The Vine and the Branches

I Am the True Vine

John 15

English Standard Version (ESV)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqq-zyD2qMc

Jesus is the true vine. He is the source of life for God's people. Only those connected with him have life and produce fruit. And branches lose their connection if they do not bear fruit.  The fruit of being connected to Jesus is all spiritual blessings, revealed in a life that brings glory to God. 

Pruning is part of the process. God takes away the things that hinder. He removes the diseased sprigs. He cuts off the branches that do not produce fruit.

But the branch has responsibility to develop the connection to the vine, by growing and maturing the fruit of righteousness, keeping the commandments of God because of love for Him. 

Whoever abides in Jesus, and has the power of God within himself, will bear much fruit. It is the connection to the vine, and the life provided by the root of the vine, that produces fruit. The branch can do nothing by itself. 

Jn 15:15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 

7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Members of One Body

Branches of the True Vine are also called members of one body. When we understand how we become members of one body, we can understand how we become branches on the True Vine. We are reconciled to God in one body through the Cross. The blood of Jesus takes away our sins, and allows us to become connected to Christ in His body. 

This process of becoming connected to Jesus is an exercise of faith that Paul called obeying the gospel.  Rom 10: 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

So the gospel is the key to becoming connected in Jesus. The gospel is preached to all, and those who believe in Jesus to the point of being willing to put their trust in Him (by repentance and baptism) are connected to the vine, becoming members of one body.  When about 3000 were baptized on the day of Pentecost, God added them to the number of His people. 

Acts 2:36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
The Fellowship of the Believers

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe[e] came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

So that is how we get attached to the vine, how we become members of one body. We are added by God when we hear and believe the gospel enough to put our trust in Jesus by repenting and being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.  We become part of the household of God. 

Eph 2:17,  And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Yes, Paul says that by one Spirit we are baptized into one body. Jesus said that we must be born of the water and the Spirit in order to enter the Kingdom of God.  So we understand that we become branches of the vine by the new birth of water and the Spirit.

One Body with Many Members

Rom 12:12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Once we are connected to the true vine, we must let the love of God and His Holy Spirit work in us to produce the fruit of the Spirit, to bring glory to Jesus. Else we will be cut off and burned.   

 Branches Bearing No Fruit

What About the Law?

Psalms 119 praises God’s commandments. Verse 105-“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Apostle Paul said, Rom 7:12 “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”

The Law given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai was good and holy. There is nothing wrong with God’s Law, which reveals righteousness. But a righteous Law brings condemnation upon those who break the Law. Violation of righteous principles is sin, and sin produces death. The wages of sin is death. 

The foundation of respect for the Law given by God is faith that He is our creator, and thus we believe that He knows what is best for us. Advocates of evolution as the origin of mankind have a different idea. They believe that social laws have evolved by trial and error, and they condone most things that are done by mankind naturally, especially in the realm of human sexuality.

If mankind’s activities are only natural, then what happens in human sexuality is natural, and so one form of sexual expression is just as natural as another, from the secular humanist perspective. I know that some animals practice homosexuality, especially hogs. I once owned a boar that spent his time and energy having anal intercourse with other boars. His actions may have been natural, but were not useful. He went to slaughter. Even in the area of nature, we should practice some sense of values.

There is a natural conflict between those who believe in the Creator God {the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob} and those who believe in time and chance as the cause of all things. Paul describes this antagonism as two kinds of odor in 2 Cor 2:14, A Ministry of Life or Death, 14 But thanks be to God, who always puts us on display in Christ and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To some we are an aroma of death  leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life. And who is competent for this? 17 For we are not like the many who market God’s message for profit. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God. Holman Christian Standard Translation

Yes, to believers and those who seek God, God’s message brings the smell of life. To the unbeliever and arrogant secularist who hates the mention of God, we bring the smell of death. Yes, if God is right, the secular humanist is headed to destruction, and is dead while he is living. This does not mean that God hates them personally, it is just that God knows how things really are, and wants the best for the people He created in His image. How we live, especially in the realm of human sexuality, has a huge impact upon our lives, for good or evil. We should not challenge our Creator on the issue of what is in mankind’s best interest. The One Who made us knows us, and we can trust in Him.

Yes, homosexuality is condemned in the Law, and in the New Testament scriptures. When Paul said that all things are lawful, regarding foods and other things forbidden by the Law of Moses, he did not include sexual immorality. Rather, he calls attention to the need for self control in exercise of human sexuality. 1 Cor 6: Glorifying God in Body and Spirit, 12 “Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be brought under the control of anything. 13 “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will do away with both of them. The body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh. 17 But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

18 Run from sexual immorality! “Every sin a person can commit is outside the body.” On the contrary, the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body. 19 Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

Paul reinforces the need to keep God’s law about human sexuality, even within the context of freedom from some requirements of the Law. In the beginning, God joined one man to one woman, and told them to multiply, and fill the earth. The perfect rule for human sexuality is one man married to and loyal to one woman so long as they both shall live. And procreation is one of the important functions of marriage. Those people groups who procreate will inherit the earth, if they honor God with their lives.

Yes, God still loves those who disobey Him, but He disciplines them so that they may come to a realization of what is good. And He protects His family by destroying those who willfully reject Him and practice evil. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life to all who trust in Him.

The agnostic and atheistic culture has been making war on God for 200 years. They have currently chosen as their mantra that homosexuals should be encouraged to practice their unnatural proclivity as a basic human right. Self control is not part of the humanist agenda when it comes to sexuality. “If it feels good, then do it” seems to me to be the gist of their agenda.

Many things that come from basic impulses and are not modified by self control are destructive. Maybe the secular humanist community is not in favor of man-boy sexual relationships, or beastiality, or whatever, based upon their concepts of what is acceptable behavior. But their opinions are always changing. Culture shaped by secular human will is fatally flawed. The evidence of history is a wasteland of failed societies that were based upon mankind's human reasoning rather than God’s righteousness.

Greek and Roman men in power preyed upon boys to satisfy their sexual lusts. Pagan temples existed for the purpose of glorifying homosexual lust. How close we are to returning to the pagan principles of lustful living! This is the humanist agenda, live for the experience of the moment without regard to what edifies and builds up a blessed society. They call it existentialism, but it is self destruction. There is a way that seems right to mankind, but the end of that humanist pursuit is destruction.

How close is our great nation to being destroyed? Too close for comfort! It is time to cry out for righteousness instead of defending the right of humans to practice degrading sexual impulses. People are not born homosexual. People are born with myriad human impulses, many of which are destructive. We are supposed to learn self control, we are supposed to learn to deny our destructive impulses, and practice righteous principles that bless other people.

Jesus did not practice any sexual perversions. He lived a pure life under the Law, and died to save us from ourselves. Yes, He was friends with sinners, but He always encouraged them to repent and practice righteousness. Sexual sins get much notice in scripture because they are destructive to the blessed relationship of one man joined to one woman so long as they both shall live.

Apostle Paul was taught by direct revelation from Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and this is what he says about human morality. Gal 5:16, Keep in Step with the Spirit, 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. ESV

And just in case you do not understand the language about human sexuality, Paul makes it plainer in Romans 1: The Righteous Shall Live by Faith. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Yes, the secular humanist not only practices such things, but gives approval to those who practice them, and they hate those who dare support the righteousness of God declared in scripture.

It is no sin to contradict human wisdom, but in fact true wisdom requires that we measure everything by God’s proclaimed righteousness. The Law is good, and holy, and just. Men are sinners, and left to themselves, they encourage the practice of unrighteousness. It is not hate, but love, when we speak the truth. Yes, we must love sinners, but to do so we must speak the truth in love.

Affluenza

affluenza, n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by the pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth. (PBS)

This catchy name for an old malady connects selfishness with a prevalent virus caused illness, flu. It is an appropriate name, as both are very contagious. Eve had the malady, as she wanted to be in charge, and have whatever she wanted, without regard to the words of her Creator. The plague is still with us, and most evident in the nations that have been blessed materially.

Three fourths of the world’s population struggles to have food and clothing, while others are being destroyed by too much food, and too many things. Mankind has a history of destroying himself with abundance and greed. Truly there is no satisfaction in getting things. The more one has, the more one seems to need, in order to continue the quest to find fulfillment in possessions and self satisfaction of worldly desires..

The world’s greatest teacher addressed the quest for possessions while speaking from a mountain in Galilee, Matt 6:19-21--Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. NASU

Matt 6:24-33--No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? ---- Do not worry then, saying, "What will we eat?' or "What will we drink?' or "What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. NASU

Jesus said that putting God first is the way to escape from the disease affluenza. It sounds easy, to put God first, but doing so goes against our inherent desire to be in control of things. Man wants to be his own god, and finds it difficult to fall at the feet of an invisible Creator. But the evidence of history reveals the truth of the words spoken by Jesus. God became a man in Jesus, and Jesus is approachable. His life defines what it means to give to others. We find contentment in being like Jesus.

The Apostle Paul instructed Timothy, 1 Tim 6:6-11--But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. NASU

So the cure for affluenza is loving and trusting God in Jesus Christ. As Paul wrote, Phil 4:11-13--Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 

Also involved in the cure of affluenza is sharing what we have with others. Instead of seeking more for ourselves and never being satisfied, we should seek to share with others, and find true blessings.

While visiting Nepal in Dec 2013, I stayed in the home of a family who are believers in Jesus. A brother’s home was nearby on the top of the same hill. He is also a believer. These two families carry their water almost one kilometer from a spring that is seventy meters elevation lower than the homes. The women carry the water on their backs, in a metal vessel in a basket with a support strap across their foreheads.

They can have water in a tank at their house by the expenditure of about $2500 for submersible pump, two polyethylene water tanks, 600 meters of polyethylene pipe, and 600 meters of #10 UF electric cable. They will do the installation themselves. When I think of our convenience to have running water and water heaters in our homes, I feel compelled to help these people have a water system, because I know them. They are part of my spiritual family.

Water system installed in 2014

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_GzxeVCXng6SlBjXzRFanRkVHc/view?usp=sharing

More critical than the need for fresh water is the supply of the water of life. The message about Jesus, savior of all who trust in Him, can save those who have no hope. The most precious gift we can give is to tell someone about Jesus.

The Brass Snake

The Brass Snake

God’s people were complaining again, blaspheming God and Moses, because water was scarce and they did not like eating Manna every meal. God was providing their needs, but God's provision did not suit them, so they complained. Num 21:5-9—The people spoke against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food."

The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us." And Moses interceded for the people.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live."

And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. (scriptures quoted from the New American Standard Updated)

Are you complaining about what is on your plate? Does God's way of doing things not meet the level of your approval? God does not like for His people to complain.  Speaking against God is dangerous.

1Co 10:5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play." (Aaron's golden calf)

8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.

9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.

11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

But He does provide salvation from the death penalty for sin when we look to Him.  The gospel is God's provision to produce faith in all who will heed the message. Rom 1:15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.  16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." 

The preaching of Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, seems foolish to many. Some think that salvation based on the shedding of blood is somehow out of place with modern thinking. But the scriptures are clear, that the believer’s salvation is purchased with the blood of Christ. As Paul wrote to Christians in Ephesus, Eph 1:5-8—“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.” ESV 

Thus a sinner does not contribute anything toward the purchase of our salvation. Salvation is freely provided in Jesus Christ. But some do not agree about how we get into Jesus Christ. Many people who follow a concept known as "Faith Only" (Sola Fide) deny that immersion in water has anything to do with the new birth into the kingdom of God. The reason used for arguing against water immersion being connected with the new birth is that salvation is a gift, not of works, so that we do not think we are earning our salvation. But submission to the commands of God is not about earning something, it is a demonstration of faith which is fidelity. 

Peter clearly shows that baptism is not just about immersion in water, but about faith, our submission to the command of God. 1Pe 3:21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. ESV

An appeal to God for a good conscience?  A good conscience comes from doing what God commands. What if immersion in water is counted as faith, because it is the simple command of Jesus? What if being born of water and the Spirit includes immersion in water by faith in the command of Jesus? 

It is true that being immersed in water cannot remove sins, any more than looking at a brass snake can heal anyone from snake bite. But what would have happened if those Israelites, bitten by the serpents, refused to look up at the bronze serpent on the pole? What if they had stayed in their tent, praying for healing? Would they have been healed in their refusal to obey a simple command to look up at the bronze serpent? 


When they looked at the bronze serpent on the pole, they were healed of their snake bite. Jesus compared the lifting up of the brass snake with His crucifixion, John 3:14-15-"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.”

It was Jesus who said, Mark 16:15-16--"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

Baptism, according to the record of scriptures, is immersion in water. It makes no more sense than looking up at a brass snake. But faith is completed in submission, and without submission there is no faith.

Stop arguing with Jesus by substituting man's ideas for what Jesus commanded. He did not command a sinner to pray a prayer to demonstrate faith, but He commanded repentance and immersion in water. It was Jesus who said, John 3:5--"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

We do not have to understand, but we do have to submit, to demonstrate faith. Without submission to the simple command of Jesus, there is no faith.

Please review the recent debate at the Southern Baptist Convention over the "Sinner's Prayer."
http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2012/juneweb-only/baptists-sinners-prayer.html

God's people can have unity on the subject of baptism when we reject our reasoned arguments about "Sola Fide", and submit to the clear teaching of the scriptures.  Please reject the popular teaching about "Faith Only" and realize that faith includes submission to the commands of Jesus and the apostles. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_fide

See the reaction of believers to the first preaching of the Gospel. 
Act 2:36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."

37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

38 And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."

40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation."

41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. ESV

As Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia, Gal 3:23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

Repentance and baptism are the commands of Jesus and the Apostles, recorded by the Holy Spirit.  Repentance and baptism are part of faith, which is loyalty. Fidelity means loyalty, and refusal to honor and teach a direct commandment, recorded in scripture by the Holy Spirit, in no way demonstrates fidelity. There is no "sola fide" that brings salvation without looking at the Cross, with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus pictured in baptism. Rom 6:1-4, 1 Cor 15:1-4.

Jesus Lifted Up

Love Never Fails

 Love Never Fails

1 Corinthians 13, often called the love chapter,  gives a foundation for understanding sacrificial love. This love is not limited to or equated with passionate feelings, but rather involves our inner sense of the intrinsic value of people. Sacrificial love was demonstrated in a unique way when Jesus the Messiah offered himself willingly as a sacrifice for the sins of all people who believe in him.

The essential character of God is centered in love. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” NIV

God’s love, demonstrated by Jesus Christ, calls us to love God in return, and to come to him in faith and have life. Through that life in him, we are to show the love of God to others in the way that we live our lives. Paul says that love never fails, in comparing it to temporary gifts. That means that love endures, and has an eternal quality. God’s nature is equated with love by the apostle John, 1 John 4:8 and 16, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”------ “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” NIV

Therefore love for each other becomes the evidence that we are alive in Jesus Christ. As John explained it, love for one another is evidence that we belong to God, even when we doubt ourselves: 1 John 3:16-24, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”

“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” NIV

Obviously, from this context, our abiding in Christ is evidenced by how we treat each other. His Spirit living in us will encourage us to show concern for the helpless, remembering that Jesus said in Matt 25:37-40, "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'”

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'” NIV

So love of the helpless, having a heart that is concerned for their needs and that tries to help them, is evidence that we desire to please Jesus.

God’s love never fails. It is unending, providing hope to all who believe and trust in Jesus Christ. Christians are encouraged to put love to work in our lives, 1 Peter 1:22-23, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” NIV

Versova, Mumbai, India

Truth Makes Free

Truth Makes Us Free

Truth and freedom are things we desire. Even if we are champions of truthfulness, and ready to risk our lives for freedom, we fail in the end if we do not know Jesus. It is only Jesus who can give us true freedom, freedom from slavery to sin and selfishness.

John 8:31-32—“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." –“John 8:36--"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” NASU

When Jesus said that the truth makes us free, He was referring to Himself. It is Jesus who makes us free. John 14:6—“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” NASU

As John wrote earlier, John 1:17-18—“For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” NASU

Yes, Jesus showed us truth by the life that He lived. We find truth in Jesus Christ, and are encouraged in truth by the Holy Spirit given to God’s children as a down payment on our inheritance, Eph 1:13-14—“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation -- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.” NASU

This knowing truth is not a process whereby we give right answers to the wrong questions. It is not complete knowledge that saves us. None of us knows much compared to God. If knowing truth completely is required in order for us to be saved, we are all lost. Each of us is ignorant of the righteousness of God in some ways.

Paul’s words are true, 1 Cor 8:1-3—“Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.” NASU

From this we can determine that knowing information is not the way to freedom. Knowing some information never made anyone free. But knowing Christ makes us free. The way to freedom is by a life transformed by being born again into the liberty that is in Jesus Christ, Eph 4:20-24—“But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” NASU

Therefore it is past time for us to quit thinking that salvation depends on having the right answers to things some might claim as necessary knowledge, but which may be matters of judgment and opinion. Truth is not a body of information determined by the human rational process of learning from examples and necessary inference. Such knowledge will not save us. Truth is Jesus Christ, and His words. It is Jesus who saves, and only by having the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ do we have hope of eternal life.

As Paul wrote, 1 Tim 2:3-6—“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.” NASU

The truth is that Jesus died for sinners, and all who come to Him in sincere faith can have eternal life. Freedom is in Jesus Christ. The Truth, the eternal Word, Who was in the beginning, and through Whom all things were made, makes us free, if we know Him. And one must be born again of the water and the spirit in order to truly know Him.

The Death Penalty

He Paid the Death Penalty for Us

In the beginning, after God had finished creating the heavens and the earth, He looked at His creation on the sixth day and determined that it was very good, Gen 1:31. After God formed woman, He took Adam and Eve and put them in the garden of Eden, and gave it into their care. The tree of life was in the garden, so that they need never die. But they had one problem-- Adam and Eve had been created subject to temptation to sin, with free will.

God gave them one commandment, and warned that if they violated that commandment, they would die. They gave in to temptation, ate the forbidden fruit, gained the knowledge of good and evil, and were cast out of the garden, separated from life. The wages of sin is death.

Gen 2:15-17--Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
Gen 3:13-19--Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." ----

Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it'; cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." NASU

The nature of mankind did not change after the sin of Adam and Eve, but because of their sin, they were removed from the presence of God in the garden.  They tried to hide from Him in their shame of nakedness, trying to cover themselves with clothes made out of leaves. But even though Adam and Eve had sinned, and were cast out of the garden, God still cared for them. He made for them some clothing from the skins of animals to cover their shame, Gen 3:21.

Paul, writing about the creation of mankind, says this: Rom 8:18-21—“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

Yes, mankind was created subject to the futility of temptation leading to sin and death, so that God could show His love to people who do not deserve it, so that we can learn to depend on the Power and Goodness of God rather than trusting in ourselves. Through this process of sin and death, and God providing the covering for our shame with the precious blood of Jesus, the children of God are revealed by faith in Jesus.

We escape from the death penalty in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. All who come to Him and trust in Him will be delivered from death. 

It is the blood of Jesus, not our own righteousness, that purchases our salvation, 1 Peter 1:18-23—“knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God."

Yes, we have all been under the death penalty because of our own personal sins. But Jesus provides the covering for our shame. Paul said it well, Gal 3:21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.
 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. (ESV)

Putting on the Righteousness of Jesus