“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36).

There are a couple of things going on with this verse that I would like to start with:

1. The verse starts with the phrase, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life”. You would think that belief would be paired with disbelieve. But that’s not what we have in the text. Instead of reading, “Whoever does not believe in the Son will not see life,” the text says, “Whoever disobeys the Son will not see life.”
2. If you are reading the verse of the day in the NIV you will notice that the NIV translates this verse differently. The NIV translates, “disobeys” with “rejects”, but this is an incorrect translation by the NIV. The Greek clearly says “disobey.”

God assumes that believing leads to obeying.

In fact, as far as God is concerned, disobeying is the same thing as not believing. If we believe, we obey. There is no believing without obeying.

The Greek word for belief is pisteuo. The word certainly means believe, but it also means to trust, to have faith in, to entrust. As far as the Bible is concerned, if one believes, one trusts, has faith in, entrusts, and obeys. So much so, to disobey is to disbelieve.

This is a poor analogy but it gets the point across. If you pisteuo – believe that you have the winning lotto numbers then you go out and purchase a lotto ticket with the winning numbers. The possibility that you would have the winning lotto numbers but not purchasing a lotto ticket with those numbers is preposterous.

Exactly. That’s exactly what God is saying about believing and obeying.

A. W. Tozer wrote, “The driver on the highway is safe not when he reads the signs, but when he obeys them.”

It’s the same with us.

There is no believing without obeying.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).

How was Thanksgiving? Trust you are plenty stuffed.

We continue with the theme of thanksgiving this week.

Too often, we forget how radical a change takes place when we receive God’s gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ. The Bible is not joking when it says, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). Everything is changed because of Jesus.

When Christ saves us we are radically changed.

We go from being enemies and sinners into being God’s heirs and saints. We are radically changed. Once we are received into God’s family, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

I love the writing of Brennan Manning. Instead of being angry and disappointed with us for failing and being repeat sinners, God is a God who is proud of us for wrestling and battling sin! When faced with temptation and sin, God is right beside us as our biggest cheerleader. In one of his books, The Ragamuffin Gospel, Manning makes the following observation of how God interacts with us:

Has it crossed your mind that I am proud you accepted the gift of faith I offered you?
Proud that you freely choose Me, after I had chosen you, as your friend and Lord?
Proud that, with all your warts and wrinkles, you haven’t given up?
Proud that you believe in Me enough to try again and again?
Are you aware how I appreciate you for wanting Me?

I want you to know how grateful I am when you pause to smile and comfort a child who has lost her way.

I am grateful for the hours you devote to learning more about Me; for the word of encouragement you passed on to your burnt-out pastor; for the visit to the shut-in; for your tears for the retarded.

What you did to them, you did to Me. 

Alas, I am sad when you do not believe that I have totally forgiven you or you feel uncomfortable approaching Me.

Friends, God loves you. We can’t even begin to fathom the depth of God’s love. Rest in God’s love.

Happy Thanksgiving!

“I thank my God every time I remember you” (Philippians 1:3).

Happy Thanksgiving!

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, I would like for us to consider what we are giving thanks for. We normally think about the things we are grateful and thankful for. That’s a good thing to do. There are many reasons for being grateful and for giving thanks. However, there is something embedded in the word “thanks” that gives us the core reason for giving thanks.

What does it mean to give thanks? What’s involved? What are the etymological roots?

The Greek word for thanks is eucharisteo.

• You recognize this word? That’s right. This is where we get the word “eucharist” – the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
• At the heart of the word is the Greek word “charis” pronounced karis
• Charis literally means grace

Every time we give thanks, what we are giving thanks for is God’s amazing grace. This amazing grace is demonstrated through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ which we celebrate every time we take communion, the holy eucharist.

So, it is quite appropriate that we celebrate Thanksgiving with a feast for the feast is not only about turkey and fixings, but the gift of eternal life through God’s Son Jesus Christ.

We never give thanks in a vacuum. We give thanks in response to what God has already done. That this is the case is already embedded in the word “thanks”. We give thanks for God’s grace, for God’s gift of eternal life through his Son, Jesus Christ.

As you celebrate Thanksgiving today, remember why we give thanks. It’s all because of what God has already done for us through Jesus Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving!