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JohnBlog - Word&Light Day 21
Why doesn’t John say that believers in the Word will ‘become God’s children’, rather than ‘given the right to become’?
Theologians make the distinction between salvation and sanctification. Being forgiven then becoming like Christ; rescued then restored; turning from darkness then walking in light; rejecting error then living in truth.
The distinction is a logical necessity. A child walks in its father’s ways. Day-by-day, year-by-year, a child becomes progressively like its father. A child loves its father, emulates its father, wants to please its father, adores and worships its father. A child lives in its father’s blessing, guided by his wisdom, covered by his protection, strengthened by a father’s love, walking tall in a father’s pride. A child takes on the characteristics of its father, wonderfully interpreting them in its own emerging individuality.
You become a Child of God as you practice living close to him. You cannot be made into someone who carries the glory of God. But you can be given the birthright.
The birthright is a cleansed conscience freed from guilt, sealed by the imparting of the spirit of Jesus who empowers us to live like no human could live on his own.
The Disciple:
How I grieve for those who are blind to goodness. Can you not snatch them from darkness and re-educate them as children of light?
The Father:
I can shake their world but cannot make someone a child of light my son. A person has to hunger for light and eagerly turn from darkness before I can put my light within him to make him my child. A man cannot serve two masters. What if I were to put the Spirit of my Son in the heart of a man who had not welcomed me, who does not believe that his own spirit is in darkness or that I exist and reward those who seek me? That man might be in even graver danger than he is with me knocking on the outside of his heart since he would be in constant battle with himself and with me. He may even come to hate the unwelcomed visitor and his darkness become darker. That person could not become a child of God fit for an eternity of light and love. I can only do my re-creative work in someone who is free of guilt and empowered to love.
Why doesn’t John say that believers in the Word will ‘become God’s children’, rather than ‘given the right to become’?
Theologians make the distinction between salvation and sanctification. Being forgiven then becoming like Christ; rescued then restored; turning from darkness then walking in light; rejecting error then living in truth.
The distinction is a logical necessity. A child walks in its father’s ways. Day-by-day, year-by-year, a child becomes progressively like its father. A child loves its father, emulates its father, wants to please its father, adores and worships its father. A child lives in its father’s blessing, guided by his wisdom, covered by his protection, strengthened by a father’s love, walking tall in a father’s pride. A child takes on the characteristics of its father, wonderfully interpreting them in its own emerging individuality.
You become a Child of God as you practice living close to him. You cannot be made into someone who carries the glory of God. But you can be given the birthright.
The birthright is a cleansed conscience freed from guilt, sealed by the imparting of the spirit of Jesus who empowers us to live like no human could live on his own.
The Disciple:
How I grieve for those who are blind to goodness. Can you not snatch them from darkness and re-educate them as children of light?
The Father:
I can shake their world but cannot make someone a child of light my son. A person has to hunger for light and eagerly turn from darkness before I can put my light within him to make him my child. A man cannot serve two masters. What if I were to put the Spirit of my Son in the heart of a man who had not welcomed me, who does not believe that his own spirit is in darkness or that I exist and reward those who seek me? That man might be in even graver danger than he is with me knocking on the outside of his heart since he would be in constant battle with himself and with me. He may even come to hate the unwelcomed visitor and his darkness become darker. That person could not become a child of God fit for an eternity of light and love. I can only do my re-creative work in someone who is free of guilt and empowered to love.
Scripture
About this Plan
A meditation on John inspired by the 15th Century devotional ‘Imitation of Christ.’ In 2011 Chris Webster, a professor with positions at Hong Kong and Cambridge Universities, awoke from a 4 day coma. He started writing JohnBlog as spiritual instructions for his teenage daughter and son should he not return from a second cardiac arrest. This also tells everyone why he exuberantly loves life but considers death as gain.
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This plan was provided by Chris Webster a proferssor with positions in Hong Kong and Campbridge Universities. For more information, please visit: http://JohnBlog.net
