Crucial elements of the Bible–Part 2

And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him,…. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. – Matt. 16:16-18

But these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. – John 20:31

But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified. – John 7:39

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from among the dead dwells in you, He who raised Jesus from among the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. – Rom. 8:11

When Christ our life is manifested, then you also shall be manifested with Him in glory. – Col. 3:4

And He subjected all things under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, Which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all. – Eph. 1:22f

[Emphasis added]

Any message from the Bible or interpretation of the scriptures that ignores the crucial elements of Christ, the Spirit, life and the church will surely miss the mark. But, in these scriptures we see a sketch of something wonderful in God’s working.

In Part 1 we discussed Matthew 16:16-18. Now we will pick up with John 20:31.

Believing is for life

Classical Christianity would have you believe that believing is for redemption. And, those who hold this view are correct—but too shortsighted in their view.

Indeed, Jesus Christ was sent by God and incarnated as a man in order to pay the penalty for our sins. But He came for much, much more than that. Do not stop at that shortsighted view.

Jesus Christ was incarnated as a man to be a prototype, to demonstrate that God wants to impart Himself into man in order that man might have “the life” (Greek: Zoë)—the very life of God. To have life in someone’s name is to receive life from that one.

I am the father of nine children. They all bear my name because they all of “have life in [my] name.”

The work of redemption is not for redemption’s sake alone. Rather, the goal of God’s redemption is to make us qualified to receive the very life of God dispensed into us through the Son and by the Spirit.

[To be continued]