John 6:35-51
Seven Attributes of Actual Faith
Illustration
A story in Reader’s digest several years ago said, “If you're planning to vacation in Zambia, beware of the guys on the street-corner known as "emerald vendors." And, if you're driving, be prepared for some confusion in the streets, because a lot of traffic lights have been stolen. These two warnings are related: The traffic light thieves are selling green glass chips to unsuspecting tourists who think they're getting emeralds at bargain-basement prices.”
Nobody likes to be tricked by fakes, whether it has to do with jewelry or with the faith. There are those who appear as Christians, and then there are those who actually are Christians. And although we could approach our passage from the angle of “How to identify counterfeit Christians”, I thought it would be more profitable to come from the other angle: Identifying the Attributes of Actual Faith. So today we are going to focus on verses 35-51 of John chapter 6, and in doing so I want us to see 7 attributes of actual faith.
Context
Chapter 6 of John is important in the Gospel. In this chapter we have seen Jesus in the height of His ministry - He is never more popular than in chapter 6. Going into the chapter Jesus has possibly more than 10,000 people following Him everywhere He goes. By the end of the chapter they all abandon Him and only His 12 original disciples are with Him.
But Jesus did not come to earth to be popular. He came to save sinners from their sins. He came so that people would believe in Him and be saved from their sins. The people in John 6 were committed followers of Jesus, making all sorts of sacrifices to follow Him, but, they had fake faith. They never truly believed in Him for the forgiveness of their sins and for eternal life. Therefore, Jesus is going to prove them to be the counterfeits that they are.
Chapter 6 starts with many people following Jesus around. At the end of the chapter everyone except the 12 disciples will have abandoned Him. Why? Because, even though they followed Him, they did not believe in Him. Chapter 6 shows how Jesus weeds out those who only have the appearance of faith from those who actually have faith. In this passage we see 7 attributes of actual faith.
It is good for a man to examine himself in light of God’s Word and evaluate his own motive for following Christ. If you call yourself a follower of Jesus, but, don’t believe in Him, then you have wrong motives for following Him. Why are you following Christ?
Righteous Hunger (35)
The 1st attribute of actual faith is: Having a Righteous Hunger. Verse 35 says, “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” There is a certain hunger and a certain thirst that Jesus came to satisfy. And people who come to Jesus with this hunger and with this thirst have actual faith. It’s a hunger and a thirst for righteousness. Jesus said in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
A man who has actual saving faith is a man who is starving for righteousness. He is knows he is dirt poor when it comes to righteousness - he has nothing to offer. His hunger for righteousness is not satisfied in anything – himself, religion, people, success, charity, or anything. When it comes to righteousness he is naked and ashamed of himself.
And so, in his poverty, in his nakedness, in his painful hunger, he comes to Jesus Christ, the bread of life. He comes to the only One who can satisfy his hunger and thirst. Blessed is that man who hungers and thirsts for righteousness – who WANTS it! - and blessed is that man who comes to Christ asking for it, for he will be filled. Never again will he be hungry or thirsty because Christ satisfies the soul that starves after righteousness.
A Righteous Hunger is why we study the Scriptures. Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” We study the Word of God here because we want to grow in righteous living, and righteous living cannot be done apart from the Word of God. Our hunger for the righteousness of Christ drives us to His words in Scripture.
The first attribute of actual faith is a hunger for righteousness.
Really Believing in Jesus (36)
The 2nd attribute of actual faith is: Really Believing in Jesus. Verse 36 Jesus says, “But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.” Jesus sees right through these people. For all their effort and all their commitment and all their sacrifice, He knows they really don’t believe in Him. Jesus isn’t impressed or pleased with people who follow Him but don’t put their faith in Him. The only thing that pleases God is faith (Hebrews 11:6). All their effort and all they gave up for Jesus is for nothing because they did not have faith, they really did not believe in Jesus.
Seeing is not believing; they saw Jesus in person, saw his miracles firsthand, heard Him preach with their own ears, and they did not believe. “Faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17).
Responding to the Father (37)
So attributes of actual faith include A Righteous Hunger and Really Believing in Jesus. The 3rd attribute is Responding to the Father. Notice verse 37, “All those the Father gives to Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.” If the Father gives a man to Christ that man will come to Christ. As a matter of fact, Jesus says in verse 44, “No one can come to [Him] unless the Father … draws them.”
See also, verses 39, 65, John 10:29, Rom 8:29-30, Phil 1:6, 1 Peter 1:1-5, Jude 1,
When a man comes to Christ with a righteous hunger and really believing in Jesus, it is the work that the Father is doing in that man. In chapter 16 we learn that God convicts a man of his sin to make that man feel ashamed of his sin. According to verse 44, the Father draws men to Jesus, and no man can come to Christ unless the Father draws Him. The desire and the ability to go to Jesus in faith and really believe in Him comes from the Father. All those who have actual faith have responded to the Father’s work in them. Philippians 1:6 says that God began that good work of salvation in us.
Is the Father drawing you to Christ? Is your own heart convicted over your own sin? The Greek word for Conviction means you’ve been proven wrong and as a result, you feel ashamed. It means you’re finally convinced in your own eyes that your sin is shameful and that you are are a sinner in the eyes of God. Shame is such a good thing when it leads to repentance - when it causes you to own up to your sin and be sorrowful over it, it is a work that God is doing in you. Will you resist Him? Will you wait any longer? Respond to the work that the Father is doing in you and come to Jesus Christ.
When you do, He promises 2 things: Acceptance and Protection. Verse 37 says Jesus will never drive anyone away who comes to Him. He will accept anyone who puts their trust in Him. But, He not only accepts, He protects according to verse 39. “I shall lose none of all that the Father has given me, but, raise them up at the last day.” You are fully accepted, and fully protected when you come to Jesus Christ in faith.
Resurrection Hope (39, 40, 44)
The 4th attribute of actual faith is having a Resurrection Hope (39, 40, 44). Notice verses 39 and 40, “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jesus says He will raise us up on the last day. Jesus is our Resurrection (11:25). Resurrection is the proof of victory over death (1 Cor. 15:57). Jesus’ resurrection is why we hope for our resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20-22; 1 Pet. 1:3). The fear of going to hell for eternity is gone for those who now know they will be raised to eternal life at the last day. Do you live with the hope of this resurrection? Do you love Jesus more with the hopeful thought that He will raise you up from the dead?
Rejecting Jesus came from the Earth (41-42)
The first 4 attributes are: Righteous Hunger, Really Believe in Jesus, Respond to the Father, and Resurrection Hope. The 5th attribute of actual faith is Rejecting the idea that Jesus came from anywhere but Heaven. Verses 41-42 say, “At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven?’’”
The worst mistake that you can make in this life is to mistake the true identity of Jesus Christ. When Jesus said, “I am the bread of life that came down from heaven” they rejected it. They rejected the idea that Jesus came from heaven. They thought they knew who Jesus was. They thought they knew where He came from – that He was from Nazareth in Galilee, and that His parents were Mary and Joseph. They thought He was only a man, just like them.
But, when you have real, authentic, actual faith, you know that Jesus Christ did not ultimately come from man or from earth. You know that Jesus Christ came from heaven. You know that His real Father is the God of Heaven and Earth. Jesus prayed in John chapter 17, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” Jesus was with the Father in His glory before the world ever even began because Jesus is eternal. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The point is that the Word that was with God and was God is equal with God and eternal like God and dwells with God in heaven. Jesus is the Word. He came to the earth when He became a man - when He became flesh.
Relying on Jesus to know the Father (45, 46)
The 6th attribute of actual faith is Relying on Jesus to Know the Father. Notice verses 45 and 46, “It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only He has seen the Father.”
Jesus is saying here that He is the exclusive source for knowing God. In other words, if anyone wants to know God then you must know Jesus. Where did Jesus come from? Heaven. Who sent Jesus? God the Father. What did Jesus say and do? What the Father told Him to say and do.
Who is Jesus? God in the flesh! John 1:14, “The Word became flesh”, Colossians 1:15, “He is the image of the invisible God”, Colossians 2:9, “For in Christ, the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form”, Philippians 2:7, “Jesus, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but, was made in human likeness”, Hebrews 1:3, “He is the exact representation of God’s being”.
No one else has seen the Father except Jesus – He is the One whom the Father sent – no one else. No one will see the Father unless they know Jesus. “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” No one can come to the Father and know Him unless he comes through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. Acts 4:12 says, “There is no other name given under heaven to men by which we must be saved.” No other name. Jesus is the name. Jesus is the way to God. Jesus is the truth of God. Jesus is the life of God. A man with actual faith relies on Jesus to know God.
(Re-Cap) (47-50)
Summarizes what He’s said so far as a ramp up to verse 51, and then in verse 51 he is going to transition.
Recognize the Spiritual Truth in Jesus Teachings (51)
The 7th and last attribute of actual faith is Recognizing the Spiritual Truth in Jesus’ Teachings. Notice verse 51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
One major problem with the Jews is they could not understand the figures of speech that Jesus used. They took His metaphors and thought He was speaking literally when He was speaking figuratively. Remember He referred to His body as a temple in chapter 2; in chapter 4 He said He was Living Water. Here in chapter 6 He says that He is the bread of life that came down from heaven. And when Jesus says that you have to eat His flesh they take Him literally when they should have seen the spiritual metaphor He was using.
Actual Faith enables us to understand what Jesus teaches. We eat bread. We internalize bread by eating it. When Jesus says that His flesh, or His body, is the bread that must be eaten for eternal life He is saying that you must believe in Him.
Let’s break this down. Notice the last thing in that verse Jesus says, “This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” He is speaking of His crucifixion. He is referring to His death on a cross where His flesh – His body - would hang and die so that the world could have life.
What Jesus means is that as the Son of God who dies in your place to give you life Jesus is the bread of life, and in order to have that life He offers you must internalize Him, that is, you must believe in Him. That’s how you “eat” the bread of life. That’s how you “internalize” the bread of life. You must believe in the One who is the bread of life, Jesus Christ, believing that He gave His body over to death for your sins so you could have life.
Conclusion
It is good for a man to biblically examine his motives for following Jesus Christ and calling himself a Christian. His motives will produce certain characteristics of his faith. When someone has actual faith, we see 7 things from this passage in their life: Righteous Hunger, Really Believe in Jesus, Respond to the Father, Resurrection Hope, Reject the idea that Jesus came from the Earth, Rely on Jesus for knowing God, and Recognizing the spiritual truth that Jesus taught.
Seven Attributes of Actual Faith
Illustration
A story in Reader’s digest several years ago said, “If you're planning to vacation in Zambia, beware of the guys on the street-corner known as "emerald vendors." And, if you're driving, be prepared for some confusion in the streets, because a lot of traffic lights have been stolen. These two warnings are related: The traffic light thieves are selling green glass chips to unsuspecting tourists who think they're getting emeralds at bargain-basement prices.”
Nobody likes to be tricked by fakes, whether it has to do with jewelry or with the faith. There are those who appear as Christians, and then there are those who actually are Christians. And although we could approach our passage from the angle of “How to identify counterfeit Christians”, I thought it would be more profitable to come from the other angle: Identifying the Attributes of Actual Faith. So today we are going to focus on verses 35-51 of John chapter 6, and in doing so I want us to see 7 attributes of actual faith.
Context
Chapter 6 of John is important in the Gospel. In this chapter we have seen Jesus in the height of His ministry - He is never more popular than in chapter 6. Going into the chapter Jesus has possibly more than 10,000 people following Him everywhere He goes. By the end of the chapter they all abandon Him and only His 12 original disciples are with Him.
But Jesus did not come to earth to be popular. He came to save sinners from their sins. He came so that people would believe in Him and be saved from their sins. The people in John 6 were committed followers of Jesus, making all sorts of sacrifices to follow Him, but, they had fake faith. They never truly believed in Him for the forgiveness of their sins and for eternal life. Therefore, Jesus is going to prove them to be the counterfeits that they are.
Chapter 6 starts with many people following Jesus around. At the end of the chapter everyone except the 12 disciples will have abandoned Him. Why? Because, even though they followed Him, they did not believe in Him. Chapter 6 shows how Jesus weeds out those who only have the appearance of faith from those who actually have faith. In this passage we see 7 attributes of actual faith.
It is good for a man to examine himself in light of God’s Word and evaluate his own motive for following Christ. If you call yourself a follower of Jesus, but, don’t believe in Him, then you have wrong motives for following Him. Why are you following Christ?
Righteous Hunger (35)
The 1st attribute of actual faith is: Having a Righteous Hunger. Verse 35 says, “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” There is a certain hunger and a certain thirst that Jesus came to satisfy. And people who come to Jesus with this hunger and with this thirst have actual faith. It’s a hunger and a thirst for righteousness. Jesus said in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
A man who has actual saving faith is a man who is starving for righteousness. He is knows he is dirt poor when it comes to righteousness - he has nothing to offer. His hunger for righteousness is not satisfied in anything – himself, religion, people, success, charity, or anything. When it comes to righteousness he is naked and ashamed of himself.
And so, in his poverty, in his nakedness, in his painful hunger, he comes to Jesus Christ, the bread of life. He comes to the only One who can satisfy his hunger and thirst. Blessed is that man who hungers and thirsts for righteousness – who WANTS it! - and blessed is that man who comes to Christ asking for it, for he will be filled. Never again will he be hungry or thirsty because Christ satisfies the soul that starves after righteousness.
A Righteous Hunger is why we study the Scriptures. Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” We study the Word of God here because we want to grow in righteous living, and righteous living cannot be done apart from the Word of God. Our hunger for the righteousness of Christ drives us to His words in Scripture.
The first attribute of actual faith is a hunger for righteousness.
Really Believing in Jesus (36)
The 2nd attribute of actual faith is: Really Believing in Jesus. Verse 36 Jesus says, “But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.” Jesus sees right through these people. For all their effort and all their commitment and all their sacrifice, He knows they really don’t believe in Him. Jesus isn’t impressed or pleased with people who follow Him but don’t put their faith in Him. The only thing that pleases God is faith (Hebrews 11:6). All their effort and all they gave up for Jesus is for nothing because they did not have faith, they really did not believe in Jesus.
Seeing is not believing; they saw Jesus in person, saw his miracles firsthand, heard Him preach with their own ears, and they did not believe. “Faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17).
Responding to the Father (37)
So attributes of actual faith include A Righteous Hunger and Really Believing in Jesus. The 3rd attribute is Responding to the Father. Notice verse 37, “All those the Father gives to Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.” If the Father gives a man to Christ that man will come to Christ. As a matter of fact, Jesus says in verse 44, “No one can come to [Him] unless the Father … draws them.”
See also, verses 39, 65, John 10:29, Rom 8:29-30, Phil 1:6, 1 Peter 1:1-5, Jude 1,
When a man comes to Christ with a righteous hunger and really believing in Jesus, it is the work that the Father is doing in that man. In chapter 16 we learn that God convicts a man of his sin to make that man feel ashamed of his sin. According to verse 44, the Father draws men to Jesus, and no man can come to Christ unless the Father draws Him. The desire and the ability to go to Jesus in faith and really believe in Him comes from the Father. All those who have actual faith have responded to the Father’s work in them. Philippians 1:6 says that God began that good work of salvation in us.
Is the Father drawing you to Christ? Is your own heart convicted over your own sin? The Greek word for Conviction means you’ve been proven wrong and as a result, you feel ashamed. It means you’re finally convinced in your own eyes that your sin is shameful and that you are are a sinner in the eyes of God. Shame is such a good thing when it leads to repentance - when it causes you to own up to your sin and be sorrowful over it, it is a work that God is doing in you. Will you resist Him? Will you wait any longer? Respond to the work that the Father is doing in you and come to Jesus Christ.
When you do, He promises 2 things: Acceptance and Protection. Verse 37 says Jesus will never drive anyone away who comes to Him. He will accept anyone who puts their trust in Him. But, He not only accepts, He protects according to verse 39. “I shall lose none of all that the Father has given me, but, raise them up at the last day.” You are fully accepted, and fully protected when you come to Jesus Christ in faith.
Resurrection Hope (39, 40, 44)
The 4th attribute of actual faith is having a Resurrection Hope (39, 40, 44). Notice verses 39 and 40, “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jesus says He will raise us up on the last day. Jesus is our Resurrection (11:25). Resurrection is the proof of victory over death (1 Cor. 15:57). Jesus’ resurrection is why we hope for our resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20-22; 1 Pet. 1:3). The fear of going to hell for eternity is gone for those who now know they will be raised to eternal life at the last day. Do you live with the hope of this resurrection? Do you love Jesus more with the hopeful thought that He will raise you up from the dead?
Rejecting Jesus came from the Earth (41-42)
The first 4 attributes are: Righteous Hunger, Really Believe in Jesus, Respond to the Father, and Resurrection Hope. The 5th attribute of actual faith is Rejecting the idea that Jesus came from anywhere but Heaven. Verses 41-42 say, “At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven?’’”
The worst mistake that you can make in this life is to mistake the true identity of Jesus Christ. When Jesus said, “I am the bread of life that came down from heaven” they rejected it. They rejected the idea that Jesus came from heaven. They thought they knew who Jesus was. They thought they knew where He came from – that He was from Nazareth in Galilee, and that His parents were Mary and Joseph. They thought He was only a man, just like them.
But, when you have real, authentic, actual faith, you know that Jesus Christ did not ultimately come from man or from earth. You know that Jesus Christ came from heaven. You know that His real Father is the God of Heaven and Earth. Jesus prayed in John chapter 17, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” Jesus was with the Father in His glory before the world ever even began because Jesus is eternal. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The point is that the Word that was with God and was God is equal with God and eternal like God and dwells with God in heaven. Jesus is the Word. He came to the earth when He became a man - when He became flesh.
Relying on Jesus to know the Father (45, 46)
The 6th attribute of actual faith is Relying on Jesus to Know the Father. Notice verses 45 and 46, “It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only He has seen the Father.”
Jesus is saying here that He is the exclusive source for knowing God. In other words, if anyone wants to know God then you must know Jesus. Where did Jesus come from? Heaven. Who sent Jesus? God the Father. What did Jesus say and do? What the Father told Him to say and do.
Who is Jesus? God in the flesh! John 1:14, “The Word became flesh”, Colossians 1:15, “He is the image of the invisible God”, Colossians 2:9, “For in Christ, the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form”, Philippians 2:7, “Jesus, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but, was made in human likeness”, Hebrews 1:3, “He is the exact representation of God’s being”.
No one else has seen the Father except Jesus – He is the One whom the Father sent – no one else. No one will see the Father unless they know Jesus. “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” No one can come to the Father and know Him unless he comes through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. Acts 4:12 says, “There is no other name given under heaven to men by which we must be saved.” No other name. Jesus is the name. Jesus is the way to God. Jesus is the truth of God. Jesus is the life of God. A man with actual faith relies on Jesus to know God.
(Re-Cap) (47-50)
Summarizes what He’s said so far as a ramp up to verse 51, and then in verse 51 he is going to transition.
Recognize the Spiritual Truth in Jesus Teachings (51)
The 7th and last attribute of actual faith is Recognizing the Spiritual Truth in Jesus’ Teachings. Notice verse 51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
One major problem with the Jews is they could not understand the figures of speech that Jesus used. They took His metaphors and thought He was speaking literally when He was speaking figuratively. Remember He referred to His body as a temple in chapter 2; in chapter 4 He said He was Living Water. Here in chapter 6 He says that He is the bread of life that came down from heaven. And when Jesus says that you have to eat His flesh they take Him literally when they should have seen the spiritual metaphor He was using.
Actual Faith enables us to understand what Jesus teaches. We eat bread. We internalize bread by eating it. When Jesus says that His flesh, or His body, is the bread that must be eaten for eternal life He is saying that you must believe in Him.
Let’s break this down. Notice the last thing in that verse Jesus says, “This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” He is speaking of His crucifixion. He is referring to His death on a cross where His flesh – His body - would hang and die so that the world could have life.
What Jesus means is that as the Son of God who dies in your place to give you life Jesus is the bread of life, and in order to have that life He offers you must internalize Him, that is, you must believe in Him. That’s how you “eat” the bread of life. That’s how you “internalize” the bread of life. You must believe in the One who is the bread of life, Jesus Christ, believing that He gave His body over to death for your sins so you could have life.
Conclusion
It is good for a man to biblically examine his motives for following Jesus Christ and calling himself a Christian. His motives will produce certain characteristics of his faith. When someone has actual faith, we see 7 things from this passage in their life: Righteous Hunger, Really Believe in Jesus, Respond to the Father, Resurrection Hope, Reject the idea that Jesus came from the Earth, Rely on Jesus for knowing God, and Recognizing the spiritual truth that Jesus taught.
Comments
Post a Comment