The Bread of Life (John 6)
Jesus had just fed a crowd of five thousand people with five
loaves of bread and two fish, and there were even leftovers after everyone had
had their fill. The next day the crowds went looking for Jesus. When they saw
Jesus they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but
because you ate your fill of the loaves.”
Then Jesus went on to talk with them about spiritual food
that endures to eternal life, which Jesus said he would give to them. Then he
told them that he was the bread of life. He said, “I am the living bread that
came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And
the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
John 6:53-57
“So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. The one feeding on my flesh and drinking my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. The one feeding on my flesh and drinking my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one feeding on me, he also will live because of me.’”
Eating and Drinking
So, what was Jesus saying here? Jesus made it clear that he
was not talking about physical food which perishes, but spiritual food which
endures to eternal life, which he would give them, and he did.
He gave his body and his blood for us on that cross that we
might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, that we would
be delivered from our slavery to sin so that we might now become slaves of God
and of his righteousness. And He shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us
back for God so we would now honor God with our lives (1 Pet 2:24; Rom 6:1-23;
1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15).
And the way in which we receive the eternal life he talked
about is if we partake with him in his death to sin and we are raised with him
to newness of life in him, and we now walk (in conduct, in practice) according
to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17).
For, as followers of Jesus we partake with him in his
suffering, and that is what he was talking about. But this is not a one-time
thing we do, but we must be feeding on him and his word, and we must daily be
denying self and dying with him to sin and walking in obedience to his
commands. This is the crucified life that we, as his followers, are to live, by
his grace (Lu 9:23-26).
Unless You Eat
Our salvation from sin is conditional on us doing what our Lord
Jesus says we must do. If we do not partake (participate) with him in his death
to sin and in living to him and to his righteousness, not just once, but as a
matter of life course, we have no life in us. We do not have eternal life with
God (Lu 9:23-26; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10).
Nonetheless, the adulterous church of today is following
after the idolatrous and the adulterous lovers of intoxication to sin who are
living in self-indulgence, and who are going the way of the flesh and not the
way of the Spirit. The adulterous church is following after hypocritical liars
who are leading them in a way that is contrary to the gospel that Jesus taught.
For, these hypocritical liars (wolves in sheep’s clothing)
are leading them to follow a gospel which is not the true gospel, but which is
a cheap substitute for the true gospel of grace. And it is filled with filth,
not with righteousness, for it makes no demands for dying with Christ to sin or
for living to Christ and to his righteousness or for walks of obedience to our
Lord.
So, it does not lead people on a path of righteousness but
on a path of self-indulgence, sinful practices, selfishness, godlessness,
wickedness, idolatry, adultery, lies, hypocrisy, and worldliness. Those who buy
into this “cheap grace gospel” do not honor Christ as Lord but feel they have the
right to keep sinning since they believe Jesus forgave all their sin.
They are being taught that obedience to the Lord, and
submission to his will and purpose for our lives, and forsaking our sins is
works-based salvation. And since the Scriptures teach that is by God’s grace,
through faith, that we are saved from our sins, and this is not of ourselves,
but it is a gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast, they reject the
true gospel, because they have been convinced that obeying the Lord is trying
to earn salvation.
But many are believing the lies because they want to believe
the lies, because the lies give them permission to remain in their sinful
addictions without guilt and without punishment while they are being promised
forgiveness of sins, Jesus as their Lord, and heaven as their eternal home.
But Jesus said if anyone would come after him, he must deny
self and take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (walk
in obedience to) him and his commands. Paul taught the same when we he said
that if we walk according to the flesh, we will die in our sins, but if by the
Spirit we are putting to death the misdeeds of the flesh, then we will live
(Rom 8:1-17).
So, please know that our salvation from sin is conditional
upon us walking in obedience to our Lord, not in absolute perfection, but as a
matter of practice, and that if we don’t walk in obedience to him, but we
remain walking in sin, doing what we want to do habitually and deliberately, in
disobedience to our Lord, we will not inherit eternal life with God.
Near
the Cross
Hymn
lyrics by Fanny J. Crosby, 1869
Music
by William H. Doane, 1869
Jesus, keep me near the cross;
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary's mountain.
Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.
Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day
With its shadow o'er me.
In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
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