A Harsh Distinction! (John 6:60-71)
After this difficult to swallow teaching, John tells us about the reaction of those who were following Jesus—the disciples including but also beyond the twelve. Here we get an eye opening reality. Not all those who accept Jesus and follow Him to a point are believers!?
This is not an attack on or a nullification of the teaching known as the perseverance of the saints. It is just a clarification of what it means to be a saint.
As we see repeatedly in John’s Gospel, what it takes to be one who believes is much more than many would have us understand. We have spent decades, maybe even centuries watering down the Gospel. It is not a prayer that serves as an incantation. It is not an assent to and intellectual proposition.
Faith in Jesus is believing that He is the Son of God who has come to die for the sins of the world, that He is the only means to a restored relationship with the creator, and an admission that accepting His salvation means to make Him the Lord of one’s life and to follow His teaching an commands, even when they are hard to understand or to follow. It means, ultimately, that we surrender our life plans and take on a role in His plan.
So what sort of disciple are you?
This is not an attack on or a nullification of the teaching known as the perseverance of the saints. It is just a clarification of what it means to be a saint.
As we see repeatedly in John’s Gospel, what it takes to be one who believes is much more than many would have us understand. We have spent decades, maybe even centuries watering down the Gospel. It is not a prayer that serves as an incantation. It is not an assent to and intellectual proposition.
Faith in Jesus is believing that He is the Son of God who has come to die for the sins of the world, that He is the only means to a restored relationship with the creator, and an admission that accepting His salvation means to make Him the Lord of one’s life and to follow His teaching an commands, even when they are hard to understand or to follow. It means, ultimately, that we surrender our life plans and take on a role in His plan.
So what sort of disciple are you?
Comments
Post a Comment