Posted on 04/08/2016 7:34:38 AM PDT by Salvation
The Gospel proclaimed on Wednesday of this week included the familiar John 3:16. So familiar is this verse, that many hold up signs or have bumper stickers that simply say, “John 3:16.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life (John 3:16).
It is indeed a beautiful verse, but I would argue that many use it inauthentically by pulling it out from its place within a longer passage. The fuller segment is John 3:16-21, which is as much a passage of warning as it is of consolation and assurance.
Here it is again, along with the remainder of that longer passage:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God (John 3:16-21).
This fuller context has somewhat of a different tone. It sets forth a great drama in which our lives are cast. It amounts to sober assessment of the obtuseness of many human hearts and of the urgent need for us to decide well in life.
Those who merely quote the first verse run the risk of presenting this text as a kind of a freewheeling assurance that all is well and that salvation is largely in the bag, that judgment and condemnation are not a significant factor since “God so loved the world.” And while the concept of faith is included in this first verse, without the larger context the tendency is to soft-pedal the need for repentance and for the obedience of faith. In so doing, the true drama and sober teaching of the fuller text are lost.
The longer passage fleshes the message out and has a balance that the shortened text does not. Here is what Jesus is in effect saying, expressed in more modern language:
As I live, I and my Father do not desire that any should die in their sins or be lost. I have not currently come as your judge but as your savior. I will come one day as the judge of all, but now is a time of grace and mercy extended to you.
But you need to know that you have a decision to make, a decision that will determine where you will spend eternity.
So please listen to me! Open the door to me and let me draw you to the obedience of faith and the beauty of holiness. If you do this, light will dawn for you, for I am the Light and your life will grow ever brighter.
But if you will not repent and come to a lifesaving obedience of faith, your heart will begin to despise me and the light of my glory. You will become accustomed to the darkness and begin to consider the Light (which I am) to be obnoxious, harsh, judgmental, and even cruel. Yes, you will begin to hate me, for I am the Light. You will prefer the darkness because you love your sins more.
Come to your senses and don’t let this happen. You have a decision to make: for the light or for the darkness, for me or for the prince of this world, Satan. Be sober and understand the dramatic choice before you. Your salvation depends on your choice to come to obedient faith in me or to reject me.
And know this: on the day of your judgment, the verdict will not be rendered by me so much as by you. For by then, you will either love the Light or hate it. And I will not force you to live in a light you detest. You will be free to go your own way. It will not be I who reject you. It will be you who reject me.
Be sober. Don’t let this happen. Don’t marginalize or ignore me. Don’t prefer the world and its twisted values and passing pleasures. Your sins will make you hate the light and prefer the darkness. You have a decision to make.
This message is much more complex than that contained in the popular, abbreviated text known as John 3:16. God’s mercy is offered, but the final verdict will center on whether or not we accept it. This message may be less consoling but it is true nonetheless, and only the truth can set us free.
There is a tendency by many to pull out certain verses and isolate them from their context and from the fuller message of the Gospel. The full and authentic Gospel echoes the opening call of the Lord Jesus: “Repent and believe the Good News.”
So yes, John 3:16! But please continue reading. The whole Gospel, please!
As I once heard Moishe Rosen say at McLean Bible Church:
"It ain't wrong to go out on a limb when Jesus is the Branch!"
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Yes he did. He just had supreme confidence, that God would do what He promised, save us from our sins.
Those of us alive today, can have the same confidence in God. Those who don't, are usually out there trying to establish their own righteousness. In a way, I guess I can understand, because I was doing the same thing. No more, however. 😀
Affirmarive sir. We are all looking to that day. What is that old saying, lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. It's coming bro. 😇
But then on the eve of the Last Significant Passover, He Himself was eating of the symbol of Himself, then offering what was clearly symbols of His Body to be wounded for our transgressions, and of His Blood to be poured out for our sins.
Yet today we have very sincere and well-meaning, but misled imitators of Biblical prophets who cannot tell the difference between the symbolic and the real, and get them all confused in the doctrines they invent and espouse.
It's a wonder, isn't it? I thank God for His Word by which we can know the truth, and not be led astray, eh?
The scene in John 6, where Jesus reveals that spiritual things are as real as the fingernails on your hand, and He extends this TRUTH to tell a gaggle of seekers after signs and wonders that unless they are dealing with what He, God with us, will sacrifice for us and for our salvation they have no life in them. Jesus even punctuated the lesson by telling the faithful that eating the flesh profits nothing because it is the Spirit that gives LIFE. Yet a nother gaggle takes the astonishing lesson and instead of rejecting the TRUTH by citing the law as their excuse the way the seekers after signs did, this gaggle ignores the law in order to take the lesson too literally, defying all that the rest of Scripture teaches and establishing a pagan ritual methodology to fabricate a substitute for the spiritual, as if literal eating of GOD will get His life in them via a priestly magic act!
My question would be, if this "eating God" thing is supposed to give them life, why do they do it so many times? Does it wear off again, so it no longer gives life? How long does it last? If it wears off, and the person dies, where will they go? Inquiring minds want to know.
The secret flaw is human pride. Some very religious people are counting on striving sufficiently to be worthy in the end. That is not God’s Way so they will be horribly surprised at the results of their efforts.
From what I've seen on the catholic sites the answer is mixed. Some say yes, some say no.
If any of the catholics would like to clarify I'd love to hear the response.
Yes, they are in for the utter, total, complete shock of their existence. Many, probably wondering how they can endure for all eternity. It's sad, because no one needs to be there. It really is so simple, a caveman can do it. 😀
“this “eating God” thing” You mean what Jesus told us we had to do to gain eternal life? And “eating” is actually the word “chewing or gnawing.” A bunch of people left him then saying, “this is too hard.” I don’t understand it. I agree it seems very odd. I only know that He said it and then at the Last Supper he showed us how.
I don’t remember the cite but St. Paul said “pray always.” That sounds impossible too. In praying I stay in Communion with Jesus. It becomes a matter of directing my life so that everything I do is directed towards the Cross. After a while it becomes easier. As I drive around town I have the radio tuned to one of several stations that give me the Word. I have several times during the day that I pray. I have items around the house that remind me of God. I have to eat to live but I don’t eat non-stop. I hope to get to the point where I can receive Communion daily. I don’t. I know people who do. But I don’t believe that I fall out of Communion with Jesus if I receive frequently and stay in prayerful communion with Him.
Well, maybe you can see, that even as a Catholic myself, I had no idea what was going on. I was too scared to ask a priest, because I didn't want to find out that I was up a creek, so I had many unanswered questions. Now, I have no more unanswered questions, because the plan of salvation is so simple. 😀😆😃
So in your religion do you get the pre-crucified flesh and blood of Jesus, or is the priest serving the post resurrection Jesus? I’m asking a serious question, not teasing.
My question would be, if this “eating God” thing is supposed to give them life, why do they do it so many times? Does it wear off again, so it no longer gives life? How long does it last? If it wears off, and the person dies, where will they go? Inquiring minds want to know.
I have never heard this idea that the Eucharist wears off, and it is not the reason I receive communion.
Do you have moments, when giving glory and praise to God, where you experience a burning in your heart for Him and an overwhelming sense of the love He has for you?
I do. I sometimes get tears in my eyes at the thought of what Jesus did to redeem me from my sins. I often have this experience during Mass.
You remember going to Mass, don’t you? We don’t just receive communion. When we gather together, we greet each other, acknowledge and ask forgiveness for our sins, give glory to God, and listen to His word. The whole experience of Mass brings us closer to God. And the high point of this experience is receiving Christ in the Eucharistic.
We not only receive Him, we remember. This is the name of a hymn that is sung during Communion. The refrain is:
We remember how you loved us to your death,
and still we celebrate, for you are with us here;
And we believe that we will see you when you come,
in your glory, Lord, we remember, we celebrate, we believe.
And this is why I receive communion. I remember, I celebrate, I believe.
So in your religion do you get the pre-crucified flesh and blood of Jesus, or is the priest serving the post resurrection Jesus?
You ask how the bread becomes the Body of Christ, and the wine . . . the Blood of Christ. I shall tell you: the Holy Spirit comes upon them and accomplishes what surpasses every word and thought. . . . Let it be enough for you to understand that it is by the Holy Spirit, just as it was of the Holy Virgin and by the Holy Spirit that the Lord, through and in himself, took flesh.
John Damascene, De fide orth. 4, 13: PG 94, 1145A.
You tie yourself to human time. Do you accept the Nicene Creed?
“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.”
I never heard one way or another, that's why I was asking. I didn't even know the answer when I was a Catholic.
I WAS told, however, that I couldn't receive communion, if I had a mortal sin on my soul. Since I was keenly aware that I was a bad sinner, I always had plenty of mortal sins on my soul, and I didn't want to commit a mortal sin of sacrilege, so I stopped going to communion when I was about 12. I would go to confession, then two hours later, I would commit mortal sins. I felt like I was on a hamster wheel, with no way out.
Mass and communion became meaningless to me. I never felt cleansing, so I committed the sin of dispair and gave up. I figured every good thing I tried to do, was still filthy rags in God's sight. Just dead works.
Things are different now. Just keep reading the Word, bro. You can't go wrong doing that.
Here is the dilemma posed by the question, so you won't flounder around seeking another non sequitur.
If the flesh and blood are of the 'being crucified Jesus, then He has not at that point entered into the Holy of Holies with His blood for the Heavenly remission of the sins of the world. If, on the other hand, the flesh and blood are presumed to be that of the Risen Lord, the act of trying to go back and continue the accomplished a sacrifice is demonic mockery of an act accomplished and finished, as spoken by God (it is finished). The Resurrection proved 'IT' --the perfect sacrifice for all, ONCE made-- was/is/shall always be, finished.
There is no sacred reference point at which the claim of catholiciism can be TRUTH. The Bible can be ignored, however, and 'another gospel' can be touted, a gospel much like the pagan practices of sacrificing food to idols, then eating that food to get the god of the idol into the adherents tot he rite.
Would like another try to show I am mistaken in the reference point for this flesh and catholiciism blood ritual?
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