|
Sunday Sermon Outline STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
–PART 5
Ch.1:6- the apostle John now makes
reference to the prophet to John (the Baptist-Matt.3:1) called
“a man sent from God”
that is “mission”. From
other gospel accounts, we know him to be a special man from the family of the
priest, Zacharias, and is related to the Lord Jesus
(Lk.1:5-25, 36, 57-66,80) 1:7-8- John, as a witness, is an
important feature of this chapter—see twice in vs.7, then vs.8, and
The importance of John’s ministry may be
seen in the distant disciples found in Acts 18:25, 19:3. Clearly, “witness” or supporting
voice to verify Jesus’ identity is essential to the apostle John in this
book. “Witness” has a clear sound
to it, removing ambiguity and in modern terms has the connotation of
legality. The apostle John uses such
witnesses to support the critical truth of his gospel so as to achieve
believability by his readers ( “to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might
believe” Thus, John (Baptist) is to point to
the One called “Light”—note vs.29, 36. This is the first appearance of the
word “believe”: 1-
Believe = from pisteuo (verb) and pistis (noun) – meaning to be
persuaded, have
confidence, trust or reliance 2-
It is the major word of relationship with the saving work of Christ and
the gift of Eternal
life- John and
5:1. 3-
That such believing or choice of faith stands alone without works in estab-
lishing justification is clear- Rom.3:28, 4:2-3,
Gal.2:16, Eph.2:8-9 4-
Faith or believing on Christ brings a security to the believer that cannot
be revoked due to
the permanent standing in Christ- Rom.5:1-5 as well as
21 and 8:1-4.
5-
Lapses in belief following justification do not make previous saving
faith null and
void- see II Tim.2:13, Hebrews 6:6
may speak of temporal judgment upon
disobedient believers, but not loss of eternal life, see also
6-
Faith may be considered non-meritorious in itself; rather the merit or
value lies in the
object of faith =the Lord Jesus Christ. The ground of our
justification is the work
& Person of Christ while faith is the necessary circumstance of granting
eternal life [those with faith are given et.life]. John seems to use “believe” in its
most basic form of “trust or persuasion”. The apostle makes clear that John,
the Baptizer was not that Light. Page 2 1:9-
“that was the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the
world.”-
the construction allows that “comes into the world”
could be applied to either “the true Light”
or to “every man”. But in this
context where the focus is on the Word as Light, it is more likely “coming in to
the world” should apply to Christ as the “true Light” since the context is
incarnation. The NIV reads, “The true light that
gives light to every man was coming into the world.” The NASV reads
similarly. “True” =alathinon
– genuine or authentic, as opposed to false. At the incarnation of the Word or Son of
God, we have the coming of One that
brings effective and authentic Light. John is expanding earlier remarks
about the power of the Logos by stipulating that this Logos, or Light is
universally the source of understanding. If men have moral, spiritual and
intellectual light—it came from the One in ch.1. Thus, later in This would parallel Jesus as having
fellowship and intimacy with the Father (vs.1), the power of creation (vs.3) as
well as the power of life (vs.4).
So, further power is seen in Him as the
source of “light” to all men. It is
another statement supporting the unique and special
identity of the Logos as equal to God. Wherever men or women have spiritual
perception that moves them to the True God, that perception is credited to the
work of Christ. Some view the phrase, “gives light
to every man” as the work of common grace
that, in turn, leads to specific or particular grace of salvation. Without the gift of normal aptitude and
intelligence and then spiritual illumination, no one would come to know God. See
Romans 3:11. |