The Gospel of John speaks of divinity, which is the attribute of Christ.
So, while the Synoptic Gospels contain the events that Jesus did on earth, the Gospel of John tells what happened when the Spirit of Truth came after he died and rose again.
Although you may believe on Jesus, it is difficult to understand the Bible if you do not know the attributes of Christ.
Many people say that you can live according to the Bible without being born again, but these are the irresponsible words of rationalists.
Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot live according to the Word.
Those who try to teach others when they cannot do for themselves are liars who do not know the attributes of Christ.
The word liar is a name given by Jesus to religious hypocrites who follow the law, such as the Pharisees and scribes. (John 8:44)
The law is not a lie, but they teaches that all humans can obey the law even though they are mired in sin and do not have the ability to obey the law. That is a lie.
That is why he says that they are the children of their father, the devil, whose specialty is lies.
In fact, the serpent's words to Eve, 'You shall not surely die' (Genesis 3:4), were not a lie in human terms.
Adam and Eve did not die physically after eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Even now, there are many people who only think of death as physical death and do not know the eternal destruction caused by the death of separation from God in Adam.
They are literally children of vipers that only eat dirt.
They belong to the earth.(Revelation 12:12)
To be spiritual means to become one with Christ and become like him by following his attributes.
A person is not a spiritual person just because he or she pretends to be spiritual, but a person is recognized as a spiritual person because the attributes of Christ flow from him or her.
Besides Christianity, there are many religions that talk about spiritual mystical experiences.
Therefore, unless you become one with Christ and the love that is Christ's attribute exudes through his spirit and life, it cannot be said to be spiritual.
Nevertheless, many people believe that anything that is mysterious is spiritual.
In particular, meditation that accepts the energy of nature with a primitive religious nature is called spirituality, or prayer that does not follow the truth but empty the mind and quietly experiences God is called spirituality.
So Christianity is becoming embarrassing.
Also, these days, various signs movements are popular among people who want to see God.
I am not saying that the signs are wrong, but they are elementary and flesh things.
The word human means carnal.
Many people judge a person based on their purity or goodness.
However, what is born of the flesh is forever just flesh, whether good or bad (John 3:6)
There is no change in species even in living things.
Therefore, unless a person is born again and loves God in the Spirit of truth and keeps the commandment to become one with his spirit (John 14:21) and achieves a mystical union, no matter how mysterious a human experience may be, the flesh will always remain only the flesh.
That is why born again is called conversion of species.
It means that we have been converted into the seed of God.
That is why born again is a miracle among miracles.
So, when looking at a person, we should look at their tendency and degree of love for God rather than how pure or sincere they are.
If you make a mistake, you can say that the person is a really good person because his/her personality is beneficial to you.
It's quite an existential calculation.
This means that a person can be evaluated as pure, sincere, etc., meaning that he or she will be helpful rather than someone who will cause harm if kept by his side.
Therefore, if you tell a pastor that he is truly humane, it is not a compliment but an insult.
People who are accustomed to humanism may find this pleasant, but spiritual people will not be pleased.
If you say to Apostle Paul, “You are truly a humane person,” he will follow you and argue with you.
A proper evaluation of a pastor should be something like, “That person has great spirituality or is a person who really loves God.”
Carnal and human people cannot understand the word of God.
So, in 1 Corinthian chapter 2, it says that comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
To understand the work of the Holy Spirit, it must be spiritual.
So the Gospel of John is not easy.
When I was serving as a pastor, I saw someone who understood the Gospel of John after 10 years.
I heard that he cried all the way home from church because he could finally hear the Gospel of John.
Why is the Gospel of John important?
This is because it explains salvation, where Christ’s attributes are revealed by being supplied with the spirit and life of Christ in the Spirit of truth.
Intellectual education fills the whole earth, and the Spirit and life of the Lord are supplied in Christ, so it is salvation that is supplied not with the natural nature but with the divine nature from heaven.
That is the parable of the vine and branches that most clearly expresses the kingdom of God.
The Gospel of John says that although we are born of flesh and blood, there is a secret to being born again and becoming spiritual people who live according to Christ in the Holy Spirit.
If we miss this, Christianity will become limited to cultivating the soul and providing social enlightenment, and will have no choice but to talk about ethics, morality, or philosophy.
Therefore, we may regard the life of the people of heaven as something that will be accomplished in the millennium after the second coming of Jesus, and may overshadow the blessings of the present spiritual life given by God.
The Bible promises that before you die you will see angels ascending and descending with the glory of the Son of Man (John 1:51), but many people seem to think that this is a story about someone else's town. (Matthew 16:28, John 1:51)
However, the Gospel of John is a book of truth that can born again humans and spiritualize them in the Spirit of truth.
This is different from the 3 Gospels.
If you do not know this fact, no matter how much you pray, you will not be able to escape the empty hunger of your soul.
So, you feel uncomfortable when you don't pray, so you focus on prayer, not true prayer.
There are many people who wonder if they are suffering from the chronic disease of being a neurotic Christian.
The reason why I feel uncomfortable and without peace while doing God's work is because my spirit is groaning due to the Holy Spirit.
This is because there is no routine of accepting the redemptive grace of Christ's cross, becoming united in death and resurrection with the Lord, and approaching God the Father in truth.
This is because we only know John's water baptism, but there is no Holy Spirit baptism that joins the Lord's death and resurrection.
The evidence of an answer to prayer is that if you believe and look forward to the throne of God's grace according to the truth, spiritual joy of peace and joy will well up within you.
If anyone understands the words of the Gospel of John, the path to God will be clearly opened and they will always be able to taste the true taste of prayer.
We always give praise of victory to the Lord.
Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.
Translated by Nancy Chung
COME AND SEE WORLD MISSION