Tag: Matthew 5:48

Spiritual Warfare – Part 5

Introduction

       In our spiritual warfare series, we are now looking at each piece of armor that a Christian is to wear to successfully stand against “the wiles” or deceptions of the devil (Eph. 6:10-13). The six pieces of armor that Paul presents to us are in the order that a Roman soldier would put them on. They are divided into two categories of three.

       He introduces each of these two categories with different verbs. The first three are introduced with the verb “to be.” The last three are introduced with the verb “to take.” Why does Paul switch verbs halfway through the armament? He wants us to understand two specific, distinct orientations to the six pieces of armor. The first three relate to a state we should always be in. The last three are what we use on an as needed basis. [1]

       The first three pieces of armor we have with us all of the time [2] (“having girded… put on… shod…” – Eph. 6:14-15). [3] This is the state we are always in. But the last three pieces of armor we are called to take and use as needed [4] (“taking … take…” Eph. 6:16-17), [5] especially “in the evil day” (Eph. 6:13b) when all hell breaks loose and seeks to steal, kill, and destroy us (John 10:10a).

       Last time we looked closely at the first piece of armor, the belt of truth (Eph. 6:14a), which teaches us that Satan wants to deceive us or trick us to do what is contrary to God’s will. This piece of armor enables us to overcome the lies and deceptions of the devil.

       Truth is the absolute standard by which reality is measured. [6] It is God’s viewpoint on any subject. We can defeat Satan by reaching out and putting on each citadel of truth God has given us through prayer: The Person of Truth (John 1:14; 14:6; Rom. 13:14), The Spirit of Truth (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-14; I John 2:20-27), the Word of Truth (John 17:17; 8:31-32; Psa. 119:9, 11, 28-29, 43, 160; 2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16-17; and the Church, the Pillar and Foundation of Truth (I Tim. 3:15). [7]

The Breastplate

       After a Roman soldier puts his belt on over his tunic (a loose, sleeveless shirt that reaches to his knees) to provide mobility in battle and serve as a place on which he could hang his armor, he then puts on his “breastplate” (thōraka). The breastplate was usually made of bronze or chain mail and covered the soldier’s body from his neck to his thighs, [8] protecting the vital organs in the chest area and below, [9] including his heart, lungs, liver, spleen, stomach, and intestines. And it also covered his back so that from the top of his spine to below his kidneys, he was protected from the thrust of the enemy’s spear or sword. [10] This is a vital piece of armor designed to protect a Roman soldier. Knowing this about the soldier’s breastplate ought to help us realize how vitally important this piece of armor is to the Christian.

       The Bible instructs us, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” (Prov. 4:23). Just as the physical heart is central to our physical well-being, pumping life-giving blood and giving us functionality in every part of our being, so God has given us a spiritual heart that pumps His life throughout all our spiritual relationships. And since our battle with the kingdom of darkness is spiritual, our spiritual heart becomes the pump that gives us spiritual victory. [11]

       Therefore, God has given us a special piece of armor called the “breastplate of righteousness.” This righteousness stands as our position with God which cannot be touched or altered by the enemy. It has been eternally settled in heaven’s courtroom. However, to be victorious on earth, our position in heaven must be matched with our practice on earth. Thus, once we learn what our position with God is, we can then align our practice with that position. And when we do that, God is free through the Holy Spirit to pump His life through our life, so we live life as God intended it to be lived, overriding Satan’s attempts and attacks to bring defeat into our Christian lives. [12]

What is Righteousness? [13]

       Last time we discovered that we begin dressing for success in spiritual warfare by putting on the belt of truth (Eph. 6:14a). Truth is God’s viewpoint on a matter. So, in spiritual warfare, we start with truth by finding out what God thinks about a certain subject.    

       Then we are to put on “the breastplate of righteousness” (Eph. 6:14b). The breastplate Christians are to put on is “righteousness.” The word “righteousness” (dikaiosunē) refers to the quality of “being right” [14] as God defines it.               

       “Righteousness” is not “better than others,” or “good enough,” but right, as in, “right with God.” [15]

       “Righteousness is the standard God requires for people to become acceptable to Him.” [16] This standard is based upon the truth. The truth is the informational base that tells me the right thing to do.

       The opposite of righteousness is wrongness. Wrongness is functioning or operating in opposition to the truth. But truth is whatever God says about a subject regardless of how many people agree or disagree with Him. Righteousness is my response to God’s truth.

       In basketball, the basketball hoop is ten feet high. That is the standard of the basketball goal if you are playing basketball. If we lower the basketball hoop, we have lowered the standard.

       What a lot of people do in relation to God, is lower the standard and shoot, and make the shot, and think they did something that is acceptable to the Lord. They adjusted God’s standard of righteousness to a level they could attain, and concluded they are okay to God, when in reality they were not. They had lowered the divine standard to a human standard.

       Until we operate on God-based truth that gives us the standard of God’s righteousness, we are not going to align with God’s standard of righteousness. Why is this so important?

How Satan Attacks Us in the Area of Righteousness [17]

       Since the opposite of God’s righteousness is wrongness, when we do not align with God’s righteousness in our Christian lives, we are going to be very vulnerable to spiritual attack. Because Paul is talking about spiritual warfare and “wickedness in heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12), we need to understand that demons function on wrongness. Wrong is not just wrong. It is also an invitation to demons to join the wrongness.

       Evans illustrates this by saying that when we leave trash laying around our house for too long of a time, we don’t just have trash to deal with. The unaddressed trash invites roaches, ants, mice, and rats to join the party. When food has been left out for too long of a time, one roach tells another roach that they have been invited into the house. So, in addition to the trash in the house, we now have unwanted guests.

       God wants us to understand that unrighteousness (trash) is an invitation to demons (roaches) to join our “trashiness,” so we are not just dealing with unrighteousness (trash), we are also having to deal with demons who have made their home in our unrighteousness. And just as trash invites a variety of unwanted guests (e.g., ants, roaches, mice, rats, etc.,), so our unrighteousness invites a variety of demons of all sizes, shapes, and dispositions.

       Our unrighteousness invites the demonic flow and blocks the movement of God. Hence, two things happen with our unrighteousness. Demons are invited into our wrongness, which makes a bad place worse. And God is blocked out. Thus, God’s movement in our lives is limited because we are not wearing the breastplate of righteousness.

       Our unrighteousness gives Satan a legal right to occupy a place in our lives (cf. Eph. 4:25-27). We have invited the enemy to take up ground in our Christian lives. We have given him control over that part of our Christian lives. We can pray all we want about the roaches in the house, but until we remove the trash in the house, we are still going to have those unwanted guests. Why? Because those roaches (demons) have a legal right to be there because we are saying to them, “I am feeding you today.” As long as we continue in unrighteousness, no amount of praying is going to remove the demonic presence in our lives. They will not listen to our prayers because we are still feeding them with our trash.

       As Christians, we often settle for trash management. We know we should not have the trash (unrighteousness), and we don’t want the roaches (demons), so we try to manage the trash.

       For example, when we invite people to our house, we want our house to appear to be clean. So, we grab the trash and all the mess laying around, and we throw it in the closet. We want to keep our trash (unrighteousness) hidden so people will not know just how trashy (unrighteous) we truly are.

       So, we present an appearance of godliness. We try to think, speak, and act righteously, but inwardly our trash (unrighteousness) is producing a stench. It’s like having a trash compactor in the house. We keep putting trash in it and it reduces the size of our garbage. But the problem is, if we don’t take that trash out, eventually it will fill the house with its unwanted stench. And our spouse will get a whiff of that trash scent, and she will know it is there even if it is not visible, because there is a standard that has a scent to it.

       God can detect the scent for unrighteousness. So even if we are good at managing our trash, packing it down, hiding it in the closet, the garage, or in the attic so people cannot see it, God still knows it is in our lives. All demons have done is go to the garage, the closet, or garage – wherever we are hiding the trash. They have not left the premises because they know that the trash (unrighteousness) is still occupying the space.

        One does not have to be a Christian for long to understand how tenacious the Devil is with regard to his attacks against righteousness. We mentioned last time how each piece of armor teaches us how Satan can come against us. The Devil wants to devour us and destroy us in this area of righteousness (I Pet. 5:8). He primarily does this in two ways. [18]

       The first way Satan attacks us in the area of righteousness is to accuse us of our lack of righteousness. From his book, Overcoming the Adversary, Mark Bubeck shares four contrasts between the way the Holy Spirit comes to us and the way the Devil approaches us.    

       The first contrast shows us that when the Holy Spirit comes to us, He seeks to show us that our infinite worth and value to God makes God desire our fellowship (Gen. 1:26-27; Psa. 139:1-23; Matt. 13:44-46; I Cor. 6:20-21). He delights in spending time with us (Psa. 17:8; 18:19; 149:4; Isa. 62:5; Zeph. 3:17). But Satan wants to convince us that we are so bad and so flawed that God would not want anything to do with us.

       The second contrast teaches us that when the Holy Spirit comes to us, He seeks to show us that there is forgiveness and restoration available to us no matter how often or badly we have sinned (Psa. 23:3; 32:1-11; 51:1-13; 103:3, 10-14; Micah 7:19; John 21:15-17; Acts 10:43; Col. 2:13-14; I John 1:7, 9). But when the Devil comes to us, he seeks to persuade us that there is no forgiveness nor restoration available to us. He tells us we have committed the unpardonable sin [19] and that we are so bad that Satan deserves to have us forever!

       The third contrast instructs us that when the Holy Spirit comes to us, He uses God’s Word to give us hope and assurance of God’s love and forgiveness (cf. Rom. 5:1-8; 8:1, 5-6, 31-39). But when Satan approaches us, he takes God’s Word out of context to try to convince us that there is no hope for us; that God could not possibly ever forgive us.

       The fourth and final contrast shows that when the Holy Spirit comes to us, He builds faith, hope, and love in our hearts and increases our confidence in the assurance of our salvation (John 6:35-40; 10:28-29; I Cor. 13:13; I Thess. 5:8; I John 2:25-26; 5:1, 13). On the other hand, when Satan comes to us, he creates doubt, despair, and resentment toward God and toward His Word and His people. He wants to convince us that no one as bad as us could ever be saved and get into heaven.

      The second way Satan attacks us is to tempt us to compromise God’s righteousness. Satan seeks to convince us that it is not important to live according to the righteous standards God has given us in the Bible and even in our own conscience which many times has been made sensitive by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word.  

       The Devil seeks to get us to compromise the difference between right and wrong. He may say things to us like, “It won’t hurt you to try that especially if it helps you get what you want.” “Everyone else is doing it, so it must be okay.” “Go ahead and do it. It’s fun.” “No one else has to know.” “It doesn’t matter if you participate in a little worldliness. God understands your needs.” “It is only a weakness.” “This is the only way you can endure stress or face pain.” “You cannot change.”      

       On the other hand, when we do fail, Satan will come and try to persuade us that we have no righteousness; that we are not worthy before God at all. When we yield to sin repeatedly, without confessing or forsaking it, Satan has a right to claim that area we have compromised (Eph. 4:25-27).  

       Putting on the breastplate of righteousness means we combat these two ways that Satan attacks us in this area of God’s righteousness. It is at the very heart of the battle against the enemy.

      But what does it mean to put on the breastplate of righteousness? What is required to put on this piece of armor? First, we need a doctrinal understanding of the three types of God’s righteousness.

Imputed Righteousness

       The word “impute” is not a common word that we use today, but the apostle Paul uses it in Romans 4 when he refers to Old Testament examples of justification by faith. For example, when he refers to David and Abraham’s examples of faith alone for justification, he writes, “5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works… 21 And [Abraham] being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore ‘it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead… ” (Rom. 4:5-6, 21-24). [brackets added] The word “impute” (logizomai) in these verses means the perfect “righteousness” of God is “credited” or “placed to one’s account.” [20]

       We may not be as familiar with the word “impute,” but the word “credit” probably speaks volumes to us. Anderson writes, “We have credit cards, we have a credit score, or we may have credit at the bank. If the bank were to ‘credit something to our account,’ we know what that means. And that is exactly what ‘impute’ means. When we trust Jesus as our Savior, His perfect life of righteousness is credited to our account in heaven.

       “Philippians 4:17 says that we have an account in heaven. This account has a debit column and a credit column. As unbelievers we had an account full of debits and no credits. Isaiah 64:6 says all of our righteous deeds were like dirty rags. This doesn’t mean I had no righteous deeds. I did. That’s why they were called righteous deeds. The problem is these righteous deeds don’t go into the credit column of our account in heaven. They’re called rags by Isaiah because they‘re not acceptable to God. Why? Because they were produced by my own human energy and strength. They were deeds of human righteousness and not divine righteousness.” [21] [emphasis added]

       All our righteous deeds are stained with sin according to Isaiah 64:6. Hence, all our righteous deeds cannot open the gates of heaven. For example, “When Bill Gates claims he does not believe in God, let alone Christ, and gives a billion dollars to help the problem of AIDS in Africa, that is most certainly a righteous deed. But that righteous deed would not open the gates of heaven for him. It does not go into the credit column of his account. Why? Because to get into heaven we have to be perfect.” [22] [emphasis added]

       This is what Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount. He said, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:20). The scribes and Pharisees were considered by Jesus’ Jewish audience to be the most righteous people of that day. But Jesus says the “righteousness” of His audience must exceed the righteousness of these religious leaders to enter the kingdom of heaven. Whose righteousness would surpass these devoted religious leaders’ righteousness? Later, in the same chapter, Christ says, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48). Only the righteousness of God is “perfect.” [23]

        It is important to understand that Jesus was speaking to both believers (“His disciples” – Matt. 5:1) and the unbelieving “multitudes” who had followed Him (Matt. 4:24-5:1). He was using His Sermon on the Mount to provide a standard of conduct for His believing disciples as they anticipate living in the coming Kingdom of God on earth. But Christ also uses His Sermon on the Mount to convict His unsaved audience of their need for God’s imputed righteousness through faith alone in Christ alone (cf. Rom. 3:21-4:24). [24]

       Anderson adds, “Anything short of perfection will not do. There’s not a great scale in the sky on which God will put our debits on one side and our credits on the other side and accept us if our credits outweigh our debits. No, just one sin is one too many. That’s why when Satan committed one sin in heaven, he had to go. He was cast out of heaven.

       “So that leaves us with a big problem. The Bible says that all men fall short of the glory of God, which includes His perfect holiness. These sins go into our debit column. In order for us to go to heaven we need two things: we need to have the debits swept away, and we need to have a life of perfect righteousness. Since none of us can live the life of perfect righteousness, we must look to another.

       “Only Jesus Christ lived a perfect life, and when we trust in His work for us on the cross, our sins are wiped away because He took our sins upon Himself. But, secondly, His perfect life is credited to our account. That’s divine righteousness. When this is credited to our account, we have a new standing before God. Our new position is in Christ. And since we are in Christ, we are seated at the right hand of God the Father in heavenly places (Col. 3:1-3) [see also Eph. 1:19-21; 2:5-6]. And nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:39).” [25] [emphasis and brackets added]

       Notice in Romans 4:5 that God “justifies” or declares righteous the “ungodly” person who “believes,” not behaves (“work”). It is the believing person’s “faith” that “is accounted for righteousness.” The moment we believe in Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for all our sins, God “justifies” or declares us totally righteous before Him as if we had never sinned.

       Hence, when a sinner believes in Jesus, he or she is declared by our holy God to be the opposite of what they are. So, if we were deceitful before our conversion, God declares us to be truthful. If we were greedy, God declares us to be generous. If we were hateful, God announces us to be loving. If we were impatient, God says we are patient. If we were promiscuous, God declares us to be pure at the moment of faith in Christ. If we were proud, God declares us to be humble. If we were selfish, God declares us to be selfless.

       However, there is a great deal of confusion today regarding the relationship between faith and works. Much of this confusion originates from a theologian and philosopher named Augustine (A.D. 354-430), who greatly influenced the soteriology (study of salvation) of Roman Catholics, the Reformers, and even Calvinists and Arminians today.

       Augustine had a scant knowledge of New Testament Greek which “caused him to misunderstand diakaioō (δικαιόω), translating it in its present infinitive form, ‘to make righteous,’” [26] “as opposed to the defining truth of the Reformers that this word meant ‘to declare righteous.’ The distinction was enough to cause a schism in Western Christianity. Whereas the former meaning signified a change of character, the latter meaning referred to a change of standing. ‘To make righteous’ looked to one’s experience in life, but ‘to declare righteous’ looked to the courtroom of heaven. The temporal significance of the distinction in meanings was monumental. Augustine saw justification (the making of righteous character) as a life-long effort, whereas Luther understood that one could be ‘declared righteous’ in God’s court at a moment of time.” [27] [emphasis added]

       This is extremely significant to understand. Martin Luther understood “court room” justification to mean “that one could be declared righteous (justified) in his position or standing before God, but still be sinful in his character and condition in his temporal body” [28] [emphasis added] – a truth that Augustine never understood.

       Augustine was persuaded “that the character of Christ needed to be infused into the character of the sinner from regeneration at water baptism (usually of infants) until death in order for the person to be made righteous (justified) enough to enter God’s heaven. Even the vast majority of God’s elect would not pass muster, so they would be consigned to Purgatory until the final vestiges of sin could be eliminated from their character. Only then could they march confidently through heaven’s gates. So, for Augustine justification was a life-long process. In fact, Purgatory was a provision of God for those in whom the process had not been completed.” [29] [emphasis added]

       What Augustine did was erroneously wed justification with sanctification. He confused entering the Christian life (justification) with living the Christian life (sanctification). This has led some teachers today to mistakenly front-load the gospel by requiring good works in order to get saved (Romanism & Traditional Protestantism). It has led other teachers to backload the gospel by requiring good works to stay saved (Arminianism) or good works as a necessary proof of genuine salvation (Calvinism), so that in each case you MUST HAVE GOOD WORKS to ultimately go to heaven. Consider these options which are taught today:

ScenarioFaith in Jesus Christ +good works = maybe heavenFaith in Jesus Christ =maybe heaven if you maintain good works, confess your sins, remain faithful, etc.Faith in Jesus Christ = salvation + good works to ultimately arrive at heaven
ProponentsRomanism & TraditionalProtestantismArminianismCalvinism

       Each of these scenarios requires good works in order to ultimately arrive in God’s heaven. This is NOT God’s grace. “But if it is of works, it is no longer grace.” (Rom. 11:6). Good works are not the means of obtaining or maintaining salvation but are designed to be the result of receiving God’s free gift of salvation (Eph. 2:8-10). When good works are required to enter heaven, how will you ever know when you have done enough? You won’t until after you die.

        Wiersbe correctly states, “Do not confuse justification and sanctification. Sanctification is the process whereby God makes the believer more and more like Christ. Sanctification may change from day to day. Justification never changes. When the sinner trusts Christ, God declares him righteous, and that declaration will never be repealed. God looks on us and deals with us as though we had never sinned at all!” [30] [emphasis added]

        In case you doubt that we need to be “justified” or declared totally righteous before a holy God, it is important to understand our condition before we come to faith in Christ. The Bible tells us, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works…” (Col. 1:21). Before we became Christians, “we were enemies” of God and needed to be “reconciled to” Him “through the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:10). The prophet Isaiah tells us, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6). We need to be reconciled to God because of our sin. God does not need reconciling to us, we need reconciling to God. We turned away from God. He never moved. We moved. The people God created rebelled against their Creator and sinned so that death spread to all people because all sinned (Gen. 3:1-7; cf. Rom. 3:23; 5:12-14, 18a).

       The non-Christian is described in Ephesians when Paul writes, “we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Eph. 2:3). Because we were driven by our sinful lusts and desires, we were the objects of God’s “wrath” or displeasure before we became Christians. That is not a very likeable thought, is it?

       The apostle John writes, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36). The person who refuses to believe in Christ remains under God’s “wrath.” The non-believer remains God’s enemy.

       How does the Christian know he or she is justified or declared totally righteous before God? There is only one way to know this, and it is through faith in God’s promise. Justification before God is not a feeling or experience. It is a judicial, legal declaration from a holy God.

       Logan explains why he believes the breastplate of righteousness refers to the imputed righteousness of God: “The reason for this is that when it comes to standing against the accuser, Christ is the only Person Who is totally blameless. Satan could point at no sin in Christ’s life (John 14:30), whereas you and I have plenty of things in our lives Satan can accuse us of, even things we have been forgiven of by Christ.

       “That’s why we need to stand with Christ’s righteousness around us like a breastplate. When we stand in Christ, Satan has nothing to touch in us, nothing to accuse us of. The enemy and his underlings aren’t afraid of us, but they’re afraid of Christ.” [31] [emphasis added]

Imparted Righteousness

       The second type of righteousness we need to understand from the Scripture is the imparted righteousness of God. When we believed in Christ, the perfect righteousness of God was imputed or credited to our account in heaven. We were declared totally righteous in our standing before God.

       But when we believed in Jesus, God also imparted to us a new nature consisting of His righteousness and holiness. The apostle Paul writes, “20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph. 4:20-24). Paul is telling us that we are not to live the way we used to live before we became Christians (Eph. 4:17-19) because we are not the people we used to be (Eph. 4:20-24).

       We “have not so learned Christ” by engaging in the activities that characterized our lives before we became Christians (Eph. 4:20). To learn Christ, we must be in a relationship with Him whereby we “heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus” (Eph. 4:21). Remember, “truth” is God’s viewpoint on a matter and that is where we need to start.

       The clothes of the “old man” (who we were before Christ) need to be “put off” before we can put on our new wardrobe. These old clothes refer to our “former conduct” as unsaved people who grew “corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (Eph. 4:22). Lusts or sinful desires are “deceitful.” “They promise satisfaction but bring only an aftertaste of emptiness.” [32] Christians can permit their lusts or sinful desires to direct their decisions, leaving them defeated and discouraged.

       Paul is saying to take off those dirty clothes and put on the new clothes of the “new man” (our new nature) which include “true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). This new nature “was created according to God.” When we were born again through faith in Jesus, God deposited a righteous seed (new nature) within us called the “spirit” (Eph. 4:23). [33]

       The apostle John speaks of this new nature in his first epistle: “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” (I John 3:9). John had just stated that “the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (I John 3:8). The primary way that Christ destroys the work of the devil is to give believers (“whoever has been born of God”) a new sinless self (“His seed”) which “cannot sin” (I John 3:9). Since God cannot sin (I John 1:5), the divine nature He places inside His children cannot sin either. A sinless Parent cannot beget a sinful child. So, sin is never an act of the born-again nature inside us because it is incapable of sinning (I John 3:9) and because all sin is sourced in the devil (I John 3:8).

       Anderson writes, “His divine nature is passed down through His divine seed. The new birth places His seed in us. Just as my physical seed cannot produce something outside its genetic code, so God’s seed cannot produce something contrary to His nature, that is, sin. God’s nature cannot produce sin. God’s nature in us (His seed) cannot produce sin.” [34] [emphasis added]

       Many have wondered how this understanding can harmonize with John’s statement in I John 1:8 that Christians who say they have no sin are self-deceived. Hodges explains: “In 1:8 John warns, ‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.’ But in 3:9 he says, ‘whoever has been born of God does not sin.’ As total persons, believers do sin and can never claim to be free of it, but their ‘inward self’ that is regenerated does not sin.

       “In describing his struggle with sin Paul notes that two diverse impulses are at work. So he can say, ‘For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members’ (Rom 7:22-23; italics added). Previous to this he had concluded, ‘Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me’ (v 20; italics added). His conclusion is simple; ‘So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin’ (v 24). At the core of his being (in his inward man) he does not and cannot sin. The inward man (the ‘regenerate self’) is absolutely impervious to sin, fully enslaved to God’s will. If sin occurs, it is not the inward man who performs it.

       “Sin does exist in the Christian, but it is foreign and extraneous to his regenerated inner self, where Christ dwells in perfect holiness. Since Christ is eternal life (1 John 5:20), the one who possesses that life cannot sin because he is born of God. The divine seed (sperma) of that life remains (menō, ‘abides,’ ‘stays’) in him who is born again, making sin an impossibility at the level of his regenerate inward self.” [35] [emphasis added]

       How we see ourselves determines how we live. The apostle Paul wants his Christian readers, including you and me, to see themselves as a “new man” who possesses a new nature at the core of their being which is “created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24) so they will manifest this righteous nature by living righteously. This type of Christian is represented by the above image on the left. He or she is visibly manifesting God’s righteous nature inside them by doing what is right. However, this is not what gets them to heaven. We will only go to heaven by receiving God’s gift of salvation by grace through faith alone in Christ alone (Eph. 1:13-14; 2:8-9). But manifesting our true identity by practicing Christ’s righteous behavior will glorify God now on earth (Matt. 5:16) and reap eternal rewards in the future at the Judgment Seat of Christ (cf. I Cor. 3:8-15; 2 Cor. 5:10). 

       On the other hand, a Christian who is yielding to his or her sinful flesh (“deceitful lusts”) is hiding his or her new righteous and holy nature inside them. This type of believer is represented by the image on the right. He or she is concealing his or her righteous and holy born-again nature by not living righteously. Failure to manifest their new nature through their actions does not jeopardize their salvation, but it does disrupt their fellowship with God and other believers (I John 1:3-10; 2:9-11; et al.) and forfeit eternal rewards in the future (I Cor. 3:8-15). 

       So how does a Christian move from putting off the old man that is corrupted by deceitful lusts (Eph. 4:22) to putting on the new man that is characterized by God’s “righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24)? This leads to the third type of righteousness.

Implemented Righteousness [36] 

       When God makes our inside righteous at the moment of faith in Christ (imparted righteousness), He wants our outside to match (implemented righteousness). The way for a Christian to implement the righteous seed God has given him is to put off the clothes of the old man (Eph. 4:22) and put on the clothes of the new man (Eph. 4:24). How does he or she make that happen? The verse in between these two verses tells us how: “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” (Eph. 4:23).

       When speaking of unbelievers, Paul uses words like “mind,” “understanding,” and “ignorance” (Eph. 4:17-18). The common denominator is their thinking. Our lifestyle too is controlled by our thoughts. So, the key to taking off the old and putting on the new is to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” (Eph. 4:23). Instead of going back to the mindset we had before Christ, we must “put on the new man,” which requires a new way of thinking, a “renewed… mind.”  [37]

       The more we make our home in God’s Word (Psa. 119:9, 11; John 15:7; I John 2:14b), the more the Holy Spirit brings our thoughts in line with His own so that we think thoughts after Christ (I Cor. 2:10-16). The renewing of our minds involves God’s thoughts merging with ours so we can know and do His will (Rom. 12:1-2).

       What we are talking about here is the sanctification process which begins with our perfected and redeemed “spirit.” The Bible tells us, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Thess. 5:23).  Notice the word order: “spirit, soul, and body.” God’s truth informs us that He has deposited a righteous and holy seed in our “spirit” (Eph. 4:23-24; cf. I John 3:9). This is our new nature.

       Our “spirit” cannot receive any contaminated information because it has been sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14). Our “spirit” wants to lay hold of God’s truth. That is why Paul says, “I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.” (Rom. 7:22).  The “inward man” (Rom. 7:22) is the “new man” or new nature that is righteous and holy (Eph. 4:24). It craves the Word of God.

       Hence, when God’s truth says at the core of our being we were “created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24), our “spirit” snatches that truth up. As we continue to meditate on this truth from God, and our “spirit” takes it in, a release valve opens up. This release valve sends “righteousness” that is within our “spirit” out to our “soul.” Now our “soul” is becoming transformed into “righteousness,” not because our “body” has changed it, but because our “spirit” released “righteousness” into the “soul.” When the “soul” takes hold of this “righteousness” released by the “spirit,” it then tells the “body” it needs to think, speak, and act righteously. Since the “body” listens to the “soul,” and the “soul” now listens to the “spirit,” and the “spirit” listens to the truth of God’s Word, we end up being transformed into the “righteousness” of God.  

      Too many Christians are trying to manage “righteousness” by starting with the “body” instead of the “spirit.” They focus on behavior instead of belief. They work from the outside inward. This is backwards. We cannot fix ourselves.

       How many addicts have said, “I am not going to do that anymore”? That is not a bad thing to say, but it does not work because the addict does not have the power to stop his unwanted behavior. If he did have the power, he would not be addicted.   

       God wants us to start with the innermost part of our being, the “spirit.” God starts with the inside and works outward. Released righteousness makes us righteous in the heart and mind first, and then in our actions. That is how the breastplate of righteousness functions.

       If I told you I buried $1 million that is yours for the taking in your backyard, you would probably drop what you are doing right now and grab a shovel and run out into your backyard to start tearing it up. You are not going to answer your phone or check social media or change your clothes. You are going to streak out into your backyard and dig as deep and wide and for as long a time as it takes to uncover something of great value that has been buried deep down in your backyard. Every effort that you make to get to that $1 million will be worth it because it is so valuable. Once you dig it up, you can use it for so much more. [38]

       When we trusted Christ for His gift of salvation, God deposited deep down within our spirit all the righteousness that belongs to Jesus Christ. But we cannot benefit from that righteousness unless we are willing to go down there with God’s truth and dig it up. Then God can release His righteousness within our “spirit” and send it out into our “soul” which will send it to our “body,” transforming our “spirit, soul, and body” into the likeness of Jesus Christ. That is the breastplate of righteousness. It will guard our spiritual heart so it can pump God’s life throughout our “spirit, soul, and body.”

Conclusion

       How do we put on the breastplate of righteousness? The same way we are to put on all the pieces of God’s spiritual armor – by means of prayer. Paul concluded his teaching on the armor of God by inviting his readers to pray: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” (Eph. 6:18).

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for providing the breastplate of righteousness to guard my spiritual heart so it can pump Your life throughout my spirit, soul, and body. I praise You for declaring me to be totally righteous in Your sight apart from any good works I do when I believe in Jesus Christ. I praise You for freely crediting Jesus’ perfect righteousness to my account in heaven so Satan cannot successfully accuse me or condemn me of wrongdoing in Your courtroom. Thank You that my salvation does not rely on my good works, nor my ability to keep rules and regulations, but on Jesus alone Who died in my place on the cross and rose from the dead. I praise You for depositing deep down in my spirit all the righteousness that belongs to Jesus Christ. Help me to appropriate that righteousness by faith as I dig deep with Your Word of truth so my spirit can release Your righteousness to my soul, and my soul can release that righteousness to my body, transforming my spirit, soul and body into Jesus’ likeness. Please help me, I pray, to manifest Your righteous and holy nature by doing what is right in Your eyes so my heart is protected from the assaults of the Devil. I beg You to strengthen and protect the most vulnerable places in my life with Your righteousness.  In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.     

FOOTNOTES:  

[1] Tony Evan’s video message at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) entitled, “The Armor of God,” on youtube.com.

[2] Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2665.

[3] The first three verbs in Greek (perizōsamenoi… endysamenoi… hypodēsamenoi… ) are aorist middle participles which means they have already been put on by the soldier or Christian.  

[4] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2665.

[5] The Greek verb translated “taking…” (analabontes) is an aorist active participle, meaning the Christian is taking the shield of faith as needed and the last Greek verb translated “take…” (dexasthe) is an aorist middle imperative which is used of the last two pieces of armor and means for oneself to take them up as needed.

[6] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pp. 1820-1821.

[7] Adapted from Mark Bubeck’s video, “5. Belted Against Satan’s Belt: Ephesians 6 Series,” on the BRMinistry app.

[8] Tom Constable, Dr. Constable’s Notes on Ephesians, 2024 Edition, pg. 147 cites A. Skevington Wood, “Ephesians,” in Ephesians-Philemon Vol. 11 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary 12 vols., Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978), pg. 87.

[9] Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: Third Edition revised and edited by Frederick William Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000 Kindle Edition), pp. 463-464.

[10] Mark Bubeck’s video, “5. Belted Against Satan’s Belt: Ephesians 6 Series,” on the BRMinistry app.

[11] Adapted from Tony Evan’s video message entitled, “Breastplate of Righteousness,” on youtube.com

[12] Adapted from Ibid.

[13] Much of this section is adapted from Ibid., unless otherwise noted.

[14] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2000 Kindle Edition, pp. 247-248.

[15] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pg. 2417.

[16] Evans, video message entitled, “Breastplate of Righteousness,” on youtube.com.

[17] Much of this section is adapted from Ibid., unless otherwise noted.

[18] The following eleven paragraphs in this section are adapted from Bubeck, “5. Belted Against Satan’s Belt: Ephesians 6 Series,” on the BRMinistry app., unless otherwise noted

[19] See article entitled, “Can a Christian Commit Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?” at this LINK

[20] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2000 Kindle Edition, pg. 597.

[21] David R. Anderson, Position and Condition: An Exposition of the Book of Ephesians (Grace Theological Press, 2017 Kindle Edition), pp. 435-436.

[22] Ibid., pg. 436.

[23] See Zane C. Hodges, Grace in Eclipse: A Study on Eternal Rewards (Corinth, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2016), pp. 33-39.

[24] Ibid., pp. 33-42.

[25] Anderson, Position and Condition, 2017 Kindle Edition, pp. 436-437.

[26] Anderson, Free Grace Soteriology, 2018 Kindle Edition, pg. 8 cites Augustine, On the Spirit and the Letter, pg. 45.

[27] Ibid., pp. 8-9.

[28] Ibid., pg. 9.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Constable, Dr. Constable’s Notes on Romans, 2023 Edition, pg. 79 cites Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, 2 vols. (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, Scripture Press, 1989), Vol. 1, pg. 552.

[31] Jim Logan, Reclaiming Surrendered Ground (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), pg. 181.

[32] Anderson, Position and Condition, 2017 Kindle Edition, pg. 188.

[33] Evans, video message entitled, “Breastplate of Righteousness,” on youtube.com.

[34] David R. Anderson, Maximum Joy: I John – Relationship or Fellowship? (Grace Theology Press, 2013 Kindle Edition), pg. 159.

[35] Zane C. Hodges, “I John,” The Grace New Testament Commentary: Revised Edition, 2019 Kindle Edition, pp. 1884-1885.

[36] Much of this section is adapted from Evans, video message entitled, “Breastplate of Righteousness,” on youtube.com, unless otherwise noted.

[37] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, 2019 Kindle Edition, pp. 2653-2654.

[38] Adapted from Evans, video message entitled, “Breastplate of Righteousness,” on youtube.com.

John 1 – Part 3: “What is God Like?”

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

What is God like? Let’s see what some fifth graders said when their teacher at a Christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in some way to communicate ideas about God. God is like BAYER ASPIRIN. He works miracles. God is like a FORD. He’s got a better idea. God is like COKE. He’s the real thing. God is like HALLMARK CARDS. He cares enough to send His very best. God is like TIDE. He gets the stains out that others leave behind. God is like GENERAL ELECTRIC. He brings good things to life. God is like SEARS. He has everything. God is like ALKA-SELTZER. Try Him, you’ll like Him. God is like SCOTCH TAPE. You can’t see Him, but you know He’s there. God is like DELTA. He’s ready when you are. [1]

In John 1:14-18 we are going to see that God became a man to show us what He is like. In the first five verses of John, we saw that the Word, Jesus Christ, is our Creator God. Thus, when we look at Jesus, we are looking at our Creator God in human flesh. He made you and me to have a relationship with Him. So, what is God like?

GOD IS APPROACHABLE. 1:14a: John returns to the use of the “Word” [2] that he introduced in verse 1 when he writes, “And the Word became flesh.” The most amazing fact of history is that the eternal Logos, God Himself (1:1), voluntarily “became flesh” or a human being without ceasing to be God (1:14a). The word for “flesh” [3] here does not refer to humanity’s sinful flesh or desires (cf. Rom. 8:4-5; Gal. 5:16-17, 19-21), but to Jesus’ sinless human nature (cf. Rom. 1:3; 9:5; 2 Cor. 5:21; I Tim. 3:16; Heb. 2:14; 4:15; I Pet. 3:18). [4]

Unlike Adam and all his descendants before and after Christ who were born as sinners (Rom. 5:12; Ps. 51:5), Christ is the only Person to be born with a sinless human nature. The best explanation I have heard for this is that Jesus had a sinless Father in God the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20), whereas all other human beings had a sinful father. The sin nature seems to be passed on through the human father. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (cf. Rom. 5:18).Although Eve sinned first in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1-6), Adam is held accountable for sin’s entrance into the world.

The Bible also teaches that God visits “the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations” (Exod. 20:5; cf. Deut. 5:9). Generational sins are passed on through the fathers, not the mothers.This implies that the sin nature is transmitted through the fathers, not the mothers or both parents.

Hence, Christ possesses a sinless human nature because He was conceived by God the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary (Matt. 1:20).

When John says “the Word became flesh (1:14a), he is emphasizing that Christ did not merely “appear” like a man; He became an actual man (cf. Phil. 2:5-9). [5]

In John’s day there were false teachers who taught that God could not become a man because all human flesh is inherently evil, and God is inherently good or perfect. Therefore, Jesus only appeared to be a human being.

Swindoll explains: “In our day, the influence of naturalism has so permeated culture that we have trouble accepting the deity of Christ. In John’s day, most people had no problem accepting Christ’s deity. They were more troubled by His humanity. The influence of Plato permeated every aspect of religion and philosophy so that anything tangible came to be seen as inherently evil. The great hope of Greek philosophers was to escape the foul, obnoxious material realm in order to commune with the divine mind, which existed only in the realm of pure ideas. In life, they tried to deny the body as a means of connecting with what they conceived of as god. They saw death as the liberation of the soul (the good aspect of man) from the prison of the body (the evil aspect of man). So, naturally, they recoiled from the notion that God would become anything genuinely physical.

“To preserve the sinlessness of God, philosophers invented all kinds of myths to explain how Christ could appear human without actually having earthly material be a part of His nature. The most common, Docetism, suggested that He only seemed to be tangible, but was in fact a heavenly apparition. The so-called ‘Gnostic Gospels’ tell stories of how Jesus created the illusion of eating food while never actually digesting it or needing to relieve Himself.” [6]

When John states “the Word became flesh,” his choice of words were very offensive to the false teachers of his day. “Flesh” meant something inherently evil to them. In essence, John is saying that “The Word became meat.” [7]

When John says the eternal Word “dwelt among us” the word translated “dwelt” [8] means “to tabernacle, take up residence.” [9] Just as God’s presence dwelt among the Israelites in the tabernacle (cf. Exod. 25:8-9; 33:7, 11), so He lived among people in the Person of Jesus Christ. King Solomon thought it incredible that God would dwell on the earth (1 Kings 8:27), but that is precisely what He did in Jesus.

While the docetistic false teachers in John’s day were resistant to the truth of Christ’s tangible human nature, John skillfully refuted their heresies with great skill under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In his epistle he spoke of the Word of Life, Jesus Christ, as being “heard… seen with our eyes… looked upon, and our hands have handled.” (I John 1:1). Christ did not merely “appear “to be human. He became a tangible human being Who was “heard… seen…” and touched. To deny that Christ became tangible human flesh was “antichrist” and to be refuted (cf. I John 4:2-3).

“Conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary (see Matt. 1:20), the divine Son of God became a man. He is thus the God-Man—not half man and half God, but one Person with a fully divine nature and a fully human nature. He is deity poured into humanity. He is fully human, so He cried as an infant, but He is fully divine and gave life to His mother! He is fully human so He had to sleep, but He is fully divine and can raise the dead back to life. Our God fully experienced what it is to be human—yet without sinning (see Heb. 4:15). He faced hunger, pain, temptation, grief, hardship, and rejection. You face no category of human experience that your Savior has not endured.” [10]

Religions seek to know how we as humans can get to God. Yet the Bible tells us that God came to us. The Word became flesh. Why did God become a man? So, we could approach Him and trust Him.

A construction company was once building a road through some mountainous country, using dynamite to build a roadbed. Steve, who worked for the company, was placing the dynamite charges. One day as he was getting ready to detonate a charge, he noticed that several little chipmunks had come out of the underbrush, playing around the hole where he had installed the explosives. Steve, being a tenderhearted guy, didn’t want to see those little chipmunks blown to bits, so he began trying to shew the chipmunks away. Each time however, they just came right back to the location. His supervisor, Charlie, came out to see what was holding up the blasting. Steve, exasperated, explained that those chipmunks would not get out of the danger area. Charlie chuckled, and then used the incident to talk about Jesus Christ.

He explained to Steve that the only way one of them could communicate with those chipmunks, was if one of them became a chipmunk, and yet at the same time, kept all the characteristics of a man. [11] Chipmunks are afraid of humans because we are twenty times their size. But if you become a chipmunk, they would be able to trust you and relate to you, because you would be able to communicate the great danger caused by the dynamite. This is exactly what God had to do too – He became a man to communicate with the human race what God is really like and to warn them of the incredible danger facing them if they rejected Christ. If God came to us in the fullness of His glory, we would be too frightened of Him to trust Him like a chipmunk would be too scared to trust us.

Jesus became a human being so that you and I could relate to Him and He to us. Therefore, we are to trust Him at all times because He understands us. “Since we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin; Therefore, let us boldly come to the throne of grace.” (Heb. 4:15-16). He voluntarily became one of us so that you and I would believe that our Savior knows how we feel.

Perhaps you have viewed God as some distant impersonal force who does not care about you or your circumstances. You may say to yourself, “How could God let COVID-19 happen? I have lost my income, my health, and my friends! What kind of God is this?” Please understand that the God of the Bible is not some distant dictator who delights in punishing people.

Christian author Max Lucado writes, “From the funeral to the factory to the frustration of a demanding schedule, Jesus Christ understands. When you tell God that you’ve reached your limit, He knows what you mean. When you shake your head at impossible deadlines, He shakes His, too. When your plans are interrupted by people who have other plans, He nods in empathy. He has been there. He knows how you feel… Rejection? He felt it. Temptation? He knew it. Loneliness? He experienced it. Death? He tasted it. And stress? He could write a best-selling book about it. Why did He do it? One reason. So that when you hurt, you will go to Him… and let Him heal you.” [12]

GOD IS FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH. 1:14b: Now we are getting to the heart of this passage. John and the other disciples “beheld” Jesus’ “glory.” They were eyewitnesses to this.

“They saw His glory at the Mount of Transfiguration, in the signs Jesus did, and in His sinless life.” [13]

Christ’s glory was filled with “grace and truth.” Jesus maintained a perfect balance between these two attributes. Of all the phrases that God could have used to describe Jesus Christ, He chose “grace and truth.” “Grace “ [14] refers to “graciousness, favor, help, or goodwill.” [15] Theologians describe “grace” as God’s unmerited favor or getting what we do not deserve. We do not deserve eternal life, forgiveness, or salvation from hell, but Jesus Christ can freely offer this to us apart from any of our works because of His “grace” (John 4:10-14; Rom. 3:24; 4:4-5; 6:23b; 11:6; Ephes. 2:8-9). In the context, “grace” refers to the graciousness of Christ. [16]

The word for “truth” [17] means “truthfulness, dependability, uprightness in thought and deed, reality.” [18] “Truth” is the perfect standard of God’s holiness.Truth says there is a right way, a best way. Grace gives us the encouragement to get there.

In life, some things are true which makes other things false. We do reap what we sow. There are consequences to our actions. Truth is true. It is unbendable and unbreakable and unyielding. Jesus came full of truth. Every word that He spoke was truth. Christ never told a lie. Every action and every thought were true. When Satan came against Jesus tempting Him by perverting the Word of God just a little (Matt. 4:1-11), how did Jesus respond? “It is written in God’s Word. Here’s the truth.” He always countered falsehood with truth.

Near the end of His life before Pilate, Jesus said, “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37). Pilate said to Him, “What is truth” (John 18:37-38)? Then Pilate walked away. That was a big mistake, because the One Who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) was right in front of him. The One Who is and knows all truth is there. So, truth must be included in grace or grace is merely tolerance.

Truth without grace is just as destructive as grace without truth. Truth without grace is unbearable. Only the arrogant, proud hypocrite thinks all he needs is truth, because he thinks he has it all together. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, Jesus outlines the perfect life. In the middle of that sermon Jesus says, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48).  Jesus means what He says here. When I read the expectations of God on my life and I hear His call to be perfect, I say, “Lord I can’t do it. Have mercy on me a sinner, because I fall way too short. The bar is too high.” That’s the demand of truth all by itself and it overwhelms us. God says, “I didn’t just come in truth, I came in grace.”

Why are grace and truth so important? As humans, we tend to err on one side or the other of grace and truth. Grace without truth is wishy washy. It is a farce. It is called tolerance. There are no absolutes… no right or wrong… no consequences for our actions. Anything goes, resulting in lives without direction. There is nothing we can know for sure which is tolerance. For grace to be real, it must be based on truth.

For example, grace without truth is like taking your car to the body shop to get rid of the rust. You get the car back and it looks great. But a year later the rust appears again. The mechanic didn’t remove the rust, he just covered it up to make it look good. Eventually, the rust keeps coming back. That’s how it is when you try to ignore truth. You can ignore truth for a while, but it keeps coming back. I can ignore the law of gravity and step off a cliff – and the law of gravity still applies to me. It doesn’t matter what you believe in that case. If you ignore it, it bites you.

Without grace the shepherd says, “That stupid sheep is the one who wandered away. He is on his own now.” But grace causes him to leave the ninety-nine to find that sheep and bring him home so there is rejoicing (Luke 15:1-7).

Without grace the prodigal son stays in the pig pen and never comes home because he knows there is no forgiveness. He’s gone too far without grace. But grace sets him on the road home (Luke 15:11-32).

Without grace the truth demands that Peter who denied Jesus three times be done being an apostle. But Jesus comes to him in grace and says, “Feed My sheep. I’m not done with you yet Peter” (John 21:15-19).

Without grace the wedding feast is over because the family should have planned better, so they did not run out of wine. But Jesus stepped in with grace and transformed the water into wine (John 2:1-11).

Without grace the Samaritan woman, who had been married five times and divorced and was now living with a man who was not her husband, wouldn’t have even received a look much less a word from Jesus (John 4:1-26). But He spoke to her because of His grace, and her life was transformed.

Without grace, Matthew, the tax collector who was ripping everyone off, never gets called to follow Jesus. But Jesus comes to Him and says, “Follow Me” (Matt. 9:9-13).

Without grace, the thief on the cross dies in his sin and goes to hell. But with grace, Jesus says, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:39-43).

Praise God that Jesus came not just full of truth, but full of grace. The truth is as a Christian, you are not supposed to worry. But I thank God for His grace because I am so prone to worry.

The truth is God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16), but God comes to us in our brokenness and heals us.

The truth is sexual impurity degrades our bodies (I Cor. 6:12-20), but grace comes in and washes us clean.

The truth is that God calls homosexual and lesbian activity an abomination (Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Rom. 1:26-27), but God comes in with His grace and changes people.

The truth is God detests gossip and slander (Prov. 6:14, 19; 10:18;). But God comes in with His grace and washes us clean.          

The truth is our addictions and yielding to temptations reveal that we don’t have the faith that we should, but God with His grace gives us that strength.

The truth is our attachment to material things is idolatry. But God comes in with His grace and rescues us from the power of things.

 The truth is we should never get depressed as Christians – we should choose the joy of the Lord. But many of us struggle with this. But God comes in with His grace and lifts us up. You can take truths and swing them like a sword and do damage. But with grace we see God bring healing.

Do you remember the woman in John 8? The religious leaders were ready to stone her because the law (the truth) said you should (cf. Lev. 20:10). She was caught in the act of adultery, and they came to Jesus saying, “The law says she should die. What do you say, Jesus?” For a few moments, Jesus wrote on the ground, while they pestered Him. Then Jesus stood up and looked them in the eye and said, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first” (John 8:7).One by one, starting with the oldest, they all walked away. Jesus kept writing on the ground.

After a while there was no one left except Jesus and the woman. Jesus looked up at her and said, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” (John 8:10). She said, “No one, Lord” (John 8:11a). Here’s the thing. On that day, there was somebody there Who could condemn her… Who could have thrown the first stone… there was someone Who was sinless – Jesus (cf. John 18:38b; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; I Peter 3:18). He could have done it. Instead, Christ said to her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more” (John 8:11b). That is grace and truth.

Grace and truth. Don’t keep living like that. That is a path of destruction. Here is the grace. Here is a new start for you. And here is the truth – there is a better way. I love what Max Lucado says: “God loves you just the way you are [that’s grace], but He refuses to leave you there [that’s truth].“ [19]

Truth expresses God’s righteous character and demands punishment for all our sins (Rom. 3:9-23). Jesus Christ was a perfect display of God’s truth. He is “the truth” (John 14:6). He was perfect and sinless (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; I Pet. 3:18). Even the political leaders could “find no fault in Him at all” (John 18:38; cf. Luke 23:4, 14-15, 22; John 19:4, 6). God’s judgment of sin fell on Jesus instead of us when He died on the cross in our place (Is. 53:5-6; Matt. 27:45-56; Rom. 5:8; I Cor. 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; I Peter 3:18). That is truth.

But grace is seen while Jesus was hanging on the cross. After His enemies physically and verbally abused Him, and nailed Him to a cross, Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). Did they deserve Christ’s forgiveness. No, none of us do. But grace offers forgiveness freely. Jesus also said to the thief hanging next to Him, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Without grace, the thief on that cross dies in his sin and goes to hell.

Christ is full of grace and truth. He has the perfect ability to tell us the awful truth about ourselves, while holding us up by His grace. Because He is full of truth, He was the perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sin (2 Cor. 5:21; I Pet. 3:18). Because He is full of grace, you can come to Him just as you are, without having to clean up your life first. And because He is full of truth, you can come in complete confidence knowing that He will keep His promise to forgive you and grant you eternal life the moment you believe in Him. Jesus promised, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47).

That is grace and that’s truth. Jesus was full of both. Therefore, we are to seek to be gracious and truthful with one another (Ephes. 4:15). We are called to forgive others as Christ has forgiven us (Ephes. 4:32; Col. 3:13). Is there someone in your life that needs not just truth, but grace? Something has come between you and your relationship? They need to hear from you that the past is gone. It has been wiped out. That is the power of grace.

We also see that GOD IS ETERNAL. In addition to the apostle John’s and other disciples’ witness of Jesus,John now records the testimony of John the Baptist (1:15-18). [20]1:15: We are told that John the Baptist “bore witness” of Jesus. The Greek word translated “bore witness” martureō [21] is used in a courtroom setting (see comments on 1:7). And it means “to testify, give evidence, or speak the truth.” [22]

When John the Baptist testifies about Jesus, he is not speaking softly. The Bible says he “cried out.” The Greek word translated “cried out” [23] is imitative of a raven’s piercing cry or shriek. [24] It expresses an urgent scream or shout from someone who has deep emotions about their message. John was extremely passionate regarding what he was about to say. Why? Because he understood Who Jesus is and he also understood his purpose. John the Baptist was “sent from God… to bear witness of the Light,” Jesus Christ (John 1:6-7; 8:12). He understood his identity as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’” (John 1:23; cf. Is. 40:3). John’s purpose was to prepare the people of Israel “that all through him might believe” in their coming Messiah-God for His gift of everlasting life (John 1:7b; 3:36; cf. Acts 19:4). John’s voice was temporary, but his message was eternal.

The Baptist’s message centered around an eternal Person. He cried out, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me’” (1:15b). The word translated “preferred” [25] denotes having greater dignity or rank than another (cf. Gen. 48:20; John 1:30). [26]

 In Bible times, chronological priority meant superiority (those who were born first were considered superior). John is saying that Jesus is superior to him because Christ came before him. John the Baptist recognized the preexistence of the Word, Jesus Christ, as God (John 1:1-2). Even though John the Baptist was born six months prior to Jesus (Luke 1:26, 36), John says “He was before me.”How could John the Baptist say this? He could say this because Jesus was always before John in His preexistent state as God.

In the Old Testament, the Lord God of the universe said, “This is what the Lord says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: ‘I am the first and I am the last; apart from Me there is no God’” (Is. 44:6; cf. 41:4; 48:12). The God of the universe has no beginning and no end because He is eternal. This is what makes Him uniquely God.

In the last book of the Bible, the exalted Lord Jesus Christ said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8). The apostle John shares Jesus’ testimony, “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last’” (Rev. 1:17; cf. 1:13). At the end of the Book of Revelation the exalted Lord Jesus Christ said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Rev. 22:13). Make no mistake, the Lord God of the Old Testament is the same as the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. This is John the Baptist’s message. He is acknowledging Jesus’ superiority as the eternal God with no beginning and no end when He says, “He was before me” (1:15b).

When the Coronavirus was in the news a lot, all of us are confronted with the frailty of humanity. None of us are promised life on earth tomorrow. God used COVID-19 to persuade people to think about what is eternal.

Since Jesus has no beginning and no end, we are to invest our lives in what lasts. What two things on this planet last for eternity? It is not your bank account… cell phone… video games… house… car… job… or your achievements. I have done a lot of funerals, and I have never seen anyone pull a U-Haul behind a hearse. What lasts forever on earth is people (Matt. 25:46) and the Word of God (I Pet. 1:23-24). We have an incredible opportunity to invest in both by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to the unsaved (Mark 16:15) and then training those who believe in Christ through the discipleship process (Matt. 28:19-20).             

With whom are you sharing the gospel and training in discipleship? If we are not evangelizing and then discipling those who believe the gospel, we are failing to invest our lives in what is lasting. But this need not continue. Today, you can decide to invest your life in what lasts forever. Ask God to show you whom He wants you to disciple or be discipled by. He enjoys answering that prayer.

1:16:  If John the Baptist is still speaking here, then the “we”refers to all Israelites. The phrase “grace for grace” [27] means “grace after grace.”[28]Like the waves along a beach, one wave of grace after another has been repeatedly manifested in Israel’s history. Everything the nation of Israel had received was based on the grace of Jesus Christ. Israel’s existence today (and ours) is a testimony of God’s grace.

An example of God’s grace in Israel’s history is seen the next verse. 1:17a: When the law was given through Moses, Israel stood in great need of God’s grace. While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Law from God, Israel was down below sinning against the Lord by making a golden calf to worship (Exod. 32:1-6). For such a sin, the Law required only condemnation and judgment. Hence, God’s anger burned against His people (Exod. 32:7-10). But Moses prayed to God and God spared the nation by His grace (Exod. 32:14). A purifying judgment ensued (Exod. 32:15-29).

Moses then sought reassurance that God would forgive and accept the nation as His own. So “the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation’” (Exod. 34:6-7). We see a definite clash between God’s grace and truth here. How can God forgive “iniquity and transgression and sin” and yet “by no means clearing the guilty?” The solution is finally found in Jesus Christ.       

1:17b: Through Christ and His sacrifice as the Lamb of God, the dilemma is resolved. Truth expresses God’s righteous character and demands punishment for our sins. Christ was a perfect display of God’s truth. He was perfect and sinless. God’s judgment fell on Jesus instead of us. Grace is seen because of Christ’s death. We can cross over to God by faith in Jesus. God is now free to be gracious to all who receive that grace by faith in Christ.

Out of the “fullness” of His grace, Jesus blesses us with one wave of grace after another (John 1:16). One wave of grace is constantly replaced by a new one each day. “Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits.” (Psalm 68:19). Although we may be feeling bombarded with a multitude of challenges these days, God still has an endless variety of ways to bless us.

He may bless us with a friendly smile from a worker at a drive through window or from someone standing in line at a bus stop. And the truth of the matter is if we would smile more, we will encounter more people who are smiling back at us. Jesus’ grace also enriches our lives with natural beauty all around us. It may be in the form of a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day or blossoms on a flowering tree. In the morning it may be a bird’s beautiful song or in the evening it may be the splendor of the moon and the stars. All of God’s creation is there for us to enjoy.

When I look back on my life, the one word that stands out to me is “grace.” By God’s grace He has brought me through disappointment and pain, some of which was caused by others and much of which I brought on myself. At the age of nineteen, by His grace the Lord Jesus saved me from the penalty of all my sins and gave me everlasting life the moment I believed in Him. By His grace I was enabled to serve Him for over three decades. And by His grace He will lead me forward one day at a time.

1:18: John begins by saying, “No one has seen God at any time” (1:18a). You may wonder, “How can this be true when the Bible speaks of people seeing God?” (e.g., Exod. 33:21-23; Isa. 6:1-5; Rev. 1:10-18). Those encounters with God did not reveal the fullness of His glory or His unveiled divine essence. If people saw God’s unveiled glory or divine essence, they would not live (cf. Exod. 33:20).

The only One Who can and has seen God in the fullness of His glory and divine essence without dying, is His Son, Jesus Christ (John 6:46). The reason Jesus could do this is because He also is God. He has the same divine nature as God the Father. For example, when people say of a man named Clarence Smith, “He is the son of John Smith,” they are acknowledging that he has the same human nature as his father. Likewise, when the Bible says that Jesus is “the Son of God” (John 20:31), it is affirming that Jesus has the same divine nature as His Father in heaven.

Therefore, we can discover what God is like by knowing His “only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father” (1:18b). The phrase “only begotten Son” does not mean Jesus had a beginning like a baby that is birthed by his parents, as many false religions teach today. The compound Greek word translated “only begotten” is monogenḗs, which literally means “one (monos) of a kind (genos).” [29] Jesus Christ is the only One of His kind. He is fully God (John 1:1-3) and fully Man (John 1:14). There has never been anyone like Him before or since. This is the message of the gospel of John.

The writer of this gospel, the apostle John, goes to great lengths to show Jesus’ deity (John 1:1, 34, 49; 5:16-47; 6:69; 8:57-59; 10:30-33; 11:27; 20:28; et. al). Jesus was unlike any other Person who has walked on this earth. In the Old Testament, the phrase “I Am” is how God identified Himself to Moses at the burning bush (Exod. 3:13-14). “I Am” is also how Jesus identified Himself to the people of Israel. He makes several “I AM” statements in the gospel of John: “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), “I am the door” (John 10:9), “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:14), “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25), “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6), “I am the true Vine” (15:1). Each one of these staggering statements attested to the fact that Jesus was and is God.

Jesus also claimed to be equal with God and to be God Himself (John 5:17-18; John 10:10-33). This is why His enemies wanted to kill Jesus for blasphemy (Lev. 20:10; cf. John 5:18; 8:59; 10:31-33; 11:8). For example, when Jesus said, “He and the Father are one” (John 10:30), the Jews understood Him to claim to be God. They said, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God” (John 10:33).

Did Muhammed, the founder of Islam, Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, or Charles Taze Russell, the founder of Jehovah Witnesses, claim to be equal with God? Jesus Christ not only claimed to be God, He proved He was God through His works (John 1-12), the greatest of which was His resurrection from the dead (John 20:1-18; cf. Romans 1:3-4)! Hallelujah, brothers and sisters in Christ! What a precious Lord and Savior we have in Jesus!

John also goes to great lengths to show Jesus’ humanity (John 1:14; 4:6; 11:35; 12:27; 19:28; et. al). Jesus had brothers and sisters like you and me (John 2:12; 7:3, 5; cf: Mark 6:3). Christ ate food and got thirsty just like you and me (John 19:28; 21:12, 15; cf. Matt. 9:11; 11:19; Mark 2:16; Luke 7:34). He experienced physical fatigue and even slept (John 4:6; cf. Matt. 8:24; Mark 4:38; Luke 8:23). Why? He became a man without ceasing to be God so He could understand what it is like for you and me to have family, food, and fatigue. The God of the Bible is not some distant uncaring deity like the religions of the world. He understands our needs and He came to earth to meet our most fundamental needs to be seen, safe, soothed, and secure.

When John says that Jesus was “in the bosom of the Father” (1:18b), he is referring to Christ’s very close and intimate relationship with God the Father. The word “bosom” [30] refers to the upper part of the chest where a garment naturally folded to form a pocket. [31] The picture here is that of a son resting his head on the chest of his father, experiencing a very close and intimate relationship with him. Jesus had the closest and most intimate relationship with God the Father. He knows the heart of God the Father better than anyone because His head often rested upon His Father’s chest in eternity past.

Who better to tell others what a Person is like than the One who is closest to that Person and has known Him the longest in an intimate relationship!?! There is no one more qualified to tell us what God is like than the only begotten Son of God who has known God the Father forever in the closest of relationships with Him.

This is why John then says, “He has declared Him” (1:18c). The word “declared” [32] is where we get our English words, “exegete” and “exegesis” from. It means to “set forth in great detail, to expound” [33] or “to lead out, to draw out in narrative, to recount.” [34] In seminary, we learned to “exegete” or explain God’s Word, the Bible. We were taught to “read out” of the Bible God’s intended meaning through a grammatical, historical, and literal interpretation instead of “reading into” the Bible our own biases and assumptions.

God the Son, Jesus Christ, has “exegeted” or “set forth in great deal” what God the Father is like. Jesus is more qualified than anyone else to explain what God the Father is like because He, being God, knows God the Father longer and more intimately than anyone else.

For some of you reading this, it may be very difficult for you to perceive God as your Father because you have been deeply wounded by your own earthly father through his absence or even his abuse towards you. You may detest the thought of God being a Father because your own earthly father caused you a lot of pain. Hence, you want nothing to do with fathers.

Please understand that God the Father is nothing like your absent or abusive father on earth. God wants you to know Him for Who He truly is. And there is no one more qualified to reveal God the Father to you than Jesus Christ.

Therefore, Jesus said, “He who sees Me sees Him [the Father] who sent Me” (John 12:45). He also said, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him” (John 14:7). Christ said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9b) because Jesus is the perfect reflection of the Father.

If you want to know God the Father, get to know His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, because He is God in human flesh (John 1:1, 14; Tit. 2:13; I Tim. 3:16; Heb. 1:8; I John 5:20). You can begin a relationship with God the Son and God the Father through faith. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).

To believe in the Father Who sent Jesus is the same as believing in Jesus because Christ is the perfect reflection of the Father, being God Himself. Therefore, Jesus could say, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me” (John 12:44).

Jesus said, “he who hears My word and believes…” (John 5:24a). Have you heard Jesus’ promise of everlasting life and believed it? If so, Jesus guarantees the person who has heard and believed that he now “has [present tense] everlasting life” (John 5:24b). You do not have to wait until you die to experience everlasting life. If you have heard Jesus’ promise of everlasting life (John 3:16) and believed it, you can now experience His forever life every day of your life on earth and beyond!!!

Christ also guarantees to the one who has heard and believed His promise of eternal life that he “shall not [future tense] come into judgment” for his sins in the future (John 5:24c). Why?

Because Jesus was judged on the cross for all our sins when He died, and God the Father was satisfied with Jesus’ full payment for our sins (John 19:30; I John 2:2). Therefore, we will never be eternally punished for our sins if we have heard and believed Jesus’ promise of everlasting life.

Lastly, Jesus promises that the one who has heard and believed His promise of everlasting life “has passed [past tense] from death into life” (John 5:24d). This means that eternal death is behind you, not ahead of you. It is past, not present or future. You are now in the sphere of “life” or relationship with God. When God looks at our life after we believe in Christ, what does He see? He sees only the blood of His Son and His goodness in our lives (Ephes. 1:7; Rev. 1:5; 12:11). In the sphere of “life,” God has no charge against the believer (Rom. 8:33). The believer is “justified” (“declared totally righteous”) of all things based on his or her faith in Christ (Rom. 4:5). All our sin has been covered by the goodness of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). We are seen by God as completely holy and perfect because of His grace (Ephes. 1:4). That is why God can let us into His heaven when we die if we have believed in Christ as our Savior.

We can know what God is like by looking at Jesus. He came to make the Father known. Christ is full of grace and truth. He has the perfect ability to tell us the awful truth about ourselves, while holding us up by His grace. Because He is full of truth, He was the perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sin. Because He is full of grace, you can come to Him just as you are, without having to clean up your life first. And because He is full of truth, you can come in complete confidence knowing that He will keep His promise to forgive you and grant you eternal life the moment you believe in Him. Jesus promised, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47). Do you believe this?

If someone asks you, “What is God like?” Encourage them to get to know Jesus Christ because to know Him is to know God since Jesus is fully God.

Prayer: Precious Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to earth to explain what God the Father is like so we may have a close and intimate relationship with Him and You. Please help us to see the Father as full of grace and truth like You, Lord. Renew our minds so we may see You both as You truly are – abounding in goodness, grace, love, mercy, and truth. Use us to point the unsaved to You by reflecting Your grace by being gracious to them and Your truth by being truthful with them. May those without eternal life be convinced that Your grace and truth guarantees them everlasting life the moment they believe in You alone, Lord Jesus. Please bring healing to those who have been deeply wounded by their earthly fathers or father figures so they may approach our Father in heaven as a good good Father who infinitely and unconditionally loves them. In Your mighty name we pray, Lord Jesus. Amen.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] http://www.christianforumsite.com/threads/kids-communicate-ideas-about-god.5430/.

[2] Logos

[3] sarx

[4] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pp. 914-16; cf. Constable, Dr. Constable’s Notes on John, pp. 36-37 cites Lewis S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, 1:382-96, 3:33-34, for discussions of Christ’s hypostatic union (the union of His divine and human natures in the Incarnation).

[5] Blum, The Bible Knowledge Commentary Gospels, Kindle Edition, pg. 546.

[6] Swindoll, Insights on John, pp. 25-26.

[7] Ibid., pg. 26.

[8] skēnoō

[9] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg. 929.

[10] Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, pg. 2198.

[11] Haddon Robinson, Larry Moyer, Michael Cocoris, Nancy Hardin, Eight Vital Relationships for the Growing Christian (Dallas: EvanTell, Inc., 1982), Chapter 2, pg. 6. 

[12] Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm: A Day in the Life of Jesus, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1991), pp. 16-18.

[13] Wilkin, The Grace New Testament Commentary, Kindle Edition, pg. 180.

[14] charitos

[15] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pp. 1079-1080.

[16] Constable, Dr. Constable’s Notes on John, pg. 40.

[17] alētheias

[18] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pp. 42-43.

[19] https://maxlucado.com/products/just-like-jesus/.

[20] Zane C. Hodges, “Grace after Grace—John 1:16,” Bibliotheca Sacra 135:537 (January- March 1978):34-45.

[21] martureō

[22] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pp. 617-618.

[23] krazō

[24] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pp. 563-564.

[25] emprosthen

[26] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg. 325.

[27] charin anti charitos

[28] Constable, Dr. Constable’s Notes on John, pg. 42 cites those who hold to this view: F. F. Bruce, The Gospel of John: Introduction, Exposition and Notes (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983), pg. 42; Morris, The Gospel According to John, pg. 98; Hodges, “Grace after Grace” Bibliotheca Sacra, pp. 34-45; see also Robertson, A. T. Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament, Kindle Location 50210 to 50228.  

[29] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg. 658.

[30] kolpos

[31] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pp. 556-557.

[32] exēgēsato

[33] Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg. 349.

[34] Robertson, A. T. Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament, Kindle Location 50363.