The Incarnation: A Crucial Doctrine (John 1:14)

Biblically speaking, what was the purpose of the incarnation? This question is of utmost importance and is not to be trivialized. To misunderstand the purpose of the incarnation is to misunderstand the righteousness of God and the necessity of penal substitution through a pure and sinless sacrifice for the purpose of legal pardon of sinners. When it comes to giving pardons there are only two possibilities: the pardon will either be legal or illegal. In other words the pardon will either uphold the law (legal) or nullify the law (illegal). Of the two kinds of pardons which one do you believe is the kind God gives?

God never gives illegal pardons. God only gives legal pardons. In simple terms, God is righteous and just and will never do anything wrong or unjust. Therefore God cannot and will not illegally pardon. So the question must be asked: “How can God pardon sinners and remain righteous and just in the process?” The right answer to this question will show that the incarnation is a crucial doctrine and that our pardon came at a great cost to God.

The Gospel of John answers how God can pardon sinners and remain righteous and just in the process. The Old Testament sacrificial system with its tabernacle illustrated that God would provide the only law upholding means of pardon. The innocent would have to die in the place of the guilty for pardon to be extended. The sinner’s death penalty for violating God’s Law had to be paid by an innocent substitute. This is called Penal Substitution, meaning penalty substitution.

Could the death penalty for a man really be paid by an animal? Never! That is why the Bible says, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). The sinner’s death penalty for violating God’s Law would have to be paid by an innocent man. Therefore the incarnation of Christ was a necessity for penal substitution and legal pardon. The Gospel of John shows Jesus as the fulfillment of the Tabernacle because He was God in flesh come to live a sinless life, die a sacrificial death, and experience a supernatural resurrection so that God could be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

This was the primary purpose of the incarnation – to make propitiation (legal pardon) for the sins of the people. It would not and could not be an innocent animal that allowed God to give a legal pardon but only an innocent, sinless man. The uncreated Son of God had to become a man to achieve our legal pardon. John said, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Amazing truth – the Son of God on earth as a man! Even more amazing is the reason He was on the earth as a man – “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)!

According to God’s Word, God could not have pardoned any other way, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendents of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:14-18).

Penal substitution is the only way God can legally pardon. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore the incarnation was necessary for the realization of penal substitution (legal pardon) and that is the primary biblical interpretation for the incarnation. If God could have legally pardoned any other way, surely He would have done it!

Our salvation cost God everything! There has never been and never will be a greater demonstration of love than the truth that God sent His only begotten Son into the world as a man to die as a substitute for sinners (John 3:16; Romans 5:8). The incarnation is a precious doctrine; it is a marvelous doctrine; it is a crucial doctrine. No one can be saved apart from pardon based on faith in Jesus. God does not save any other way – there is no other way.

Of Empty Calories and Empty Gospels (John 1:12-13)

January 3, 1960, three years and forty-two days before I was born, A. W. Tozer preached a sermon entitled, “What does it mean to accept Christ?” You understand if your mind is capable of doing math that Tozer’s message was preached some fifty-two years ago and that I am only one year away from being fifty years old. I mention this not to show you my age but to show you that for more than half a century there have been men of God standing against the modern false gospel of easy-believism or passive “acceptance” of Christ. Tozer lamented that in his day the majority of evangelism in America was of the sort that perverted the gospel by minimizing what it means to receive Christ and believe in Christ.

In other words, even before 1960, a large portion of American evangelism had already degenerated into a wide-gate false gospel of easy-believism. This is the false notion that one can be saved by just “inviting Jesus” into his or her life without entering into Jesus’ death. The wide-gate is one of easy access and easy entry. The wide-gate has no denying of self, death to sin, or any difficult sayings. It’s easy; it’s acceptable; it’s appealing; but it’s deadly. Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

So receiving Christ is not just “inviting Jesus into my life” or just “adding Jesus to my life”; receiving Jesus is far more than responding to a minimized, inoffensive, appealing gospel of “just accept Jesus.” Of utmost importance then is the right and biblical answer to the question, “What is it to receive Christ?”

The Gospel of John answers the question, “What is it to receive Christ.” Remember that John 1:1-18 is the prologue to the book. Here John is telling us what the rest of the book is going to be about. In John 1:12 we are introduced to the wonderful truth that among blind and bad humanity there are those who see the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ and receive Him. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” John 1:13 shows us why these believed and received – “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Now we could stop right here in John 1:12-13 and say, “There you have it! All you have to do to be saved is receive Jesus and God will cause you to be born again.” And we would be dead wrong! Let me explain. This is the mistake of a minimized Gospel with no content. It’s like what is known in the health and nutrition world as “empty calories.” An empty calorie is a calorie without any content. An empty calorie is a calorie with absolutely no nutritional value. The sad part about empty calories is their deceptive nature. They cause the body to pack on dangerous and deadly fat while at the same time starving it of needed nutrition. This is why highly processed food (such as is common in the American diet) is so dangerous and deadly. It has been stripped of its nutritional value and substituted in the place of wholesome, healthy food.

To stop right here and ask people to receive Jesus would be to offer a highly processed Gospel empty of all its saving content with dangerous and deadly consequences. This deceitful mistake is made over and over in the evangelism of today. For instance, the peddlers of the wide-gate empty gospel will quote Acts 16:30-31 out of context to remove the Gospel’s content. “And after he brought them out, he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Here is the problem. What Paul and Silas told the Philippian jailer about how to be saved was true – he was to believe in the Lord Jesus to be saved – but Acts 16:32 supplies some important information that preachers of easy-believism overlook – “And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.” Without understanding the content of the Gospel there is no saving belief in Christ.

Notice our text. John is not asking for a response to Christ in John 1:12-13. John has not yet explained the ministry of Jesus proving Him to be the fulfillment of the sacrificial system as the Lamb of God (John 1:29) who would die as a substitute and sacrifice for sinners (John 19:16-30), whose blood would be on the mercy seat (John 20:11-12), and who would be raised from the dead (John 20:15-20) so that a holy God could pardon sinners and remain just in the process.

It is only after John has fully explained the ministry of Jesus that he expects anyone can properly respond to Jesus and receive Him. Notice that it isn’t until John 20:31 that John calls for belief in Jesus – “But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

People are not saved through a gospel emptied of its content. God uses His Word to teach us about the ministry of Christ and our need for Him and everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Jesus (John 6:45). No one can come to Jesus unless he is drawn to Jesus by the Father through the word about Christ (John 6:44). Those who receive and believe are born of God by the Word of God (John 1:12-13; 1 Peter 1:3, 23).

To receive Christ is to receive the testimony of His sinless life. To receive Christ is to receive His death as a substitute and sacrifice for your crimes against God – it is to receive His death as your death. To receive Christ is to receive Him in His resurrection as your life; as your Lord, because of the demonstration of His great love for you. You love Him because He first loved you.

Empty calories are having their harmful and deadly effects on the physical health and physical lives of millions of Americans. Empty gospels are having a more harmful and more deadly effect on billions of people in the world. What kind of Gospel have you consumed? What kind of Gospel will you share?

Will Others Believe Through You? (John 1:6-8)

Let me ask you a question. What do you think is required of a person for others to believe in Jesus through him? Does it mean that the person will have the most pleasant personality of anyone you have ever met? Does it require that the person compromise the truth in order to show compassion? Is it required of a person for others to believe in Jesus Christ through him that he never have conflict with others; never call for repentance; never challenge the false assurance of salvation of others; or never question a person’s commitment to Christ?

Let me ask you another question. What does the Bible say is required of a person for others to believe in Jesus through him? We will answer that question through looking at the ministry of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist was sent from God (John 1:6) – he had a mission. As we read the prologue to the Gospel of John, at first it seems strange that the flow of the prologue is interrupted with the introduction of John the Baptist. However, as we consider what might be the reason for this interruption we can learn a couple of truths from it. First, God had promised in His Word that there would be a forerunner to the coming of the Christ to prepare people for His arrival (see Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1). Second, this is God’s way – He entrusts the Gospel to men. So actually there is nothing strange about the flow of the prologue – it is perfectly in line with the Word of God and the ways of God.

The mission of John the Baptist was to prepare the way of the Lord (John 1:23). This means that the Baptist was to clear the way, make a straight highway, for the reception of the King. When clearing the way to make a straight highway there are obstacles that have to be removed. Trees will need to be cut down, stumps removed, holes filled in and hills lowered. The Baptist was to clear the way for the reception of the Lord.

There are obstacles and stumbling blocks that keep people from receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. One obstacle that keeps people from receiving Christ is their love for their sin (John 3:19). That is why the first word of the Gospel is “Repent.”

Another obstacle that keeps people from receiving Christ is religious phonies – children of the devil who disguise themselves as children of God (Matthew 3:7-8). One of the characteristics of religious phonies is that they claim to be sent from God but God says that He did not send them and that they are not proclaiming His truth but instead are deceiving others (Jeremiah 23:21-22). There are more religious phonies in the world proclaiming false gospels than there are true preachers (1 John 4:1). That is why we must protest against religious phonies.

A major obstacle that keeps people from receiving Christ is their false profession of faith and false assurance of salvation (Matthew 3:9-10). This is why we must be sure that others are not depending upon anything other than grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for salvation.

The mission of John the Baptist was to prepare the way of the Lord and that entailed being sent by God to confront men in their sin and to confront those not sent by God but claiming to be His servants.

John the Baptist came so that all might believe through him (John 1:7) – he had a message. The message of John the Baptist was not his own but came from God. The Baptist did not manufacture the message but repeated only what God said (see 1 John 4:5 concerning the message of false teachers and 1 John 4:6 concerning the message of true teachers).

The message of John the Baptist was Jesus Christ as the innocent, spotless, blameless lamb who would be slaughtered as an offering for sin in the place of death deserving sinners which of necessity requires repentance from the sinner. The sinner is to be sorry for his sin and turn from his sin because of the high cost and wickedness of sin. Our sin required the incarnation of the Son of God to live a perfectly flawless life of obedience so that He would be qualified to die as a substitute to satisfy the wrath of the Father against sinners. So not only did our sin require the incarnation of the Son of God (God became a man), it also required His crucifixion (the living one died). God raised Him from the dead because He had done no wrong and so that He could justify us on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ.

The message of John the Baptist then was, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) and “Repent” (Matthew 3:2). The truth that Jesus is the Lamb of God implies not only His deity (John 1:34) and Lordship (John 1:23) but also the truth that eternal life is in Him alone (John 3:36). The Baptist testified of these things and more about Jesus Christ and we read, “Everything John said about this man was true” (John 10:41).

Others don’t believe in Jesus Christ through us when we are not being true to the message about Him. The mission of John the Baptist was to prepare the way of the Lord and the message of John the Baptist was to proclaim the Word of the Lord.

John the Baptist was not the Light but testified about the Light (John 1:8) – he had a method. The method of John the Baptist was to point to the worth of the Lord. This entailed that the Baptist be careful that he not become guilty of either having a Messiah complex or robbing the Lord Jesus of His glory. For the Baptist it was all about Jesus and not about himself.

John the Baptist confessed that he was not the Christ (John 1:20), that he was not Elijah nor the Prophet (John 1:21), that he was only the herald of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:23), that he was not worthy to untie the Lord’s sandal (John 1:27), that the Lord was the preeminent one (John 1:30), and that the Lord’s ministry was the one that mattered (John 1:33; 3:30). John was constantly pointing people to the worth of the Lord – that was his method.

What does the Bible say is required of a person for others to believe in Jesus through him? (1) We have learned that our mission must be preparing the way of the Lord by confronting men in their sin and by protesting against religious phonies. (2) We have learned that our message must be proclaiming the Word of the Lord by preaching only that which is true about Jesus as revealed in the Word of God. (3) We have learned that our method must be pointing to the worth of the Lord by confessing the superiority of His Person.

The Deity of Christ (John 1:1-5)

The first eighteen verses of John’s Gospel are the prologue to the book. A prologue is an opening to a story that establishes the setting or theme. We know from John 20:30-31 that the purpose of the book is to persuade people to the point of trusting that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God; and that believing (trusting) they may have life in His name. In his prologue John declares that Jesus is God, that He became a man, that He dwelt (tabernacled) among us, and that He explained the Father.

It is my conviction that John was showing Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament Tabernacle. John purposefully related events from the life and ministry of Jesus to show Him as the fulfillment of Old Testament concepts moving from Jesus as the lamb of God and culminating in Jesus as the fulfillment of the Mercy Seat (see John 20:12). For Jesus to fulfill these Old Testament concepts He would have to be nothing other than God in the flesh.

The prologue (John 1:1-18) sets the stage so to speak for the unveiling or revelation of Jesus as the fulfillment of the Tabernacle. Since the Tabernacle stood as the heart of the Old Testament sacrificial system and the only way that sinners could approach a holy God, John reveals Jesus as the only way to the Father (John 14:6) because He is the only One who could and did make substitutionary atonement. Jesus is the only hope for man. What you do with Jesus Christ determines your eternal destiny.

The parallel between John’s prologue and the book of Genesis is striking. Just as Genesis sets out in seed form all the major doctrines of the Bible that will be developed later in their mature form so it is with John’s prologue. John will develop the doctrines that he sets forth in the prologue to their full meanings.

In this post, The Deity of Christ (John 1:1-5), we will only cover the first five verses of the prologue to John's Gospel which parallel the beginning of the Bible.

Christ is the eternal Word (John 1:1-2). Christ is the uncreated eternal Son of God. He is equal to God and is God. “In the beginning” means before the beginning began. He is timeless -He had no beginning because He has always been and always will be.

John used the term “Word” for a particular reason - the Jews would have readily understood its background in the Old Testament that God sends His Word to accomplish His purposes (Isaiah 55:10-11). It is interesting that the Old Testament says that (1) God sends His Word in order to accomplish a particular divine purpose, (2) God’s Word unfailingly accomplishes God’s purpose, and (3) God’s Word returns to Him after accomplishing God’s mission. This seed truth will sprout and grow in John’s Gospel as Jesus refers to God as His Father who sent Him (John 3:17; 6:38); as coming to accomplish the Father’s will (John 4:34, 6:38); as having accomplished the Fathers will (John 17:4); and as returning to the Father (John 17:5, 13).

In these first two verses we note three divine attributes that the Word shares with God: (1) He is equal to God in time – He was in the beginning with God. (2) He is equal to God in rank – He was literally face to face with God – that is the meaning of “and the Word was with God.” (3) He is equal to God in essence – “and the Word was God.” The doctrine of the Trinity lies at the heart of John’s exposition. God is one, but his unitary essence is complex, not simple. God is a complex unity, not a mathematical cipher.

Christ is the living Word (John 1:3-4a). Christ is the giver of life – He created everything that has come into being. This verse points out the fallacy of evolution which believes that life arose from nothing – that life came from non-life. Evolutionists and naturalists believe in “spontaneous generation” but they say they do not believe in miracles! The Bible teaches that life came from life – “In Him was life.” Life does not arise from non-life no matter how many billions or trillions of years you allow.

Not only is Christ the giver of life in the physical realm, He is also the giver of life in the spiritual realm and this should be of utmost importance to spiritually dead sinners. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you have no life in yourselves” (John 6:53). Once again the seed truth in the prologue is developed into maturity in the remainder of the Gospel.

Christ is the revealing Word (John 1:4b). Both life and light reveal. Life reveals deadness and light reveals darkness. The sinless life of the Lord becomes the light that illumines or reveals our deadness and our darkness. Light will reveal blindness, badness, and beauty. The blindness of men was revealed by the Lord when He came into the world and the world did not know him (John 1:10). The badness of men was revealed by the Lord when He came to His own and His own did not receive Him (John 1:11). The beauty of the Lord was revealed to those who did receive Him and were saved (John 1:12-13). Light reveals.

Christ is the accomplishing Word (John 1:5). Light is powerful. Darkness cannot overpower it. The darkness desires to snuff out the light. John 12:35 uses the same word that is used in John 1:5. There Jesus said, “Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you.” Jesus is the accomplishing Word. The darkness could not overpower Him. John 1:4-5 are the seed truth concerning the epic battle between Light and darkness. Before His crucifixion Jesus told the corrupt religious establishment, “This hour and the power of darkness are yours” (Luke 22:53). Satan and sinful men did everything in their power to snuff out the Light but the darkness did not overpower it. In Him was life and on the third day He got up and walked out victorious over darkness and deadness. Jesus is the accomplishing Word.

Let me show you the striking parallel between the John 1:1-5 and Genesis 1:1-3.

I. Christ is the eternal Word – In the beginning

II. Christ is the living Word – God created

III. Christ is the revealing Word – Then God said, “Let there be light”

IV. Christ is the accomplishing Word – and there was light

Context, Context, Context!

Any time we endeavor to interpret the Word of God we must be careful that we understand the original author's intended meaning. To miss the intended meaning of any text is to misinterpret the text. Proper interpretation of any portion of Scripture always requires that we understand both its immediate context and overall context. The immediate context of any portion of Scripture is found in the verses that are immediate to it - the verses that immediately precede and immediately follow.

The mantra for proper interpretation should be in the hearts and minds of all Christians but especially of those who have the responsibility of preaching and teaching and that mantra should be, "Context, context, context."

Here is a video that gives and example of what I am speaking of using John 3:16 as the text.

Please One Another: The Sovereign's Glory (Romans 15:5-7)

The highest motivation a man can have is to give God glory. The reason that this is the highest motivation a man can have is because the desire to give God glory flows from a heart of love. Christians, whether strong in the faith or weak in the faith, desire to give God glory because they love Him for first loving them. This section of Scripture gives us three ways to give God glory.

First, Christians give God glory by having unity of mind (Romans 15:5). Christians are to be unified in the essentials and give liberty in the nonessentials. The nonessentials are to never be allowed to become issues over which Christians divide. Since all Christians, whether strong or weak in the faith, are in the faith, they are to be of the same mind toward one another (Romans 12:16) and their unity is to be based upon their agreement in the essentials of the Gospel. Unity of mind means that we believe the same thing about the Gospel. If we do not believe the same thing about the Gospel then we cannot have unity of mind. If we do not have unity of mind about the Gospel then we cannot strive together for the Gospel. This is why we are told to “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ...standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27). Striving together for the faith of the Gospel means that we believe the same thing about the Gospel (unity of mind) and that we are standing together defending the Gospel (see Jude 3) as the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15). Christians give glory to God by having unity of mind in the Gospel and by not allowing disagreements in the nonessentials divide the church.

Second, Christians give God glory by having unity of voice (Romans 15:6). Unity of mind in the essentials of the Gospel leads to unity of voice in declaring and guarding the Gospel. When Christians have unity of mind they also have unity or harmony of voice (literally, mouth). This means that in a cliché, “We are all singing off the same page in the Hymn book.” Disagreement in the nonessentials is to never interrupt the unity of mind or unity of voice among Christians. The Gospel is God’s tuning fork for His children and it gives us unity of mind and unity of voice so that God gets the glory for His amazing orchestration and harmonization of sinners saved by His grace. Christians give God glory by having unity of mind and unity of voice in the Gospel and by not allowing disagreements in the nonessentials divide the church.

Third, Christians give God glory by having unity of purpose (Romans 15:7). Unity of mind and unity of voice leads to unity of purpose. When we are unified in these three ways, we accept one another rather than fight one another. Christians cannot stand firm against those who corrupt the Gospel when they are fighting each other. Christians are to be of the same mind, maintaining the same love [accepting one another], united in spirit, intent on one purpose [striving together for the faith of the Gospel] (Philippians 2:2). The real purpose of the church cannot be achieved if our unity is something other than the essentials of the Gospel or if we do not accept one another when we disagree in the nonessentials.

When we disagree in the nonessentials, we please one another on the basis of the Sovereign’s glory. We get back to the basics and have unity of mind, voice, and purpose for the glory of God.

Please One Another: The Scripture's Instruction (Romans 15:4)

When we disagree with one another as Christians, first of all we are to please one another on the basis of the Savior's example. Second when we disagree with one another as Christians we are to please one another on the basis of the Scripture's instruction (Romans 15:4).

The principles found in Scripture are forever relevant. The Word of God is continually contemporary. Therefore it instructs us through how God has dealt with the men and women of faith in the past and how they suffered for their faith, laid aside their liberties, and were used by God for His glory.

When we disagree with our brothers and sisters in Christ in the gray areas we are to look to the permanent principles revealed in God's continually contemporary Word so that we can be instructed from the Scripture on how to please one another.

First, when we look to the Scriptures we find that God is faithful. God is unchanging. He is immutable. He humbles those who exalt themselves and he exalts those who humble themselves. We have examples in the Scriptures of how God deals with the unrepentant in severity and the repentant in kindness. Those men and women of faith in the Bible found God to be absolutely, utterly, totally faithful. Knowing that God is faithful enables us to please one another even at the expense of our own liberties.

Second, when we look to the Scriptures we are given perseverance. We can look at the men and women of faith in the Bible and see their suffering and their perseverance and be strengthened to persevere just as they did. This will enable us to endure all things for the sake of the elect (2 Timothy 2:10). Laying aside a few liberties for the sake of God's children isn't such a big thing when compared to the suffering endured by the faithful in Scripture. God is faithful and that gives us perseverance in difficult circumstances.

Third, when we look to the Scriptures we are given encouragement. We are encouraged by the Scriptures when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances and are reminded by God's Word that these difficult circumstances are actually a sign of salvation (Philippians 1:27-29). This is to give us encouragement in Christ (Philippians 2:1-3). God is faithful and that gives us perseverance and encouragement in difficult circumstances.

Finally, when we look to the Scriptures we are given hope. The Scriptures give us certainty (biblical hope) that we will be glorified after suffering for a while for our faith. Giving up a few liberties for the sake of the elect is nothing in light of suffering persecution for the faith and yet both are working for us a greater glory than the sufferings we are experiencing (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). God is faithful and that truth gives us perseverance and encouragement and hope so that we are able to lay aside our liberties for the sake of our weaker brothers and sisters in Christ. We learn this from the Scripture's instructions.