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John 1:12 - How to Grow Your Relationship With God.John 1:12 (NLT) But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.John 1:12 (AMP) But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name-- WORD STUDY As many as received. John here brands as error the belief that simply because Christ died for all men, all will therefore be saved. Marked equally false is the belief that God predestines certain men to be saved and others to be damned. John emphatically declares that the decisive factor lies with men themselves - "as many" as receive and believe are granted access to sonship. Power. Rightly translated "authority." Because of sin man had lost all his rights and deserved the penalty of death. The plan of salvation restored man's opportunity to know God and to choose to serve Him. To become. God does not arbitrarily make men His sons; He enables them to become such if they so choose. On his name. To believe on the name of Christ is to appropriate the provisions of salvation in Christ Jesus. [SDA Bible Commentary] INTRODUCTION All who welcome Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives are reborn spiritually, receiving new life from God. Through faith in Christ, this new birth changes us from the inside out - giving us new attitudes, desires, and motives. Being born makes you physically alive and places you in your parents' family. Being reborn makes you spiritually alive and puts you in God's family. Have you asked Christ to make you a new person? This fresh start in life is available to all who believe in Christ. [Life Application SB mod] COMMENTARY PEARL "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Shall we not, then, give to Christ that which He has died to redeem? If you will do this, He will quicken your conscience, renew your heart, sanctify your affections, purify your thoughts, and set all your powers at work for Him. Every motive and every thought will be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ.... And the more completely mind and body are yielded to the Holy Spirit, the greater will be the fragrance of our offering to Him. 7BC909 Satan had claimed that it was impossible for man to obey God's commandments; and in our own strength it is true that we cannot obey them. But Christ came in the form of humanity, and by His perfect obedience He proved that humanity and divinity combined can obey every one of God's precepts. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." John 1:12. This power is not in the human agent. It is the power of God. When a soul receives Christ, he receives power to live the life of Christ. COL314 COMMENTARY The Power of Choice John Calvin continued the work of the Protestant Reformers in the 16th century, heralding the Bible as the only authoritative source of Christian doctrine. But Calvin also popularized the nonbiblical doctrine of predestination. He believed that God had already determined a certain finite number of people to save, that Jesus Christ died only for those predetermined people, and that our free choice had no say in the matter. Today's promise refutes this doctrine of predestination. According to today's verse, there are two determining factors to our salvation - God's choice and our choice. For God's part He chose to give us the free gift of salvation (Ephesians 2:8, 9). This salvation is available through "His name," the name of Jesus Christ: "And you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins" the angel instructed (Matthew 1:21). The very name, the very character, the very essence, of Jesus encompasses the salvation of mankind. By opening this path to salvation, God thereby "gave the right" to us. The Greek word for "right" is exousia, meaning "power of choice." In other words, God gave us the right to choose whether to become His children, whether to receive Christ and live in accordance with the belief that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). "As many as [receive] Him" will receive God's gift of life - not a previously decided number and not every human being who has ever lived. Salvation depends on your individual, personal choice. God's promise to you is the guarantee of salvation if you so choose to accept it. Christ Jesus, I accept Your free gift of salvation and believe that You will transform me into a child of God. [The Most Amazing Bible Promises by Amazing Facts] How to Grow Your Relationship With God This life is preparation for eternity - but what does that mean in practical terms? How do you use your life here to prepare for eternity? First, you get to know Jesus Christ. The Bible says, "To all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust him to save them" (John 1:12 TLB). Notice that not everybody's a child of God - just those who receive him into their lives. God wants you to establish a relationship with him by trusting in him. You grow a relationship with God the same way you grow any relationship - through time and conversation. For example, if I want to grow my relationship with my wife, Kay, what do I have to do? First, I have to spend time with her. I have to show her that I'm invested in getting to know her by making time for her and making the time count. You cannot have a relationship with someone you never spend any time with. That's the same way you develop a relationship with God. You make time in your schedule for him. One way to make him the most important part of your is day through a daily quiet time. You get alone with God and worship him and learn from him. You spend regular, significant time with him. The second thing you can do to have a relationship is to talk. In a relationship with God, this means prayer. There are many ways to be more intentional about your prayer life. Maybe you need to start a prayer journal of requests and answered prayer. You could make a prayer card using Scripture and put it on your bathroom mirror, on your desk at work, or on your phone so that you are reminded to pray God's Word. Or maybe your family needs to have a set time of prayer together each day. Whatever it is you need to do to increase your conversation with God, do it! You will never regret investing your time, your energy, and your life in getting to know God better. Take the first step in getting ready to be used by God by spending time with him and talking to him today. [Daily Devotional by Rick Warren: https://pastorrick.com/devotional/] CLOSING THOUGHT God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity LIFE STORIES ILLUSTRATING THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUVyxqAV3-Y&feature=youtu.be LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY John 1:12 - How to Grow Your Relationship With God. https://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20230223-0818.html John 1:12 - The Born Again Experience!!! http://www.abible.com/devotions/2021/20210420-0902.html Ezekiel 18:30-32 - Get A New Heart And Spirit And Live https://www.abible.com/devotions/1997/19971116-0000.html Romans 8:14 - SPIRIT LED LIVING. https://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20230808-0940.html LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT https://abible.com/links/ |