The Three Cs

I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. I don't understand why people willfully reject the truth. We preach it to our children from the first day they can speak: Always tell the truth. Our courts make us swear, to God no less, to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and we send people to jail for failing to do so. We know the consequences of untruth, of half truth, of white lies can be severe. People get hurt. So what exactly is truth? Socrates gave us a mouthful in defining it, when he said, "To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while t...

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. In my last post, I challenged the idea that Jesus never said he was God, by laying out from just the first eight chapters of John how in fact he did say he was. The Jews knew what Jesus was saying, and they wanted to stone him; they just didn't get the chance. And if you will listen to Jesus' words today, you will hear him say it clearly. Today, we have what I think is the most powerful testimony yet, the Father and the Son ar...

Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” Some people seem to think Jesus never said he was God, so therefore they don't believe in him. Oh, it's true that Jesus, the King of the Jews, never said anything like, "Kneel before the Lord your maker! Kneel before me, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! I am God!" But make no mistake: Jesus did say he was God. In fact, from today's ...

He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. It's been too long since I wrote. But today I couldn't resist this. I love discovering great passages of Scripture. Most of you are likely more familiar with the more famous passages of John 3: Jesus' discourse with Nicodemus. Today, though, I flew right through that and landed on this section, where John the Baptist exalts the Christ to a Jew who had questions about purification. I can...

From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: ‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ " Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”