Daily Bible Nugget #184, John 20:31

The Nugget:

John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

My Comment:

The Scriptures are designed to produce faith. This means saving faith. The Gospel of John, even all by itself, contains what you and everyone else needs to know, in fact, must know, to be saved. This means to be a genuine Christian. This has nothing to do with church membership. Which church saves? None of them do, and none of them can. There are some churches that think and teach that they are the one true church. The Roman Catholic Church believes that it is the one true church because only it goes back to the original apostles and boasts the distinction that Peter was its first Pope. I have an interesting book coming soon in electronic format whose very first paragraph will demolish such claim. While there has been a church at Rome since Apostolic times, it is clear that the church at Rome was essentially a missionary outreach of the Greek church. The Roman Catholic Church belligerently split off from the Greek Catholic Church, so the Greek Catholic Church for a thousand years was the center of Christianity historically. The Roman Catholic Church in that sense would seem to me to be a “Johnny-come-lately.” In terms of what church was in charge during the first several great church councils, it was not the Pope at Rome! No one in those days seems to have even heard of such a thing. Now the Roman Catholic Church and its apologists make some reference to the idea that Protestantism did not come along until Martin Luther. In essence, then, in Roman Catholic estimation, all non-Roman Catholics are the spiritual offspring of Martin Luther. Roman Catholic apologists seem to think Martin Luther was a terrible heretic, so all non-Roman Catholics of the Protestant variety are too. Well, I disagree. I have an interesting book at hand titled The Pilgrim Church, by E. H. Broadbent which tells a much different, and very interesting story of many historically independent groups of Bible-believing Christians who maintained their faith through many centuries by going by the Bible. They shunned all connection with any hierarchical church. Now there are those who will fault these groups as heretical. I found it most interesting in my reading to notice that sometimes what we know of these groups is only preserved in accounts by their enemies. But in one or two instances I was able to check my resources here to dig deeper into some of that history more fully than what is contained in Broadbent’s volume. I was amazed to learn why at least one or two of these groups or their leaders for which I have information were considered heretical. The reason turned out to be that they went by what is taught in the New Testament, and did not accept any belief or practice they could not find there. Sounds to me like their accusers have been the heretics all along, and that the so-called heretics were the ones who taught the truth of the Bible! All that to say, all you need to start with is the Gospel of John. Read it until you understand its life-saving message. Then you will know that you have eternal life (John 5:24).

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1209 for John 20:31.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1228 or in Logos 5 Bible software for John 20:31.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

John 20:31. But these. Emphatic in Greek. ver. Jn 20:28. Jn 1:49. 6:69, 70. 9:35-38. 19:35. *Jn 21:25. *Ps 2:7, 12. +*Mt 16:16. +*Mt 27:54n. Lk 1:3, 4. *Ac 8:37. 9:20. Ro 1:3, 4. 1 J 4:15. 5:1, 10, 20. *2 J 1:9. Re 2:18. are written, that. or, have been (and therefore stand) written. T#1041. Dt 29:29. Ps 102:18. Pr 22:21. Ec 12:12. Lk 1:1. Ac 11:14. **Ro 10:17. +*Ro 15:4. +**2 Tim 3:15-17. 1 J 1:1-4. **1 J 5:13. ye might. or, may. Jn 5:34. 11:15, 42. 19:35. Ro 10:14. believe. ver. 29. +Jn 11:27. Ex 4:5. Is 43:10. that Jesus is. +Mt 1:1. 16:20. +Mk 8:29. the Christ. Mt 16:20. 26:63. Mk 1:1. Lk 2:11, 26. 4:18-21, 41. 9:20. the Son of God. Jn 1:34. 10:36. +Mt 14:33. Mk 5:7. **Mk 9:7. Lk 1:35. 4:41. believing. Jn 2:11. **Jn 3:15, 16, 18, +Jn 3:36. *Jn 5:24, 39, 40. 6:40. 10:10. *Mk 16:16. Ac 8:37. **Ac 16:31. 20:21. 2 C 1:19. *Ga 2:16. 3:22. 1 Tim 1:16. **He 10:39. 1 P 1:9. 1 J 2:23-25. **1 J 5:10-13. have life. Jn 6:53. +Jn 8:12. 12:50. +*Col 3:4. 2 Tim 1:10. **1 J 5:13. through. *Lk 24:47. Ac 3:16. *Ac 10:43. *Ac 13:38, 39. Ro 5:1. 6:11. *1 Cor 6:11. his name. FS121T1, +Dt 28:58. i.e. the Truth revealed by him under the names just mentioned, as Jesus, the Christ or Messiah, and the Son of God (De Burgh, p. 297). +Jn 1:12. +Jn 14:13. 17:11, 12. +Dt 28:58. +Ac 3:6. 4:10, 12. 10:43. +Ac 15:26. +1 Cor 1:10. 6:11. **1 J 5:13.

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One Response to Daily Bible Nugget #184, John 20:31

  1. ken sagely says:

    jn 20.31 But these are written, that ye might believe that jesus is the Christ, the
    Son of God ; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

    encouraging cross refs ( the best commentary on the bible is the bible)
    1. 1 jn 5.13 these things have i written unto you that believe on the name
    of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that
    ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
    2. jn 3.14-16 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
    so must the Son of man be lifted up;14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent
    in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.15 That whosoever
    believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16. For God so loved
    the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
    should not perish, but have everlasting life.
    3. Jn 5.24 He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath
    everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation: but is passed from
    death to life.
    4. 2 Tim 3.15 From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are
    able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
    5. 1 pe 1.9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

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