Monday, May 28, 2012

Salvation through Faith in John’s Gospel


Salvation through Faith in John’s Gospel

First, let us be clear that John’s gospel was written to churches many years after conversion to Christ, and it was written to give the church equipment to battle the doctrine that Jesus did not come in the flesh (1 John 4:1-4).  That is the larger context of the book.   If you want a book that shows specifics of how an unbeliever moves from lost to conviction of sins, repentance and baptism by faith, look at Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15-16 and study the cases of conversion in the book of Acts. For example Acts 2:36-41; Acts 8:33f; 18:8.  John’s gospel addresses those already converted.  A belief in Jesus that said he was only in a form that merely LOOKED like flesh was beginning to circulate. This was the beginning of gnostic belief that flesh was inherently sinful, which would mean that Jesus would not be connected to something inherently sinful.  The discussion of John to people who already were baptized by faith in Jesus Christ (Gal.3:26-27), would not need to reference all the details of the conversion process (which did indeed include repentance and baptism. See Acts 2:36-41). But, John does not need to spell all of that out to believers who were baptized through obedient faith. He will need only to speak of the general term faith to cover the whole of the details involved with conversion to Christ.



 All John would need to talk about was faith in Jesus and give evidence that Jesus did indeed show evidence of being God come in human flesh.  So, since the book is written to already- saved-people, it was not designed to be handed exclusively to an unbeliever as an essay on how an unbeliever is to move from a lost condition to a saving condition.  It will give the general term  ”faith” as an umbrella term that covers the already-understood- whole of the conversion process through repentance, confession, and baptism in Jesus’ name (Acts 2:37-38).  Faith is a verb of action in the Gospel of John. Thu,s it is far more than "intellectual ascent."  Even in John’s gospel he speaks of some who “believed” but would not confess Jesus (John 12:42).  That kind of faith is not sufficient to save.  Jesus said that those who believed would have to confess Him before men or He would not confess them before the Father (Matt.10:32).



True faith is not simply about thinking or merely accepting something;  it is about doing something. Faith is nothing if it is not about obedience.  But, the absence of the specifics of the conversion process as is described in Acts 2:36-41, is not surprising  since it is not a book designed especially to be handed to an unbeliever.  It is written to correct misguided belief in a different Jesus, a Jesus who did NOT actually come in flesh.  Jesus says that our faith must “keep the Word if we are to see life.” See John 8:51,55. Keeping His word covers a lot of territory, and ALL of “His word” is not found in the book of John.  So, to ask if one could be saved on an island with only the book of John, is to ask if someone can understand and keep His word with only the book of John.  John’s book itself declares that there would be more revealed after the death of Jesus (John 16:13). Seeing that the early Christians did NOT have only the book of John, and seeing that the book of John was NOT written to the lost, but to the already saved, it is hard to affirm something that ignores 26 other books of information and tries to set up a different context for just one book of the Bible. You see the word “belief” is like the word “obey”. What if the whole book spoke of all those who OBEY God will be saved, but did not tell you all the details of WHAT to obey specifically?  Hebrews 5:9 says that Jesus is the author of eternal salvation to all those who OBEY Him.  Could a person on a stranded island take that one verse only and be saved?  It does speak the truth, just as John 3:16 speaks the truth in general terms. But, neither John 3:16 nor Hebrews 5:9 tell enough details to get a person from lost to saved just on the content of those verses.  But, let us see what we can learn about baptism and faith in the book of John.



First, we learn that people who believe and receive him are given authority to “become sons of God” and become “born of God”(1:12,13), while there is something about merely believing without confessing Jesus that is wholly insufficient (John 12:42). So, while believing can bring about a new birth, it does not bring about a new birth in every case.  Some believed without being born of God (12:42).



Secondly, there was an understanding that “baptism” would be connected with Jesus (John 1:25).  They asked John why he was baptizing if he was not “the Christ”, which implies that they understood that baptism would be connected to the Messiah.  A great indicator of the Messiah was that John the Baptist identified Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”, and that He would also “baptize with the Holy Spirit”, a thing He did on the Pentecost of Acts 2.



Thirdly, it is not enough to believe that Jesus is a “man come from God”(John 3:1-2),  so Nicodemus could not be born again until he gets the right information and is “born of water and Spirit”(3:5).  Since the topic is that of being born again AFTER one has already been born physically, then the topic of being “born of water and the Spirit” is not about physical birth at all. “How can a MAN be born when he is old?”-Nicodemus asks for further clarification.  After physical birth and maturity a person must be “born again”, and this will be by being “born of water and the Spirit”.  Now, baptism in water and a spiritual event from within would combine in a person being “born of water and the Spirit”.  We can see example after example of this in the book of Acts (Acts 2:36-41; 8:33ff).  In each case where a person is led by the Spirit to be “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins”(Acts 2:38), we are seeing a people being “born of the water and the Spirit”.  The Spirit guided Peter in what to say, and they were “cut to the heart” and cried “what shall we do?”, and the Spirit led Peter to tell them to be born of the water and the Spirit by “repenting and being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins”. Those who “gladly received his word”(the word of the Spirit) were baptized (Acts 2:41).  Thus, they were born of the water and the Spirit.  Nicodemus knew Jesus was a “teacher come from God”, but his faith will have to take him much further than this level of faith.  He will have to start all over in his thinking and get his information from the right sources and get his information containing the right facts, and he will have to let that teaching transform him from depending on his fleshly heritage to beginning anew with a spiritual heritage.  Jesus rebuked him for not receiving “our witness”(God the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit). V.11.  It will be so transforming that the person “does the truth” and his deeds change to deeds done in God (3:21).  We see people coming to Jesus and being baptized (3:22) because they were receiving the correct witness and information and were “doing the truth”.  People who are interested in “doing the truth” will be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ just as we see people “gladly received his word and were baptized”(Acts 2:41).   John bore witness that the reason people were coming to Jesus and being baptized (3:26) was because they believed they should,  and that was fine with him was because “He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease”(3:30).  John had merely been preparing the way for Jesus by baptism in water,  Jesus would do that and much more.



Fourthly, believing in Jesus will involve knowing to disconnect from either Jerusalem or Samaria as the place to worship, and coming to understand that God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and truth (4:20-26). Believing in Jesus will involve “seeking the honor that comes from the only God”(5:44).  It will involve seeking Him, not for selfish and fleshly benefits (ch.6), but for the spiritual benefits(6:26-27).  Believing in Jesus would therefore involve “laboring” for the food that does not perish. Believing would involve “working the works of God”(6:28-29). It involves “hearing and learning from the Father”(6:45).  Hearing and learning from the Father would involve the right content of belief and the right source for forming concepts between Jesus and the Father. You will not believe in Jesus as a mere prophet, but will believe that He is everything we need to know about the Father as well for He exactly represents the Father to us.  Jesus would give his “flesh”(6:51).  So, believing in the right Jesus who is connected to the Father is believing in the One who actually came in the flesh. Believing will involve only those who eat His flesh and drink His blood (6:54-57). Jesus recognized that there was one who did not truly believe among his disciples (6:64). You see, belief takes much more than believing a few facts about Jesus, but it involves a deep level of obedient trust (12:42; 6:64) and spiritual intake. At this point even Jesus’ brothers did not “believe” as they would need to (7:5). You see the kind of “believing” that John 3:16 is talking about is the kind of belief that is willing to confess Him, seek Him, and obey Him, to eat his flesh and drink his blood, to commit to Him and be baptized in His name for remission of sins, to be “born of water and the Spirit”, and any kind of belief that is less than this is not belief to the saving of the soul (Heb.10:39).  Some said He was good, but none spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews (7:12,13).  These were people at the feast. They had a belief about Jesus, but it was not yet of the saving kind.



Jesus said that knowing the truth about Him would have to start with “wanting to do God’s will”(7:17). Those who truly believe would have the Spirit providing a resource that springs up as a fountain within them (7:37-39).  This would not be true of just any level of believing in Him.  Believing in Jesus would involve “following Jesus”(8:12). That involves taking steps in the same direction Jesus leads.  It does not mean just believing a few facts in John 3:16. It involves following Jesus.  You cannot do that with just John 3:16 alone as a guide.  To some who believed in Him he said that they would have to “abide in His word” to be a disciple and know the truth and be set free (8:30-32).  A John 3:16 limitation of knowledge would not be enough.  One who only has John 3:16 does not know about the flesh and blood of Jesus, and does not even know the name of Jesus.  That verse is a general truth, but that verse alone will not teach one how to know the truth about the details involved and then be set free. It takes “abiding in His word” (much more than John 3:16 imparts by itself) to know the truth and be set free from sin.  A spiritual rebirth and relationship with the Father involves “loving Jesus”(8:42). “He who is of God hears God’s words”(8:47), a thing that is not true of those who depend on the knowledge of John 3:16 alone.  It involves  “keeping Jesus’ words”(8:51), a thing not true of someone who only has knowledge of John 3:16 alone.



Fifthly, to be one of those who is safe with Jesus as the Good Shepherd, there must be much familiarity with the voice of the Shepherd. “They know His voice” and “follow Him”(John 10:3,4). Those with only knowledge of John 3:16 do not know his voice. They do not even know if the “Son” mentioned in John 3:16 is Jesus or some other person.  They need much more knowledge to get familiar with the voice of the Good Shepherd and trust that familiar voice enough to follow it. (John 10:5).   So, what have we learned about the nature of saving faith versus a faith that will not save?  We learn that faith that will be set free from sin is a faith that “abides in His words” and is very familiar with the voice of truth and follows that voice wherever it leads. If it is followed it will result in a person being “born of water and the Spirit”.  It will not be a faith that will not confess Him (12:42). It will confess Jesus openly.



Sixthly, the nature of saving faith is that it does not value physical life above eternal life.  A faith based solely on the information of John 3:16 does not know from this that they must value the eternal life enough to lose their earthly life for it (12:25) if need be.  Saving faith is the kind that “serves Jesus” and follows Him even to death (12:26).  You would not know how deeply committed the faith must be just by reading John 3:16. The kind of faith in John 3:16 is explained in all that Jesus taught, not just the words taught in the book of John alone but inclusive of much, much more than John 3:16 explains.  The word “believe” is inclusive of many more facts, commands, and promises.



Seventhly, to rely on the words of the gospel of John ALONE is not to know all that Jesus wanted people to know. There were other truths that the Spirit would give to the apostles (14:25,26; 15:26,27; 16:13). Thus, it would be wrong to expect that all one needs to know to be saved is to be found only in the gospel according to John.  Jesus plainly said to rely on what the Spirit would teach after His death, burial, resurrection and ascension.  The Spirit came on Pentecost of Acts 2 and revealed through the apostles what are the details of believing in Jesus for remission of sins.  It was clearly the case that when people were cut to the heart, were honest with the evidence presented, they had more than a John 3:16 knowledge.  They knew that JESUS was now both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36-37). They cried “what shall we do?”. The answer from Spirit guidance was “repent…and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins”(Acts 2:38).  Those who listened to the Spirit were “born of the Spirit”, and that means that they were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (which involves water – Acts 10:47; 8:33f). Thus, they were “born of the water and the Spirit”(John 3:5).  The information about what is involved with “believing” in Jesus was not fully supplied in the gospel record of John alone, especially not John 3:16 alone.  The Spirit would guide the apostles into all truth (16:13).  Those that gladly received the word of the Spirit revealed through Peter did not argue with the words of the Spirit in Acts 2:38.  They simply believed and acted upon that belief.  Those who truly believe today will act the very same way.  Those who do not, simply have the same kind of “faith” as the men mentioned in John 12:42.  It is not a saving kind of faith.



When the Ethiopian Eunuch learned about Jesus, he knew he needed to be baptized.  They came to some water and the Eunuch said, “see, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”. Philip said “if you believe with all your heart you may”(Acts 8:33f).  This man confessed Jesus and was baptized. You see, he was “born of the water and the Spirit”.  Only after this point did he have reason to rejoice. His sins were remitted just as was so with the 3,000 on Pentecost.  Only then did he have the kind of “belief” that John 3:16 is talking about.  John 3:16 is the general truth. The specifics of what is involved with the saving kind of faith is explained in such clear cases of conversion in the book of Acts. Now, we know what KIND of faith, and what is involved with believing.  Now we know it is much more than believing just a few facts about Jesus. It is a commitment of obedience to Him.



We hope that all will be honest with all that the Spirit says.  Continue in His word so that you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.  – Terry W. Benton