Living God's Way in an Ungodly World
In a world that makes up its own rules, it is important for Christians to stay focused on the One who still rules...Jesus Christ. Come and listen to the great Gospel message, learn about the love Jesus Christ has for you, and know what God's word, the Holy Bible, has to say about overcoming the challenges of following Jesus in a world that no longer wants Him.
Living God's Way in an Ungodly World
The Spirit with Water & Blood
Is believing Jesus is the Son of God the cornerstone of eternal life? Join me, B.R.Maul, on "Living God's Way in an Ungodly World," as we explore this profound question through our study of 1 John, specifically chapter 5, verses 6-13. This episode highlights the significance of recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, and how this truth sets Christianity apart from other religions. We'll discuss the importance of the Holy Spirit's testimony in affirming this truth and delve into the triune nature of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—providing you with clarity about our faith in Jesus as the sole path to eternal life.
In our discussion, we emphasize that accepting Jesus goes beyond an intellectual agreement; it requires heartfelt faith that brings eternal life. We address common misconceptions, pointing out that neither lineage nor a general belief in God is sufficient for salvation—true faith must be rooted in Jesus Christ. This message extends especially to our Jewish listeners, underscoring the New Testament's assertion that faith in Jesus is necessary for eternal life. Tune in as we unpack these essential Christian beliefs, providing guidance on how to strengthen your walk with Christ amidst a challenging, often rejecting world.
Be a part of my team! With your prayer, passing along the message, and financial support you can help get these messages in the hands of all those who need them! And remember, you can text me questions and comments by clicking on "Send Us a Text Message". Until next time! God bless!
Hello and good day. This is BR Maul and you are listening to Living God's Way in an Ungodly World, and I'm so glad that you have joined me here. We are talking about how Christians are to function, are to live in a world that rejects our Savior and rejects us because we follow our Savior and we obey our Savior. So this is a good place to come to. We learn what God has to say, and so we follow what God tells us to do and not what the world tells us to do. We are getting close to finishing the book of 1 John. Today we are in chapter 5, and we'll be going through verses 6 through 13. And John is going to be talking about the certainty of God's witness, and in the reading today, you'll notice that the Son is mentioned many times, the Son being, of course, jesus Christ, the second member of the triune, god, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
B.R.Maul:In today's world, most people don't have a problem talking about God. The Muslims, they talk about God, hindus, they talk about many gods and, of course, many other religions that talk about God. But following Jesus is not a religion. It is the truth. Jesus is the only way to heaven. There is no other way to heaven. There is no other way to heaven. Jesus makes it very clear that no one gets through the Father except through him, the Father being the Fatherhead of the Triune God. But all religions out there just see Jesus. If they even recognize Jesus, they will see him or label him as a prophet or a good man or a wise person, whatever it might be, but they reject him as the Son of God. But today in the reading, you'll notice that the label Son S-O-N is used eight times in just these few verses and the reference to Jesus ten times One as Jesus Christ, another as the Word and eight times as the Son. So that tells us the importance, because the Holy Spirit, the true author of the Bible, the Holy Spirit, wanted it to be very clear to us that it is the Son whom we have certainty in, who our faith is in and who is the Savior and none other. So with that we'll get on with the reading. I will read straight through the scriptures and then, when I'm done, we'll back up and we'll unpack it verse by verse.
B.R.Maul:1, john, chapter 5, verse 6. This is he who came by water and blood, jesus Christ, not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth the Spirit, the water and the blood. And these three agree as one.
B.R.Maul:Verse 9,. And this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
B.R.Maul:Here ends the reading. Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless this Bible lesson. Open the hearts of all who are listening, lord. Help them to feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit, feel the guidance of the Holy Spirit, feel the guidance of the Holy Spirit. May those who do not know Jesus as their Savior respond to the Holy Spirit. And for those who are brothers and sisters in the faith, may we all learn from this lesson, lord, and I pray through the power of the name of Jesus Christ, amen. All right, so I'll go ahead and back up.
B.R.Maul:Let's take a look then, going right to verse 6.
B.R.Maul:This is he who came by water and blood, jesus Christ.
B.R.Maul:Rather interesting. So Jesus Christ came by water and blood. What does that mean? Well, let's read a little more. Not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. Verse 7, for there are three that bear witness in heaven the Father, the Word and it's really interesting that John is referring to Jesus as the Word here and the Holy Spirit. So there's our triune God right there the Father, the Son, or, in this case, the Word, one of the same, and the Holy Spirit. And, as he says, these three are one, and they are. They are three separate, yet one God. Now, it's interesting here because, if we read the next verse, and there are three that bear witness on earth the Spirit, that's capital S, so that's the Holy Spirit, the water and the blood, and these three agree as one. Now, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is witness to Jesus Christ.
B.R.Maul:We can look at John, the Gospel of John, chapter 15, and verse 26,. Jesus is speaking, but when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me. It is the Holy Spirit, then, that has testified of Jesus Christ. It is not the mere witness of men, those who have written the Holy Scriptures. These are inspired and testified by the Holy Spirit, so we can take the Scripture and know that it's directly from God, that there is no error whatsoever in it, that it is flawless and that every word matters, because the Holy Spirit is the one who is testifying of Jesus Christ. That should bring great comfort to those who are reading God's word and who question well, how true is this? How accurate is this information? Well, it is directly from God. It doesn't get any more accurate than that.
B.R.Maul:Now I don't want to go down a rabbit hole that I could forever get lost in, but there is so much evidence that the world has collected, so not even born-again believers, not even just those of us who are following Jesus Christ. But over the centuries, much historical findings have proven the Bible right over and over again. There hasn't been one document that has been presented that proves Scripture wrong. And why is that? Because it was written by God himself. The Holy Spirit testified. Heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit. And I find it really interesting because this witness is of Jesus Christ, and notice that Jesus Christ, referred to here as the Word, is still witness to himself. It's remarkable, truly is remarkable.
B.R.Maul:But talking about the witnesses on earth, the Spirit connects us to the Holy Father and to Jesus, and so the Spirit descended to earth, and that's why the Spirit is named as both a witness in heaven and a witness on earth, because to this day the Spirit possesses the body of those of us who are born again, and so the Spirit bears witness. But the other two it says the water and the blood, these are the other two witnesses that John talks about. That is witness on earth. The water refers to the baptism of Jesus, when John the Baptist baptized Jesus, and God, the Father, speaks and is witness to who Jesus Christ is. So, if you're following along, you could turn to Matthew, chapter 3, the book of Matthew, chapter 3, starting in verse 13.
B.R.Maul:Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, the Jordan River, to John at the Jordan, the Jordan River, to be baptized by him, and John tried to prevent him, saying I need to be baptized by you and you are coming to me. But Jesus answered and said to him Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allowed him. Verse 16. When he, jesus, had been baptized, jesus came up immediately from the water and behold, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Okay, so that is the baptism of Jesus. And at that time, that is witness to who Jesus is, the Son of God. And then there's the blood. Well, the blood is the blood of Jesus. That represents the gospel, the life, the death, the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
B.R.Maul:And there were many who bore witness to that At one point, over 500 witnesses in just one account. Those are the three witnesses on earth. But ultimately and it's great that we have all of that, but ultimately, even just having God himself say it would be enough let's take a look at verse 9. John writes If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness of God, which he has testified of his Son. So God has testified of his Son and we have the Father, son and Holy Spirit. So there's three witnesses right there and we really wouldn't need anything else Because, as John said, okay, we receive the witness of men.
B.R.Maul:We'll believe somebody who comes up to us and tells us some news. I'm generalizing. So if somebody comes to your house and knocks on the door, gets your attention and says I have information. There's people coming down the sidewalk, they're walking down your street and they're looking for you and they seem really mean, you may want to hide. Well, that person or people are witnessing the fact that here's what they saw and here's what they heard. People who are looking for you and they look or sound or both very mean and because of the way they are behaving, this person or people are suggesting that you hide. There's a good chance that you'll take their witness for that. I know that's not the greatest example. There are many examples of people who come to your home or call you on the phone, email you, text you, whatever it might be news, articles, events that are going on their own opinions and we listen to them constantly. Of course we need to filter them out and we want to look and find out what the truth is. Hopefully you're doing that. But the point being is, as John points out, we are quick to receive the witness of men, so how much greater is the witness of God? We don't need to question our God. He is righteousness, so he is truthful.
B.R.Maul:Before going on to verse 10, I want to point out that in these verses 9 through 13, this is where we have eight times that Jesus is referenced to the Son of God, and this is very significant. We'll talk about this just a little bit more. But in verse 9, for this is the witness of God, which he has testified of his son. So that's one right there. Verse 10, he who believes in the son of God has the witness in himself.
B.R.Maul:He who does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of his son. There's two more references to God's son. So those of us who believe in the son of God has that witness in him. We have that testimony of who he is, without a doubt. We know. We know Jesus is real. We know the son of God is real. He is flesh and blood and he has holes in his hand from the spikes when they nailed him to the cross, and on his feet. But we don't question that, we just know it because we believe it, and the Holy Spirit testifies that to us. So he who does not believe God has made him God a liar because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of his Son. This is why someone cannot be a Christian and claim that Jesus is anything other than the Son of God. Impossible.
B.R.Maul:That is one of the requirements of being a Christian is knowing in the person's heart believing in the heart, not the head that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, verse 11,. And this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son. It is through Jesus Christ that we receive the salvation, we receive eternal life. We avoid being thrown into hell, that being born again. There's that second time being born. So that is spiritually. That is our life eternal. Spiritually, that is our life eternal. And it is brought to us, as one believes in the name of Jesus Christ, that he did indeed die on the cross, he was crucified, was bodily resurrected and, to this very day the sound of my voice. As you are listening to this message. Jesus Christ is at the right hand of God, the Father in the third heaven. It's powerful, very powerful.
B.R.Maul:And obviously another reference to his son, verse 12, he who has the son has life. That's that eternal life, not our physical life. If you're listening to this, yes, you have physical life, but you do not have eternal life, and this is the life that scripture is talking about here. So he who has the son has life. In other words, you're born again. He who does not have the son of God that just two more references right there to the son and the son of God. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
B.R.Maul:It can't get any simpler than that. There's no trick to it. Beloved, you are either born again or you're not born again. There is no in-between, there's no being a Christian, but you are not born again. There's nothing like that. There's not a neutral place, there's not a third position that a person can take that you're not against Christ but you're not for Christ. You're just playing neutral and there's no such thing. You're either born again or you're not. You either have the Son of God and have life, or you do not have the Son of God and you do not have life. You have physical life, but for those who have physical life but do not have eternal life, literally are the walking dead. And I say literally because, yes, there's a bunch of fictitious movies out there, people who die and then their bodies are resurrected, and you know we call that the walking dead. But that is fiction. I'm talking about the real walking dead, those who their heart is pumping blood that the Lord has given them, their lungs are breathing in air and exhaling, they are eating, they are talking, they are thinking, they are walking, they are sleeping, working, playing, but they do not have eternal life because they do not have Jesus Christ. And if they die as they are, they don't have eternal life, so they are considered dead.
B.R.Maul:I do hope that if this is you and you are listening to this message and you have not been born again, that you take this very moment, don't hesitate, don't take another second. You don't need to learn everything in God's Word. You don't need to learn anything at all in God's Word. You just have to believe that you do need a Savior. And this goes, then, as well for Jewish people, those Jews. If you are Jewish, or if you know somebody who is a Jew, get them this message, because for all of the Jews out there, you need to know that you are not heaven-bound because you are the seed of Abraham.
B.R.Maul:Jesus has made it very clear please read the New Testament. I understand that in Judaism that you are not allowed to read the New Testament, you're not even allowed to read much of the Old Testament, but it is all there. If you read the entire Bible, you will see firsthand that it is not the bloodline that determines somebody's place in eternity. Their salvation it is who they have faith in, and on this side of the cross it is only having faith in the Son of God. That's why, in this passage, it is so important that the sun is mentioned eight different times.
B.R.Maul:Believing in God isn't enough. If believing in God was enough, well then there are other religions that would be okay. But that's not the case, and I am weary of saying that because I don't mean that it's the same God. I guess I better have a little disclaimer here that just worshiping God doesn't mean you are worshiping the true God, Yahweh, the God of the Bible. The Bible is God's word. It's not man's word. All other writings are of man.
B.R.Maul:So all these other false prophets out there that have started all these other religions? They're false because that is their own information. They're adding to God's word. The scriptures is God's word. God himself makes it very clear these are words that I have written. Do not take from them, do not add to them, because the penalty is great.
B.R.Maul:So I encourage my Jewish friends, anybody who hears this message and if you are not a Jew or you're a Jew, let me say this that it is Jesus, and Jesus only that you need to believe in. Decided to do. He decided to send his only begotten son that whosoever shall believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Because we are all sinful, it says. We all fall short. None of us are able to work our way into heaven. God's commands, the law of God in the Old Testament, was never designed to save you. It was only designed to show how broken you are. We can see that and know on our own accord. We can't live up to it. We cannot meet that. It is impossible, because Jesus even made it clear and that's why, for all my Jewish friends, you need to read all the Bible. Jesus, he is a Jew. It is your Jewish rabbi that I believe in.
B.R.Maul:That Christians, born-again believers, believe in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and history proves that he was here. Secular history, the Romans, and even the Jews, the Pharisees and Sadducees of that time the information that they themselves left us to read and to discover for ourselves. So he's not made up. You can't ignore the name of Jesus Christ. So he's not made up. You can't ignore the name of Jesus Christ. He is either who he says he is the Son of God, or he's a maniac, or he's a blasphemous liar. And there's a lot of false doctrine out there that point to one or the other of those latter.
B.R.Maul:But, as John points out in Scripture, here there's witness of the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit in heaven, and the Spirit, the water and the blood right here on earth. There's physical evidence that Jesus walked to earth, that his flesh and blood was here and that he was killed on the cross and that days later he rose from the dead. There are witnesses upon witnesses that he was dead and three days later was seen, and it's not like he stuck around for a day or two. If I remember correctly, I believe it was either 30 or 40 days that he was here upon his resurrection. It was after he left. The Holy Spirit then came and testified to Jesus.
B.R.Maul:So, my Jewish friends, it is so important that it's the Son of God. It is believing in the Son of God himself that will give you everlasting life. Your Jewish rabbi, jesus Christ. He's magnificent and that Jewish rabbi has changed my life tremendously and he has changed many lives around me that I see. He has changed the lives of millions and millions of people and I encourage you that, if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior and if you know in your heart beloved, if you know that you're broken, you know that you have been trying so hard to make life work.
B.R.Maul:You have been trying to do everything that the world has told you to do. You have tried success. You have tried relationships, you have tried doing everything else to make you happy. Maybe you have poured your happiness into a marriage. Well, that can be very unhealthy, because anything else outside of Jesus that we put our faith in, that we put our trust in, will always fail us. No matter how wonderful our spouse is, no matter how great our family is, no matter how big our wealth is. It doesn't matter, no matter how healthy you are, without Jesus you have nothing. Because your time here is running short. Our lives here are but a vapor. You have little time and if you are listening to this right now, you are given yet another opportunity.
B.R.Maul:So take it and pray this with me. There's no magic in the prayer, so don't worry about the words. It is what's in your heart, because God weighs the heart. He does not weigh our words, he does not weigh our actions. He weighs our heart. So pray this. Beloved Heavenly Father, I know that I am broken. I know that I am sinful and I know that I am hell-bound because I need a Savior. And I know in my heart that you gave your son for me. He hung on that cross after living a sinless life, and you sacrificed him so his blood would pay for my sin debt. He paid the price for me that I could never pay, and I believe in him that Jesus is now my Savior. And, lord God, my life is yours. Please help me to understand your word, because I will start reading it today. Grant me wisdom and understanding and tell me, lord, what you will have me to do to help others know who Jesus is, and I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen, amen. If you prayed that and in your heart you believe it, welcome to God's family. Welcome, beloved. You are now a brother or sister in the faith.
B.R.Maul:The last part of this is verse 13. John says these things I have written to you who believe in his name of the Son of God, who believe in his name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. He ends that with the Son of God yet again. John wrote this because back in that day, much like modern times, even today, there were those, and today there are those who question if people are indeed children of God. But we can read these scriptures, beloved, we can know John says that we have eternal life. It's not a question For anybody who has prayed with me just moments ago. For all of us who have at one point in our past prayed, repented of our sins, knowing that we are sinners, and turning to the Holy Father, god, accepting his Son, recognizing that blood that has washed our sins away, are born again, and so it is through his blood that we are guaranteed heaven. It's got nothing to do with our actions and I am so thankful for that, because if it was to do with anything that I needed to do, I would fail over and over again, and so would you. Well, I am out of time for today. With all that is going on over in the promised land, around the world and for those of you I know there's a lot of my listeners in Syria, in India and other places You're a lot closer to that action. The Holy Spirit is stirring up nations over there. People are coming to know Jesus Christ by the groves and I pray you are one of them.
B.R.Maul:Open that Bible. You keep in touch, beloved, with God every day, because the world wants to take you from him. You can never be taken your salvation, no, but they can take you away. So you are not focused on the Lord, whether it's through success or whether it's through famine, but either way, the world will do everything it can to take your sight off of God. Open his word, Read God's word every single day, as much as you possibly can. Pray to him, speak to him every day, morning, noon and night. Come together with brothers and sisters. Read God's word together, grow and learn God's word together, pray for one another so you may be healed as you continue this Christian journey together, so you're not alone, and worship him. Love God, sing to him, pray to him and just enjoy the creation that he has given you until you are either called home or that he raptures his church, and that time beloved is getting closer and closer. And until next time, god bless, thank you.
