Dwelling Within

It is good to be back from our trip to Israel, and I missed being able to sit and ponder on the word and post my thoughts. I just could not bring my laptop on the trip and working on the phone or Ipad just did not work for me. But here we are. 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

DWELLING WITHIN

John 5:31-40

31 "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. 32 There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid. 33 "You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. 36 "I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

NIV

What testimony is Jesus talking about here? He says his own testimony is not valid. How can that be, as he is God in the flesh? How can his testimony not hold any weight among the people? Of course, he is speaking to the Jews who were waiting for the Messiah and in the meantime living under the condemnation of the Law. He mentions John the Baptist as testifying to who he is, and that the people enjoyed John’s truth, his light, however, Jesus also says that it is not important what any man testifies about him. This should give us pause to reflect on our own testimony. Does it really matter what we say about ourselves? Does calling ourselves a Christian carry any weight with people? Even telling people that we are a born again, bible believing, Spirit-filled believer in Jesus Christ, does it really matter to them? Jesus says that he has a testimony weightier than that of John, which means the testimony John said about him. The Testimony Jesus has is doing the very work that the Father has given him to finish and which he is doing and that testifies that the Father has sent him. He also says because the testimony of men does not mean much, God the Father testifies about Jesus. Here is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. No matter what we say about ourselves, it does not carry much weight. It comes down to what does God say about us. In addition, it also means that our words are meaningless unless we are doing the work that God has given us to do and finish it. This brings us to consider what work the Father has sent us to do and finish. First, we have to ponder on the fact the “finish” for Jesus was his death on a cross, except his resurrection truly finished his work. Nevertheless what that should mean for us, is that we are never done with the work the Father has sent us to do and finish until we die and are resurrected. That is to say, we are never retired from the work he sent us to do. We cannot just sit back and take life easy, just showing up to church on Sunday. There is a work we must be about until we die. So what is this work we are to do? First, we must consider what God says about what it is.

John 6:30

29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." 

NIV

We will be getting to this soon enough, but we should just consider what it means to believe in Jesus. The Greek word translated believe means “to have faith in”. This also means to entrust our very life to him, to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, to place confidence in. Certainly, this applies to our faith for salvation and it has nothing to do with all the “good deeds” we do, for we know we are saved by faith and not by works lest we boast. However, is that the only work we are called to do? Jesus had to go to the cross, which was more than believing in the Father. We talk about our calling, what has God called us to do. What has he sent us here to do and finish? We each are a member of the Body of Christ and each of us has a function. When do we stop doing our function? When we die. Maybe we need to consider or ponder on that in some detail at some time, to make sure we are doing the part we have been called to. But there is more in what Jesus said that causes us to consider. He accused those Jews, the Pharisees and teachings of the Law, the members of the Sanhedrin that they spent an enormous time in the scriptures, that they diligently studied the scriptures. We have to consider that we can spend too much time looking into the scriptures trying intellectually to understand them, trying to find truth through our study. There is something far simpler, does God speak to us, do we hear his voice, and does his word dwell in us? This does not mean we should not study the scriptures, we surely should make every effort to look into them, but the point is not to learn them, but to have them living within us. It is not a mental issue, in the study, it is a heart issue. Then we have to consider what it looks like to have the word of God dwelling within.