Friday, 11 August 2023

The Upper Room Discourse 26

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John 15:3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

Verse 3 kind of stands alone in speaking about being clean. All the verses before it and after it too deal with being grafted in and bearing fruit. The concept of being "clean" is understood (from the Greek context) to be free from sin, stain or ungodly influence. The "word" Yeshua has spoken to the disciples is not just an utterance, a single verse or a thought, but the entire teaching of Messiah. So, our expanded understanding then is that we are set free from the stain of rebellion (sin) in Adam by the entire teaching of Yeshua.

In Acts 16, the jailer of Paul and Silas asked what he must do to be saved. Listen carefully to their answer. Acts 16:31 They said, "Put your trust in the Lord Yeshua and you will be saved - you and your household!" What does it mean to "put your trust in the Lord Yeshua?" The Bible itself answers that question in the very next verse. Acts 16:32a Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him.

Paul declares similarly ... Romans 10:13-14 For "Everyone who calls upon the name of Adonai shall be saved." How then shall they call on the One in whom they have not trusted? And how shall they trust in the One they have not heard of? And how shall they hear without someone proclaiming?

And what will they hear? The entire teaching of Yeshua. Romans 10:8-9 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" - that is, the word of faith that we are proclaiming: For if you confess with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

There is a similar sounding verse in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 30:11,14 For this mitzvah that I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it far off ... No, the word is very near to you - in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.

Yeshua rightly said ... John 5:46-47 For if you were believing Moses, you would believe Me - because he wrote about Me. But since you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?

There is power in the words of Yeshua. God had to send His only begotten Son so we would know it is possible to live according to Moses teachings. Romans 8:4 so that the requirement of the Torah might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Ruach.

Yeshua didn't just proclaim the word, He was/is the word. All we need to do is believe the word and we will be clean.