Posts

Showing posts from December, 2021

Scriptural Basis, longer version, part 2

Jesus Gives A bundant Life Another way that Jesus is at work is giving His followers life. John 10:28 tells us that Jesus gives (present tense) life.   A few versus earlier (10:10) Jesus said that His mission on earth was to provide life to those who follow Him.   He described that life as abundant; the Greek word can also be rendered superabundant, superior, uncommon or excessive.   Combining this with John 14:6 helps us understand that the life that Jesus gives is Himself.   Combining this with Jesus' conversation with Nicodemis recorded in John 3 tells us that this life is a new life. As English speakers, we can easily be confused when we read about life in Scripture.  New Testament Greek has three words that are all translated “life” in English.  The three words are bios , psuche and zoe .  We understand bios because we use words like “biology,” “biochemistry,” “biodiversity” and “biography.”  We have preserved psuche in our English language in “psychology,” “psychic”

Scriptural Basis, longer version, part 1

What does Scripture say that Jesus is doing that we can see or discern and praise Him for? [with comments, part 1] 1. Jesus acts in response to prayers of the saints John 14:13-14              Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. I John 5:14-15             This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.   Comments   John 14:13-14 is clear and definitive.   The context is Jesus’ conversation with the disciples the night before He was arrested and crucified.   Jesus is instructing His disciples, revealing how they are to continue in their relationship with Him after He is no longer physically present with them.   It’s a promise.   It’s conditional, and the conditions are minimal, asking in His name.

A Scriptural Basis for “Jesus in Idaho Falls” (short version)

  A Scriptural Basis for “Jesus in Idaho Falls” (short version) When Jewish leaders questioned Jesus why He was doing what they considered “work” on the Sabbath, He responded, " My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working .” (John 5:17) and added, “ I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does .” (John 5:19) These verses can help us interpret Hebrews 12:2, fixing our eyes on Jesus …. If Jesus “saw” in real time what the Father was doing and based His own actions on it, and even limited what He did to what He saw the Father doing, should not believers in Jesus be looking to see what He is doing on earth?  That is not to exclude of course, looking to Jesus as High Priest, worshiping Him who was raised above every authority and is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens. And it doesn’t exclude studying His word and His works when He was on earth.