Believe, Repent, Bear Fruits Worthy of Repentance

Believe, Repent, Bear Fruits Worthy of Repentance

John 6:29 -- “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom He sent.”

John 8:51 -- “If anyone keeps my word, he shall never see death.”

John 14:12-13 -- “He who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my Father. And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”

John 6:38 & 40 -- “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. .. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 20:24-29 -- “Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas! Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”

John 6:27, 32-35, 63 -- Jesus clarifies the importance of spiritual life over physical life. “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you. .. Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. .. I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. .. It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

John 6:36-37, 39, 44, 65 -- Jesus emphasizes the Father’s Will, rather than our choice. “You have seen me and yet do not believe. All those that the Father gives me will come to me; and the ones who come to me I will by no means cast out. .. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all those He has given me, I should lose lose none but should raise them up at the last day. .. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. .. No one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father.” (See also 10:29-30)

John 10:16 -- Jesus will go to the Gentiles. “Other sheep I have which are not of this fold! Them also I must bring. They will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” (See also Matthew 8:5-13, John 3:14-17)

John 3:14-17 -- The necessity of the Crucifixion and the Gospel to the World. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.”

Testimonies that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God: John the Baptist (Matthew 3:11-13, Mark 1:7-8, Luke 3:15-17, John 1:29-34) Andrew (John 1:40-42) Philip (John 1:45) Nathanael (John 1:49) The Samaritan woman Jesus met at the well in Sychar (John 4:29) Many Samaritans (John 4:42) The 5000 men who had been fed with loaves and fishes (John 6:14) Simon Peter (Matthew 16:16, Mark 8:29, Luke 9:20, John 6:68-69) Many from the Crowd (John 7:40-41) Jesus & God (John 8:18) The Man Born Blind (John 9:30-33) Two Blind Men (Matthew 20:29-34) Miracles (John 10:25) Martha (John 11:27) Many Jews who witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus believed in Jesus (John 11:45) A Great Multitude at the Triumphal Entry (Matthew 21:8-11, Mark 11:9-10, John 12:12-13) “Isaiah saw his glory and spoke of him.” (John 12:41) Pontius Pilate (Matthew 27:11, 17-18, 24, Mark 15:2, 9-10, 12-14, Luke 23:3-4, 13-16, 20-22, John 18:33, 37-39 & 19:4, 6, 12, 15, 19, 22) John the Apostle (John 19:35-37, 20:31 & 21:7, 24-25) Thomas (John 20:28) * An Angel to Joseph (Matthew 2:20-21) Three Wise Men from the East (Matthew 2:1-12) King Herod (in his own perverse way) (Matthew 2:16-18) A Centurian in Capernaum (Matthew 8:5-13) Doctor Luke (Luke 1:1-4 + Gospel of Luke + Acts) Gabriel (Luke 1:30-33) Elizabeth (John 1:39-45) Mary (Luke 1:46-56) Zacharias (Luke 1:67-80) Angels & Shepherds (Luke 2:8-20) Simeon (Luke 2:25-35) Anna (Luke 2:36-38) The Holy Spirit & God the Father (Matthew 3:16-17, 17:5, Mark 1:10-11, 9:7, Luke 3:22, Luke 9:35) Satan (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13) Unclean Spirits (Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 1:23-24, 3:11, 5:6-10, Luke 4:34, 8:28, 10:17) Disciples after Jesus Walks on Water (Matthew 14:22-33) The Wind & Wave (Luke 8:22-25) A Gentile in the Region of Tyre & Sidon (Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-30) The Father of a Boy with Epilepsy (Mark 9:14-24) A Criminal Crucified with Jesus (Luke 23:39-43) A Centurion after the Crucifixion (Matthew 27:54, Mark 15:39, Luke 23:47)

The Necessity of Repentance and Lifestyle Change: “Jesus found him [the man who had an infirmity 38 years and had been healed by Jesus] in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” (John 5:14) Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” (John 8:11) * “Repent, return to God, and bear fruits worthy of repentance.” (Acts 26:20 * See also Matthew 3:8 & Luke 3:8)

God wants None to Perish: “I have no pleasure in  the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore, turn and live!” (Ezekiel 18:32) “The Lord .. is longsuffering towards us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) “Seek Me and live!” (Amos 5:4) “I know the thoughts that I think towards you,” says the Lord, “thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. .. You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13) “I will make a New Covenant with My people! .. I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be My people. .. I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34) [JHK Note: Jesus is the New Covenant, as he makes clear at the Last Supper in Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24 & Luke 22:20, when he takes the cup of wine and says, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for and for many.”]