Search the Scriptures Daily Program #1401d:
Gary :
If you have questions for Dave and Tom to address in a future Contending for the Faith, stay tuned. We’ll let you know where to send them at the end of the program. You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. We turn now to our final segment:
UNDERSTANDING THE SCRIPTURES
Continuing now with our exploration of the doctrine of salvation, here again are Dave and Tom:
T. A. McMahon:
We are going through the gospel of John and again, our emphasis has been on the gospel, the salvation that we have in Christ and this book of the Bible is really— they are all wonderful— but this one particularly speaks to what salvation is which we need to accept by faith. Dave, let’s pick up with verse 31, John 3:31 , “He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony. He that hath received his testimony set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.” Dave, that’s a little bit difficult to understand. I suppose we could break it down. What is the Lord saying?
Dave Hunt:
Well, we just had in preceding verses a controversy. Someone has come to John and said that, the one to whom you bore witness, he’s baptizing and more people come to him. And John has said, He must increase and I must decrease and now he is explaining about Jesus, that He’s from above, He’s above all. He that is of the earth is earthly, speaketh of the earth, He that cometh from heaven is above all. In other words, Jesus is coming with a perspective that no human being has, it’s impossible. As He said to Nicodemus earlier in this chapter: “If I have told you of earthly things and you believe not”—and, of course, He is the Creator so He could tell you about earthly things that we wouldn’t understand. He could unfold the innermost depth of the atom and so forth, and He says, “How can you understand if I tell you of heavenly things?” So, Jesus is coming with a heavenly perspective. Now, what He has seen and heard, in other words what He knows from the Father, from eternity past, He is God, He is testifying of this and nobody receives His testimony. But, if you do receive His testimony, you then, are in agreement that God is true. As the scripture says, “Let God be true and every man a liar.” In other words, who is the authority? Is God the authority or is man the authority? We just talked about that earlier. Are these scholars going to sit around and decide what God really might have said, or what Jesus did or didn’t do or do we take the words of Jesus for what they really are? The only way you can escape from this is to try to say, well, that’s not what He really said. So, “…for whom, (verse 34), whom God has sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.” God doesn’t give the Spirit to Him at all, He is God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one and the same. “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,” the scripture says. So, it’s not as though this is a mere man and God is giving Him some wisdom, you know.
T. A. McMahon:
Right. That’s what it means by not by measure. This is God the Spirit as well.
Dave Hunt:
That’s right. He is speaking. “The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand.” So, you couldn’t get a higher authority is what He is saying, than Jesus himself.
T. A. McMahon:
Dave, we have talked before about John the Baptist. Now, this is John the Baptist speaking here.
Dave Hunt:
Sounds like it.
T. A. McMahon:
It does. Let me pick up with verse 36. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Wow! Incredible to begin with I mean, we have eternal life in Him but for those who reject Him—
Dave Hunt:
Yeah, it’s a—I guess you could have the option of saying that these are the comments of John, the writer of the gospel, from verse 31 on inspired of the Holy Spirit, or you could say it seems more in keeping with the context that this is continuing John the Baptist is speaking. Whoever it is, they are inspired of the Holy Spirit, this is God’s Word. It’s very interesting because John later came to doubt who Jesus was because he was in prison about to get his head cut off. He thought that the Messiah would set up His kingdom right then and surely, John the Baptist, who introduced Him would surely be in this kingdom. So he had a misunderstanding of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the kingdom as did all the disciples. They thought that Christ was going to take the throne of His father David right then and when He said I’m going to go away and prepare a place for you, you know they had such low self-esteem Tom, that they were always arguing who would be the greatest and who would sit on the right hand of Jesus.
T. A. McMahon:
It was a problem then.
Dave Hunt:
Right, imagine that. Even when Jesus says, one of you will betray me, there’s a momentary flurry of concern, is it I? Then they go back to arguing who will be the greatest! It’s just so incredible.
Tom:
Dave that’s how we know this is God’s Word. A man putting this together would not show these flaws, would know really show the heart of his fellow man or himself.
Dave Hunt:
Well, whoever it is, whether it’s John the Baptist or whether it is John the apostle, this is very solemn and it’s very clear. You could not make this more clear. He that believeth on the Son—of course, this goes back to the Calvinism thing that we were talking about—it’s a bit redundant if you say; the elect who believe on the Son have everlasting life. Well, of course, they have already been elected to everlasting life; they don’t even have to believe because they are regenerated without believing. But it seems to say, this is an open option for anyone. Whoever believes on the Son has everlasting life. You don’t have to go to church, I mean, we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, we are to meet in fellowship with those who know and love Jesus to pray with them and worship with them and so forth, but that’s not a precondition for salvation. How do I get saved? I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, Paul says, “It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone—(there’s that word again)—to everyone who believes.” And, I love Romans:4:5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness., believing is not a work. Some people try to say, oh you can’t even believe because believing is a work. Very clearly distinguished Romans:4:5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. says, “To him that worketh not but believeth…” so believing, obviously, is not a work. So, what do I have to do to be saved? What must I do, the Philippian jailer cried out? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the teaching of scripture, it’s not a matter of sacraments, it’s not a matter of turning over a new leaf, it’s not a matter of making myself good enough for God. No, I can’t. I only qualify for salvation if I am a sinner, damned to eternal destruction. That’s what I need to be saved from. So again, “…he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” You couldn’t make it clearer. Now, that doesn’t mean that there was just somebody named Jesus, this includes who He really is and what He has done, paid the penalty for our sins on the cross, died, buried, rose again the third day. “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him.” I think we just did a newsletter, I guess it was last month, “Is Punishment Eternal?” It’s pretty clear, the wrath of God abides. It abides. God is not finite, he is an eternal being and his wrath abides forever upon those who will not believe the Son. You have the option. You know, Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Jesus claims to be God. He does the works that prove it. Now you have the option. Is He who He claimed to be? If He’s not then He is a liar. He’s not a good man. He’s a deceiver or He’s a lunatic, one or the other. You can’t escape the words of Jesus. They confront us with a choice we must make. We must decide who this Jesus is and whether He is qualified to make these statements and we either believe in Him or we reject Him. That is the option that everyone has and that determines their eternal destiny.
Tom:
Dave, in this day of putting down doctrine or putting it off because it’s divisive, it’s amazing as we go through God’s Word to find how much doctrine is jammed into one verse. This one, verse 36: “He that believeth….” You must be saved by faith, not works as you have said. “…On the Son….” We talked about the Son. This has got to be God himself, God incarnate. “…hath everlasting life….” It’s not something that dissipates tomorrow. If we believe, we have, we are kept in Him. “…And he that believeth not….” Again believing is a part of it. Not did I do this or did I do that or can I do this? Do I need to be baptized? Do I have to attend church regularly? All of that, it’s just goes by the boards. This is God’s doctrine here. “…who believeth not the Son, shall not see life…” and of course separated from God forever.
Dave Hunt:
And John in his second epistle says, “Whoever does not bring the doctrine of Christ….” You don’t even let him in your house and you don’t bless him and so forth. It’s quite clear what the Bible says. We either accept this or reject it.
T. A. McMahon:
Right, it’s in one verse but it’s in thousands of verses.
Gary :
Dave and Tom will resume their discussion on the topic of salvation next week; we hope you can tune in. This is Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. If you are a diligent student of God’s Word, our ministry makes available a wide selection of teaching materials including books, tapes, CD-ROM, our internet website and others. In a moment we will let you know how to order these and other materials as well as a free subscription to our monthly Newsletter. If you would like a copy of this broadcast, ask for Program #0431 and please mention the call letters of this station. Next week we will continue our series of programs based on Dave Hunt’s latest book, An Urgent Call to a Serious Faith , and, “Why would God destroy His own creation?” “Standing for Faith and Family,” we will look at that story and continue with our study of the gospel of John. We hope you can join us. If you have questions or comments about this program, we urge you to contact our offices. Search the Scriptures Daily Radio Ministry is made possible by God’s grace, your prayers and your financial support. I’m Gary Carmichael and for Dave, Tom and everyone here at The Berean Call I would like to thank you for tuning in and invite you to join us again next week. In the meantime, if you desire to know God’s truth, Search the Scriptures Daily. For more information about The Berean Call and a free subscription to our monthly newsletter contact us at PO Box 7019 , Bend , Oregon 97708 , call us at 800-937-6638 or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org .
