THAT YOU MAY BELIEVE

JOHN 20:30–31

… but these are 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).

As would naturally follow from Jesus’ statement to Thomas, verses 30 and 31 state the purpose of the book of John. The signs that Jesus did and the teaching He imparted are recorded here so “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

This is a very clear statement of the Gospel—you can only have life when you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is by faith in Him, an acceptance of the Gospel as it has been delivered through the testimony of the apostles in the written Word, that salvation comes to you. Without it, you have no hope of redemption.

John’s purpose in writing this Gospel from beginning to end has been to show that Jesus really is God. The resurrection and particularly the appearance to the disciples, including Thomas, have had the effect of eliciting this confession. The resurrection was the greatest sign of all, and then Thomas’ confession was the greatest statement of the deity of Christ. Here we have sign and confession joined together and recorded so that all who hear of the Gospel may be saved.

John admits that he did not record all the deeds and teachings of Christ. He had been selective, but not deceptively so. He, as we have stated before, took for granted that the readers had the benefit of the other gospels. It would have been just too much for all the deeds of Christ to be recorded. John, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, recorded only that which was essential for our redemption. In other words, the Scriptures given to us are sufficient. We do not need to look to other sources, to personal visions, to worldly philosophies, to man-made prophecies. All we need in order to believe is set before us in the Scriptures.

Hendriksen writes, “When the Church continues to accept Jesus as the divinely appointed and qualified One, that is, as the Christ, the fulfillment of all the Old Testament hopes and promises; when it continues to recognize Him as the Son of God, in the most exalted sense of the term, it will continue to have life—everlasting life—in His name, that is, in and by means of the blessed acceptance of His revelation in the sphere of redemption.”

CORAM DEO

Ezekiel 40

1 Peter 5

WEEKEND

Ezekiel 41–44

2 Peter 1–2

Read today’s passage. Then go back and read Chapter 1 of John. Who is the God you worship? Is it the God revealed in John’s gospel? If a person came up to you today and asked you, “How can I be saved?” what would you say to him or her? Using John’s gospel, formulate a response. Use the verses below.

For further study: John 3:10–21; 6:37–40; 10:14–18; 17:9

WEEKEND