The following Scriptural Rerun, although not a part of our current Apostolic Faith SERIES, will provide additional context for our look at the Gospel of John written about five years before the Elder's Epistles.
READ any post linked below from our 2020 SERIES from the Gospel of John
Scriptural exposition in the context of A.D. 85-90,
19 March AD2020 Churches ordered closed..while during recent months:
some sought to stream the stage of worship
some sent seeker-friendly scripture into our homes
some church communities disintegrated while others diminished & distanced (like our 2020 remote office meetings complete with slides).
To review the Gospel of John, simply click on any link in the outline below& it will open in a new window.
Roger – author of A.D. 2020 series on the Gospel ‘Good NEWS’ of John
I hope you were blessed by the secure links to reliable sites for further study of Scripture, as well as insight into the 1st century church of John’s Gospel (written ~A.D.- 90).
IN THE BEGINNING was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
ALL THINGS came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of
MANKIND.
And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Book of the Prologue
John’s Prologue [1:1-18], from which the Apostle next proceeds to the testimony of John the Baptist and the Messiah’s calling of the Twelve, states many important theological themes & along with his Epilogue [21:1-25 {linked below}] provides additional depth of purpose of John’s Gospel.
‘My Father’s House – John 2“You must be born again.I am the Messiah – John 4Before Abraham was, I AM John 11“..and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.also love one another-John 13Jesus prays – John 17Jesus answered him – John 19:11 Jesus said:
Gospel of John
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! – John 1:29b
As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. – John 9:1
Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be?” – John 8:53
“But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. – John 10:26-28
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise from the dead.”
.. “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
Hear all the unrelenting bad news of yesterday or today or any future year in the Common Era of these last days.
For followers of Jesus, His death diminished life’s hope in eternal life;
that is, until the GOOD NEWS of the Lord’s resurrection reached the eyes and ears and touch of His dearly beloved friends.
John and the Disciples witnessed the Lord Jesus in His Risen Flesh several times after His resurrection, as had hundreds of other disciples also seen their risen Christ!
but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
John 20:20
Their sorrow had turned into joy and so must ours; for in Christ Jesus his disciples of every generation have eternal life through His sacrifice for our sins. This is our Gospel, John’s Good News to those who would believe.
John’s Epilogue
John 20:30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.
But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:21 CSB
Go in Peace and Believe
I pray that the Lord has blessed you through the Gospel of John in A.D. 2020 and now I might add, the Good NEWS of John by God’s grace continuing these last days in 2023 of the Common Era ..
May our Lord Jesus Christ
draw you into His grace,
giving you new hope of Eternal Life in the remaining years of our Common Era of 2023 and beyond if it is God's will,in the Name of the Father and the Son Christ JESUS, Who IS and Was and will judge all things when the Lord returns, and the Holy Spirit who sustains saved sinners in these last days.
AMEN.
Last time in my initial post of this SERIES I introduced GRACE linked to its root words of both the OLD and NEW TESTAMENTS of the Holy Bible.
Since only 15 of the 132 verses naming Grace occur in the Old Testament chances are that the first Bible verse you might SHARE about GRACE will come from the NEW TESTAMENT.
New Covenant GRACE
DYK that “Testament” διαθήκη – diatheke is the rendering of a Hebrew word meaning a “covenant” or agreement?
Was the grace of God different in the OLD TESTAMENT?
Has the grace of God changed in the Common Era of our post-Christian correctness?
You may as well offer your comments on those two questions as well.
But before I take on any contemporary question of grace in the Common Era let’s take a look back to one of the oldest illustrations of the Old Testament.
Old Covenant GRACE
JOB – a man blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job..
IF any man deserved GRACE it certainly would have been Job.
Yet Satan is as involved in this unseen story of a mere man as he was in the events of Eden.
Some Christians will no more consider the impact of unseen evil in our daily lives than did Job's friends and speculative advisors.
But other than your QUESTION about this post that would be a discussion for another day.)
Have YOU ever heard OR given such ill-conceived advice as Job’sadvisors?
Men and women typically try to conceive answers concerning God’s providence with little consideration or understanding of God’s redeeming grace.
(Yet do the so-called good men and women have their rewards in this brief life?)
If you would seek God earnestly And plead for the grace of the Almighty, If you are pure and upright, Indeed now He would rouse Himself for you And make your righteous abode at peace. Though your beginning was insignificant, Yet your end will increase greatly.
Job 8:5-7 LSB (ill-conceived advice of a friend and advisor to Job)
Ah! — Here Job’s smiling friend offers him a cheap grace of the Almighty bringing His power into his friend’s life NOW!
Job’s best Life could be filled with blessings before his end in death (never mentioned).
Is GRACE simply an increase of life’s everyday blessings?
Picture now a scene in the Heavenly Court of the Old Testament BEFORE God’s revelation of a perfect Priest and Mediator of Christ the only Son of a better Sacrifice for man’s sin.
JOB ASKS THE ENDURING QUESTION OF EVERY AGE:
But how can a man be in the right before God?
Job 9:2b LSB
If one desired to contend with Him, He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.
Wise in heart and mighty in power, Who has stiffened his neck against Him and been at peace?
Where do YOU stand before God
Job continues his hopeless defense (without the Perfect Powerful Advocate pleading his case for him:
the One who removes the mountains.. who shakes the earth.. out of its place..
Who alone stretches out the heavens, And tramples down the waves of the sea..
10 Who does great things, unsearchable, And wondrous works, innumerable.
11 Were He to sweep by me, I would not see Him; Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him. 12 Were He to snatch away, who could turn Him back? Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
After Job's irrefutable argument worthy of any courtroom case he then makes an astounding statement concerning GRACE before the One Lord God.
“For though I were right, I could not answer [plead my case]; I would have to plead for the grace of my judge.
A blessing of Numbers 6 guides our prayer and plea
6:25 יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ׃ ס
The Adjudicator of Grace, Mercy and Peace
Many would attempt to plead their own case before the Judge!
I would — possibly even as I accuse every accuser who has brought me before the Authority to determine MY GUILT and PUNISH MY SIN.
Of course ALL of us tend to demand JUSTICE for all, i.e. ‘everybody else’, even while covering every personal trespass against others and expecting MERCY in the disposition of our own case.
Even in a Court of Law in a great America of the past …
Should grace be desired for more than simply acknowledgement of our blessings on occasion?
Is the Biblical concept of ‘grace’ the same today as God’s GRACE in the New and Old Testaments?
What is grace?
We associate it with good things as in praying before eating and receiving mercy for those things we ought not to have done.
Paul frequently opens his letters to various churches with grace, peace and other gentle words of greeting. The Apostle then encourages believers in a spirit of grace given to all by God.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 18:17 And they all took hold of Sosthenes the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.
Gospel Grace
Grace appears over 100 times in the Bible
most frequently used in the New Testament.
The Greek word used by the Gospel writers and Apostles is χάρις pronounced: khar’-ece.
grace
that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech
A brief look at varied New Testament use of grace, favor and graciousness reveals a much deeper and satisfying application of grace through Christ.
For of His fullness we have all received, and grace G5485 upon grace G5485.
The favor and blessings of grace extend not only between the Lord God and man but also between the mortal flesh and blood of individual souls blessing one another.
Perhaps no blessing of grace is any better known than a benediction of parting the LORD spoke to Moses.
“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance [or face] upon you and give you peace.
“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
And of course most everyone desires at times to receive at least a portion of joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness, favour, grace, charm, elegance and acceptance.
Who receives grace?
Is God’s grace all-inclusive or exclusive?
Let’s take a brief look.
The Example of Noah
Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Yahweh regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.
Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.
Mercy is a transaction granted by a greater one to a lesser recipient.
Grace is a part in a transaction by which supplication (or plea) may have been made from one to another. At times they are even equals — but often not.
In fact God or a king or any human authority may grant grace without you even asking.
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![“He who loves his [fn]life loses it, and he who hates his [fn]life in this world will keep it to life eternal.](https://talkofjesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/triumphal-entry.jpg)
