesus’ manner obviously disarmed and intrigued her, and allowed Jesus an opportunity to teach her important truths relative to her redemption.

Jesus’ words caused her to first ask, “Are you greater than our father Jacob?” (vs. 12), then to proclaim, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.” (vs. 19). Finally, after their conversation was finished, she showed her growing faith by asking her countrymen, “Could this be the Christ?” (vs. 29). To the honest of heart, the words and works of Jesus clearly showed Him to be someone special, (cf. John 3:3), for He “taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22).

The woman was first confused, as she thought Jesus was referring to the water in the well. The well was deep, and Jesus had no container to use to draw the water. Even after further clarification, she still thought Jesus was referring to actual water, perhaps from another location, that would forever slake her physical need (vs. 15).

Jesus, of course, was referring to the spiritual rather than physical. As Dan King puts it in his commentary on John,

It is easy for us to see in these words an allusion to the quenching of the spiritual thirst wrought by the gospel in the hearts of men. But this was a truth which the Samaritan woman could not yet hope to grasp. Her thoughts are upon physical needs and the relief which He might give her from the daily toil associated with visiting the well and drawing water from its depths. (pg. 76-77)

We should not be too harsh in our estimation of this woman, as she has many companions. Nicodemus was already mentioned, asking, “How can a man be born when he is old?” (John 3:4). The multitude in John 6 misunderstood Jesus’ reference to the bread of God, saying, “Lord, give us this bread always” (vs. 34). Even his own disciples often misunderstood His spiritual references to his death, resurrection and reign as the Christ.

Of greater importance is the promise itself, “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (vs. 14).

What Christ offers us sustains us for an eternity. While we will always get thirsty again, no matter how much we may drink, this spiritual water supplied by Christ quenches our spiritual needs forever. We have a better understanding of Jesus’ words than did the woman at the well, but our request should be the same, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst…” (vs. 15).

Meekness is not weakness, but is the ability to choose to exercise great strength in the form of self-control. It is not apathy, but the ability to distinguish between personal injuries and offenses against the things of God. Meekness is needed in the life of a Christian, and is the means by which we will dwell with God in His kingdom for eternity.

This is our savior, the son of Man and of God. While you cannot share his deity, you can partake of the divine nature by choosing to abide him as a faithful, trusting child of God.

In purposefully enduring the most painful death possible, Jesus proved God’s love for us, gave us a perfect example, defeated Satan, left a means by which all men would be drawn to Him, and exposed the true nature of sin

Just about everyone accepts that faith saves, but an important question often remains unasked. What, or who is it I must believe in? Now the simple answer is, you must believe in Jesus. John stated in his gospel, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (3:16).

When Jesus identified Himself as the risen Lord, Paul realized that he had got it wrong all along. The claims that Jesus was the Christ were true. Paul knew it for a certainty. When he heard the voice from heaven, he asked, “Who are you, Lord?”, and the voice responded, “I am Jesus.” Was Jesus resurrected from the dead? The unimpeachable hostile witness says, “Yes, I saw Him!” That testimony is good enough for a court of law. Is it good enough for you?

In this video, Stan Cox explains from the scriptures exactly what it is that we must believe in when we say that we are saved by Faith.