SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/8/2015
8:08 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Believers: Testimony Believed
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
John 1:12-13
Message of the
verses: “12 But as many as received
Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who
believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the
flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
In the first five verses of the prologue John shows us
that Jesus Christ is God and so once one understands what John is saying they
have only two choices to make, whether to believe that He is God come in the
flesh or not believe it. In our last SD
we looked at those who did not believe and so in this SD we will look at those
who do believe.
John MacArthur begins by talking about the word “but.” “The conjunction de (but) is a small fulcrum that marks a dramatic shift. The world’s hatred of God and rejection of
Christ in no way overrules or frustrates God’s plan, for He makes even the
wrath of men praise Him (Ps. 76:10). ‘For
the wrath of man shall praise You; With a remnant of wrath You will gird
Yourself.’ There will be some who
receive Him. Those whom God willed for
salvation before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9) 2ill in
faith embrace Christ. As He declared in
John 6:37, ‘All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes
to Me I will certainly not cast out.’”
He next talks about the word received: “Lambano
(received) could be translated ‘take hold of,’ ‘obtain,’ or ‘grasp.’ To receive Christ involves more than mere
intellectual acknowledgment of His claims.
The last clause of verse 12 refers to those who ‘received’ as ‘those who
believe in His name.’ The concept of
believing in Christ, another important theme for John, will be developed in
several passages in his gospel (6:29; 8:30; 9:35-36; 12:36, 44; 14:1; 16:9;
17:20; cf. 1 John 3:23; 5:13).”
The last part of the phrase we are looking at “His name”
is very important for it refers to the totality of Christ’s being, all that He
is and does. In our sermon last Sunday
our Pastor continued his messages on what we call the “Lord’s Prayer,” and
somehow, I don’t remember what point he was making now, he was talking about
names and made the statement that during Biblical times the Jewish people would
take different parts of Hebrew words to make up a name for someone, and of
course this name would have greater meaning to it. One can do a great study on the names of God,
for God has many names, and these different names show different things about
God. Now as we look at the name of Jesus
Christ we have mentioned that His name refers to the totality of Christ’s being
all that He is and does, and John MacArthur writes “Thus, it is no possible to
separate His deity from His humanity, His being Savior from His being Lord, or
His person from His redemptive work.
Saving faith accepts Jesus Christ in all that Scripture reveals
concerning Him.” There are probably some
who have not accepted all that He is, as some of the cults believe He is a good
man, but not that He is God incarnate.
People cannot be saved until they receive and believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ, however salvation is nonetheless a sovereign work of God
on the dead and blind sinner. This is a
difficult statement for some to believe, nonetheless true as Scripture speaks
of this to be true. John is telling us
in verse 12 that no one would come to believe in Jesus unless “He gave” them “the
right to become children of God.” Paul
states in Ephesians 2:8-9 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works,
so that no one may boast.” Paul also writes to the Thessalonians in 2
Thess. 2:13 “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved
by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation
through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” Now because of this they were born again as
seen in John 2:3, 7; 1 Peter 1:3, 23 “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man, but of God. MacArthur
writes “Those three negative statements stress the fact that salvation is not
obtainable through any racial or ethnic heritage (‘blood’), personal desire (‘flesh’),
or man-made system (‘man’).” Let us take
a look at 1 Peter 1:3, and 23: “3 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great
mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead,” “23 for
you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that
is, through the living and enduring word of God.”
MacArthur adds “The great truth of election and sovereign
grace is here introduced appropriately at the very foundation of John’s mention
of salvation. Our Lord Himself will
speak of this truth in 6:36-47; 15:16; 17:6-12.
“Because all bear the guilt of unbelief and rejection,
the phrase ‘but of God’ means that salvation, that is, receiving and believing
in the Lord Jesus Christ, is impossible for any sinner. God must grant the power supernaturally and
with it the divine life and light to the lifeless, darkened sinner.”
With this SD we have come to the end of the second
chapter in John MacArthur’s commentary on John’s gospel, with only three more
chapters to look at until we complete the first chapter of John.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I am thankful for
the fact that God through His Holy Spirit called me to receive salvation as He
gave me the faith to receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior almost 42 years
ago. I certainly was not looking for
that but because of God’s grace and mercy He called me to be one of His own and
I am eternally thankful for that.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Because of that gracious call I want to serve
Him every day.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Joppa” (Jonah 1:3).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who brought up Ester?”
Answer in our next SD.
12/8/2015 8:52 AM
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