TRUTH and Eternal Life
Of course you remember John’s 3:16 Gospel — it reveals why the LORD our God and Father sent His Only Son to the world.
But do you recall also the closing witness of John the Baptist to the truth of the Messiah Jesus? John begins, “He must increase but I must decrease.”
“He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true..
“He who believes in the Son has eternal life;
but he who does not obey the Son will not see life,
but the wrath of God abides on him.”
the Gospel of John 3:33,36 NASB
And the Disciple Thomas questions Jesus prior to His death and sacrifice: “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life;
no one comes to the Father but through Me.
John 14:5 NASB – Jesus” answer to Thomas about Eternal Life
and if rumors fail us?
The Apostle John is believed by all saints of the early church because he tells God’s truth. And John is not the only Apostle concerned for the truth of Christian witness.
The Apostles’ credibility is always at stake because Jesus’ truth is always challenged by those who do not believe.
From the Acts of the Apostles we learn not only of their struggles to take the Good News into all the world, but also the challenge of witnessing truth to those who have no heart for the Lord God.
Acts of the Apostles
Saul of Tarsus, Paul the Apostle to the gentiles, speaks eloquently in his defense of Jesus as the Messiah. We learn in Acts 7 that as a young man he approved of the stoning of Stephen. When Paul defends his actions to Temple officials he witnesses:
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strictness of our ancestral law. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting and putting both men and women in jail, as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. – Acts 22 excerpt of Paul’s defense
Paul cites Gamaliel, a high Jewish official respected by all. He speaks truth here, what they know and what hearers do not want to hear of the truth.
By A.D. 70 when the Temple was destroyed, John and many to whom he witnesses certainly know that the Apostle to the Gentiles was martyred in Rome in about AD 65. The Apostle John must address false stories when he writes his Gospel truth around AD 90-100.
Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth
The most serious problem of the Corinthian church was worldliness, an unwillingness to divorce the culture around them. – John MacArthur
Paul had preached this in A.D. 55 (which some deem difficult to consider):
Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
Then Paul proposes how hopeless their false witness would be:
Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.
If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
1 Corinthians 15:17 NASB [read it in context 1 Cor 15: CSB]
A 1st c. Jewish authority regarding truth
In closing and also considering John’s defense of Peter at the end of his Gospel, let’s return to the Temple after Peter’s preaching there of Christ crucified and resurrected.
Acts 5:
27 When they had brought them, they had them stand before the Council. The high priest interrogated them..
29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging Him on a cross..”
32 And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
33 When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.
34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time.
Do you recognize this authority as the Great Rabbi of Saul of Tarsus? Listen to Gamaliel’s advice on truth versus false teaching.
“Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men..
.. for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.”
Acts 5 excerpt, v.35 NASB, 38b-39 NKJV – advise of Gamaliel to the Sanhedrin concerning the truth of the Gospel
Do you believe the Gospel of John?
In the year of our Lord 2020, I have detailed John’s witness of the Messiah Jesus, the Christ of the Living God. We have concluded it here.
God willing, you will ask yourself, WHAT MUST I DO?
NEXT: a brief summary with links to John's GOOD NEWS.
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