◄ What Does John 20:31 Mean? ►

We are exhorted by Christ's apostles to live by faith and not by sight. We are charged to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, and we are counselled to believe on the One Whom God sent into the world to be the propitiation for our sins.

It is by God's grace that the Father gave His only begotten Son to pay the ransom price for our sin, and it is by faith in His finished work on Calvary's Cross, that salvation (the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting) becomes our eternal possession.

The Gospel of John was written for one express purpose: "That you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name." The reason that John's Gospel was written was to authenticate the claim that Jesus was that anointed Son of God and Saviour of the world, and that all who believe on His name would not perish but have everlasting life.

Guided by the Spirit of God, prophets of old had foretold of the coming Saviour, and moved by the same Spirit of God, the apostle John carefully selected certain of these prophetic signs and miracles to authenticate Christ's claims to be the promised Messiah of God.

John selected seven of Christ's numerous miracles (or signs) in his Gospel, together with certain of His sayings and teachings, which would best illustrate His deity, confirm His Messiahship, and reveal to lost sinners their important theological significance. And then right at the end of his Gospel, John explains the reason why he chose these particular sayings, signs and situations: "These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name."

John records that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. John also makes it very clear that He wrote his Gospel as a witness to the world that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in His name, the lost will be saved, sin will be forgiven, and eternal life will become the everlasting possession through time and into eternity, of all who believe on the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word and for the truths that it contains. Thank You that my salvation does not depend on what I do, but on what Christ did on the Cross on my account. Thank You that the truth of the glorious gospel of Christ has been written for my learning and that by believing on Him, I have been forgiven of my sins, accepted in Christ, and have received eternal life. Praise His holy name, AMEN.