Select Page

The True Gospel, Simply Put

by | 2 comments

In my last few posts, I have written about different views of the Gospel. As I mentioned earlier, Christianity and the Gospel are closely tied together. In fact, I don’t believe Christianity would even exist without the Gospel. The Good News of Jesus was the foundation of the early church. It was such good news, in fact, that they could not keep it to themselves and shared it with everyone they could (Colossians 1:23). It didn’t hurt that Jesus commissioned them to proclaim this Gospel to the world (Mark 16:15).

This is why it is so important to know what this Good News is. If anything could be considered the Good News, Paul and the other Apostles would not have had a problem with the “different” gospels. But they did. Because in their understanding, there was only one Gospel. They weren’t confused about what it was—it was given to them from Jesus Himself (Galatians 1:11, 12). Yet, already in their day, distorted gospels were popping up among the believers.

A Sacred Balancing Act

We still suffer from different gospels because we often grab onto portions of the true Gospel and elevate them to an unnatural position. This results in removing or reducing key elements of the Good News Jesus gave us. As the main two distortions revealed, by elevating the importance of our works too high we reduce the power of the cross, and by making God’s grace impossible to resist we remove the power of our choice (and remove the severity of sin).

Yet, how could it be good news if I don’t have a choice? How is it good news if God’s payment on my behalf isn’t enough? Fortunately, the real Good News that Jesus gave to His disciples has a very balanced view of each of these. 

Photo by Rod Long

Works in the Shadow of the Cross?

To Jesus, and the disciples, part of the beauty of the Gospel was that Jesus sacrifice for our sins is more than enough. The author of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus “offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins,” and that “by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:12, 14—emphasis mine). The price for our sins has been paid. Our works are not needed for salvation. The Bible is absolutely clear about this: we are not saved by our works, but by our faith in God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8, 9). 

Our salvation is the result of this dependent relationship with God. In fact, Jesus said that eternal life is knowing (experiencing) God (John 17:3). Furthermore, the apostle John wrote we can know that we have a relationship with Jesus because we will obey Him (1 John 2:1–3). He goes so far as to say that if we claim to have a relationship with God but do not obey Him, we are liars (verse 4). Jesus made it abundantly clear: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Our works are the fruit of this saving relationship, not a payment for it.

A Grace that Respects Our Choice

Another part of the beauty—the irresistible nature—of God’s grace is not that it over-powers our choice, but that it offers us a choice even though we don’t deserve it. We must not forget the truth about this: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). We don’t deserve any of this. God didn’t wait for us to get “good enough,” before He sent the solution. John 3:16, the famous Gospel verse, reminds us that God’s grace isn’t given to us because we deserve it—or even because we are lovable—but because He “so loved the world.” 

Yet our sin still remains. God’s grace doesn’t give sin a pass, but a solution! This solution isn’t forced though; it is still reliant on “anyone who believes.” The choice is still ours. In fact, before God offered grace, we had no choice! The earnings (wages) of sin is death. Before grace, death was our only option. However, now, because of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins, we can choose life! This is what makes His grace so irresistible. How could we resist the unmerited favor of a God who loves us so much He would offer salvation (through His Son) to humans who are not worthy of receiving it? What love!

It’s All About Jesus

The problem with every distortion of the Gospel is that it ultimately focuses on us—or, at least, it plays to our selfish desires. Whether we believe that we can earn our own salvation or that no matter what we do we will still be saved, it is all about us. But the true Gospel is all about Jesus. We are not saved because we became “good enough,” but because He paid for our sins at the cross. Jesus dying for our sins didn’t remove our choice, it frees us to make a choice. That’s our part in salvation: the choice. Do we trust in God and rely on Him for salvation? The ball is in our court.

“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11–13, emphasis mine). It couldn’t be more clear: if you do not have Jesus you do not have life, but if you have Jesus—hold onto Him, trust Him, follow Him, rely on Him—you can know you have eternal life. That is the Gospel, simply put.

Fishing Without Jesus

by | 0 comments

I heard a question recently that concerned me: how much of what Christians do still depends on Christ? Another way to ask it is this: Is Jesus still the center of Christianity, or is He just a bystander? 

It concerns me because in the letter to the church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14–22), Jesus reveals a group of God’s people who think everything is fine, but its not. The reason? He is not inside; He’s no longer a part of their church (Revelation 3:20 – the reason for His knocking). Therefore, according to Jesus, a church that is no longer reliant on Him is not only a possibility, it’s a reality. Sadly, we can get to a point where our religion is less CHRISTianity and more CHURCHianity—more about us than about God.

If we’ll be honest with ourselves, much of Christianity in developed countries resembles this Laodicean attitude. More often than not, it seems that a lot of what we do is something of our own creation and has no reliance on the power and authority of Jesus. Our worship services are typically tailored to the people we hope will attend rather than focussing on the God who deserves our worship. Ministries in our churches often come from brain storming committee meetings rather than time spent in prayer. Even our evangelistic efforts have become well-practiced strategies of persuasion rather than organic testimonies about our experiences with Jesus.

The Bible gives us two clear examples of why we shouldn’t try to do these things on our own. They’re fishing stories.

photo by Fredrik Ohlander

Fishing with Jesus, part 1 (Luke 5:1–6)

Jesus was teaching on the shore of the sea of Galilee when the crowd grew too large and forced Him into one of the boats nearby. They pushed off a little from the shore and He continued teaching. When He was finished, He turned to the boat’s captain, Simon Peter, and told him to go further out and cast out his nets. Simon argued that they had already been out—all night, even—and didn’t catch a thing. However, since Jesus was the one asking, he obeyed. As soon as he cast them out, the nets filled with fish. So many that the nets began to break! They even called their other boat to help but, because of the amount of fish, both boats began to sink. Wow.

What strikes me about this story is not just how many fish they caught, but Jesus’ comment about it to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” (Luke 5:10). The whole purpose of Jesus’ demonstration of His power and authority was to prepare Simon, and the others, to trust Him in ministry. Jesus would be sending them out to do the impossible: create more disciples of Jesus. However, with Jesus in the boat, their fishing would be sure!

Fishing with Jesus, part 2 (John 21:3–6)

I don’t think it was by chance that this event happened again. This time, it happened after the resurrection and after Jesus appeared to the disciples. For some reason, a few of the disciples were at the Sea of Galilee again. While they were there, Peter decided to fish and the others joined him. (I often wonder if he went out because it was relaxing and a way to pass the time, or if he was reverting to his old career.) Nevertheless, their fishing was fruitless: they didn’t catch anything. Then Jesus arrived (but they didn’t recognize Him). He asked them if they had caught any fish and they replied that they hadn’t. He instructed them to cast their net on the right side where they’d find some. When they did, like the first time, they caught so many fish they couldn’t bring it all in.

Why would Jesus do this again? In that moment, before sending His disciples out to finish the work of the kingdom (Acts 1:7), He was reminding them that He is the source of power and authority. They would not be successful without Him. They could not, dared not, try to finish the work on their own.

Have we been trying to fish without Jesus? Do we still depend on Him for the things we do as a church? Or do we think we can handle the rest of the work on our own? It seems plain to me: we need to let Jesus be the foundation of our worship, our ministries, our evangelism, and every other part of Christianity. We need Jesus back in Christianity.

Armor of God: The Helmet of Salvation

by | 0 comments

I don’t know about you, but I despise mind games. I don’t like to be lied to, manipulated, or coerced (especially by people claiming to be friends). Unfortunately, it seems almost impossible to completely avoid being a victim of them. In every area of life such mind games await—even in our spiritual life.

Maybe our adversary has hit you with his questions before: “If you are God’s child, why do you struggle just to make it through the day? God said He’d take care of his children, but where is He at this crisis in your life? How come His promises don’t come true in your life? Are you sure God’s Word is true? And what’s with all this confessing sins, life changes and obedience, isn’t there a better way? Are you sure His plan is best?” Satan loves playing these games, causing doubts, fears, and confusion.

You see, every great general knows that if you can conquer the enemy’s mind, you’ve won the battle. Many battles are won before they even start, because fears and doubts invade the soldier’s mind. Satan knows this, and since he couldn’t conquer our Commander, he turns his assaults on us. As long as we remain unprotected from these mind games, we will suffer defeat and fall. Sadly, we too are often defeated before we even face the battle.

It is no surprise then, that Paul’s next recommendation for our armor is a helmet or, more specifically, the Helmet of Salvation (Ephesians 6:17). Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:8, that we are to put on “the hope of salvation as a helmet.” It is this hope, or assurance, in the power of salvation that will protect our minds from being defiled with fears and doubts from Satan.

The sad thing is that many go into battle without it or, possibly worse, with a counterfeit. Satan has convinced many that Salvation is not necessary and presents his Headband of Security as a better alternative. Security makes us comfortable—which is what Satan wants us to be. Of course, it will not stand up to the trials of battle and will fail to protect. Man, once again, takes a completely different approach with their Hairspray of Holiness. This holiness, something we all know we need, is artificially made of course. Its ultra-strong hold makes your hair hard as a rock—almost like a helmet! It also creates a nice halo effect when you spray it on. Yet, this false sense of holiness creates a major vulnerability that makes failure definite.

Paul is clear, though: God’s armor contains the Helmet of Salvation and we are to “take” it. Like the shield of faith, the hope of salvation is something that we need to carry with us also. So, what is it about Salvation that can protect our minds?

First, we must understand the games that our enemy plays with our minds. The Bible is clear on our initial status: we are sinners (Rom. 3:23, 6:23) which results in death—an eternal death. And anything we do to save ourselves just puts us deeper in debt. That’s what Satan likes to throw at us: we’re hopeless sinners with unbelievably bad debt.

But there’s good news: God has a Plan to save us from this debt! “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord” (Psalm 37:39). In 1 John 5:11 we’re told that the eternal life God offers us is “in His Son.” And Joseph and Mary were told by an angel to call their son Jesus, “because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). “Jesus” literally means “the Lord saves.” This is why the Bible says, “There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Jesus is our salvation—He paid our debt. Salvation wasn’t meant to come from us; it comes from the One for Whom nothing is impossible! It was never about our works, but about His sacrifice.

But why would God bother to save us? John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that who ever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” It is because of the love He already has for us that He offers salvation. He loved us first. Our response is to believe in Jesus.

So, I believe that Jesus died, is that enough? No. You have to believe that He can and will save you. Believe that He has paid your debt. You must believe that the gift offered is yours to keep. This is how it would look: if you believe that Jesus can save you, then you’ll stop trying to save yourself. It will cause you to Repent (Acts 3:19), which means that you will turn back—you’ll turn/ return to God’s plan. When you turn back you will begin to hate sin because of the fullness of God’s love you have felt through Christ. As this dislike of sin grows, you’ll recognize and own up to (admit) the sin in your own heart (this is what we do when we confess). The result of confessing our sins is full forgiveness from God (1 John 1:9)! And it is when we have accepted this forgiveness that we have fully accepted the gift of salvation.

If we accept God’s plan of Salvation we accept Christ. 1 John 5:12 reveals the simplicity of this Gospel: “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Then, in verse 13, John says he writes that so we can know we have eternal life. We can be confident of our salvation. Yes, you and I can know today that we are saved.

Hebrews 2:3, asks, “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” You have been bought by the blood of Christ—you are a child of God. When satan attacks you with fear and doubt, let the hope of your salvation in Christ guard your thoughts. It really is that simple: whoever has the Son, has life. Don’t let satan play mind games with you any longer. Live in confidence. With Jesus, your salvation is sure. With Jesus, your victory is sure. When satan attacks with his mind games, may we be able to say: “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day” (2 Timothy 1:12).

Discipleship: Childish or Childlike?

by | 0 comments

When Jesus drew crowds, they were typically silent, focused on listening to Him teach. Yet, every so often, commotion would arise. At one such time, while Jesus was teaching, some thought to bring their children, including infants (Luke 18:15), to Him so He could touch and bless them. But the disciples intercepted these parents and rebuked them. For some reason, the disciples felt that this was inappropriate behavior. It may not have been the proper time yet; maybe the parents were ignoring what was printed in the bulletin. Maybe they were becoming disruptive—children have a way of stealing the show, don’t they? Maybe they thought Jesus had better things to do. It doesn’t matter why they rebuked the parents, the fact is they did.

Their rebuke does not go unnoticed by Jesus. In fact, Mark’s recording of this incident says that it really affected Jesus (Mark 10:14). He became indignant. The Greek word gives an idea of anger, but also of grief. Jesus didn’t just get upset at the disciples, He was hurt (pained) because of their reaction. So Jesus used their reaction as an opportunity to teach His disciples, and all who were listening, a very valuable spiritual lesson.

He instructed them to not keep the children away but to let them come to Him because, “to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14). The KJV says: “to such is the kingdom of God.” In other words, God’s kingdom is made up of those like children. Jesus explains, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mark 10:15).

According to Jesus, children possess a key to the kingdom. This key, according to Him, is in they way they accept the kingdom. In a way, He is telling the disciples that they need to be more like these children.

Is He telling them to become childish? Will Heaven be filled with people acting in childish ways? I don’t think so. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” Can you imagine if Christian adults acted childish? Selfish and whiny adults—what a thought! Regrettably, such childish behavior is still found in too many adults. Yet, this is not what Jesus was asking us to do. Being childlike and being childish are not the same thing.

For example, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:20, “Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.” Our thoughts are to become mature and adult-like (ability to continue to learn and understand deeper things), but we should be child-like, or innocent, when it comes to evil. Similarly, Peter says, “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:1, 2). There should be, in us, a child-like desire for the pure Word of God, not evil things; a longing for the perfect things of God, not the things of this world.

Jesus is calling us towards a child-like faith, child-like hope, and child-like love. Just think about how children so quickly and willingly accept the marvels of Heaven. “Impossible” is not a word known to a child, it is only learned as we become adults. It is interesting, and sad, that many of the things that plague us as adults are learned. As children we are taught to doubt, taught that one group of people can be greater than another, taught to not trust, taught that promises can be empty. It is when we are children that we learn to hate, to fear, to lose hope, and to give up. But Jesus wants us to go back to the simplicity of childhood when it comes to our spiritual experience. As His disciples, He desires that we return to the innocence of childhood—to change back into being quick to trust, quick to hope, and quick to love.

Jesus also calls us to humble ourselves like children. God has to be the greatest in our minds—not ourselves. We should be in awe of Him like a child would be in awe of their parents. You’ve experienced, or at least seen, a child in complete awe of something their mom or dad had done, haven’t you? As disciples of Jesus, we must have this same sense of awe of Him.

We must also be careful to avoid the childish trap the disciples found themselves in: they thought they were great because they followed someone great. Remember their question: “who is the greatest?” They wanted to establish a barking order. They wanted a hierarchy list. Was John the greatest? How about Peter? Maybe Bartholomew? No, definitely not Bartholomew. Sadly, this question plagued them even until the last supper with Jesus. Jesus reminded them in that upper room what He had taught before: disciples are supposed to be servants. We are to be humble not prideful. We are to look for ways to serve not be served. As Paul said, we are to “count others more significant than yourself” (Philippians 2:3).

Jesus wanted us to be like children so we would humbly serve each other and be quick to believe, hope and love. He is our example. He humbled Himself and became our servant. He generously and equally loved everyone and had quick, unwavering faith in His Father. And He wants us to be the same. Not childish, but childlike: humble servants lavishly loving each other and quick to trust in God.

Discipleship: Strength in Dependence

by | 0 comments

This weekend the United States celebrates independence. It is a time of weekend vacations, backyard barbecues, and large firework displays. Of course, independence is something normally worth celebrating. I say normally because some have taken this to an extreme and believe that it is inherently wrong to depend on anyone. Those to adopt this concept tend to trust no one but themselves. Sadly, this hazardous idea of autonomy has negatively impacted many relationships—even our relationship with God. From the very beginning in the Garden of Eden, mankind has been tempted to live life independent of God. It is thought that we lose something by being dependent on another person. Yet, throughout the Bible, we are shown that there is power in dependence. Consider this story in the New Testament: Jesus found Himself facing an agitated crowd (see Matthew 17:14–20, and Mark 9:14–29). Not one to beat around the bush, Jesus asked them directly, “What are you arguing about?” (Mark 9:16). A man stepped forward from the crowd and relayed the situation to Jesus: He had a son who was possessed by a spirit which made his son mute and caused him great misery and pain. While that may have been a horrible situation, it wasn’t the problem. The problem was that he had asked the disciples to cast the spirit out, but they were not able to do it. At first glance, we might think this was asking a lot from the disciples. We know that Jesus had the reputation for casting out demons, but the ex-tax collectors, fishermen, and general mess-ups that followed him? Talk about great expectations! While you may shudder at the thought of someone asking for something so great from you, it would not have been an odd request for Jesus’ disciples. You see, Matthew 10:1 says that Jesus had given the twelve disciples “authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.” In fact, they were even surprised and asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast out the spirit themselves (Matthew 17:19)! Jesus’ response: “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there.’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20). In Mark 9, Jesus told them that it could only be cast out by prayer. In other words, the casting out of the boy’s evil spirit should have been possible for them, but their faith and prayers were lacking. Was this a lack of faith in themselves? No. It wasn’t that they didn’t possess enough power, it was a lack of faith in God and His power. Because, although plenty of things are impossible for us, according to scriptures, nothing is impossible for God (Matthew 19:26). Jesus gave them authority to do these things, they didn’t earn it or learn it. A disciple’s authority and power does not come from the length of time as a follower. It does not come from completing enough seminars or getting a theological diploma. It comes from a dependent relationship with the Source. Even Jesus was dependent on the power of His Father. He said, “The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me” (John 10:25). He did things in His Father’s name. Jesus explained that the works would help us to “know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (John 10:38). In other words, Jesus’ works revealed an ongoing, dependent relationship with His Father. Likewise, works done in Jesus’ name will be possible only because Jesus is in us and we are in Him. Jesus likened this relationship to a vine and its branches (John 15:5). In this example, Jesus was saying that if we abide, or live, in Him, His power (the fruit) will be seen in our lives. More importantly, as He says, without Him, we can do absolutely nothing! Yet, this shouldn’t surprise us. As Paul says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” The Bible is clear: nothing is impossible for God, and we can do all things through Christ. You see, regardless of the vessel, the source of power is the same. The electricity that powers a city is the same as that which powers a watch. It doesn’t matter who the disciple is, it matters if they are plugged into Christ. It doesn’t matter how great or small the work is that you are called to do, because the source of power is the same. Our power as disciples is found in Christ, not ourself! So our abilities and worthiness do not matter; being plugged into Christ only matters. Jesus’ reply to the father in the story says it all: “All things are possible for one who believes.” (Mark 9:23, emphasis mine). You may not be able to do it, but God can—and if you depend on Him, you can. Yes, anything He asks you to do, you can do through Him. When it comes to the issues of eternity, it doesn’t pay to be independent. To truly experience the life God desires for us, we must learn again to be dependent—dependent on His power and love.

The Testimony of Jesus

by | 0 comments

Earlier this week, someone asked me what exactly is meant by the phrase “the testimony of Jesus”? Here is the results of my study of it.

The phrase is found in Revelation 12:17 in its description of the people with whom the “dragon” went out to make war against: “those who obey God’s commands and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (emphasis mine). This phrase is found only in Revelation (and only three times). However, the idea within this phrase can be understood throughout the New Testament.

First, we should look at the passages that contain the phase. We’ve already seen one, Revelation 12:17—it is part of the identifying characteristic of an obedient group of God’s people whom the dragon [Satan] makes war against. It is also found in the beginning of the book of Revelation, Revelation 1:9. In this verse, John says, “I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (emphasis mine). So part of the reason for John’s imprisonment on Patmos was this “testimony of Jesus.” However, this verse does not explain what it is, only that it was understood and available in John’s day.

The only other passage in which the phrase is found, Revelation 19:10, says this: “Then I fell down at his feet to worship him [an angel], but he said to me, ‘You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” This passage reiterates that John, and the other disciples, held on to the testimony of Jesus. Then it ends with what many use as a definition: “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” If this is a definition, however, we are left with a greater mystery: what is this “spirit of prophecy”? (The phrase is only found in this verse.)

We must be careful to not make it overly complicated. First of all, the word “is” does not necessarily mean “equal to.” If we said “the sky is blue,” we understand that blue is a description of the sky, not that everything blue is sky or that blue is the definition of sky. I suggest that we can understand it best as a description rather than a definition. Why? The spirit of prophecy is not a proper noun, as in referring to a specific thing, but rather it expands what the testimony of Jesus is about. As a descriptive phrase, we could understand it as describing the testimony of Jesus as being the spirit, or breath or essence, of prophecy—it is what prophecy is all about.

We need to also understand the phrase itself. It is not cryptic. It is straight forward: the testimony of Jesus. What is a testimony? The Greek word it is translated from means “to provide information [or, if a noun, simply the information itself] about a person or an event concerning which the speaker has direct knowledge.” It is most often translated “testimony” or “witness” (and sometimes even “martyr”—we get our English word martyr from this word). In addition, the grammar of the Greek shows this to be a “possessive” phrase. In other words, it is not a testimony about Jesus, but is His testimony. Therefore, what John, the disciples, and the people in Revelation 12 are holding onto is “information about a person or an event concerning which Jesus has direct knowledge.”

When Jesus walked this earth, He testified about the things He knew. In Matthew 5, Jesus used the formula, “you have heard… but I say to you,” to re-teach the truths of Scripture. Throughout His ministry, Jesus revealed the truth of salvation, heaven, and many other subjects. He wasn’t just teaching His opinions either: “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me” (John 7:16), and “I speak of what I have seen with my Father” (John 8:38). On several other occasions, He made it clear that His teachings were coming from God. Part of His witness was in His teachings on the Word of God.

The greatest testimony from Jesus, however, was his testimony about His Father. “No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him” (Matthew 11:27). In His last hours with His disciples, he reminded them of this: “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. … whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:7, 9). Jesus brought a new, clearer understanding of His Father to us. Many have expressed a dislike of God the Father (due to a misunderstanding of actions in the Old Testament), while having a fondness for Jesus (because of grace). Yet, according to Him, if you want to know what the Father is like, watch Him. The character of Jesus in the New Testament is the same as the God of the Old Testament. Hebrews 1:3 says of Jesus, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” Therefore, Jesus testifies, through His teachings and His character, the true nature of the Father.

This is why Jesus is described as the “faithful and true witness” (Revelation 3:14). Throughout His life and teachings, Jesus testified of the truth of our Father in heaven, who is merciful and loving, and of His word. This is the testimony of Jesus—the testimony that John, the disciples, and the end-time people of Revelation 12 hold on to. For Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples” (John 8:31 NIV).