John 16: How We Know Jesus Is Lord

Krissa Lox

Active Member
John 16

16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
16:3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
16:4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.
16:5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
16:6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
16:9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
16:10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.

16:17 Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?
16:18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.
16:19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?
16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

16:21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
16:22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

16:25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.
16:26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
16:27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
16:28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.

16:29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.
16:30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.
16:31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?
16:32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
 
Often when we discuss the significance of Jesus' death and resurrection, we celebrate the triumph of God over Satan and the purification from mankind's sin that will allow us to one day join God in heaven. However, there is another great consequence of significance here that sometimes gets overlooked: that the sacrifice of Jesus also cleared the way for God, through the Holy Spirit, to join us more fully in our lives and affairs here on earth.

Christianity is not just about the teachings of Christ, but about our relationships with Him, and that relationship is mediated through the channel of the Holy Spirit, not just the study and obedience to scripture and doctrine alone. The moment of our salvation does not occur because we found the most correct intellectual interpretation or say the right words or join the holiest congregation.

Jesus didn't go through all the pain and suffering to die on a cross in His love for us, just to make things obscure and hard to figure out, or trick us into not really being saved if we don't get some formula just right. Salvation is a gift, not a test. It occurs the moment we accept Christ as Lord in our hearts, no matter what formalities do or don't accompany it, because what it does is it causes the purity of Christ to also cover us, thus sanctifying our current carnal form to be a fit temple for the Holy Spirit to be able to move in to guide and operate through us.

No matter what words get said by who, we do not have to question the existence or nature of God, because He lives in and among us, any more than we would question the existence of a member of our household just because someone elsewhere publishes an opinion to the contrary or wants to dispute some language translation about it. Words and ideas are tools - very important and powerful ones - but just tools nonetheless for communicating and discovering and interacting with reality. They do not dictate reality itself.

God is God - just like physics is physics and biology is biology - no matter how any wants to feel or not feel about it or where their current place of understanding is, and Jesus is the designated portion of the Godhead that God has chosen to be in authority of those who seek to serve Him, and the Holy Spirit is the mechanism by which we communicate and render our service. All three roles are very necessary and important and divinely established, whether we are capable of understanding the metaphysics of how it all works or not.

If anyone wants to argue about how to know if this is true, let them perform the objectively scientific experiment of accepting Christ as their Savior to see for themselves what happens in actual practice rather than trying to discern and concoct a bunch of theories. This isn't the Dark Ages, after all. We're not confined to having to figure out life through superstition and imagination from not knowing how to test and measure truthful things.
 
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