Subject 14 : The First Epistle of JOHN
[Chapter 5-3] What Do We Believe in? (1 John 5:1-11)
(1 John 5:1-11)
“Whoever
believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who
loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we
know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His
commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His
commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is
born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has
overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he
who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water
and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And
it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For
there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear
witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three
agree as one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is
greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His
Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he
who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not
believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the
testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son.”
What Do Christians Believe in These Days?
The
Apostle John says in today’s Scripture passage that our Savior Jesus
Christ has saved all sinners and brought salvation to them through
coming by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. There is not a
single disciple of Jesus that mentions the shedding of His blood on the
Cross without also mentioning His baptism. Our faith is made also firmer
by ruminating the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
On
the other hand, there are many Christians who insist only on Jesus’
bloodshed on the Cross and ignore the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. How could they distort the true gospel so much? Since the time
of the Apostles, the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit has been
covered and replaced by many doctrines that were made by people ignorant
of the true gospel. As a result, most Christians today believe in Jesus
in the wrong way, failing to know the gospel Truth of the water and the
Spirit. We can see that the faiths of those who only believe in Jesus’
bloodshed on the Cross are dwindling away into nothing as time passes
by.
There
was a time, after the Reformation, when the churches in Europe grew
increasingly superstitious. In other words, the expansion of
Christianity brought the superstitious faith and vice versa. People
under the rule of the Devil are inherently shamanistic in their faith.
Hence, it was foreseeable that they would distort the truth of
Christianity. Their superstitious faith was based on their idolization
of the Cross of Jesus. They groundlessly believed that the Cross had the
power to overcome Satan, and that, if they have faith in the shedding
of the blood on the Cross by Jesus Christ, they would receive salvation
and the power of the blood to overcome Satan.
The
dominion of Satan the Devil grew more widespread in a time of such
prevalent superstitious beliefs. Satan the Devil deceived people to
believe only in the blood of Jesus Christ, by whispering into the ears
of people, “Didn’t the Lord shed His blood for you?” As a result, people
were convinced that their belief in only the blood Jesus shed on the
Cross would be enough to attain their salvation.
However,
this was not the original gospel that the Apostles and disciples of
Jesus had preached from the beginning. The Apostles believed in not only
the blood Jesus shed on the Cross but also in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit as the true and original gospel (1 John 5:5-7). The
Apostles believed and witnessed that both the baptism Jesus received
from John the Baptist and the blood Jesus shed on the Cross constituted
the true gospel (1 John 5:3-8).
How
do today’s Christians know about the true gospel? Do they believe in
the gospel of the water and the Spirit as the true one? Or do they
witness the blood of Jesus as the sole true gospel?
They
do not know the true gospel manifested in the Bible. They did not know
the true gospel of salvation of all sinners from their sins that was
accomplished when Jesus came by the baptism He received from John the
Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross. Do you by any chance believe
only in the blood Jesus shed on the Cross as the true gospel, instead
of the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit?
If
so, you must know and believe that the true gospel consists of Jesus’
baptism and His bloodshed on the Cross. Because Jesus has taken all the
sins of the world through the baptism He received from John the Baptist,
He could atone all of them by shedding His blood on the Cross.
Therefore, you have to realize that the water in the Bible implies
Jesus’ baptism, which is the antitype of salvation of all sinners from
their sins through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21).
The Gospel of the Water and the Spirit Is the Word of Witness That God Has Delivered Sinners from All Their Sins
As
the Bible says, “There are three that bear witness on earth” (1 John
5:8), there are three witnesses to the fact that God delivered us, who
were once sinners. The witnesses to our salvation from our sins are that
Jesus took the sins of this world by receiving the baptism from John
the Baptist, that He paid off all the sins by shedding His precious
blood on the Cross, and that Jesus resurrected from the dead. Our true
salvation is based on the three facts that Jesus came to this world by
receiving the baptism and by shedding His blood on the Cross and by the
Holy Spirit in order to deliver the sinners. If anyone lacks belief in
one of these three facts, that person’s salvation is incomplete.
The
Lord is the Son of God and God Himself, who came to this world in the
flesh of man. Jesus the Son of God came to this world in the flesh of
man by the Holy Spirit to deliver all sinners from all of their sins
through receiving the baptism of the water from John the Baptist and
shedding His blood on the Cross. Jesus took onto Himself all the sins of
the world and paid for the wages of all sins without any remnant. This
salvation was accomplished by Jesus’ receiving of the baptism of the
water and by His bloodshed on the Cross.
If
a person omits any one of the three, —the water of Jesus’ baptism, His
bloodshed on the Cross, and the Holy Spirit, —that amounts to denying
God’s Truth of salvation for that person. If we follow the opinion of
the masses, we should believe in Jesus’ bloodshed on the Cross as our
only witness to our salvation. However, the Apostles John and Peter said
that the witnesses to the salvation of sinners are the baptism of Jesus
and His bloodshed on the Cross. Jesus’ baptism and His bloodshed on the
Cross become the sources of our salvation from all our sins.
It
is written in the Bible that the Lord was born through the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle John details the witnesses to the salvation of the
remission of sin as the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. In other
words, the faith that delivers a sinner from his sins is the faith in
Jesus Christ, who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit.
These three are the utmost concrete witnesses to our salvation.
Dear
fellow believers, how do we overcome the world? Don’t we overcome the
world with our faith in Jesus who came by the water, the blood, and the
Holy Spirit? Because we believe in the Savior, who came by the water,
the blood, and the Holy Spirit, we can overcome the world and receive
the remission of all our sins (1 John 5:4-5). In order for us all to
overcome the world, we have to possess the faith that brings us full
remission of our sins. You have to receive the remission of sin, the
power to overcome the world, and the eternal life by believing in Jesus
Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, who came by the water, the
blood, and the Holy Spirit.
Before
I was born again, I lived my religious life in Christianity, believing
only in the blood Jesus shed on the Cross. At that time, I believed that
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and that He came to this world
to die on the Cross vicariously shedding His blood, where I should have
rightly been judged instead. I thought that was how I was delivered from
all my sins. I put all my efforts to witnessing the faith in Jesus’
blood on the Cross. I thought that I would become a missionary. I was
even determined to sacrifice my own life as Jesus Christ did for all of
humanity.
Although
I believed that Jesus was God and that Jesus had shed His blood on the
Cross to atone all my sins, I still had sin in my heart. Furthermore, I
couldn’t overcome the sinful world with that faith I had then. I wanted
to overcome and escape from the sting of sin.
I
came to realize that I could not wipe out the sins in my heart merely
with my faith in the salvation by the blood that Jesus shed. However,
thanks to the Lord, I came to meet the Truth. God had blessed me with
the true gospel of the water and the Spirit. Once, I was unable to
recover from falling into sin. Yet, after I realized the secrets of the
baptism Jesus received, my soul was recovered immediately and made
clean.
As
I struggled in the past, many people today are struggling with their
sins and are trying to recover their first love because they only know
and believe in Jesus’ blood on the Cross. Still, they are unable to
recover their first love and fall into condemnation instead because they
do not know correctly about Jesus Christ, who came by the water and the
blood.
This
is what they need to know. When Jesus Christ received the baptism from
John the Baptist, all of our sins were taken onto the body of Jesus.
People fall into despair and vanity in their hearts, because they have
sin for not knowing the Truth.
We
have to stand fast on this Truth. And in the Holy Spirit and Jesus, who
received the baptism from John the Baptist and shed His blood on the
Cross. Although we may be lacking, we must believe that our Savior took
onto His own body all of our sins through the baptism He received at the
River Jordan and washed away all of our sins once for all. If we are to
attain salvation at once, we have to come to realization in faith that
the Lord is our Savior, who has blotted out all the sins of the world by
His baptism and blood. By our faith in Jesus’ baptism and His blood, we
are delivered from all of our sins and their consequent judgment. By
believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we have been washed
from all of our sins and can lead victorious lives that overcome the
world. Our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the very
power of faith.
Again
I am saying to you that you do not possess salvation unless your faith
is based on the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If you are insisting
on Jesus’ bloodshed on the Cross alone, you surely still have sins in
your heart. As such, we must believe in the baptism Jesus received from
John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross. We have to know
that Jesus made us whole by coming by the water, the blood, and the Holy
Spirit.
Unless We Believe in the Essential Witnesses of Jesus’ Baptism, His Blood, and the Holy Spirit, We Can Never Be Saved from All Our Sins
Some
people, even though they don’t know the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, might think that the Lord won’t fail to approve them, since they
have lived their entire lives for the Lord, holding Jesus as their
Savior. They must be sinners, since they still have sins even after they
have accepted Jesus as their Savior.
Still
others may say, “There is no more sin, since Jesus Christ came to the
world by the Holy Spirit in order to take all the sins of the world onto
Himself.” However, unless their faith is that of the gospel of the
water and the Spirit, they can never receive the real remission of their
sins with their faiths. Many evangelicals still insist such faith. But,
the whole faith is to believe in Jesus who received the baptism from
John the Baptist to take all the sins of the world onto His own body and
shed his blood on the Cross.
Faith
that is approved by God believes in Jesus Christ who came by the water
and the Spirit. If you do not have this kind of faith, you won’t be able
to receive the remission of your sins wholly. Jesus Christ received the
baptism from John the Baptist, died on the Cross shedding His blood,
and resurrected from the dead. Put differently, Jesus the true God came
to the world in the flesh of man and washed away all the sins of the
world by the water and His blood. The Lord came by the gospel of the
water and the Spirit and saved us wholly from our sins. By doing so, the
Lord has fought against Satan the Devil and has overcome Satan
completely. Jesus now sits on the right hand of God the Father’s Throne
in Heaven.
God
the Father has fulfilled His will by sending His Son as the Lord and
Savior to those who believe in Jesus’ baptism and blood. Now, God the
Father sends the Holy Spirit into the hearts of those who believe in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The
Lord tells us, who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the
Spirit, “You are saved. You no longer have any sin. Yes, I have
delivered you from all of your sins by the water, the blood, and the
Holy Spirit. Now, your salvation is whole in your faith in the water and
the blood. You, who have this faith, will overcome this world just as I
did. You are no longer sinners before Me. Now, you are the righteous.
You are now My people and My children. Be of good cheer! I have overcome
the world.”
God
also witnesses to the salvation of the born again who have faith both
in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and in the baptism and the blood of
Jesus. The concrete evidence of salvation in the hearts of the righteous
also lies in the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. The gospel of
the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit testifies that Jesus has taken
all our sins with His baptism, and that He atones all of them by
shedding His blood on the Cross. The Truth is that all the sins of the
world were transferred onto Jesus, when Jesus received the baptism at
the River Jordan (Matthew 3:15). We have to ruminate this perfect and
powerful gospel from time to time.
A
person who has received the remission of sin overcomes Satan the Devil,
the false prophets, and the all persecutions of this world. This is
possible through the faith in the baptism Jesus received and the blood
Jesus shed on the Cross. The Word of Truth, which is the gospel of the
water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit, is in their hearts. By believing
in Jesus Christ, who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit,
we can overcome Satan the Devil and the world. Believers in the baptism
Jesus received and the blood Jesus shed on the Cross also have the power
to overcome numerous false prophets.
Our
true “overcoming” depends on our faith in the gospel of the water, the
blood, and the Spirit. We have neither true remission of sin nor the
power to overcome the world, if we do not believe Jesus as the Son of
God and our Savior according to the Word of God’s witness.
Do
you have the faith to overcome the world in your heart? You can
overcome the world, if you have in your hearts faith in the witnesses of
the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. Do you believe that all the
sins of the world have already been transferred onto Jesus when He was
baptized? Do you also believe that Jesus received judgments for all of
our sins by dying on the Cross instead of us? Those who believe in the
three witnesses, which are of the water, of the blood, and of the Holy
Spirit, have received the remission of their sins wholly and have the
power to overcome the world.
The
Apostle John believed in Jesus as his Lord and Savior, who came by the
water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. The disciples of Jesus could
overcome the world by believing in the same gospel Word of the water and
the Spirit. Hence, the Apostle John said to his brothers, who had been
persecuted while spreading the true gospel, “Be of good cheer! You can
overcome the world with your faith in Jesus Christ, who came by the
water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit in order to save you.” The power
to overcome the world that is given to all believers lies in the faith
in Jesus Christ, who came by the water, the blood, and the Spirit.
1
John 5:7-8 reads as follows: “And there are three that bear witness on
earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as
one.”
These
days, Christians rarely talk about the Truth of the baptism Jesus
received from John the Baptist. Excluding in their beliefs the baptism
Jesus received from John the Baptist becomes an obstacle for them in
receiving the remission of sin. Those who believe in Jesus without also
believing in the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist are
deceived by Satan the Devil.
Then,
what happens to those who do not believe correctly? They will forever
fail to receive the remission of their sins. God’s Word is the Sword of
Truth and the Light of Life. We cannot ignore even the shortest passage
of His Word. That’s why we have to live in our faith in the gospel of
the water and the blood, which is from God. No one can overcome the
world, unless a person believes in the baptism Jesus received and the
blood He shed on the Cross.
However,
there are still too many people who do not believe in the gospel of
Jesus’ baptism and His blood of the Cross, which has washed away all our
sins. Some such people have not received full remission of their sins
because they only believed in the blood Jesus shed on the Cross. Those
people unfortunately remain sinners despite their beliefs in Jesus
because they have sins in their hearts.
People Can Believe and Be Saved Only When This True Gospel Is Witnessed Correctly to Them
We
have to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit in every possible
opportunity. If we fail to witness to people the gospel of the water
and the blood correctly, every Christian all around the world would
merely be a hypocritical religionist.
What
kind of faith does Christianity today possess? We can see that
Christianity is not based on the foundational Truth of the remission of
sins, which comes from the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That’s
why today’s Christianity has to urgently believe in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. All the religions of the world were created by
humans. Yet, Christianity is of God-given faith, and is distinctively
based on God’s Truth of the remission of sin through the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. Religion is far different from true faith.
Therefore,
those who think that Christianity is no different from any other
religion in the world have false knowledge. They teach Christian ethics
and morals as if that was the gist of God’s will. They must come to
first know the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Jesus Christ did not
come to this world to establish a new ethical order but to save the
sinners through the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. These
days, many Christians are seeking to satisfy their own ambitions by
abusing Christianity.
If
you believe in Christianity without first knowing the gospel Truth of
the water and the Spirit, Christianity loses its distinctiveness from
all other religions. Those who believe in Christianity as one of the
worldly religions teach people ethics and morality in order to satisfy
their own lusts of the flesh. They may say, “What does it matter whether
I believe in this or that so long as I go to Heaven?” Such people have
to turn around and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit,
knowing that Christianity has been distorted into a worldly religion.
The
gospel of the water and the Spirit is the central Truth of
Christianity. Thus, we have to receive the blessing of the remission of
all our sins and eternal life by believing in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit. Beliefs that are based on one’s own thoughts and not on
the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit are all forms of
religiosity, which are practiced in vain.
Let’s
rethink what the faith in the real Truth is all about. Suppose people
survived a sinking cruise vessel in the Pacific Ocean, by hanging onto a
rubber boat. The captain of the vessel has already sent SOS emergency
messages. Once the rescue helicopter arrived, those who held onto the
rope attached to the chopper and wrapped the rope around themselves were
likely to be rescued successfully. However, if anyone was so confident
in one’s arm strength that he only held onto the rope, he could possibly
fall back into the Pacific Ocean once his strength gives out.
Likewise,
if a person believes in God without also believing in the gospel Word
of the water and the Spirit, that person would be in an unrequited love
with God. They would say that they somehow believed in Jesus as their
Lord and Savior, but they neither know nor believe in the baptism and
the blood of Jesus Christ, which compose the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. Among them, there are many who still ask to be delivered from
the sins of this world.
These
people may have thought that they could hold onto their religious
faith. Yet, in reality, they fall down because of their sins. Although
they knew that the Lord would save them from their sins, they fall back
into sins of this world and die in sin because they relied on their own
strength. Dear fellow believers, Christians with incorrect faith cannot
but live in this unrequited love.
They
should first pray to Jesus, “Jesus, I believe in You as my Lord and
Savior. Yet, I still have sins even after believing in You. What shall I
do now? I should believe that I am saved from sins since I believed in
You Jesus, but despite my beliefs I still have sins and I worry I might
not go to Heaven. Oh Lord, I cannot be one of Your people yet. Lord
Jesus, please deliver me from all my sins.” Until they encounter the
gospel of the water and the Spirit, they must pray like this.
Dear
fellow believers, you have to be washed from all your sins by believing
in the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood Jesus
shed on the Cross. If you do so, the power of this true gospel will
save you from all the sins of the world. The baptism Jesus received in
this world and the blood Jesus shed on the Cross has ample power to wash
away all the sins of those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord
and Savior.
From
now on, those who have believed only in the blood Jesus shed on the
Cross must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. They are
people who deceive their own conscience that they have no sin in them,
although they believe only in the blood Jesus shed on the Cross. These
people think that they can be washed from their sins through prayers of
repentance.
Some
other people struggle emotionally because their sins are not wholly
taken care of by their faith in the doctrines of their denominations.
Such people have to recognize first that they are lacking to be saved
from all of their sins on their own merits alone. God requests them to
have faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, since this kind of
faith is of the Truth that God approves.
True
Christians are those who believe that Jesus took onto Himself all the
sins of the world, and received judgments for those sins by the gospel
Truth of the water and the Spirit. They know and believe in Jesus Christ
as their Lord and Savior, who received the baptism from John the
Baptist, died on the Cross instead of us shedding His blood, and
resurrected from the dead. The Lord has witnessed to us that He came by
the gospel of the water and the Spirit to save us by washing our sins
away. The Lord is saying to us, “Yes, I am your Lord and Savior. I saved
you by the water and the blood. I am your Savior God.” Hence, we
receive His approval when we wholeheartedly believe in our Savior, who
came by the water and the blood.
Jesus
is telling us that our beliefs are in vain if we believe in Him while
omitting any of the essential witnesses of the water, the blood, and the
Holy Spirit. We have to first believe in the baptism Jesus received
from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross. Every one of
the Apostles believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Jesus
presented the baptism He received from John the Baptist as a sign of
salvation of all humanity (1 peter 3:21). It is only because Jesus first
received the baptism that He consequently died on the Cross by shedding
His blood and resurrected from the dead so that whoever believes in Him
may receive salvation.
The Apostles Paul and Peter Also Witnessed Jesus’ Baptism Along with His Blood
Did
the Apostle Paul also mention the baptism Jesus received? Let’s have a
look at how seriously the Apostle Paul believed in the baptism Jesus
received.
Romans
6:3 says, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” Here, the phrase “as many of
us as were baptized into Christ Jesus” signifies that we believers
could die with Christ and resurrect with Christ because Jesus took onto
His own body the sins of this world once for all by the baptism Jesus
received from John the Baptist. If we believe in Jesus’ baptism as the
union between us and Jesus Christ, and if we believe that He had
completed His righteous act on the Cross, His free gift of the remission
of sin is given to every one of us who believe in Him as such. Hence,
Romans 6:3 reads, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?”
Romans
6:5 also says, “For if we have been united together in the likeness of
His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His
resurrection.” Those who believe in the baptism Jesus received from John
the Baptist died together with Jesus Christ on the Cross and
resurrected with Him from the dead as a result.
Another
Bible verse that Paul mentioned the gospel of the water and the Spirit
is Galatians 3:27. Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as were
baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” This means that he who
believes in Jesus’ baptism has put on the perfect righteousness of
Christ. The Apostle Peter also says, “There is also an antitype which
now saves us-baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the
answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21). As such, all the Apostles believed and
witnessed the water and the blood of Jesus and His resurrection.
Dear
Christians, you have to realize that your sins cannot be washed away
unless you believe in your hearts that Jesus received the baptism from
John the Baptist to take all the sins in your hearts onto Himself. You
also have to believe with your hearts that the blood Jesus shed on the
Cross was the vicarious judgment for your sins. The only way to escape
from your sins is to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
You cannot become righteous, free from all your sins, unless you believe
in the Truth that Jesus Christ, who is fundamentally God, came to this
world and saved us by the water and the blood.
This
is why God does not approve the faith based on so-called “the Doctrine
of Justification.” Those who advocate this doctrine claim that even
though they have sin in their hearts, God treats them as sinless just
because they believe in Jesus somehow.
Jesus
does not call a sinner sinless. There are still many people in this
world who believe in the Doctrine of Justification without knowing the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. Although God is Almighty, there is
one thing He cannot do. It is lying. Jesus does not call those who have
sins sinless just because they believe in Him. God calls those who have
no sin the righteous. Similarly, God calls those who have sins in their
hearts sinners and judges them accordingly.
People
are pressing for the Doctrine of Justification because they cannot
believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. The Omniscient
God cannot acknowledge a sinner as sinless. They must recognize the
truth that the only way for them to be made sinless is to believe in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. Unless they believe in the baptism
Jesus received from John the Baptist, there is no way for them to be
cleansed from all their sins. Our God is not such a God, who calls a
sinner sinless.
God
approves the faith of those who believe in the gospel of the water and
the Spirit. Therefore, if you have insisted on the Doctrine of
Justification until now, you have seriously misunderstood the judgment
of God despite your faith in Jesus because you failed to realize the
Truth of the water and the Spirit. Now is the time for you to throw it
away and to hold onto the true gospel of the water and the Spirit. This
is the only way for you to avoid your folly of standing against God.
What
you have to know is that the Christian doctrine of justification is not
the real Truth. Most Christians are now comforted by this doctrine,
because they all have sin in their hearts. And this is why they are
holding fast onto this foolish, man-made teaching. As I said before, the
Doctrine of Justification deceives people by saying that God deems a
sinner as sinless as long as he professes Jesus as his Savior one way or
another.
But,
you must recognize that when you still have sins in your hearts, God
tells you that you are still sinners and not His own people. If you are
still sinners, you are merely calling yourselves God’s own people,
although God Himself does not think that way. How foolish it is if we
think on our own that we will be deemed sinless despite the sins that
are intact in our hearts!
God
is the just God who determines whether you are His own people or not by
whether you have sins in your heart or not. God is not unjust to call a
sinner sinless. God is incapable of a lie. Since God is Himself
righteous, He hates lies. Therefore, we have to realize that it is
deadly wrong to think that God would call a sinner sinless just because
that person believes in Jesus somehow. You must believe that God calls
you righteous because you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, who
came by the water, the blood, and the Spirit.
There
is only one kind of faith that Jesus acknowledges as sinless. God
acknowledges only those who possess this kind of faith. Where can we get
this kind of faith? We gain that kind of faith when we believe that
Jesus came to this world in the flesh of man, receiving the baptism from
John the Baptist at the River Jordan and shedding His blood on the
Cross. Through His baptism and bloodshed, Jesus took onto Himself all
the sins of all sinners and delivered them from their sins.
We
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, if we believe in the gospel Word
of the water and the Spirit, which Jesus presented us. The real faith
that is acknowledged by God is like this. The real faith believes that
Jesus Christ came to this world, received the baptism from John the
Baptist in order to take onto Himself all the sins of this world and
bore the judgment of the sins of the world on the Cross, where He shed
His blood and died. God surely acknowledges the faith of those who
believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Jesus
would not have died crucified on the Cross shedding all His blood, if
He had not received the baptism from John the Baptist, which transferred
all of our sins onto Him at once. Neither would Jesus have said, “Come
to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”
(Matthew 11:28).
Jesus
cannot call those people, who believe only in His blood, God’s people
because of the sins intact in their hearts. Such people have to believe
urgently in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, since their sins are
not completely washed away. Whoever still has sins in his heart should
admit that he is not yet saved, and the sins in his heart are the proof
that he himself is doomed to Hell.
Jesus
Christ can acknowledge the sinlessness of those who have received full
remission of their sins because they believed in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit. The gospel of the water and the Spirit tells us that
Jesus came to this world to save us from all our sins by the baptism
Jesus received from John the Baptist to take onto Himself all the sins
of this world and by the blood He shed on the Cross, which fully paid
for the wages of the sins of the world. Jesus acknowledges the faith of
those who believe in the baptism He received and the blood He shed on
the Cross. Jesus says to them, “You’re right. You now have My salvation.
Now, you are the righteous. You are My children.”
Those
who believe in the baptism Jesus received and the blood He shed on the
Cross have received their salvation from all the sins of this world and
have no sin in their hearts in actuality. Those among Christians who
still believe only in the blood Jesus shed on the Cross have sins in
their hearts because they have not acknowledged the baptism Jesus
received from John the Baptist.
There
are only Truth, Justice, Honesty, Love, and Gentleness in the Kingdom
of God. Nothing false exists in the Kingdom of God, not even 0.1%. There
is no favoritism or partial judgment, calling a sinner sinless.
Matthew
7:22-23 says, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we
not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many
wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew
you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
Jesus
never have indicated that our good deeds of flesh or our human will
would add to our chance of receiving our salvation from our sins. They
would still reply back to Jesus, “Lord, I have offered two of my houses
so that the gospel may be spread. I have even offered my life for You.
Lord, haven’t You seen me living for Your sake? Haven’t You seen me
offer my own body and life so that I may not deny You?”
Then, the Lord would ask them, “do you still have sins in your heart despite all that you have done?”
“Yes, I still have a little bit of sin in my heart.”
“Then, you have to depart from me. There is no place in the Kingdom of God for a sinner like you.”
“But I was martyred for You.”
Jesus
would reply back, “What martyrdom are you talking about? You died to
show off your own stubborn will. Did you accept in your heart the gospel
Truth that I have received the baptism from John the Baptist to take
onto Myself all your sins as well as the sins of the rest of the world
and that I have shed My blood on the Cross? Can your heart, full of
sins, testify that you are God’s own people? You have no witness that
testifies on your behalf that you are God’s people, while the sins in
your heart still remain. You still have your sins because you have not
believed in Me Jesus Christ, who received the baptism from John the
Baptist at the River Jordan to take the sins of the world onto Myself.”
As
a small spark begins a huge fire, Jesus tells us that people, who have
received the remission of their sins through their faith in the gospel
of the water and the Spirit, will shine the light of salvation brightly
into the world since they have no sin in their hearts. Believers in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit have received their salvation from
sins through the Love of God and are truly able to practice the Love of
God.
There Are Three Realities That Testify to the Salvation of Sinners from Their Sins
1
John 5:7-8 says, “And there are three that bear witness on earth: the
Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.” What
the Lord did in this world is presenting us with salvation by the water,
the blood, and the Spirit.
1
John 5:9-12 says, “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God
is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of
His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself;
he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not
believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the
testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God
does not have life.”
We
the born again receive the witness of men sometimes. We receive the
witness of the others in this world to the fact that we are the
righteous. But the Bible states that the witness of God is even greater
than this, and that the witness of God is about His own Son.
Do
you have in your heart the evidence of your salvation from all your
sins? In my heart, there is a witness that I have been delivered from
all my sins. That witness is that I believe that Jesus came by the Holy
Spirit to this world for me and everyone else; that by receiving the
baptism from John the Baptist at age 30, which fulfilled God’s
righteousness entirely, Jesus took onto Himself all the sins of this
world; and that Jesus Christ bore all my sins to the Cross and received
judgment for my sins. To revive all the believers from death, Jesus
resurrected from the dead on the third day.
The
Lord has saved us from the sins of this world by the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. What would have happened to our salvation, if
Jesus did not resurrect from the dead but instead stayed in the tomb? If
so, “then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty” (1
Corinthians 15:14). But, our Lord has risen from the dead, and now sits
at the right hand of the throne of God. The Lord still is testifying to
us that He is our Savior through the gospel of the water and the
Spirit.
I
believe that Jesus saved us form all our sins through the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. Jesus has saved the entire humanity from their
sins through the salvation by the baptism He received and the blood He
shed on the Cross. Because Jesus saved us from all of our sins by the
way of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we have received our
salvation by believing in the Truth of that gospel. This is my
testimony.
I
wish that all of you would have the same testimony as mine. Those who
have been washed from their sins completely never ignore the Truth of
the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed
on the Cross. Because the baptism Jesus received is one of the essential
components of our salvation, they do not ignore the baptism. They do
not exclude any essential of the gospel Truth of the water and the
Spirit. The essentials of the true gospel are the water, the blood, and
the Holy Spirit.
Matthew
3:15 says, “For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness.” Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist at the
River Jordan in order to take onto Himself all of our sins once for all.
Then, He bore the sins of this world onto the Cross. We should not
become disbelievers of this gospel of the water and the Spirit.
If
the Apostle John were alive today, what would he say to today’s
Christians? He would testify that the sins of this world were
transferred onto Jesus, when Jesus received the baptism from John the
Baptist.
Yet,
most Christians still believe that they have to say the prayers of
repentance daily so that God can wash their sins whenever they pray in
repentance. Dear fellow Christians, have you ever read in the Bible that
your sins are washed by your prayers of repentance? Those who deny that
our sins were washed by the baptism Jesus received from John the
Baptist, make Jesus into a liar.
After
Receiving the Baptism from John the Baptist, the Lord Has Blotted out
the Sins of This World by Bearing Them onto the Cross and Shedding His
Blood on It
Jesus
washed away all the sins of this world once for all by receiving the
baptism. Dear Christians, fellow believers, you have to receive the
salvation from all your sins by believing in the gospel of salvation
that consists of the baptism Jesus received and the blood He shed on the
Cross. People, who do not believe in the essentials of the gospel of
the water and the Spirit, that is, the baptism Jesus received and the
blood Jesus shed on the Cross, are neglecting their souls to fall into
Hell.
The
gospel of salvation that Jesus has given us applies to everyone. Jesus
has received the baptism and shed His blood on the Cross to wash away
the sins of this world. He has fulfilled all righteousness on His own.
Therefore, now, the salvation is absolutely up to you. People who
believe in this Truth receive salvation from their sins. People who do
not believe in the works of God make Jesus into a liar, and,
consequently, are sent to Hell according to the just Law that states the
wages of sin is death.
People
do not go to Hell because they commit a lot of sins in this world, but
because they do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit,
which was given to us by Jesus. They are abandoned and sent to Hell
because they have made Jesus into a liar.
Dear
fellow Christians, I ask you not to make Jesus into God who lies.
People, who do not believe that Jesus bore on Himself all of our sins by
receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, have sins intact in their
hearts. How can we say we are sinless without first believing in the
baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on
the Cross?
I
have once asked an elder of a nearby church whether he had received the
remission of his sins. He said that he had believed in Jesus over half a
century.
“Elder, you probably don’t have sins in your heart since you believe in Jesus, do you?”
“Surely, I do not. My sins are all vanished.”
“The
Bible tells us that Jesus achieved salvation for all by bearing all the
sins of this world. If that’s true, you must have received salvation
from all your sins?”
“Of course, I have received salvation from all my sins.”
“Then, are you without sin?”
“I have no sin.”
“Then, how would you take care of sins that you might commit in the future?”
“I will pray in repentance. I was taught that my sins would be washed as I give prayers of repentance for my daily sins.”
“Would all your sins disappear from your heart then, elder?”
“Sins in my heart are not expunged easily.”
People
who do not know and, hence, believe in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit cannot be washed from their sins. This kind of people who do not
believe in the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit makes Jesus
into a liar. They desecrate the love of Jesus. It is heartbreaking to
see their struggle against their sins.
Is
Jesus really not able to wash away the sins of the world? How can Jesus
be our Savior, if He weren’t able to wash away the sins of this world
by the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Will you make Jesus into a
liar by not believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? You and
I should not make Jesus into a liar. The Bible tells us, “Do not be
deceived, God is not mocked” (Galatians 6:7). This passage implies not
to make Jesus into a liar. We should not mock at Jesus, treat Him
lightly, or treat Him as a human just like one of us.
The
Apostle John informs us of the gospel of the water and the Spirit in
great detail. But, still many people fail to receive salvation from
their sins because they do not believe in Jesus Christ, who came by the
water and the blood. They are sinners who do not believe in the gospel
Word of the water and the Spirit exactly as it is written. People who
believe in every thing Jesus did can profess themselves to be “the
righteous.”
What
kind of people are liars in front of God? A liar does not believe that
Jesus gave His whole salvation to sinners. Such a person is doomed to
Hell. He is mocking at Jesus by making Him a liar.
Dear
fellow believers, you should not make Jesus into a liar. Jesus bore the
sins of this world once for all by coming to this world and receiving
the baptism from John the Baptist at the Jordan River (Matthew 3:15). By
means of the laying on of hands, Jesus received the baptism from John
the Baptist, and thus, He has fulfilled all righteousness.
There Are People Who Deny the Baptism Jesus Received and the Divinity of Jesus
1
John 5:10 says, “He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in
himself.” I believe that Jesus has granted us the remission of our sins
once for all by the water and the blood. Jesus was born into this world
through the body of the Virgin Mary. I believe that Jesus received the
baptism of the remission of sin from John the Baptist at the Jordan
River, taking the sins of the world and bearing the sins on the Cross,
where He was crucified and died shedding His blood, and that Jesus
resurrected from the dead.
People,
who have received salvation through their faith in the gospel Word of
the water and the Spirit, have the witness of the Word in their hearts.
The witness of salvation to the righteous is the Word of faith in Jesus,
who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit.
Do
you have the witness of Jesus’ salvation, which came by the water, the
blood, and the Holy Spirit? The Bible says that we have the witness in
ourselves (1 John 5:10). People who have the Word of witness to their
salvation in themselves believe that their sins have been transferred
onto Jesus by the baptism and the blood.
Dear
fellow believers, do you have the faith that bears witness to your
salvation? You cannot receive full salvation with your faith in the
bloodshed of Jesus on the Cross, if you do not also believe in the
baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist. It is this Truth that
deserves special emphasis in any circumstance.
The
Apostle John says, “He who believes in the Son of God has the witness
in himself” (1 John 5:10). Some people say that they believe in the
bloodshed of Jesus on the Cross, although they do not believe in the
baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist. But, such a faith is
nothing but a half faith that can never be approved by God. Jesus
acknowledges the faith that believes in all three essentials of the
authentic gospel: the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit.
People,
who do not believe both in the water and the blood as the remission of
their sins, believe in the blood alone as their salvation. They live in
their religiosity, believing in the blood Jesus shed on the Cross alone
as their salvation. Such Christians believe in only half of the gospel
of the water and the Spirit. I do not know how the people who call
themselves “evangelicals” are not ashamed of their lack of
acknowledgment of “the water,” which is the baptism Jesus received from
John the Baptist.
I
want to tell you, every Christian in the world, that you cannot be born
again from all of your sins unless you believe in Jesus Christ, who
came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. The Bible testifies
that only those people, who have accepted Jesus Christ, who came by the
water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit, as their Savior, are saved from
all of their sins. We cannot receive the witness to our salvation from
all of our sins without first believing in the gospel of the water and
the Spirit.
The
gospel of the water and the Spirit has the power to cleanse all the
sins of the world all at once. The gospel gives its believers much
assurance that they are saved wholly in God’s love of Truth. That’s why
the Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 1:5, “For our gospel did not
come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and
in much assurance.”
However,
many Christian leaders still deny the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. They insist on the blood Jesus Christ shed on the Cross alone as
the salvation, and mock the believers in the gospel of the water and
the Spirit. Does Jesus testify on our behalf that we have received
salvation, even if we believe only in the blood Jesus shed on the Cross?
Not at all. Faith only in the blood Jesus shed on the Cross is an
arbitrary faith that is from Satan the liar. Jesus acknowledges our
faith, when we believe in both the baptism Jesus received from John the
Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross.
What
Satan the Devil and false prophets are most afraid of is the gospel
Truth of the water and the Spirit, which states that Jesus has washed
away all our sins once for all by receiving the baptism from John the
Baptist. People who belong to Satan do all they can to disbelieve in the
salvation of sinners by the baptism Jesus received and the blood Jesus
shed on the Cross. But, we can see that their faith is false by the
presence of sins in their hearts.
There
is a scene in the movie “the Omen,” where some people are trying to
perform an exorcism with a crucifix. However, you cannot defeat Satan
the Devil just because you press forward a cross. Satan is not repelled
by a mere cross. People who are born again by the water and the blood
have a witness in front of God of their remission of sins. And Satan the
Devil also knows that they have the Word of witness that he can’t
overcome by any means.
We
have to overcome Satan the Devil through our faith in Jesus Christ, who
came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When the Devil says
this and that to accuse you of your personal sins, you have to repel the
Devil by asking, “Don’t you know that Jesus has taken all my sins
away?” Satan and his followers cannot bear to hear the Word of the water
and the blood. Thus, Satan departs from the righteous after trying to
deceive them once or twice.
People
who belong to the Devil hate to sit alongside the righteous who believe
in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Bible says, “He who does
not believe God has made Him a liar” (1 John 5:10). They do not believe
in the witnesses of the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit, which
are about God’s Son.
What
is the concrete evidence that God’s Son has delivered us from our sins?
The evidence is that Jesus Christ came to this world conceived of the
Holy Spirit, took onto Himself all the sins of the world once for all by
receiving the baptism from John, atoned all our sins by shedding His
blood on the Cross, and resurrected from the dead to fulfill all
righteousness. The evidence of our remission of sin lies in our faith in
Jesus Christ, who came by the water and the blood and the Holy Spirit.
Therefore,
if a person fails to believe in Jesus Christ, who came by the water and
the blood and the Holy Spirit, he cannot but remain a sinner. Christian
leaders who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit
cannot but become the false prophets who believe falsely and teach
falsely.
1
John 5:11 says, “And this is the testimony: that God has given us
eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” This Bible verse tells us
that Jesus has presented us with the eternal life and that the eternal
life is in Jesus Christ. Again, that life is in the Son of God.
People
who believe and teach the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit are
teachers of the real Truth. People who have gained eternal life in front
of God are those who are born again by their faith in the baptism and
the blood. They receive the eternal life and live forever in front of
God, since they have received the remission of their sins by believing
in the true gospel.
1
John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the
Son of God does not have life.” Put differently, people who believe in
what the Son of God has done have life. On the other hand, those who
exclude even one of the things that the Son of God has done are devoid
of life. Jesus Christ the Son of God has come to this world for the
remission of sins of sinners by the baptism He received from John the
Baptist, by the blood He shed on the Cross to His death, and by the
resurrection from the dead.
The
Apostle John has distinguished between the people of God who have
received the remission of their sins and those who are not God’s own
people. He has discerned between the righteous and the sinners by
whether they believe in the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit or
not. The servants of God know the difference between the sheep and the
goats. Not only the Apostle John but also Paul and Peter were able to
distinguish between the righteous and the sinners. People who are not
born again by the water and the Spirit cannot distinguish the sheep from
the goats.
How
can the servants of God know who God’s people are? It is because they
have received the power of discernment along with their remission of sin
that they can discern who are saved and who are not saved.
Many
Christian leaders cannot distinguish between a saint and a mere
churchgoer. Although they have been assigned positions at their
churches, these people must be without salvation nor life in themselves.
However, people, who have received the remission of their sins by their
faith in the water and the blood of Jesus, can discern whether another
person is a sheep or a goat. This is possible because the gospel of the
water and the Spirit is in them as well as the Holy Spirit. People who
are in the Lord can discern the spirits of others. In contrast, people
who don’t have the life from God cannot distinguish others.
It
is as if a color-blind person is unable to discern red from green.
Green is green, and red is red. People who are not colorblind can
distinguish between colors by the slightest differences of their hues.
“This is green and that one is red.” Yet, there are people who cannot
see colors clearly because they are color-blind. We know that red is
different from green because we have seen the difference. But it is
absolutely difficult to explain color to a color-blind person.
The
ability to discern between people who are received the salvation of the
remission of their sins and those who have not received is one of the
authorities God has given to those who have received true remission of
their sins.
We
must believe and spread the gospel of the remission of sin, which makes
people born again through the Truth the Son has fulfilled with the
water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. We have to rise and shine the
light of Truth.
When
we spread the gospel of the remission of sin, we sometimes encounter
the opponents of the gospel, who say, “Is that the only truth?” At these
incidents, we should not speak from our own wisdom but share our
interpretation of the Scripture passage in 1 John 5. We should expound
this Scripture passage about one theme and then take the other passage
for another theme so that they may not be confused. Then, they will come
to accept the Truth.
The
Word of the remission of sin, which we are preaching all over the
world, is the Light. God has led us out of darkness so that we can live
with clear spiritual sight to discern Truth from false. Since we have
the power to discern, we should live our lives after the Truth.
Spreading the gospel of the water and the blood is the life of Light to
us. We have to teach this Truth to everyone so that there is not a
single person who in unaware of this Truth.
God
might judge us if many people die because we, who have received the
remission of sin, have not shone the gospel Light of the water and the
blood and the Spirit. God surely will rebuke those who do not work for
the gospel, calling them wicked and lazy servants. To receive God’s
approval that we have been good and faithful servants, we have to spread
the righteous act of Jesus, who came by the water, the blood, and the
Holy Spirit.
I
am emphasizing the importance of spreading the gospel of the water and
the Spirit repetitively, because unless people have chance to hear the
Truth, they cannot be delivered from their sins. It is written, “How
then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how
shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall
they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14)
We
live truly blessed lives when our hearts are soaked with the passion to
spread the gospel. To live spiritually, we need to have spiritual
wisdom. We gain wisdom by realizing the real Truth through our faith in
God.
We
need to explain the true gospel repetitively to those who lack the
fundamentals of true faith. By doing so, a person comes to understand
the gospel. Jesus came to this world by the water of the baptism and the
blood of the Cross and the Holy Spirit.
Dear
fellow Christians, I pray that you may be born again and receive full
remission of your sins through believing in Jesus Christ, who came by
the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit.
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