Tag Archives: soteriology

Talkin ’bout regeneration

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One night a Pharisee named Nicodemus visited Jesus. He had seen the miracles that Jesus was doing and knew that He must have been sent by God. We can infer that Nicodemus must have known or at least suspected that these signs were pointing to “the one who is to come” (see Jesus answer to John the Baptist in Matthew 11:2-6). And he probably heard Jesus proclaim that the “kingdom was at hand” (Mark 1:15).

Knowing that Nicodemus’ thoughts were on the kingdom and the coming King, Jesus responds to Nicodemus by telling him (John 3:3 NET):

I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

This statement confused Nicodemus. He did not fully understand what regeneration was or why it was needed. Continue reading →

Do we need enduring faith?

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While Paul was in prison in Rome he wrote a letter to the church at Colossae. In the letter he is urging the church to reject false philosophies and points to why we need Jesus. In verses 1:21-23 he presents us with a conditional statement that could be written out as follows:

if you really continue in the faith and do not shift from the gospel (enduring faith)
then you are reconciled by Jesus’ death and will be presented holy and blameless before him

The Martyrdom of Paul

The Martyrdom of Paul

In a conditional statement, like the one here, the if-clause is known as the protasis and the then-clause is called the apodosis. The apodosis can often be expressed as a statement that can stand independent of the protasis. Read Colossians 1:21-22 as if it had a period at the end of verse 22 and you see that this is a complete thought. It can stand on its own. However, the occurrence of an if-clause, like the one we have in 1:23, attaches a condition to this otherwise independent statement.

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Another look at those who Come to Jesus

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I agree with John Calvin, writing his two volume commentary on the Gospel of John, when he says that the phrase “come to Christ” is used as a metaphor for believing in Christ. And it would be hard to miss the repetition of the phrase “comes to Me” as one reads through John 6:25-65. Examining these verses we can deduce the following:

  • Everyone that comes to Jesus has been given to Jesus by the Father (37)
  • Everyone that comes to Jesus will not be cast out (37, 39)
  • Everyone that comes to Jesus has eternal life (40, 47, 53, 54)
  • Everyone that comes to Jesus will be raised on the last day (40, 44, 54)
  • Everyone that comes to Jesus is drawn by the Father (44)
  • Everyone that comes to Jesus has heard and learned from the Father (45)
  • Everyone that comes to Jesus has been granted by the Father (65)

A person that comes to Jesus can draw great encouragement from the promises that Jesus makes in John 6. They will have eternal life, will be raised on the last day, and will not be cast out or lost. Continue reading →