What Saith The Scriptures?

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John 20.30, 31 That You May Believe

I hope after last weeks article that you have taken time to check out our updated website. This week we return to our series on memorizing scriptures.
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20.30, 31, ESV (59)

In these concluding remarks, John stated his purpose was to record the claims and credentials of the Christ. However, he was very selective in choosing which claims and credentials he recorded. Only a handful of the things said and done by Jesus were written down by John. Even a cursory study of Johns gospel will show the wisdom of his selection, as each claim and credential covered a different aspect of who Jesus is. Johns purpose in this selection: these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah of the Old Testament promises and prophecies. Not only was he the Messiah, but he was also the sinless Son of God. This set Jesus on equal par with God, making him deserving of all the worship, reverence, and obedience given God the Father. However, John did not write just to produce a simple acknowledgement that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and the Son of God. In order for that knowledge to do anyone any good, one must believe in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. Early on in his comments regarding some of the claims of Jesus, John stated it this way, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him (John 3.36). We see from these statements, that belief, as used by John, was not simply an assent of the mind to the fundamental truths of revelation. Neither was it something zapped into the heart of someone against his will. No, John used belief to describe the process of a person choosing to acknowledge who Jesus was, trusting in him, and obeying him. Johns ultimate purpose was to bring people to an obedient faith in Christ so that by believing you may have life in his name. Do you have an obedient faith that leads to life? JRG Service Times: Sun. @ 9.00am & 6.00pm | Wed. @ 7.30pm

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