You search the Scriptures...

John 5:24-47 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

²⁵ Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; ²⁷ and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.²⁸ Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, ²⁹ and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

³⁰ “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

³¹ “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. ³² There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.

Witness of John

³³ You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. ³⁴ But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.³⁵ He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

Witness of Works

³⁶ But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.

Witness of the Father

³⁷ And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. ³⁸ You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.

Witness of the Scripture

³⁹ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; ⁴⁰ and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. ⁴¹ I do not receive glory from men; ⁴² but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. ⁴³ I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

In today’s text Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”     It is not popular today, either in our society or in much of the church, to speak about judgment. Yet, throughout the Bible, in both the old and new testaments, it is clear that there is and will be a judgment against sin and evil. Jesus says: “an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”  It was no different then and it is no different now than when God first said in Deuteronomy 30:15-20:  “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”  Then as now, we are given a choice, but if we do not know and understand the choices and their consequences, how can we choose?

In today’s text Jesus says: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;  and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”  Sadly today, most often when people search the scriptures it is to find what is pleasing to them. It is to find the appropriate promise for their problem; to claim the blessings without regard to the conditions and consequences. Many today focus on the freedom we have in Christ because of grace. They say we are free because of the grace of God. In John 8:31-32, Jesus says:  “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”   The truth is, that it is knowing the truth, choosing to continue in His word that sets us free. Grace does not free us to do as we please. Grace does not eliminate judgment, rather grace frees us because by grace we are judged by the very one who died for us. We are judged by His work on the cross rather than by our own deeds.  Jesus says:  “The works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”  Surely the many miracles that Jesus performed, testify that He was indeed sent by the Father. But, the greatest work and the greatest testimony is that Jesus gave His life so that we could live. If we choose though not to accept the work of the cross, then we choose judgment over grace. In John 3:16-17 Jesus says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”  Jesus continues though saying:  “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”   Grace has not eliminated judgment. Rather, we have a choice whether to be judged by grace or by our deeds. Choosing grace does not free us to live as we please. Choosing grace lets us live in obedience so that we please God.

There is a judgment and it is just. The greatest gift of God is that we can choose how we are judged, either by grace abiding in Christ and obeying His word, or by our own works. Search the scriptures. Choose grace. Keep His word.   Jesus says:  “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for Your love and Your grace. Thank You for the truth that grace sets us free, not to live as we please, but to live to please You .  Amen.