Hate is a big deal. In some forms and expressions it’s even considered a crime. Jesus tells His followers that loving Him and following Him will bring hatred from the world.
In this passage John shows two types of people: servants of Jesus and people of the world. Two types of people hearing one message of truth. The truth is the standard of the law. The law exposes our sin, guilt and depravity. It reminds us that we are in need of a Savior. It was never meant to perfect us or even change us. It was put into place for the sole reason of showing us our own need for Jesus. Two types of responses come from the law. (1) The people of the world hate being told what to do. (2) The servants of Jesus are crushed because they know they can’t do it.
The message of the gospel will always get a response. For those that Jesus calls out of the world to be His servants the response to the crushing demands of the law will be a joyful acceptance and reliance on grace. For those in the world the message of grace still demands a response, and the response of the world is rejection. The world bitterly rejects grace because to the world grace makes little sense. The law states what we must do. Grace tells us that there is nothing we can do. Our saving grace is Jesus. Jesus has perfected the law and paid our debt that demands death.
We constantly strive to live out God’s commands but it is not because of the law. It is because of love. Our love for God drives us to make every effort to live according to His truth.
By the power of His promised Holy Spirit we are constantly changing. Becoming more like Jesus than days gone by. That my friends is the power of grace.
Pray
Thank you Jesus for making Yourself known to me. Please make my heart soft so I am not hardened by the trials of the world. Help me point others to You by the power of Your Holy Spirit.
I enjoyed reading this post. Pure and simple. Nope too many of us would have been capable of writing a such as this even a week before you did so. But, Jesus, through His Holy Spirit, is constantly changing His Church ” from glory to glory” until His glorious return.
I was born and raised in Sanger on a hot day in August, 1950. My family was very well involved with I guess your grandfather, Ray Farmer? Farmer’s Chevron across from the Chuck Wagon. I think our families knew each other before WWII in Arkansas.
Once again, thank you for such a pure, simple presentation of the Gospel of or Lord and Savior!
Good Morning Howard
Thank you for your response to the blog post. Ray Farmer is my dad. I am the oldest and have two other siblings. My grandfather was Tom Farmer and yes they owned the Chevron station across the street from Chuck Wagon. I love doing ministry in the community I grew up in. I’ll have to ask dad if he remembers you. He is a bit older than you but maybe will remember some of your family members if not you. Thanks again for your response!
Blessings, Pastor Kim