To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay -- the Series of Explanation and Analysis of Scripture (1)
The Explanation and Analysis of Some of the Verses in JOHN
In LORD Jesus Christ’s last, longest and most important prayer and teaching, LORD Jesus Christ promise Holy Spirit to all the believers. We have treasure in the jars of clay (1Co 4:7)! If we believers see the truth that Christ live in us, our entire Christian life will surely have a significant change.
LORD Jesus Christ live in every believer, and every believer in Him. In the traditional explanation of “to be one”, it always refers to the church. However, here we see, it is that firstly every believer’s life is one in Christ, thus, all the believers will be one and the church will be one. The union inside the church is not the meaning of “to be one”. Every believer’s life is one in Christ and the believer unites oneself with Christ in one spirit, that is the true meaning of “to be one”.
It is edited and compiled under the guidance of Holy Spirit. All thanks, praises and glories be to God!
(JOHN 14:16-22; JOHN 16:7; JOHN 17:11, 21-23, 26)
JOHN 14:16 “ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- ”
(NOTES)
“Counselor”:
Beside caller, Friend, Advocate
，Comforter，Persuader，Counselor，Legal Helper，Intercessor，Strengthener。The word of “Counselor” were used for 5 times in New Testament; 4 of them refer to Holy Spirit (Joh 14:26; 15:26; 16:7), one refers to “mediator” (1Jo 2:1), that is, Jesus Christ. LORD is our “Counselor”, when we fall and sin, He is our Advocate, Helper, and Intercessor in front of heavenly Father (1Jo 2:1; Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25). Holy Spirit is also our “Counselor”, be with us forever; when we are weak, discouraged, foolish, and ignorant, Holy Spirit is our Helper, Leader, and Intercessor (see Rom 8:26-27).
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) Holy Spirit is given through Christ from God. In this way, Christ live in the believers, always accompany us, serve us and take care of all our needs.
(2) Holy Spirit takes very good care of us to every detail. No matter what we need, He can supply us with extra.
(3) Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.(2Co 3:17).
JOHN 14:17 “ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ”
(NOTES)
“ the Spirit of truth. ”:
The reasons that Holy Spirit is called “the Spirit of truth” are:
(1) Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2Pe 1:21).
(2) He never leads man to falsehood. (1Jo 4:6)
(3) He testifies Christ -- the truth. (Joh 14:6; 15:26).
(4) He guilds us into the truth. (Joh16:13)
“ The world cannot accept him, ”:
Since worldly men are mortal, Holy Spirit can not be in them(Gen 6:3); Holy Spirit convicts the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: (Joh 16:8); Only those who are willing to accept the work of Holy Spirit, will have Holy Spirit dwelling in.
“ will be in you. ”
One of the biggest difference between the age of New Testament and the age of the Old Testament is: Holy Spirit lives in the believers and never leaves; while in the age of Old Testament, Holy Spirit only occasionally came upon some specially selected person who are ordained, such as prophet, kings, judges and so on.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) “ the Spirit of truth. ” Holy Spirit is the truthfulness of Christ; the biggest job of Holy Spirit is to testify about Christ -- in this way, Christ live in the believers so that we know Christ and experience Him (1Jo 5:6, 5:20).
(2) “ for he lives with you and will be in you. ” Holy Spirit is the spirit dwelling in (Rom 8:9,11; 1Co 6:19); He lives in the believers of New Testament, to be their life and the supply of their life.(Rom 8:2,6)
JOHN 14:18 “ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ”
(NOTES)
“ I will not leave you as orphans; ”
The “I” here, is the “He” previously (see Jon 14:16-17),that is, Holy Spirit of LORD Jesus Christ.
“ I will come to you. ”:
The original text is “I am coming”; This refers to after Christ resurrected, He come upon the believers in the way of Holy Spirit.
This verse should NOT be interpreted as: (1) The appearance of LORD after the resurrection; or (2) Christ’s Second Coming. Otherwise, the believers would be the true “orphans” in the past two thousand years waiting lonely for Christ’s Second Coming.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) LORD’s promise is fulfilled already nowadays. He resurrected already. God give Holy Spirit through Christ to live in our spirit forever. Therefore, no matter in what kind of environment, we won’t feel lonely, for LORD are right in us.
(2) Those without LORD are the poor orphans, with no one to help when oppressed by the devil.
JOHN 14:19 “ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ”
(NOTES)
“Because I live, you also will live. ”:
Christ live in the believers, the believers live on Him (Gal 2:20).
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) The life of the believers comes from believing in LORD, being united with LORD, and can’t live alone outside LORD.
(2) If we believers see the truth that Christ live in us, our entire Christian life will surely have a significant change.
JOHN 14:20 “ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ”
(NOTES)
“ On that day ”:
refers to the day after LORD Jesus resurrected, Holy Spirit enters into the believers (Joh 20:22); that is the day of “Because I live, you also will live. ” (Joh 14:19)
“ you will realize that I am in my Father, ”:
This shows the relationship of Father and Son which is extremely mysterious.
“ and you are in me, ”:
All the portions of the believers are in Christ (Eph 1:3).
“ and I am in you. ”:
refers to Christ’s dwelling in the believers (Col 1:24-27).
Note, there are three “in” in this verse; previously there’s only “the Son in the Father, and that the Father is in the Son” (Joh 15:10-11); now the believers are brought into this mysterious relationship.
JOHN 14:21 “ Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." ”
(NOTES)
“ Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. ”:
In (John 14:15), it is about love is the motivation to obey; in this verse, it’s about obedience is the appearance of love.
“ and I too will love him and show myself to him." ”:
This does not refer to the appearance of LORD’s Second Coming, but the appearance in spirit; whoever loves LORD and obeys His commands and words, LORD will show Himself to him.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) If one loves LORD, the best proof is to obey His commands.
(2) Loving LORD is not an empty talk, but is actions in reality. Loving LORD is the root and obeying LORD is the fruit. Only those who truly love LORD will obey LORD’s commands.
(3) Although the believers know the words that LORD are right in us, however, in reality, we might not feel His being with us. Only when we love Him and obey Him, we will feel more obviously His being with us. That is, LORD show Himself to whoever loves Him.
(4) The command of LORD to us is: Love one another (Joh 13:34); if the spiritual situation in a church is normal -- there are testimonies of loving one another, and Christ will show more in such a church.
JOHN 14:22 “ Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" ”
(NOTES)
“ "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" ”:
This question showed that in the disciple’s mind, he thought that LORD show Himself was: (1) what can be seen by naked eyes, should not be seen only by some of the people; (2) all the Jews will share in the kingdom of Messiah, the unbelievers of Jews should also see the Messiah.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) If one does not believe in LORD and love LORD, LORD won’t show Himself to such a person.
(2) The believers see LORD through the faith and the words of God. Nowadays, every one of us can commune with LORD closely through faith.
JOHN 16:7 “ But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ”
(NOTES)
“ It is for your good ”:
points out His departure is good to them, it is because: (1) The disciples can only be redeemed through the sacrificial death on the cross of Christ; (2) LORD Jesus was with the disciples outside the bodies before, and was limited by the space and time; after His resurrection, He is with the disciples inside the bodies in the way of Holy Spirit, and is not limited by time and space.
“Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; ”:
“Counselor” is Holy Spirit (Joh 16:13; Joh 14:16-17); the meaning in the original text of “Counselor” is: the helper called beside one; when it is used in legal situation, it refers to the one who accompanies the litigant to appear in court and looks after all the related business about the case; whose job is to speak on one’s behalf, defend, advise, encourage and comfort. LORD Christ must enter the death in the flesh first in order that after resurrection, He comes to the disciples in the way of Holy Spirit, and enters into them (Joh 20:22).
“He” refers to Counselor, that is, Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is sent by Father (Joh 14:26), He is also sent by the Son; here, it shows again that Father and Son are One (see Joh 10:30).
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) We often admired how wonderful it is that the disciples in the beginning can be with LORD Jesus together! Can see Him and listen to His voice directly (see 2Pe 1:16-17; 1Jo 1:1); However, LORD said: “It is for your good that I am going away.”, because “if I (LORD Christ) go, I will send the him (Counselor) to you.” . From here, we see that the dwelling in of Holy Spirit is even better than being with LORD Jesus in flesh.
(2) The last Adam (Jesus Christ), became a life-giving spirit. (1Co 15:45); LORD Jesus entered the death so that He can in spirit, distribute Himself as the life to those who believe in Him.
(3) LORD send the Counselor, actually whom He send is Himself, in spirit to be as our Counselors (Zec 2:8-11).
JOHN 17:11 “ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. ”
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) The reason that the believers can show to be one in the appearance, it’s because that they have the essence to be one -- the name of God, that is the life of God.
(2) “being one” is a spiritual fact that has been accomplished, the responsibilities of the believers are not to destroy “being one”.
JOHN 17:21 “ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ”
(NOTES)
“ Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. ”:
This shows that Christians may be one in Christ, just as the Son is one in the Father. The Father is in the Son shows that Father is the Son’s; the Son is in the Father shows that the Son is the Father’s.
“ May they also be in us ”:
shows that the true “to be one” only can be accomplished in the life of God.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) Only when the Christians live according to the will of LORD, and live in the one life of Christ, can persuade the world to believe.
(2) “ May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ” Every believer’s life being one in Christ will bring all the believers to be one. Therefore, do not say that we must wait till we are in heaven to be one.
(3) In the traditional explanation of “to be one”, it always refers to the church. However, here we see, it is that firstly every believer’s life is one in Christ, thus, all the believers will be one and the church will be one. The union inside the church is not the meaning of “to be one”. Every believer’s life is one in Christ and the believer unites oneself with Christ in one spirit, that is the true meaning of “to be one”.
JOHN 17:22 “ I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:”
(NOTES)
This verse refers to “being one” in the sacred glory of God. When the believers deny themselves completely, and do not rely on the natural life to live, but rely on the life and nature of God inside them to live, they will not only show the glory of God, but also be one naturally.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) The work of God is to let all things be one (see Eph 1:10). And the result of the work of God is to show His glories (Eph 1:12). If the children of God do not enter the unity first, all things can not enter the unity. Therefore, the believers to be one in Christ is critical to show the glories of God.
(2) The theme of this prayer is glories and to be one. That is, only when the Father show His glories to the fullness in the Son, will produce the true being one; only when the church become one in the unique name of Christ (Joh 17:11), God can show His glories to the fullness in Church, throughout all generations, for ever and ever!(Eph 3:21)
(3) The Son asked the Father to make the believers be one, just us the beloved Son in Father is One. This shows that only the One of Christ is the one for the believers. Every believer must take Christ as the only one center to show the true being one of the believers. Just as what was said in EPHESIANS: “--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” (Eph 1:10)
JOHN 17:23 “ I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ”
(NOTES)
“ May they be brought to complete unity ”:
“complete” in the original text is “may be perfect”, this admits a fact: Although the Christians have the life of one already, they lack the appearance of the one; therefore, it is not complete yet; the full appearing of “being one” requires the complete obedience of you and I to live in LORD.
“ let the world know that you sent me ”:
One of the purposes of the Christians’ being one is to “let the world know”. This goes further than “let the world believe” (Joh 17:21). At the time the believers show completely to be one, it will be the time that Christ get completely glorified through the believers; at that time, the world will not only believe, but they will also know that Christ is sent by God.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) Only when every believer let Christ be in charge of our life, the believers will truly reach the unity.
(2) The Christians being one is a glorious testimony and must have an enormous impulse to the world people.
(3) Love of God is the original motivation for the believers to be one; the true being one will show the love of God.
JOHN 17:26 “ I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."”
(NOTES)
“ I have made you known to them, ”:
means that give the revelation of God to the believers (see Joh 17:11-12).
“ in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."”:
The more the believers love God and experience the dwelling-in LORD, the more we can get to know the anticipation of LORD on us.
(LIGHT IN WORDS)
(1) Christ’s Holy Spirit is in every believer. Every believer’s being one in Christ will bring the believers to be one. This is LORD Jesus Christ’s last, longest and most important prayer, in order that all believers and all things will be one in Christ, this is the mystery of the will of God (Eph 3:6; Eph 1:9-10).
Reference:
1. Jiale Huang: “Christians’ Digest of the Scripture Analysis Series”.
