The Bible isn't a buffet; you need to believe all of it!
John 12:42-50 (NIV)
CONTEXT: These words come near the end of Jesus' ministry. Verse 37: Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, the people would not believe in Him...
42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God.
44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. 49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
Canons of Dordt
Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election
4 - A Twofold Response to the Gospel
God’s wrath remains on those who do not believe this gospel.
But those who
do accept it
and embrace Jesus the Savior
with a true and living faith
are delivered through him
from God’s wrath and from destruction,
and receive the gift of eternal life.
Summary
We love buffet theology - that is, the ability to pick and choose doctrines we'll believe while passing over the teachings we don't care for the same way we only choose what we like and skip what we don't when eating at Pizza Ranch. But Jesus warns against this misguided approach as He cries out one last time to the people He came to save but who now reject Him.
These people had loved the signs and wonders that Jesus performed in their midst in the earlier phases of His ministry. Just a few days before, Jesus had raised His friend Lazarus from the dead, His last and greatest public sign of all, but it doesn't seem to do much to sway public opinion in His favor. The crowds had already begun to thin out when Jesus slowed the miracle production down and instead began to teach repentance and the need to pick up a cross and follow Him.
Jesus here proclaims that believing in Him means more than just agreeing that two millennia ago there lived a humble man who spoke peace and healed the sick. To believe in Jesus is to also believe in the One who sent Him. In fact, when we look at Jesus (through the words of scripture), we see the One who sent Him as well; we see the Father through the Son. Logically, the opposite of this must be true as well: you cannot believe in God the Father and reject His Son.
In other words, you can't pick and choose from the Bible what you'll believe and what you'll reject the way you do at the buffet line. Belief in Christ is an all-in experience.
Dig Deeper
What a sad commentary at the beginning of our passage today - that many leaders believed in Him, but would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear... they loved human praise more than praise from God. Notice that they didn't just miss out on fulfilling the reason they were created for - to give praise to God - but they missed out on something even greater - to receive praise from God!
It's so easy for us to sit back and shake our heads at these fickle Pharisees who wanted to but didn't quite dare to stand up for Jesus. But commentator Robert Mounce provides a needed attitude adjustment, writing "Lest the contemporary believer look with disdain on such hesitancy, it would be wise to search one’s own heart to discover how often lips remain sealed for fear of displeasing someone in the secular world."
Jesus' words here are even more stark. Those who reject Him and do not accept His words will be condemned by the words He has spoken. Jesus will not condemn those who reject Him; He won't need to, since His rejected words will have already done so.
But the command that comes from the Father through the Son - the command to repent (change your thinking) and believe - this command leads to eternal life! Don't pick and choose the words you'll believe in the Bible. Obey God's command to believe them all and find eternal life!
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who will praise those who obey His command to believe and find eternal life;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that the Spirit will strengthen you to believe all of God's Word and that you'll have the courage to stand up for that belief despite the world's rejection;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 1
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