John 1:13-16

13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”

16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

God wants to be a Father to each one of us. Jesus has given us that right through belief and obedience to Him. (John 1:12) In verse 13, John tells us three ways that we DO NOT become children of God. First, he says no one is born into the family of God through their lineage. This was a big problem for the Jews. They thought that because they were of the lineage of Abraham that they were already children of God. (Luke 3:8) John wants to make it plain to the Jews that just because they have been God’s chosen people in the past, doesn’t mean that they automatically have the right to be children of God now. They will be expected to believe and obey Jesus to have that right. This goes for us today as well. Our bloodline or heritage does not automatically put us into Christ. Just because my parents are faithful members of the church doesn’t automatically give me a free pass to be a child of God. I am responsible for my own obedience. Second, he says that no one can earn the right to be a child of God through works done in the fleshly body. The Jews believed all their ceremonial acts such as circumcision, cleansing rituals, abstaining from specific unclean foods, and many other physical aspects of their religion would keep them in the family of God. I also think of what Jesus said about the giving of alms just to be seen of men. (Matthew 6:1-6) I think of the widow who gave her last two mites as opposed to the Jewish leaders who gave of their abundance just for show. No amount of money or works will buy us into the family of God. We are sinners, and need a Savior…..no matter how many works of merit we have credited to ourselves. Third, John says that it is not our will that puts us into the family of God. My desire to be in a relationship with Jesus will not put me in that relationship. I am granted that relationship through my obedience to Him. This cancels out the “ask Jesus to come into your heart” doctrine. Jesus does not come to us. We go to Him in humility and obedience, and He accepts us as the sinners that we are at that moment. However, once we make all things new in baptism, we are expected to transform into the image of Christ to the very best of our ability. It is our choice whether we come to Jesus or not. But it is not our choice how we come to Jesus. It has to be on His terms, not ours. It also cancels out the “join the church of your choice” doctrine. We don’t put ourselves into the family of God by joining it. We are added by God to His family after we obey Him in repentance and baptism. (Acts 2:47) Basically…..it is all God…..His grace is what saves us. Yes, we must obey, but if God didn’t show us grace, there would be no amount of obedience that would save us. 

In verse 14, John says that “the Word became flesh”. This doesn’t mean that He stopped being God. He became God in the flesh. He still had all the same attributes as God. Only now, He has added flesh around those attributes. This verse proves without a shadow of a doubt that verses 1-5 of this chapter are referring to Jesus. Jesus became flesh and lived or dwelt among us. He made His dwelling place on earth. Dwelling in Greek means tabernacle or tent. God “tabernacled” with His people in the wilderness. (Exodus 40:34-35)  Now, He has sent “the Word”, His Son, to dwell or “tabernacle” with humankind in the flesh. God gave the Law through Moses to His people at Mount Sinai. Now, God has sent Jesus to reveal His Word to humankind. After God’s people broke their covenant with God, and were taken into Babylonian captivity, God was not with them. He did not “tabernacle” or dwell with them anymore. Ezekiel 43:4-5, Ezekiel 44:4, and Haggai 2:6-9 prophesy of a time when the glory of the Lord will return to the temple. The verses in Haggai even say that “the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former”. But…..when the people come out of captivity, that never happens. God didn’t come to the temple like He came to the tabernacle before. Those verses are referring to the coming of Jesus in the flesh. Jesus is that greater temple. God will “tabernacle” (dwell) with humankind through the person of Jesus Christ. John says, “we beheld His glory”, meaning he and the other apostles got to witness Jesus in the flesh. John calls Jesus the “only begotten of the Father”. This means “one and only Son”. Jesus was in a class by Himself. There was no one like Him, and there would never be anyone else like Him. God was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Then, John says that Jesus was “full of grace and truth”. We see the grace of God in Jesus. Later, we read Jesus’ words as He hung on that cross of shame, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” This is the grace of God. And then truth….. Jesus, the Word, was the definition of truth. Truth and faithfulness go hand in hand. Jesus was faithful to His Father in doing His will on earth, and faithful in His commitment to us as He died for our sins so that we can have hope. Then, He was resurrected from the dead, conquering death! That is the truth! 

Isaiah foretold exactly what would happen to our Savior. “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:3-5)

Think about the humility it took for God to allow this, and for Jesus to come and voluntarily do this for us. Jesus got very little praise from anyone while He was here. He was born to be a sacrifice. Let’s remember that as Christians, we aren’t to do things in God’s service to gain the praise and attention of others. Jesus’ only motive while here on earth was to save souls. This should be our only motive as well. Also, if we are truly following Jesus, then we will be persecuted. Jesus said if the world hates you, just remember that the world hated me first. (John 15:18-21) 

In verse 15, we move back to the testimony of John the baptizer. Here are John’s words, paraphrasing, “The one who comes after me will be greater than me, because He existed before me.” This is proof that John was sent from God. How else would John know that Jesus existed before Him unless God through the Holy Spirit had told Him?

In verse 16, it says that, because of the fullness of Jesus Christ, we have received “grace for grace” or “grace upon grace”. This doesn’t mean that there was no grace before Jesus came. God showed grace to His people all down through the ages over and over again. It means that we receive the full measure of grace in the coming of Jesus Christ. It is not a knock at God’s grace that was shown in the Old Testament. God has always shown grace to His people. But Jesus…..Jesus brings ultimate grace…..the full measure of God’s grace. Jesus’ shed blood on the cross brought about this extra measure of grace. Animal blood could not bring about the grace needed for forgiveness of sins. It had to be perfect. Jesus was perfect. His blood was perfect, and powerful enough to cleanse past souls, present souls, and any future souls that come along. Questions: Do I truly understand the magnitude of what Jesus did 2000ish years ago? Do I truly understand the power that His blood wields? 

Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? If you aren’t, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out. 

God’s Plan of Salvation

Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins.  (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)