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Subject 16 : The Gospel According to JOHN
[Chapter 8-1] Eternal Atonement That The Lord Has Given Us (John 8:1-12)
(John 8:1-12)
“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?’ This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’ Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’”
In John 8, there appeared Jesus and a woman who was caught in adultery. The woman who would receive the grace of the remission of sin of salvation before Jesus enters our view. If you, too, can receive that gift of salvation through the Word of God that the woman received from the Lord, you will come to return tremendous glory to God. So, I want to share with the whole world this grace of salvation that the woman received by believing in Jesus as her Savior.
What do we need to know before God? People who live on this earth all commit sins throughout their lives. There is no one among us who does not commit sins before God throughout his whole life. We are people who commit physical and spiritual sins before God and man, so we are actually people who commit a lot of sins of physical and spiritual adultery. So it is no exaggeration to say that we live amid the flood of sin. Therefore, we mistakenly think that we aren’t committing sin. But the truth is that we are living our whole lives in sin. Where are the people amongst those living in the world who, in God’s eyes, do not commit physical and spiritual sins? There cannot be any. Spiritually speaking, all of the people in this world are just like the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. That is because there is no one in this world, male or female, who does not commit sin. Do you also think so?
As We Look at the Word Related to This Woman Caught in Adultery, We Come to Ponder on the Grace of the God-given Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
The Word of God says that there is not a single person in this world who does not commit sin. Brothers and sisters! Am I wrong by chance? Or am I right? It is impossible for even one person among the people living on this earth to not commit adultery in his heart or actions before God.
But the problem is that almost everyone who is apt to sin is not conscious that they are that kind of person. Why do you think people are ignorant of their own sins like this? It is because people are committing a lot of sins in their lives. The truth is that everyone living is committing sins. In other words, they are living, drowning in a flood of sin, so they don’t consider the sins they commit as sin, but instead, live mistakenly thinking that they are not committing sin. Everyone dies after living by sinning from the time he was born to the time he dies.
Therefore, we must know that it is not only this woman who is committing adultery. Everyone lives committing adultery in his thoughts, heart, or actions. This is the reality of our hearts. Since we humans commit so much adultery before God, we hush up about it to each other to hide our own shame. No matter how holy a person looks on the outside, no matter how much that person esteems himself or herself as a gentleman or lady, everyone is a sinful human being who lives committing adultery. It is the truth when God tells us that we are people who commit sin.
But it is really a thankful thing that whoever believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can receive the remission of sin. We are thankful because we who were those kinds of sinners came to receive the remission of sins through faith in the gospel of salvation, that is, the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and can live forever. You are all people who commit physical and spiritual sins. However, you have obtained salvation by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus gave. If Jesus Christ has now become your Savior through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you can become happy people by faith in that gospel. Every single person is someone who commits adultery before Jesus his whole life, but Jesus carried all of the sins of the world away at once when He received baptism from John the Baptist. Therefore, if you were to receive the remission of sin through faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, wouldn’t you be happier than any other people?
Brothers and sisters, the genuinely happy people among the many people living on this earth are the people who have received the remission of their sins. They are people who have received the remission of sin by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Everyone who becomes happy doesn’t become so because they don’t commit sins before God: on the contrary, even if they are insufficient, if they have received the remission of their sins by believing in the baptism of Jesus and His blood of the Cross, they have become happy people. I, too, am one of those people. Brothers and sisters, just like the woman who was caught in adultery, we have received the same blessing from the Lord if we are people who have received the remission of sin by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that the Lord gave. And all humanity will be able to receive the grace of the remission of sin as well by believing in the same gospel.
But those who wanted to accuse and judge the woman caught in the act of adultery before Jesus, acted as if they were people who had never committed adultery. This made them remain as sinners forever because they regarded themselves as religiously pious people, who were in a position to judge sinners rather than as sinners who had to be delivered by the Lord Jesus. The judgment of the scribes and Pharisees in John 8 is wrong. Anyone who thinks that he is a person who hasn’t committed any sins his whole life is excluded from being eligible to put on the Lord’s grace of salvation.
Therefore, people who admit that they are committing spiritual and physical adultery ceaselessly before the Lord receive the gift of the remission of sins. People who know that they are people who commit a lot of adultery put on the grace of salvation that God gave. Those people receive the gift of eternal life from God, the blessing of becoming His children, and the blessing of become the righteous. I want you to keep these words of truth in your mind.
Who Receives the Grace of Salvation from Our God?
Do people who have never committed adultery before God receive the grace of salvation? Or, do people who cannot help but commit adultery during their whole lives receive the grace of the remission of sins, by believing in the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit? People who commit adultery before God can put on the grace of salvation; people who never commit adultery cannot put on the grace of salvation that God gave. People who commit sins spiritually and physically before God can truly put on the grace of the remission of sins. People who think they do not commit sin cannot put on the grace of salvation from their sins. This is the same as the qualification that only drowning people can be rescued from drowning.
Let’s take a closer look today at that part through the Word of God. I’m talking about how the Lord clothed this woman in the grace of salvation.
If we look at John 8:3-4, it says, “Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.’”
We must think first about why these scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery before Jesus. Did they bring her before Him in order to boast of their rightness? Or did they make her stand there in order to disgrace people who had sin before God? The scribes and Pharisees were religious leaders. These people who brought the adulterous woman before Jesus were acting out an unusual religious inquisition. Why did these people want to test Jesus? The Pharisees knew well that Jesus called for love all the time.
Jesus came as the Savior who saved sinners on this earth. When He was on this earth, He gave food to the hungry, cared for the sons of widows, revived Lazarus, treated lepers, and gave the grace of salvation to this woman who had been caught in adultery. Jesus came to this earth, declared the gospel of salvation, taught people to love each other, and saved the sick. There was nothing that did not get resolved if people went to Him.
Therefore, He was like an enemy to the Pharisees and scribes at that time. Jesus was a thorn in their sides. So, they brought the woman caught in the act of adultery before Him and intended to test Him. They asked Him, “Jesus! The Law of Moses told us to stone to death a person who commits adultery, so what will you say to this woman?” They thought He could do nothing. Why? Because they were compelling Jesus to doom her to death with the Word of God’s Law; they thought Jesus could do nothing else.
Brothers and sisters, if we really only look at ourselves by the Law of God, we can see that we all have to be doomed to die because of our sins. If we look at ourselves by the Law of God, it is clear that we are truly people who will be stoned to death for our sins before God. Without faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that the Lord who came to this earth gave us, no one can be rescued from sin. If we reject the gospel of the water and the Spirit that the Lord has given, we are all people who will be stoned to death and people who will receive the judgment of sin and must go to hell. The Lord told us, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). He said that all people have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and that the Law brings the curse and wrath of God to its offenders (Galatians 3:10). He said that the just Law of God brings the wrath of God to whoever does not continue in all things that are written in the Book of the Law.
Since God is just, the Law He established was also holy and just. His commandments numbered about 613. He gave us that many commandments to help us live according to them. The 613 commandments that God gave us show us that we are people who commit sin and that God is holy and we are dirty. In other words, the Law of God helps us realize the fact that “we are sinners before God from the start.” The Law helps us know that we are sinners whose hearts and actions are not perfect before God, so it shows us that we must return before God and receive the grace of the remission of sins.
But many Christians still do not know very well why God has given us the commandments and the Law of God. If we do not know well God’s aim of giving us the Law, we will come to commit a huge mistake in our lives of faith. So what would happen if we were to be judged exactly according to the letter of the Law? We would surely be stoned to death just as the woman who was caught in the very act of adultery. We will find out that we are people who cannot help but be stoned to death.
So, the scribes and Pharisees thought they had driven Jesus into a perfect predicament this time, thinking, “There is no way out now even for Jesus.” So, they grabbed that woman’s neck tightly and, glaring at Jesus, asked, “What would You do regarding this woman?” They intended to judge and stone to death the woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. But these people did not know their true reality before God. Brothers and sisters, you must know that you are spiritually the same as the Pharisees if you, too, misunderstand the Law of God. If we look at ourselves according to God’s commandments, we must know that we, too, are sinners before God.
God spoke to us regarding the Ten Commandments as follows: The first commandment in Exodus 20 is “You shall have no other gods before Me”; the sixth is “You shall not murder”; the seventh is “You shall not commit adultery”; and another is “You shall not steal.” According to the words of these commandments of God, it is clear that we will remain as sinners before God if we honestly look at our real selves.
God also told us, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” Where is the person who will survive if we were justly judged according to the Law of God? There could be no one. If God judged our sins according to His just Law, we could not help but become sinners, be cursed, and go to hell. But most Christians lead their spiritual lives not knowing the function of the Law of God. So, they only understand God’s Law to the letter.
The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned, but what do You say?” They called Jesus “teacher.” They looked at Jesus, the Savior of mankind with their naked eyes, but thought He was a teacher of the Law. They thought He was just a teacher because they did not have eyes that could see Jesus correctly. So, holding stones in their hands, they said, “The Law says that this kind of woman must be stoned, but what would You do concerning her?” The scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus’ opinion on this woman.
But where was their focus at the time? They did not really intend to stone the woman; they intended to stone Jesus. If Jesus had said, “Even so, forgive the woman,” they were prepared to say, “Ok. Since You have broken God’s Law, we will get two or three people as witness and stone You and the woman.” They intended to bury Jesus and this woman in a pile of stones. How audacious their plan was before God! But who can dare to stone Jesus to death?
But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear anything. So, they continued asking Him, “What will You do?” What did Jesus on the ground? He didn’t say anything to answer their question but kept on writing on the ground with His finger. Jesus might have recorded, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
“He Who Is without Sin among You, Let Him Throw a Stone at Her First”
This Word of Jesus was a great shock to all of them. The Bible says, “Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst” (John 8:9). This is showing how true the words were that Jesus gave to people. He was God, the Savior who knew everything about people. He said nothing in reply to them, wrote on the ground, and this might be what was written there: “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
Brothers and sisters, what on earth did Jesus write on the ground? Didn’t He write, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first”? Yes, that’s what He wrote. And then He uttered the same words resolutely. The scribes and Pharisees who heard the words of Jesus dropped their stones and left one by one. That is because they had sin in their hearts. In other words, they, too, were people who would receive judgments from God for their sins just like the woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. Actually, this woman would not be stoned to death before God; rather, people like the Pharisees are doomed to receive the judgment of sin. So, they were convicted by their conscience, dropped their stones, and disappeared. It started with the oldest. It seems that maybe those who were older had developed ears that could understand Jesus’ words. Or maybe it was that they understood His words better because they had committed more sins.
Brothers, and sisters, let’s say that we brought a woman who had committed adultery, picked up some stones, and surrounded her. If Jesus said to us, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first,” how would you react? There are no sinners here because we all have faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. So, you would have no need to run away. Brothers and sisters, do you have sin or not? You don’t. But what did these people do? They all left Jesus when He said, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
The Sins Inscribed on Our Hearts
In this process, Jesus wrote on the ground twice. What do you think He wrote? Our God, the God who created us, writes two things on our hearts. He writes two things on each heart of mankind. The first is the sins that we commit, and the second is the gospel of salvation that says that the Lord has eliminated all of them.
In Jeremiah 17:1 in the Old Testament, it says, “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with the point of a diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars.” This means that people’s sins are recorded in their individual hearts and in God’s Books of Judgment. “The sin of Judah” in this passage means the sins of all mankind. People’s sins are recorded with a pen of iron and with a point of a diamond on the tablets of their conscience and the Books of Judgment. Humans cannot live according to the Law of God and continue to commit sins before Him, but they don’t know well that they are sinners. So, God records on the tablets of people’s hearts all the sins that they commit by their thoughts or actions. Since sins are recorded that way on the tablets of people’s hearts, people find out that they are sinners when they look at the Law of God. Therefore, people find out they are sinners because of the record of sin that God has recorded on the tablets of their hearts. We find out that we are sinners before God by recognizing the sins that are recorded on the tablets of our hearts through the Law of God.
The other place where God records people’s sins is in the Books of Judgment, that is, the Books of Works. It is written in Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.” The Lord recorded each person’s name and each of their sins in these books to judge them. And in the future, when God judges people sitting on His large white throne, He will judge according to what is recorded in those Books of Works; in other words, God records our sins in two places and has made it so that no one can deny his own sins. One place He records is the tablets of our hearts and the other places are the Books of Works that are before His throne. He records our sins on the tablets of our hearts and then tells us what our sins are through the Word of His Law.
And then, God recorded the law of His grace on the tablets of our hearts. The Lord has remitted all of our sins at once through His baptism and His precious blood that He shed on the Cross. The Lord said, “‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin” (Hebrews 10:17-18). Our Lord said that He had saved us from sin. He recorded these two things on the tablets of our hearts in this manner.
Since Our Lord Told Them, “He Who Is without Sin among You, Let Him Throw a Stone at Her First,” They All Left
Because sin was recorded on the tablets of their hearts, the Pharisees were convicted of their conscience and left one by one when our Lord said, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” Sin is recorded on the tablets of the hearts of everyone living in this world. Do you agree? What is sin? It is when we do not live by the Law. And every sin is recorded on the tablets of the consciences of the old and young. Therefore, they couldn’t make a plea against Jesus. They were people who took the Law of God, came before Jesus, and tried to provoke Him. But they could do nothing because of what He said.
No one can erase sins that are in their hearts. But if you were to receive the remission of sins, all of the sins on the tablets of your hearts would be erased, your name and sins would all be subtracted from the Books of Works, and your name would be recorded in the Book of Life. The names of those who go to Heaven are all recorded in the Book of Life. The righteous are the people whose names and sins are erased from the Books of Works and whose names are added to the Book of Life. All of their works that they did on this earth for the righteousness of God are recorded in that book. Only people whose names are recorded in the Book of Life come to enter the eternal Kingdom of God.
All of a person’s sins are recorded in two places as such. Do you understand? Therefore, there is no one before God who does not commit sin. Before God, we are all people who commit adultery and other sins; We are all insufficient. Therefore, before we find the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus Christ gave, we have sin on the tablets of our hearts, that is, in our consciences. Therefore, everyone suffers because they have sins. They cannot have a clean conscience. And they fear. They are afraid of God and of man. But if they believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God has given us, if they listen to that Word of God, the word of the remission of sins, all of their sins are eliminated the moment they believe in it.
In other words, in Heaven the Book of Life is beside the Books of Works, and in it are recorded the names of the people who are born again or, in other words, the people who have received the remission of sins by believing in their hearts the fact that Jesus eliminated all their sins. So, people go to Heaven by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. People do not go to Heaven by not committing sins. Everyone commits sins without exception. I mean, the scribes and Pharisees also committed sins just like the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. Brothers and sisters, is that the way it is or not?
Everyone committed the same sins. More precisely speaking, those Pharisees that condemned the woman had actually committed more sins. They were frauds who had the license to deceive people and extorted money from their followers. If you look at it from the Law of God, where are people in the world who are not thieves? Are you not all thieves? There is not a single person who is not a thief. There is not a single person who does not break the Law of God. All are sinners.
However, people do not become righteous because they did not sin; they all commit sin, but their sins are eliminated by faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This is important faith. It is important to confirm through the Word whether or not our Savior, Jesus, eliminated our sins that were thicker than clouds and to have faith in the Truth that He did eliminate them all. Everyone commits sins throughout his whole life. Whether you believe this or not determines if you go to Heaven or hell.
Whether One Puts On the Grace of God’s Salvation or Not Is Determined by Whether One Believes in the Word of God or Not
What do you think the woman who was caught in the act of adultery did? By this time, all of the scribes and Pharisees had left that place, and she probably thought that she was going to die. Maybe she shed tears of penance, since everyone who faces death becomes very openhearted and simple-minded. People who face death behave that way. If a person is facing death, he says, “It is right. It is suitable for me to die. Please accept my soul and show pity on me. Please receive me through Your love and mercy.” He comes to request the love of God.
That woman didn’t say, “Lord, I did wrong. Please forgive just this sin.” Rather, she said, “Lord! Please save me from all my sin. I need Your love, pity, and salvation. I need Your love that regards me with pity.” This woman thought she would die because of her sins, closed her eyes, and would have confessed all the things of her heart before the Lord.
But Jesus asked her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” So, she opened her eyes and no one was there. She said, “No one, Lord.” The words that the Lord spoke after that were the words of grace to her. “And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’” Brothers and sisters, this woman put on the grace of salvation through the words that the Lord spoke on that day.
Our Lord told this woman, “Neither do I condemn you.” Our Lord saying this to the woman was the final confirmation that she was saved from all of her sins. That is because our Lord took all of her sins at once when He received baptism from John the Baptist. From then on, this woman would not receive the judgment of sin because of her sins; since Jesus received baptism from John the Baptist and took all of this woman’s sins, He had to hang on the Cross and receive the judgment of sin on our behalf. From then on, this woman would not receive judgment. That is true in our Lord’s sight. So, He could say to her, “Neither do I condemn you.” Brothers and sisters, this woman had then put on the grace of salvation from Jesus Christ.
If our Lord had said those same words to you, would you believe them? Would you believe if the Lord said, “I speak unto you: You have received salvation from all your sins”? Brothers and sisters, our Lord has clearly given us the remission of sins. He clearly says, “I have saved you from all your sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.” Everyone needs this voice, and whoever receives this voice in his heart, whoever grasps the work that the Lord did and believes in it, puts on the grace of salvation. We could not help but confess before God this way when we heard the tender voice of the Lord: “God, I have no merits of my own. There is nothing that I have done well, either. If You ask me to set before you what I have done well, I have nothing but sin. But You have become my Savior through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You cleansed all of my sins at once through the Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Lord, I believe that You have become my Lord.” If we say this, the Lord says to us, “Neither do I condemn you.”
John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” Our Lord gives the blessing of becoming the children of God to those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that He has given. God has given the gospel of the water and the Spirit and saved those who believe it from all their sins. And He eliminates all of the sin in their hearts, gives the Spirit to their hearts as a gift, and confirms by the Word that they have become the righteous.
Beloved saints! This woman attained the grace of salvation through the words that Jesus spoke. This woman was caught in the act of adultery, and even so, she attained salvation from sin all at once through the Word of the Lord. So how can you and I also attain the grace of salvation from our sins? You and I, too, are people who, like this woman, commit adultery and cannot help but go to hell. We might even commit more adultery than this woman during our lifetimes. There is not a single person among the people living in this world who does not commit adultery. There is not even one who does not commit adultery in a single day. Brothers and sisters, men walking on the street who just see a pretty girl commit adultery with their hearts. Are you unaware that you are people who commit adultery everyday?
But the question is whether you, too, believe what our Lord says to you if He says as He did to this woman: “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you.” He said to her, “Neither do I condemn you.” That is because this woman actually has no sin in His sight. So the Lord said, “Neither do I condemn you.” Who has received this grace of salvation in this generation? You, too, must receive this kind of grace before the Lord by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Please, take a look at the Pharisees who stood holding stones. The people who looked at this woman, intending to judge her, were the scribes and Pharisees. They were religious leaders. They were politicians. They were the moralists of the world. These people cannot listen to the Lord when He says, “Neither do I condemn you.”
Our God is God that bestows unfathomable compassion on us. The Lord is God, the Savior who saved us. He is the God of love. Our Lord is a just God, but His love is greater than His justice. A person who has sin before God will definitely be judged and sent to hell, but since the love of God is greater than His justice, He sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus, transferred all of our sins to Him, sentenced Him to death for the wages of those sins, and made those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind His children and the righteous.
We Can Hear the Word of God that Says, “Neither Do I Condemn You” in the Whole Bible
In the Old Testament, the people of Israel, in order to give sacrifice to God, killed goats and sheep, and said, “God, I give You this as the price of my sins,” but God does not want sacrificial offerings. The Lord said, “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). God does not want offerings from us; He wants to bestow on us the enormous love of the gospel of the water and the Spirit that saved us. Do you understand? God is the God of that kind of love.
God must judge sinners, but He, God the Father, sent His Only Begotten Son to this earth, transferred the sins of the world to Him through Jesus’ baptism, and even executed Him on the Cross. The Lord hates all sins, but He really loves the people who are in the image of His likeness. Since God so loved us with His burning love, He determined to make us His children even before the creation. The purpose of God making us was to make us His children by clothing us in the love of Jesus Christ. This is God’s love to us humans who are His creations. It is His love to each and every one of us. Do you understand? If God had treated us according to justice, we would all die according to the just judgment related to sin.
Brothers and sisters, how did the Lord save us when He came to this earth? Let’s look at the Word in the Old Testament regarding this.
The Sacrifice of the Day of Atonement
If we look at the Old Testament, one had to lead a flawless goat or sheep into the Tabernacle when he committed sins, transfer his sins to it by laying his hands on its head, and then he could receive the remission of sins by killing that animal there, putting the blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offerings, and pouring all the remaining blood at the base of the altar (Leviticus 4:27-34). God gave them the remission of sins by accepting the blood. God’s justice is a life for a life, a tooth for a tooth, and an eye for an eye. In other words, the just Law of God says that people with sin must absolutely die. But since the love of God is greater than His just Law, He eliminated the sins from a sinner instead of judging him according to His just Law if that person just transferred his sins to a sacrificial animal, and that animal paid the price of sin by dying. People of the Old Testament received the remission of sins they committed everyday by that method.
But since people can’t give these kinds of sacrifices for atonement everyday, God knew that they could not receive the remission of their sins. So, God bestowed compassion on us. He bestowed His great compassion and love on us. Because He pitied the Israelites, He instituted the sacrificial system of the Day of Atonement that enabled them to be eliminated in one day all the sins that were committed over one year. In other words, every year on the tenth day of the seventh month, Aaron the High Priest, the representative of all the Israelites, offered sacrifice for the people of Israel. First, Aaron offered one bull as a sacrifice for the remission of the sins of him and his household (Leviticus 16:11-19). Afterwards, they received the remission of the year’s sins recorded in the Books of Judgment, by drawing lots between two goats, taking one into the Tabernacle, laying hands on it, and sacrificing it.
After finishing the sacrifice in the Tabernacle, Aaron took the remaining goat before the people gathered outside the Tabernacle. This goat was prepared in order to cleanse the sins recorded on the tablets of the hearts of the Israelites. If we look at Leviticus 16:21-22, it says, “Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.”
This was the method with which God eliminated the sins of the people of the Old Testament. They transferred the sins they committed over a day, by taking a goat or sheep without blemish and laying their hands on its head. Actually, everyone had to take a sacrificial animal, lay their hands on it, and kill it everyday. But since that was impossible, God instituted a compassionate law that had Aaron, the representative of the people of Israel, lay his hands on the head of a goat, and transfer all of their yearly sins to it at once. Aaron cited all of the sins of Israel by saying, “God, the people of Israel have sinned. They have served idols before You, took Your name in vain, made for themselves carved images and bowed down before them, loved idols more than You, broke the Sabbath day, did not honor their fathers and mothers, committed murder, committed adultery, stole, were covetous, and fought each other. Lord God, not one person among Your people or me could keep all of the things that You told us. I transfer all these sins to this goat.”
In the Old Testament, “the laying on of hands” means “to transfer something.” Therefore, if a sinner laid his hands on the head of an offering without blemish, the sins were transferred over to that sacrificial offering. So, Aaron laid his hands on the head of the scapegoat in front of the people of Israel and declare, “Lord God! The people of Israel have committed sins. They have committed this kind of sin and that kind of sin. Lord God, I now transfer all of these sins to this goat.” And he immediately removed his hands from the head of the scapegoat.
So, where were the sins of the people of Israel then? They were on the head of the goat. The sins of the people of Israel were transferred over to the head of the scapegoat. Then, this scapegoat that had received all of the sins of the people of Israel through Aaron was taken by the hand of a suitable man to the wilderness. That person took that scapegoat that carried all of the yearly sins of all the Israelites, dragged it into the wilderness, left it in a place in the desert with no water, and returned. So, that scapegoat bleated in the wilderness and looked for water until it died of thirst. Since the yearly sins of the people of Israel had transferred over to the scapegoat through the laying on of hands of Aaron the High Priest, the scapegoat carried the sins far away and died instead of the people of Israel.
That was the love that God had bestowed to the people of Israel. Brothers and sisters, do you understand? The Israelites of the Old Testament age received the remission of sins this way. So, how do we, the people in the New Testament, get rid of our sins? It’s been over 2000 years since Jesus came to this earth. The Lord came to this earth as the Lamb of God who eliminated the sins of the world. He came to this earth and fulfilled the promise that He would take the sins of mankind.
The Lord Eliminated Our Sins in this Way
Let’s read Matthew 1:20-21. “But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.’”
Our God borrowed the body of the Virgin Mary and had His Son born onto this earth. And an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, the fiancé of Mary, in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” The name Jesus means the Savior.
Jesus was born in this manner to Mary and, after some time went by, and He turned 30, He received baptism from John the Baptist. “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’ But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:13-17).
Our Lord went to John the Baptist who was baptizing people in the Jordan River. And He bowed His head to John the Baptist. “John, baptize Me. I intend to save my people from their sins, but to do so, I have to take all of the sins of mankind through you. Eliminating the sins of all people this way is the will of God the Father. Baptize Me.”
“I need to be baptized by You. How can I baptize You?”
“Permit it to be so now. Do as I say.”
Brothers and sisters, why did John the Baptist appear here? Our God is called Wonderful and Counselor. He does wonderful works and accomplishes everything well, because His wisdom is limitless and His providence is perfect. The High Priest in the Old Testament laid his hands on the head of the sacrificial offering to transfer the sins of the people of Israel to it. Just like this, our God, in order to eliminate all the sins of mankind, had Jesus take all of the sins of mankind through His baptism that John the Baptist gave in the form of laying his hands on Jesus’ head.
John the Baptist is the representative of all mankind, for Jesus said, “Among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11). God the Father sent John the Baptist as the representative of mankind and made him transfer all the sins of the world to Jesus. God’s wisdom has planned this work, and He Himself has fulfilled it by receiving baptism. Brothers and sisters, do you believe this fact?
What Would Happen to Jesus’ Head If Each of Us Laid Our Hands on His Head to Transfer Our Sins to Him?
If that happened, all Jesus’ hair would fall out! If all of His hair fell out, it would be really unsightly! Therefore, our God did not do it that way, but transferred all of our sins to Jesus by the principle of representation through John the Baptist. That is recorded in Matthew 3:13-17.
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him” (Matthew 3:13). This happened when Jesus turned 30. Jesus is the High Priest of the Kingdom of Heaven. Do you believe this? High Priests as well as all Levites serving in the Tabernacle were capable of carrying out their duties only when they turned 30 (Numbers chapter 4). Therefore, Jesus Christ waited until He turned 30. And when He turned 30, Jesus could carry out the duty of the High Priest of Heaven.
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” John the Baptist is the representative of the earth. So, who is the representative of the Kingdom of Heaven? It is Jesus Christ. It was the meeting of the representative of Heaven and the representative of the earth. So, who is higher, the representative of the earth or the representative of the Kingdom of Heaven? The representative of the Kingdom of Heaven is higher.
So, John the Baptist, who had rebuked people, saying, “Repent, you brood of vipers,” suddenly became humble upon meeting Jesus. It was like saying, “Oh my, what are You doing coming to me? I need to be baptized by You; I need to go to You. How is it that You come to me?” Jesus said, “Baptize me now. Permit it to be so now. It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness, the work of eliminating all sins. I will take all of the sins of the world by receiving baptism from you. As the representative of mankind, transfer all of their sins, all of the sins of the world, to Me.” So, John the Baptist could not help but say, “Yes, Sir,” and he baptized Jesus as it is written, “Then he allowed Him.” “Then he allowed Him.” When Jesus came up from the water immediately after receiving baptism, the heavens were opened and God the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Brothers and sisters, the door of Heaven was opened as soon as Jesus Christ took charge of the sins of all mankind. The Book of Matthew explains this portion. “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 11:11-15)
The Lord said that John the Baptist is the greatest among those born of women. This means that he is the representative of all humankind. The Lord also said that all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John the Baptist, and that from the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence (Matthew 11:12-13). Jesus took all of the sins of mankind by receiving baptism from John the Baptist.
This is why Jesus said to the woman who was caught in adultery in John 8, “Neither do I condemn you.” He was saying, “Since I came to this earth for people who commit adultery like you and took all sins by receiving baptism in order to save people like you. Since I have received all your sins, I cannot judge you.” Now, Jesus had to receive the judgment Himself.
Since Jesus took all the sins of mankind by receiving baptism from John the Baptist, the representative of mankind, He had to receive judgment as payment for those sins. We know the scene in the garden of Gethsemane when the Lord earnestly prayed to God the Father three times because He agonized so much over the judgment He had to suffer on the Cross. Jesus was really afraid. He had to shed all His blood. He had to be put to death. Jesus had to die wretchedly like the sacrificial animals in the Old Testament. Jesus took all of the sins of mankind, and now He had to lay down His life. He knew He had to receive judgment.
Jesus had no sin in His heart originally. Sins merely crossed over to His body through His baptism. Since the sins of the world were transferred over to His body, God the Father could not help but judge His Son, not the world. God the Father could not help but judge His Son in order to save us and to fulfill all of His justice and love. Do you understand?
Jesus says to us, “Neither do I condemn you.” We don’t commit sin willingly, but since we are weak and insufficient, we commit sins like adultery and murder; we commit sins knowingly and unknowingly. However, does God judge us for the sins we commit over our whole lives? Our God does not judge us. He doesn’t judge us; He vicariously judged Jesus already. He doesn’t want to judge us. This is the love of God. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Out of God’s love, Jesus could not judge this woman.
Since this woman had clearly been caught in the act of adultery, she knew she was a sinner. Not just the inherent sins in her heart, since she had moved those sins into action, this woman was revealed as a grave sinner who could not deny anymore. If one clearly becomes a sinner before the Lord, admitting that he is a grave sinner who cannot but commit sin until the day he dies, he is not far from the Kingdom of God: If that person believes the fact that Jesus Christ took all of his sins when He received baptism in the Jordan River, he can enter Heaven by the merits of Jesus, through his faith and through the love of God. Do you understand?
Jesus says, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). Does the Lord say God will judge us or not? He says that God will not judge us. So, who was to be judged instead of us? Since His Son received all the sins of the world, He could not help but judge His Son. Since God the Father eliminated all the sins of mankind through the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross, He could not leave His Son alone in death, so He brought His Son back to life and had the Son sit next to Him on His throne. And He bestowed the grace of salvation to those among all the sinners of the earth who believe in the work that His Son did or, in other words, those who believe in the merits of salvation of His Son.
All people commit sin. All people commit adultery. But people don’t receive judgment because of their sins. They are condemned just because they don’t believe in the Truth, that the Lord Jesus has blotted out all the sins of the world through His baptism and His death on the Cross. We are people who cannot help but commit sin, but happy people are those who have received the remission of sins by believing that the Lord had blotted out all our sins. Who are the happiest people on the earth? The happiest are those who have received the remission of all their sins by believing in the Lord and Savior and are freed from all sins. Do you understand?
Jesus Who Saved the Ungodly
Our God said in Romans, “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered’” (Romans 4:5-7).
We commit sins and are ungodly until we die. We are insufficient. We are weak people who commit sin even though we know the will of God. But our God eliminated all of our sins through His Son and told us, “You have no sin.” He calls people who believe in this Truth the righteous. He says, “You are My children.” Brothers and sisters, do you believe this in your hearts? To those who believe in Him, God says, “You are righteous. You have no sins, and you are My son.” These people are the happiest ones. Who is happy? The person who has received the remission of all his sins is the happiest. Brothers and sisters, do you have sin or not?
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29) “Hey, everyone! Look there. Look at the Lamb of God who carries away the sins of the world!” John the Baptist transferred all the sins of the world to Jesus. Therefore, the day after He baptized Jesus, He said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Jesus carried the sins of the world; that Man carried all the sins of mankind. All the sins of mankind are the sins of the world. The world exists from the time He created this universe to the time this universe will be gone. All the sins committed by all people living in that world are the sins of the world. “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Weren’t all the sins of the world, all our sins, transferred over to Jesus’ head and back? They were.
Since all the sins of the world, including yours and mine, transferred over to Jesus Christ’s body, He was the Lamb of God who took away all the sins of the world. He took all the sins of the world to the Cross. Jesus said He was thirsty, and He said, “It is finished,” just before His last breath. The Lord personally came to this earth and took all the sins of mankind. He swept up every single sin of the world: the sin of adultery, the sin of murder, sins committed repeatedly, sins committed out of our weaknesses, sins committed knowingly or unknowingly, and sins committed presumptuously. Jesus received the transference of them all to His body through John the Baptist. And He accomplished the work of blotting out all of them. The Lord paid His life as a ransom in order to accomplish the work of eliminating the sins of the world through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Do you understand?
Jesus Christ eliminated all our sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. A person who has truly received the remission of his sins is the happiest person in the world. Brothers and sisters, are there any sins in your hearts that will be committed tomorrow? No. Weren’t our sins transferred to Jesus? Yes, they were. We humans are all the same: there is no difference between men and women, the old and the young, and the educated and the ignorant. Everyone is the same; there is no one special. I’m saying that people have nothing special before God. Since people in this generation show off way too much, they deceive other people into thinking they have no sins, but the truth is that they are living in sin, and this whole world is a breeding ground for committing sin.
Those who have no sin are truly happy. Is a person happy if he just has a lot of money? Are rich men happy? Is a person happy if he is healthy? A sinless person before God is a really happy person. No matter how lustrous a person looks on the outside, he is merely a wretched man if he has sin in his heart. That person is one that has fallen into the fear and curse of the judgment of God. A person with sin cannot boldly look at the sky without shame. How does a sinner boldly look at heaven without shame? A person with sin cannot boldly look at the sky.
But a person who believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and has received the remission of his sins is bold. “I have no sin. Thank You, Lord. I praise You for saving someone like me from sin. Wow, God, I praise You for eliminating this and that sin even though I am insufficient. Hallelujah! I believe in Your love. I believe in You even today. I will believe in You tomorrow, also. I will believe in You the day after tomorrow, as well. I have no sins forever. I praise You.” A person who has received the remission of his sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is a person who has received grace before God and is one of the happiest people.
Brothers and sisters, do you have sin? Let’s have a count of hands for a moment. Those who have no sins please raise your hands. I see there isn’t a single person who did not raise his hand. You may put your hands down now.
But if a pastor of a certain church says, “Those without sin please raise your hands,” no one raises their hands. I won’t say what church it is, but when that church’s pastor finished his sermon in a chapel where several hundreds of thousands of people were gathered and told them, “Brothers and sisters, those who have no sins at all please raise your hands,” few people raised their hands. So, that pastor sighed and said, “Those who have sins, please raise your hands.” Then, every single person in that church raised his or her hand. Then, the pastor sighed and asked himself, “What have I done till now?” He sighed and asked how things had turned out that way.
Why did such things happen to that church? It was because there was not a single person in that church who knew the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Then, for us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, do we really have no sin? No, we have no sin at all.
Brothers and sisters, why can we say that we have no sin? Since our Lord took all our sins by receiving baptism in the Jordan River from John the Baptist, He went to the Cross. Since your and my problem of sin was completely resolved in the words, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” and “It is finished,” we can say we have no sin. Therefore, when we say we have no sin, it doesn’t mean that we have not committed sin.
Brothers and sisters, this woman received the remission of sins through the Word of Jesus. So, the Bible bears record of the woman who was caught in the act of adultery and immediately put on the grace of salvation from Jesus Christ. Why? That is because she received by faith the grace of salvation that the Lord had given. But the Pharisees and scribes who pretended to be holy, and hid their sins even though they had them, left Jesus. Where do you think these people went after leaving Jesus? They went to hell because of their sins. If one believes in Jesus’ righteousness, he goes to Heaven; if one leaves His righteousness, he is doomed to hell. If a person believes in the work that Jesus performed or, in other words, the gospel of the water and the Spirit, he receives the remission of his sins and goes to Heaven. Put differently, if a person believes in the righteousness of God, he receives salvation. But if a person does not believe in the righteousness of God, he cannot cleanse his sins, and therefore, he goes to hell.
The Law Is a Shadow of Good Things to Come
Your salvation does not depend on your actions or intentions; it is only dependent on whether you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that the Lord has given or not. Brothers and sisters, do you understand?
Let’s read Hebrews 10:1-9. “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshippers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’’
Previously saying, ‘Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them’ (which are offered according to the law), then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first that He may establish the second.”
This passage says that we cannot receive complete salvation through the sacrificial system of the Law, and it says that we can obtain the complete remission of sins by the merits that the Son of God has fulfilled: He came to this earth in the flesh of man and became the propitiation of all mankind according to His promise written in the Scriptures.
Let’s now read verse 10 together. “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” We have been sanctified through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that was fulfilled according to the will of God the Father: He has saved us by giving His body all at once or, in other words, by taking the sins of the world all at once, by all at once receiving the judgment to death, and all at once by being resurrected from the dead. This is expressed in the present perfect tense. Since we have already all at once been sanctified, it means we can’t be sinners anymore. It says, “We have been sanctified.” Brothers and sisters, have you been sanctified then?
“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:12-14).
The Lord perfected us eternally. Do we have sin even though we will sin out of our insufficiencies tomorrow? Didn’t our Lord take even those sins when He received baptism from John the Baptist? He took them all at once. Jesus took all the sins we will commit tomorrow, those that will be committed the day after tomorrow, and all those that will ever be committed.
So, can we commit more sins to enjoy more grace? We can never do that. So, how do we have to live? We have already been sanctified by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in our hearts. There is not a single sin in our hearts. Therefore, by that we must now do the righteous work of God.
The Apostle Paul said, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Romans 6:12-13). If we unite our bodies in the righteous work and the work of proclaiming the gospel and give them to listening to the Word, even our bodies become the instruments of God’s righteousness. Our bodies are the shells of our souls; they are the tools of God’s righteousness.
We wear shoes on our feet. If our shoes are dirty, all we have to do is clean them. Likewise, we who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit should clean our filth with our faith. Do you understand? We have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in our hearts. We don’t have a single sin in our hearts. Isn’t that right? We have become righteous in our hearts. And when we perhaps commit personal sins through our physical actions, we must know the fact that they also are included in the sins of the world and have already transferred over to Jesus when He was baptized. We must believe this. Do you understand? People who truly believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit don’t have personal sins, either. We don’t have these sins, so how do we have to live? All we have to do is frequently give our bodies and hearts to the righteous works.
Brothers and sisters, do you understand? If you can, don’t go to disco clubs or places like them but instead, come to God’s Church and listen to His Word. And if you can, meet the brothers and sisters, meet the ministers of God’s Church, and do the work of God. I hope that you obey your pastor when he tells you to stick up posters, preach the gospel with the Church, or give prayers to God. If you do so, your bodies and hearts will come to live the sanctified lives of the righteous. If we give even our bodies to the righteous work, we will become clean in body and spirit. Even though our physical actions are a little insufficient, if our hearts have been sanctified by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we are the righteous who have no sins in our hearts. We go to Heaven. Don’t worry about that.
The Bible says that our Lord has perfectly blotted our all our sins forever. “But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD; I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,’ then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin” (Hebrews 10:15-18).
Brothers and sisters, do you have a good grasp of this passage? Where it says in this passage, “there is remission of these,” it means all sins were remitted. In other words, all of your sins, as well as mine, have already been remitted. The Lord is our Savior. The Lord who came through the gospel of the water and the Spirit is our Savior. Brothers and sisters, do you believe this?
You must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and receive the remission of your sins in your hearts. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the gospel of the remission of sins, and this gospel is the greatest blessing of salvation that brings eternal life from God. You and I are people who have received the greatest blessing. Hallelujah! You who come out to God’s Church are blessed people. The servants of God, whether only one or two come out here, are spreading the clear gospel. You are the saints who hear the Word of God through the mouths of the servants of God; you are very blessed souls. Isn’t that right?
It is written, “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life’” (John 8:12).
I hope you know the truth that these are blessed words to the born again. There is no true light in this world besides Jesus. Only Jesus is our Savior, who has completely saved us from sin. Only He is our God and a truly good Person. Only His work is good work. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
So, we believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit; does He tell us to follow the Word of God from now on? Then, does this mean that we have to receive the remission of sin twice? No. If we follow the Lord after receiving the remission of our sins with faith in His Word, the salvation we have attained from the Lord does not become dim. And we do not spiritually wander due to unbelief. In other words, we do not return to our old lives. Brothers and sisters, do you understand?
Even though we have received the remission of our sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we must unite with God’s Church and live out our faith believing in God’s righteousness. Even after we were born again, by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we will fall into darkness again and die if we don’t unite with God’s Church and His Word that flows from it. Just like the Word says, “But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire’” (2 Peter 2:22), if a person who has had the gospel doesn’t have faith in the Word in his heart, the words he has heard are vomited up and he dies.
Let’s say we’ve planted some wild chrysanthemums. The bud has sprouted and grown up from the ground. The bud splits the earth and comes out in order to bloom; if there is a rock above it and no soil beneath it, it cannot bloom, and gets dry and withers away. It’s true that this sprout is of a wild chrysanthemum, and it’s a new life, but it can’t live for long and dies. Likewise, the righteous who have received the remission of their sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit also need to absolutely continue to listen to the righteous Word of God, read it, and spread it after they were born again.
Brothers and sisters, who filters the evil things in the fields of your hearts and sprinkles them? God’s servants in His Church do this work with the Word of God. The Holy Spirit also helps. You have to supply the Word of God to your faith in order for your faith to bloom and bear perfect fruit. Then, we will live out our faith praising the Lord by becoming perfect grain. If we listen to the sermons of liars who don’t believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit after we received the remission of our sins, we get sick spiritually and die. Therefore, you must get rid of everything in your hearts except the Word of God that is delivered by men of faith, who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The souls of the righteous who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit die if they spiritually eat poison. I mean, if a person drinks water with poison in it, he will die. That is why God has separated the waters; the waters that were under the firmament from the waters that were above the firmament (Genesis 1:6-7). The righteous die if they listen to words from pastors who have not been born again, because they feed polluted water to naive souls.
The people of Israel kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days right after they kept the Passover. This means that a born again person must absolutely believe according to the Word of God. In order to do so, the righteous must listen to and eat the words that the servants of God delivered. That way, we will live, and it is how to follow God. If they eat leavened bread, they will die. If they eat bread that has spiritual yeast in it, their faith dies. If the righteous feast on things that have human thoughts and teachings in them, their souls die spiritually.
So, the Lord said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Our Lord points to Himself and says, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness.” He spoke of this part again in John 15, and we need to remember it well. He said, “I am the vine and My Father is the vinedresser. He who abides in Me bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he will be withered.” Our Lord says to follow Him. He said, “Follow Me, for I am the light of the world.” Jesus Christ, His Word, and His Church are truly the light of the world. Brothers and sisters, do you understand?
Like the light of a lighthouse seen from faraway is the light of salvation to a boat that has drifted on a dark sea of heavy waves, Jesus Christ and the servants of God are the light of salvation to a person who is being swept away to sin. The servants of God are in His Church, and those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit become the light of the world by purely spreading His Word. They don’t add their own thoughts when they preach the Word; they are people who spread the Word by faith exactly as it is. The place where they gather is God’s Church, and that Church is the light of the dark world.
The Lord said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall obtain salvation.” Brothers and sisters, our Lord dwells in us now. He exists in every pastor and saint who believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Lord granted His saints God’s Church; so, they are inside it. The person who follows the guidance of God’s Church is a person who follows our Lord; following the born-again Church is following the Lord; and people who receive the guidance of the Church receive the guidance of the Lord.
Our Lord saved us from all sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. He saved you and me from sin and judgment. Our Lord said, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2). What is the prosperity of our souls? It is for us to receive the remission of sins. We must first attain the righteousness of God and receive salvation from all sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We have believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in our hearts, professed it with our mouths, arrived at salvation, and become the righteous. If at this time we who have become righteous hear the Word of God and our faith grows rapidly, our God blesses us that our bodies will be healthy, also, and that all the things we do will go well.
But if our souls do not grow well through faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we cannot receive any of the blessings of this world. If the born again only seek after the prosperity of their bodies, they will become men of flesh who always neglect their souls. But if one’s soul prospers through faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, his body will receive blessings and live well even if he doesn’t worry about it. This is the principle of receiving the blessings of God before Him. It is the will of God our Father.
So, we must follow the righteousness of our Lord in His Church. We must follow the light of life. That light of life is our Lord. As our faith grows, we can shed the light of salvation even to the end of the earth. And we will enter the Lord’s Kingdom after living as the watchmen of the Truth, as the lighthouse for lost souls, and as the servants and people of God.
Beloved saints! Our Lord truly saved us from all our sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. So, He is the God of love and the Savior of the Truth. We have received enormous blessings. We have accomplished our purpose for being born on this earth. A larva lives in the earth as a larva for six or seven years in order to become a cicada. When the time comes when that larva becomes a cicada, those wings and noise it makes are very beautiful.
In other words, it is the same as us praising the Lord’s love. Our Lord gladly receives the thanks and praise when everyone hears the Word of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, through faith are born again, and sing, “Thank You, God. Thank You.” We were born on this earth and became the children of God in order to be cleansed from all our sins. We were born on this earth in order to receive the blessings of God, become His children, and enjoy eternal happiness. God made us, and we give thanks to Him that we were born on this earth and received salvation from all sin.
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