Everyone Believing in Him

John 3:16 BLB

 

“For God so loved the world that He gave the only begotten Son, so that everyone believing in Him should not perish, but should have eternal life.”

 

The Only Begotten Son

 

The only begotten Son is the Son of God, God the Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. God the Father loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only begotten Son to die on a cross for our sins so that we might be delivered out of our slavery to sin and now become slaves of righteousness.

 

Jesus Christ died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. And He shed his blood for us to buy us back for God so we would now honor God with our lives.

 

Believing in Jesus Christ is always present tense, not past tense. We don’t “get saved,” then we live our lives, and one day we go to heaven when we die. We are delivered from bondage to sin so that we can walk (in conduct) no longer according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

 

Faith in Jesus Christ is not of ourselves, it is a gift of God, not of our fleshly works lest any of us should boast that we earned our own salvation. Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our faith, and we can only come to faith in Jesus Christ because God the Father first draws us to Christ.

 

We must be persuaded of God to believe in Jesus, and this persuasion, because it is of God, is to his righteousness and holiness, of our sinfulness, of our need to be delivered from our bondage to sin, and of our need to submit to Christ as Lord, to obey him, and to leave our sins behind us.

 

Believing in Jesus, thus, submits to his will for our lives. The truth that is in Christ Jesus teaches us that we must put off our old self which belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:17-24).

 

When we believe in Jesus, we die with him to sin that we may walk in newness of life in him. Our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Now sin should no longer have dominion over our lives.

 

Continuing in Sin

 

Should we then continue living in sin now that Jesus has set us free? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

 

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.

 

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For we will all reap what we sow. If we sow to please the flesh, we will reap destruction, but if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life with God.

 

So, if we continue living in deliberate, habitual, and premeditated sin against our Lord, and righteousness is not what we practice, we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God no matter what prayer we prayed at one time in our lives or what verbal confession we made of Jesus as Lord.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph 4:1-16; Jn 6:44; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2]

 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

 

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

 

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

 

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

 

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