When John says he is not the light we are being taught that the literal sense or the historical context in which the Word is clothed doesn’t constitute the divine truth, which is the true light. But the relationship the historical garments represented by John, and of which the literal sense Word is made up is absolutely essential if we are to come to believe in the Lord.
The baptism performed by John represented the cleansing of the external man; but baptism as practised among Christians at the present time represents the cleansing of the internal man, which is his regeneration. That is why we read that John baptised with water, but the Lord baptises with the Holy Spirit and with fire. So …
Read more “04. Challenging The Authority Of John The Baptist (Jn 1:19-28)”
The condition of our mind prior to our regeneration in regard to spiritual things is nothing but gross darkness; we actually have no capacity of ourselves to grasp anything pertaining to spiritual realities. Any genuine comprehension we have of such things is from the Lord alone or from the truths of the Word which is really the Lord with us. We should never be tempted to attribute our understanding of spiritual things to our own intellectual ability, all power in this regard is from the Lord, who gives us the ability to reason about truths but more importantly grants us the ability to love them by responding to the challenges they make on our life in freedom.
These opening few verses of John set the framework and reference point for understanding everything else in the gospel, and so what we take from here will have a direct bearing on how we perceive the things that are to come.
Delve into the transformative teachings of the Gospel of John, highlighting a spiritual perspective of the Logos’s impact upon the human mind. The focus is on the Word as the Lord, working to bring about our spiritual rebirth through transforming our minds into His image and likeness.
