Chapter Seven
Verses 50-53 continued
Some maintain that the Apostle Paul and the Apostle James are at odds with each other about this question of salvation by grace. Some contend that the Apostle James taught that a believer must do good works to maintain their salvation by grace. Romans 4:1-4; Romans 5:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-9; James 2:14-26. But a careful reading of James' epistle reveals that he actually agreed with Paul about salvation by grace being a free gift from God. Any gift from God lasts forever. Romans 11:29. In James 2:18, he admits that his faith which God has given to his inner being engenders the good works that he does. James also admitted in James 2:21-23 that Abraham already had the gift of righteousness that he needed to be saved by grace when he performed his good works. James actually taught that a believer's good works results from a faith which that believer already has, which faith provides that believer with an eternal salvation by grace, which grace causes that believer to inevitably do some good works as a witness to others that that believer has been saved by grace. James actually agrees with Paul's teaching that the presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers saved by grace recreates that believer's inner nature which causes that believer to desire to be like Jesus and to do good works. I Corinthians 2:15-16; II Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:22-24. Besides all this, the Word of God clearly teaches that Christ has already accomplished everything that a believer needs for their salvation by grace, and therefore, nothing happens to be left for a person to do but repent and believe that Christ has already saved them. John 6:28-29; I Corinthians 15:1-4; Hebrews 1:1-3.
If inner faith does not provide a believer with eternal salvation by grace, then all secret believers who live in dangerous places where they could be persecuted, or even killed, if they openly profess their faith in Christ would lose their salvation by keeping it a secret. But when others see their changed natures that they have become much more loving and compassionate, then that will be the believers' witness that they have been saved by grace. If others ask them why they have been changed, then that believer should confess their faith in Christ. I Peter 3:15. But if because of fear of persecution, that believer fails to confess that believer's faith in Christ, then that believer still cannot lose their salvation by grace. The Holy Spirit will cause that believer to repent, and God will forgive that believer. Matthew 26:74-75; I Timothy 2:12-13. God's complete sanctification of His Church is as certain and inevitable as any other eternal work of God. All of God's creative works can only be eternal. Ecclesiastes 3:14; I Thessalonians 3:12-13; Ephesians 5:25-27. In accordance with Matthew 10:33, the person who absolutely denies Christ never had faith to begin with.
Some who profess faith in Christ actually happen to be apostates in the Church because they lie about their profession. When pressed about their faith, they often admit that they do not believe that Christ is God or that He was born of a virgin or that He has any power to save anyone from sin and evil. Such false believers will protest to Christ that their good works give them the right to be saved by grace. Matthew 7:21-23.
The simple truth of the matter is that God saves by His grace for His own purposes. Romans 8:28; II Timothy 1:9. God even saved Lot by His grace. II Peter 2:6-9; Matthew 19:30. Any person saved by God's grace will know it because the Holy Spirit within them will tell them that they are so saved. I John 3:24.
Monday, August 22, 2022
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Friday, August 19, 2022
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Seven
Verses 50-53
The elites thought that no one of their supreme class could possibly believe in this person who showed love, healed, and preached the gospel to the common people. This person called Jesus. They considered themselves just too wise and good to have to humble themselves in that way. But unknown to them, some of them secretly believed in Jesus.
One of them, Nicodemus, tried to defend Jesus. Evidently, he had come to faith in Jesus as the Messiah when he came to talk with Jesus in the night. John 3:1-21. Nicodemus would not have tried to defend Jesus if he had not had faith. But he kept his faith a secret from his fellow elites because he was afraid that they would cast him out of their fellowship and consider him a pariah. But Nicodemus revealed his secret faith when he tried to defend Jesus. His fellow elites did not catch on that he secretly believed in Jesus, but they rebuked him for trying to defend Jesus. They accused him of being ignorant of the fact that they believed that no prophet could come from Galilee. Their meeting then broke up, and they all went home.
Nicodemus' secret faith at that time indicates an important truth about salvation by grace. Does a believer receive an eternal salvation by grace the moment that believer receives it as a gift from the Holy Spirit to that believer's inner being, or does God require that believer to do good works in order to maintain that believer's eternal salvation by grace? In other words, did Nicodemus already possess eternal salvation by grace when he kept his faith a secret, or did he have to openly reveal his faith when he helped to take the body of Jesus down from the cross in order to keep his faith? John 19:38-42.
Jesus Himself taught that He gives His believers an eternal life that happens to be forever protected by being enclosed within the hand of God. Jesus did not mention good works as being necessary to maintain that salvation by grace. John 10:27-30. By Himself, Jesus accomplished that salvation, and forever He holds every believer saved by grace in His Almighty hand. Hebrews 1:1-3. God also can never lose anything He has ever created, and He never takes back any gift that He bestows. Ecclesiastes 3:14; Romans 11:29; Genesis 3:20-21; Luke 20:38. God also never breaks His part of any covenant that He makes. Psalm 89:34. Those who maintain that a believer must do good works to remain saved by grace may be saved by grace, but they simply do not possess enough faith in the Almighty Power of God.
Thursday, August 18, 2022
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Seven
Verses 44-46
One of the most amazing aspects of this story of Jesus at this feast was the fact that the Pharisees, and the other enemies of Jesus, were sitting on ready to arrest Jesus when He came to Jerusalem, but they could not do so. The chief priests and the Pharisees actually sent officers to arrest Jesus, but they could not do it. Apparently, they became so awestruck by the gracious and compassionate sermons of Jesus that they simply could not put their hands on Him. They deliberately disobeyed the orders of the chief priests which happened to be a very dangerous thing to do. One wonders how it was possible that the enemies of Jesus could be so determined to arrest Him, and yet, that did not happen. They did not even ask themselves how that could be possible. The only possible answer to this question was that Jesus did not go to the feast until He had received a message from His Father as to whether or not He would be arrested. Jesus would have gone to the feast even if His Father had told Him that His time had come, but Jesus wanted to know beforehand so that He could prepare Himself. Luke 22:39-44.
Verses 47-49
The Pharisees asked the officers if they had been deceived by Jesus. As many people who attain to some position of wealth and power often do, they thought that if none of the important rulers and Pharisees believed in Jesus, then He could not possibly be the Messiah. They displayed the attitude that all who consider themselves to be elites have toward the common people. They judged the people who were ignorant of the law to be cursed. They held the common people in contempt. They considered themselves to be so wise and good because they knew the law that all whom they considered to be beneath them had to be cursed by God.
Jesus often pointed out their elitism and their hypocrisy to them. Jesus exposed them when He reminded them that they had no trouble leading their ox or ass to water on the Sabbath no matter how far they had to walk, but they were against Jesus healing on the Sabbath. The elites always consider themselves to be above the rules they make for everyone else. Luke 13:10-17; Matthew 23:1-36.
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Seven
Verses 37-39
On the last day of the feast, Jesus, as He often did, preached about a physical need that had a spiritual meaning. Jesus preached about thirst, but He meant a spiritual thirst for God. Jesus preached that He could satisfy that spiritual thirst for anyone who would come to Him in faith. Not only that, but once saved by grace, His "living water" will pour out of those who believe in Him like rivers causing others to believe. Anyone who would open their spiritual nature to hear Jesus' message could become saved by grace and filled with the Spirit of God.
Simon Peter opened his spiritual nature to hear Jesus' message, and he became inspired by the Holy Spirit within him to make a profession of faith in Jesus as his Savior. John 6:67-69. The first part of verse 39, and verse 38, clearly teach that a person will immediately receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as soon as that person opens their spiritual nature to receive faith in Christ as their Savior. The second part of verse 39 refers to Christ's gift of the power of the Holy Spirit to His Church so that His "living water" could flow from His Church as it preaches His gospel to the world. Acts 2:1-4.
Verses 40-43
A division arose among the people who heard Jesus preach about who He was. Some said He was only a prophet, and others believed He was the Messiah. But they all assumed that Jesus had been born in Galilee. Some objected to Jesus being the Messiah because they knew that the scripture prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. They also knew that the Messiah would come from the seed of king David, and they assumed that no one of the tribe of Judah could come from Galilee. Strange, but no one of them thought to simply ask Jesus where He had been born and if He was a descendant of king David.
Monday, August 15, 2022
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Seven
Verses 25-29
Some of these Jews began to debate among themselves about who Jesus was and where He came from. They wondered why their rulers had not already ordered Jesus' arrest. They displayed their ignorance of the scripture when they said that no one could know from where the Messiah would come. Micah 5:2.
Jesus must have been annoyed by their ignorance because He began to preach louder in the Temple. Jesus told them that they already knew fully well who He was, and He admitted that He knew that they knew that He came from Galilee to Judea. But they evidently did not know Isaiah's prophecy that the Messiah would begin His preaching in Galilee. Isaiah 9:1-2. Perhaps Jesus did not correct their ignorance by quoting Micah's and Isaiah"s prophecies because He knew that deep in their hearts they already knew that He was the Messiah, but if they were too stubborn to ask Him exactly where He was born, then they would refuse to believe even if He told them. The excessive pride within humans can often cause them to reject the truth so that they can still cling to their religion. Jesus told them that they really did not know His Father, because if they did, they would recognize that He demonstrated the very same mercy and compassion of His Father which should bring them to an outward faith in Him as being their Messiah and Savior.
Verses 30-36
The debate among the Jews and the Pharisees then became even more intense. Some of them decided to arrest Jesus, but they were not able to do so. Many others of them began to believe in Jesus as the Messiah because they reasoned rightly that the true Messiah could not do more miracles than Jesus did. The Pharisees became fed up with all the murmuring among the people, so they sent officers to arrest Jesus.
Jesus told them that He would be with them on the earth only for a little while, and then He would go back to His Father. Jesus implied that they should believe in Him while He was with them because after He was gone they would still seek for their Messiah, but they would never be able to find Him because He would be in Heaven where they would never be able to go without faith in Him as their Savior.
Many of these Jews still clung to their material ways of thinking because they thought that Jesus had said that He would travel to preach to the Gentiles. Because of their stubbornness and pride, these Jews simply could not open their spiritual natures to hear the spiritual truths that Jesus preached.
Saturday, August 13, 2022
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Seven
Verses 20-24
These Jews hated Jesus so much that they accused Him of having a devil. Hatred can cause a person to stop thinking. If they had thought about Jesus, they would have realized that Jesus could not have a devil because devils are totally evil and can do no good whatsoever. But they had all seen or had heard about Jesus doing many compassionate miracles.
Apparently, at that feast, Jesus had healed someone on the Sabbath, and all these Jews had seen it. These Jews were so rigid about the law and the Sabbath, with their own invented restrictions that they added to the law, that they used their assumed authority, not for the glory of God, but to gain control over others. Many people enjoy having control over others. They did what a lot of religious cult leaders do. They hated Jesus because He did good works on the Sabbath, and He would not bend to their control.
Jesus reminded these religious Jews that Moses had renewed the rite of circumcision that God had given to Abraham and their fathers. Jesus meant that circumcision was just as important as the law. Circumcision meant that every faithful Jew had a special covenant with God that they would be God's chosen people who would inherit the land that God had given them for an everlasting habitation. Genesis 17:9-14. This meant that if the eighth day after a male child was born fell on a Sabbath, then the priests would circumcise that infant because that would be a good work that would seal that baby to an everlasting covenant with God. That covenant happened to be just as important as was the law. Jesus then asked these Jews why they were angry with Him for doing a good work of healing a man on the Sabbath. Good works were just as important as being obedient to the law.
Jesus then made one of the most profound statements that He ever made. "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." Jesus meant that God gave the law, not only to show humans that they were sinners, but also to show humans that they should strive to do right toward God and their fellow man. The law should teach humans that they should love God with all their hearts, and they should also love their neighbors which means all humans. Matthew 22:34-40. The law should teach humans to be wise and virtuous, not rigidly righteous. Being rigidly righteous can harm people, but being virtuous means to be loving and compassionate. God desires that humans be loving and virtuous, not rigidly righteous. Matthew 12:1-14; Mark 2:27-28. Jesus even taught that a person could demonstrate a better obedience to the spirit of the law if one skirted the rigid law in showing love and compassion than if one held strictly to the rigidity of the law. Matthew 12:1-8.
Friday, August 12, 2022
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Seven
Verses 14-20
About the middle of the feast, Jesus went to the Temple, and He openly began to teach. He evidently taught out of the Old Testament because the Jews were amazed that He could read having never been to a scribe's school.
Jesus began to openly preach to them that His doctrine came from His Father. Jesus preached that if anyone truly opened their spiritual nature with a desire to do God's Will, then that person would be able to hear the Word of God and believe it. Jesus told them that those who preach about themselves seek their own glory, but Jesus preached only to glorify His Father, and whoever truly believed in His Father would also be able to believe that God had sent Him to the world as a sinless and righteous Son who only preached the truth. Jesus preached directly to the unbelieving Jews because they sought their own glory and to protect their own power over the people, and they only paid lip service to a loving and compassionate God.
Jesus enraged these self-righteous Jews when He told them, who were so proud of Moses and their supposed ability to keep the law, that none of them had obeyed it. Jesus preached to them the very purpose of the law. The righteous law exposes anyone who reads or hears it as being a person who has not kept it. Galatians 3:24. The first step toward repentance and faith happens when the Holy Spirit causes the spiritual nature of a person to realize that they happen to be a helpless sinner before the righteous law and that only Jesus possesses the power and the self-sacrifice necessary to save them from eternal death that sin and evil causes. I Corinthians 6:11; John 5:24; Romans 5:6-11. The ability to acquire such repentance and faith requires humility before God which these proud Jews certainly did not have. Luke 18:9-14. Jesus then asked them why they sought to kill Him since Moses had told them: "Thou shalt not kill." Exodus 20:13. One of the reasons they were not able to arrest Jesus was because God had let them know deep in their hearts, but they could not admit to themselves because of their pride, that Jesus had to have come from God.
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Seven
Verses 1-13
Jesus remained in Galilee for a while because that was His home country. Jesus intended to go to Jerusalem for the feast of tabernacles, but He knew that His enemies there desired to kill Him. Jesus was not afraid to go. He knew that He had to go to the cross, but He did not want to expose Himself to the danger of the cross until His Father told Him that the time was right. John 5:30.
Jesus' half-brothers, who were the biological sons of Mary and Joseph, displayed a somewhat contemptuous attitude toward Jesus when they urged Him to go to Judea and preach. They knew that Jesus' enemies desired to kill Him, and by that which they said to Him in a slightly mocking way, they implied that they thought He was afraid to leave Galilee. They also may have wanted to get rid of Him for awhile because His very presence made them feel guilty.
No doubt, by the indication of that which Jesus said to them, He had already told His brothers and His disciples that He would be crucified and rise from the dead, but His brothers did not believe Him. They could not believe that Jesus, whom they thought of as their ordinary brother, could be the Messiah. When Jesus told them that He would not go to the feast at that time because His time had not yet come, they had to know what He meant. Jesus also urged His brothers to go ahead to the feast because, unlike Him, they were under no restraint to do whatever they pleased. Jesus did nothing until His Father told Him what to do. John 5:30. Jesus reminded them that the world hated Him because He preached against its evil, but the world did not hate them, so they could do as they pleased. Like all unbelievers, Jesus' brothers did not like Jesus to preach against their evil as well. Nevertheless, after Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, all of His brothers and sisters became believers.
After His brothers had gone to the feast, Jesus also went to the feast but in a subdued way like any ordinary person, not in any ostentatious way.
God relates in this story about the attitudes that the people at the feast had about Jesus. They all looked for Jesus, and they all talked together about Jesus in a quiet way because they knew that the Pharisees hated Jesus so much that they did not want the people to talk about Him in an open manner. Some in the crowd said Jesus was a good man, and others said He was a deceiver, but none of them believed He was the Savior.
Thursday, August 4, 2022
The Illusion of Illusions
Illusion cannot be an distortion or diminution of reality because every abstract idea in consciousness and every outer impression on consciousness always comprise real ideas and impressions. Consciousness can never directly perceive illusion. False ideas and impressions do not exist except as the results of false theories or systems. Even then, false ideas and impressions always equal the idea of nothing. For example, ether in space does not exist; that is, it equals nothing because its idea resulted from a false theory. All conscious systems, whether true or false, always comprise real ideas and/or impressions. Consciousness always covers illusion in false systems with either false ideas which equal the real idea of nothing or with true and real ideas.
Consciousness can only be aware of immediate real ideas and impressions. False ideas can only come into consciousness from false systems. Immediate ideas and impressions can never be false. But combinations of real ideas or systems can be false. Illusion always adheres to the falsity of the system, never to the real ideas and/or impression that compose those systems.
All illusions derive from false systems which always comprise true ideas and impressions. People have illusions for the same reason that they make mistakes in arithmetic. For example, one can write 2+3=6. But the "2," the "+," the "3,"the "equal sign," and the "6" are all real. The false system as a whole equals the real idea of nothing. The idea of nothing must also be real because it serves the useful purpose of indicating falsity. Every idea or impression on consciousness can only be true and real because they all serve useful purposes. One of the purposes of the idea of nothing is to indicate falsity.
The same can be said of false systems such as optical illusions. For example, a straight spoon in a glass of water may appear bent. But all of the constituent impressions of this false system are real. "Spoon," "glass," "water," "light," and "bent" are all real. The way the light reflects off of the water causes the straight spoon to appear bent. But consciousness supplies the real idea of "bentness" to this false system. The illusion in this false system cannot be in any of its real ideas or impressions, but in a kind of emptiness in the mind which it fills in with the real idea of "bentness." Subtract all of the real ideas and impressions from this false system, and one is left with only the idea of nothing which is also real because it serves the useful purpose of indicating the falsity of the system. But consciousness never directly observes the illusion in this false system. As a universal rule, consciousness never directly observes illusion in any false system.
The real idea of nothing itself cannot be equal to illusion. The idea of nothing is as real as any other idea or impression because it also proves to be useful. The idea of nothing separates something from nothing as space between objects or ideas in the mind. The idea of nothing can be used to exclude any ideas that do not belong in any system that one intends to create. One knows that ether does not exist because this false idea which resulted from a false system of real ideas equals the idea of nothing. All of this put together can only mean that every idea and/or impression in consciousness must be true and real just as they are perceived.
What then is illusion? If it cannot be found in reality, then where is it? The only possible answer is that illusion must be less than nothing. Negative numbers somewhat indicate illusion. But no one has any direct idea of what negative numbers are. They seem to indicate a realm of nonexistence that lies below reality and the idea of nothing. The Bible (KJB) informs about this realm of nonexistence in Isaiah 40:17.
God created only positive and real ideas and impressions to be used only to create real and useful systems such as correct calculations. God created man in His image for the same purpose. Genesis 1:27. But in some strange way that positive consciousness cannot understand, a negative consciousness from the realm of nonexistence became a part of every human's inner being to influence every human consciousness to commit sins, which were invented as false systems, but which always comprise God's real and useful ideas and impressions. I Corinthians 2:7; Psalm 99:8; Romans 1:30. People observe the effects of an optical illusion, or make mistakes in arithmetic for the same reason that they experience excessive, but destructive pleasures, derived from invented, false systems. Illusion, mistakes, and sin derive from a negative consciousness in the inner beings of every human injected into their inner beings by a negative consciousness called Satan. Genesis 2:17; Psalm 99:8; Romans 5:12.
One may object that the illusion happens to be that the straight spoon only appears to be bent. But this conclusion only amounts to another way of saying that the spoon is really straight. But this conclusion admits that the "bent" in the spoon equals nothing even though both the appearance of the "bent" and the idea of nothing can only be real.
Since the real and useful idea of nothing cannot be an illusion, then one of the uses of the idea of nothing must be that it indirectly indicates an absolute nothingness within the mind. Since consciousness can only experience that which is real, then consciousness must always cover this absolute emptiness with a real idea such as a "bent" in a spoon in a glass of water. Similarly, humans participate in invented false systems called sin, which always comprise God's real and useful ideas, because of the influence of that absolute emptiness within their inner beings. Humans may derive excessive pleasures from these false systems called sin but they always prove to be destructive. Destruction always descends toward absolute nothingness. Consciousness always directly experiences that which is true and real, but the absolute nothingness within it influences it to participate in invented false systems called sin. Romans 5:12
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Six
Verses 67-71
Jesus asked His true disciples if they would walk away. Simon Peter opened his spiritual nature to receive a direct revelation from God that Jesus was God's Son and his Savior. Simon Peter partook of Jesus' spiritual food. All of Jesus' true disciples believed in Him, but Simon Peter was the first one to be so inspired by God that he could clearly express his faith in Jesus. Jesus commended Peter for his clear expression of his faith, and Jesus told Peter that He would build His whole Church on precisely this kind of clear, spiritual inspiration that Christ is God's Son and the believer's Savior. Matthew 16:16-18. For this reason, salvation by grace happens immediately after repentance and faith demonstrated by spiritual inspiration from the Holy Spirit. John 5:24; I Corinthians 6:11. Jesus then revealed that He knew that they had a devil in their midst.
Jesus knew that His Apostle John would write His Gospel for anyone who could read His Bible (KJB) or hear it preached. Jesus gave John a prophecy about how His Gospel would affect the entire human race. The multitude that Jesus fed symbolized all humans who will not receive salvation by grace. Jesus fed them all which accords with His teaching that His bread will give life to all mankind. John 6:33; John 6:27. Jesus had His disciples take up twelve baskets of leftovers to symbolize that He also had plenty of spiritual food to give to all who would become saved by His grace. Jesus deliberately preached to those He knew would not be able to become saved by grace to show that in the future most humans who hear the gospel will not be saved by grace.
Jesus walked on water to His disciples in a storm to prophecy that He will always protect His Church, calm its storms, and bring it safely to its destination which is Heaven. Matthew 16:18. Jesus had His Father and the Holy Spirit to directly inspire Simon Peter to believe He was God and his Savior to demonstrate the future method He would use to build His Church. Jesus preached that only those future humans whom His Father could inspire to hear spiritual truth would be able to become saved by God's grace.
In the end of the world, Christ will save even the spiritual nature of Judas Iscariot, probably confined to the depths of the burning Hell. Matthew 26:50; John 15:13; Revelation 5:11-14. But Jesus also knows who the devils are in His Church and in the world, and in the end of the world He will use His fiery wrath against evil to dissolve all human systems confined to the regions of death in order to separate their evil, spiritual deaths from their repentant, living natures so that He can recreate their living natures that He created and loves with new bodies to live forever on His new earth, and He will cast their evil, dead natures into the eternal lake of fire. I Corinthians 3:11-15; Luke 3:16-17; II Peter 3:9-13; Psalm 75:3; Matthew 13:36-43; Revelation 20:11-14; Revelation 20:5; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:1-5; Revelation 22:11-12; John 5:28-29.
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Six
Verses 60-66 continued
God was not content with just a spiritual plan to save mankind. God decided to create a material world with the souls and spirits of humans within physical bodies. God had discovered that souls and spirits within bodies could experience the most intense pleasures possible but also the most intense pain and suffering. God also discovered that the Devil could misuse these pleasures to invent false systems of heightened pleasures but which would result in greater pain and suffering. Psalm 99:8; Romans 1:30. God desired that His human creations experience these great pleasures but with rules that would prevent pain and suffering that results from the practice of excessive pleasures. God gave humans a conscience at first and afterward laws that if obeyed would not result in increased pain and suffering. The Devil injects spiritual death into every living humans which is totally evil and which causes humans to crave excessive pleasures and power. The main evil that spiritual death causes is excessive pride which causes humans to believe that they no longer need God, and therefore, they can indulge themselves in excessive pleasures and a lust for power as much as they want. Proverbs 6:16-19. The Devil believes he can use these false systems that he invented to utterly destroy; that is, annul the living souls and spirits that God creates and puts into humans and trap their living souls and spirits in eternal death forever. By these means, the Devil hopes that he can prove that God's Love is not Almighty, and therefore, prove that God has a weakness that he can exploit to find a way to murder God and take His place. Because of the weakness of humans, the Devil would have succeeded in his plans if God had not come to earth in human form to suffer the eternal deaths of every human in their place. Hebrews 2:9-15. All humans have a fear of death, so Jesus must have suffered and died in the place of every human. God will allow the Devil to do his worst to humanity in order to prove that He can never lose anything He has ever created and that His Love can never fail. Ecclesiastes 3:14; I Corinthians 13:8; Job 1:11-12.
Jesus told these pretended disciples that they could not believe in Him because they would not open their spiritual natures to receive from His Father the spiritual truths that He preached. Being unable to receive Jesus' spiritual truths, all of these false disciples walked away from Jesus, except Judas Iscariot. The Devil caused Judas Iscariot to remain with Jesus in his attempt to completely ruin Jesus' true disciples and maybe even Jesus Himself. Jesus did not put Judas Iscariot out of His Church so that He could prove that He can always protect His true believers. All living humans will eventually become true believers, some by God's grace and all others just prior to the general resurrection in the end of the world. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14. God allows apostates in His Church to this day, but He also commands His churches to excommunicate any member who openly practices sin and refuses to repent. I Corinthians 5:9-13.
Monday, August 1, 2022
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Chapter Six
Verses 60-66 continued
Jesus then told these pretended disciples that He knew that some of them did not believe and that He knew who they were. Jesus knows who are the believers and the unbelievers. Jesus knows every one of His sheep, and He can never lose a single one of them. John 10:26-30. This truth can only mean that God has predestined every living human who obtains salvation by grace to be so saved, but this fact does not mean that God has annulled free will. Ephesians 1:3-7. God planned the entire history of mankind in His Mind before He ever created the material world and physical human life. God's plan was just as real as His material creation is real. God set His plan in motion in His Mind, and He let it play out according to the free will of humans and according to every attack by the Devil in his attempts to utterly destroy the living souls and spirits of humans whom God creates and loves, and ultimately, the Devil's direct attempt to murder God when Jesus was nailed to a cross. God allowed humans to choose to commit every sin and evil, but He also planned to correct some sins and ultimately to purge every sin and evil from His entire creation. II Peter 3:9-13. God will then recreate the Heaven and earth to be wholly righteous. God knew that the Devil, being finite, had only a limited number of evil moves that he could make. God also knew that Himself, being Infinite, would be able to counter every evil move that the Devil could make with only a temporary loss of effort. Jesus suffered on the cross, but He recovered His full, infinite strength. Genesis 3:15. Lucifer displayed his excessive pride and his stupidity when he imagined that a finite being could find a way to utterly destroy an Infinite God with Almighty Power. Isaiah 14:12-17. All God had to do was to wait until the Devil had exhausted his every evil move, and then He would create the material world and physical, human history. I Corinthians 2:7; Acts 15:18; II Timothy 1:9-10; Hebrews 4:2-3.
As God watched His plan unfold in His Mind, He saw that His Spirit would be able to touch the spiritual natures of some people to the extent that He could cause them to repent and believe that His Son's sacrifice for them could save them while they were still alive in the flesh. God decided to sanctify all of these believers by having His Spirit wash away all of their sins and evil with the spiritual blood and water that would flow from the body of His Son on the cross. John 5:24; Revelation 1:5; Ephesians 5:25-27. God decided to use His Spirit to bring conviction to the spiritual natures of these believers that would cause them to choose to repent and believe that Christ could save them through His sacrifice for them and His resurrection from the dead to justify them and to give them His own eternal life. John 6:65; Galatians 2:20; Romans 5:1-2. Once God gave this gift of salvation by His grace, He could never rescind it because everything He does can only be eternal. Romans 11:29. As soon as these believers saved by grace believe, the Holy Spirit will bring Jesus' blood from the cross in spiritual form to wash away all of their sins from their souls and spirits forever, and He will wash away their fleshly sins with the spiritual water that Jesus shed on the cross as they daily repent. I Corinthians 6:11; I John 1:7-9. Even though some believers saved by grace will fail to daily repent, they can never lose their salvation by grace because God will eventually cause His entire Church to repent of their daily sins, and He will wash them all in the water of His Word before the Rapture of His Church. Ephesians 5:25-27.
Once the Holy Spirit has thoroughly cleansed the souls and spirits of all believers with the spiritual blood of Christ, and He has annulled their spiritual deaths, He will take up residence in their inner beings and recreate their souls and spirits to be like Christ's. II Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 3:9-10; Galatians 2:20. The Spirit of Christ will cause these believers to be more like Christ; that is, they will have a new attitude of love and compassion and a desire to lead a clean life. Galatians 5:22-26. Nevertheless, some believers saved by grace will lose their faith and return to fleshly, sinful lives. But God will never allow these backsliders to lose their salvation by grace because He knows how to cause them all to repent and return to faith in Him so that He can cleanse all their sins by washing them in the spiritual water of His Word just prior to His Rapture of His Church. Ephesians 5:25-27; II Timothy 2:13. Every believer saved by grace actually chose to believe in God's plan of salvation that He had in His Mind before He ever created the material world. Hebrews 4:3.