< 1 John 5:4-8 >

"For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one." Warm greetings to everyone. With the passing of some great sages of mankind on the questions of where are we from? Where are we going? What is life? Their findings are the results of today`s precepts and the foundations of such doctrines taught in religion and Christianity thereon. Whereas the Bible talks about true happiness, which is a holy life, that is a life exceptionally blessed and living apart from sin (Romans 4:7). When the apostle Paul in his Epistle says, "The sins that were previously committed" (Romans 3:25) it is with significant importance of Jesus putting an end to the sins of the whole world from the first man Adam to the should-be last person on earth. This is the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit that washes and cleanses you and I of all the past sins, the present sins as well as the sins that you and I will commit in the future. Like this, salvation is individual from God who sits on the throne and belongs to the Lord Jesus who was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This Lamb of God Jesus Christ was born in the land of Judea in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth. He is the Messiah and Savior—the true and living God who came on earth to save us from all our sins. From the standpoint of this wondrous gospel of the water and the Spirit there is no more sin in the world. This first step in the right direction is the foundation of faith like a house built on solid ground contrary to the faith set on sandy soil. With due time and the forthcoming storms such a house built on sandy ground is just as if swept away by a broom. That is typically characterized by worldly Christians through their orthodoxy or heterodoxy of their denominations and mega churches they build. Even with all such devotion and enthusiasm throughout their Christian cycles and with this zest and craft is to exhibit another gospel. Put differently, to omit either one of Jesus Christ`s baptism and blood (1 John 5:4-8) for the blood of the Cross only gospel as the only complete atoning sacrifice for our sins is on the other hand preaching another gospel. In 1 Peter 3:21, this passage says, "There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism [of water]." Jesus` water (baptism), blood and the Spirit are one. To believe in the faith of one of them without the other is thoroughly a misplaced faith and misbelieve. More or less an empty gospel—if not, a half-baked and incomplete gospel. Not a few believe in the blood of Jesus as the only complete atoning sacrifice for sin. Such are not compatible with us born again of the gospel of water and the Spirit. These so-called Christians with their gospel of the blood of Jesus, that is the Cross as the only redeeming sacrifice for our salvation, makes me laugh more than what performance comedians do. In fact turning them into religious pluralists who remain nothing but the blind man leading blinds of course it does not work. Other than that our unwavering and firmer faith of an emboldened heart possessing the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and even apart from the letter which kills is our faith set on a solid rock. Meaning there is no salvation of only the blood of Jesus on the Cross without the baptism of Jesus Christ. Like this, Jesus` death on the Cross would rather become meaningless without Him receiving His baptism at the Jordan River on His head from the laying on of the hands by John the Baptist, the greatest man on earth born of a woman, who is the last high priest of the Old Testament and the representative of all humankind. God as such planned our salvation even before creation. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, carried out this plan according to His Father`s will and the Holy Spirit bears witness to this fact. So, Jesus` birth by the Virgin Mary, His baptism by John the Baptist, His shedding of His blood at the Cross and His resurrection from the dead all at once saved you and me from all sins for all eternity. For you who believe in this you do not have sin intact in your heart though you will continuously be committing sins of the flesh out of your weaknesses until your last breath as a born-again righteous person. These sins out of the shortcomings of the flesh are now considered as dead sins for the righteous, the one who is born again of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, died when Christ died and resurrected along with Him as a new being into this new life as a new creation. The Bible says, "For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). There is not a righteous man on earth who does not sin. All in all we should call sin when it is sin. As a born again I am not an exception, though I do not have sin intact in my heart, but would founder and act sinfully because of the fundamental nature of the human flesh. In this case, one has to admit before the Holy God whom we call "Abba, Father" and confess, "Lord, I did such-and-such. Please God the Father, I repent of my wrongdoings" on the premise of faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit living the blessed life and doing good of bringing in every lost soul to the flock of the great Shepherd and the Light of the world Jesus Christ. Whoa! I do not smoke, drink or tell a lie. I was fond of it not unlike the filth of this declining world. When I speak about lies telling I do not mean our everyday trivial instances that we face in order to avert being counterproductive in our human and spiritual relationships, however, even so, we must be honest before God. A lie is actually two or more. The lie you tell and the reasons to back up this lie. One is lying through the teeth when he or she doesn`t believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit according to the Bible. The Bible remains the absolute benchmark of the crystal clear faith of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. To everyone no matter how insatiable my thirst for righteousness becomes the gospel of the water and the Spirit quenches it sufficiently where indispensably we pass on our sins to Jesus by getting spiritually baptized with Him, die and resurrect with Him. From 1 Timothy 1:15, as the chief of all sinners just like you and me, Paul came to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit by meeting the resurrected Lord on his way on the road to Damascus. And in Romans 7:24 the apostle Paul cried out, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" By doing so he was merely recollecting his past and present life. He was referring us to the contrasting natures of both the spirit and the flesh of human beings before and after one embraces the genuine gospel of the water and the Spirit. But, even so, we are delivered from `this body of death` through Jesus who is at the same time our God and the Creator. Paul says, "I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (Romans 7:25-8:1). Keep in mind always that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the one and only gospel that washes away all your sins and all at once and all that you need to do is to ceaselessly and continuously offer your prayers of thankfulness to Jesus Christ the Almighty God. May God`s love and the righteousness of Christ forever be with you all as well as His great grace and all His bestowed spiritual and heavenly blessings. ✉️