Who Is Jesus? (Part 5): The Saving One

The Wednesday feature of the Worldly Saints blog is a Scriptural meditation whereby I take a verse or passage I have been pondering lately and seek to edify my readers with it’s promises, encouragements, warnings, rebukes, etc.

Jesus was (past tense), is (present tense), and will be (future tense), the Savior. That was the primary purpose for his incarnating Himself in this world over 2,000 years ago (Luke 19:10).

On Wednesdays, we have been considering how the Apostle John describes Jesus to us in his prologue in his Gospel. We have learned the following four truths so far:

1. Jesus is God (John 1:1-3).

2. Jesus has been revealed to us (John 1:4-5).

3. Jesus was the Promised One, the Messiah (John 1:6-9).

4. Jesus was rejected (John 1:10-11).

Now, in vs. 12-13, John reminds us He is the Savior.

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).

John didn’t want his readers to believe that everyone rejected Christ (vs. 10-11) – so vs. 12-13 show us there were others who believed in Him. There would be some who demonstrated their confidence and trustworthiness in His Person.

And to these who believed were given the “right to become children of God.” They were given the privilege of adoption or new status. They would now become part of the light and be removed from living in darkness. Only those who swear their allegiance to His name – which encompasses all He is – will be His children.

John then gives us three corrections in vs. 13 to further draw attention to who is a child of God.

1. A child of God is “born not of blood.” A genuine believer cannot be saved through the blood of his parents. This is the same word that is used to describe a child coming forth from his mother and father. When you were born from your mother, you were considered to be from the blood of your parents. That’s what makes you family. And what John is trying to say here is that salvation does not come through the blood of your parents; salvation is not hereditary or racial.

2. A child of God does not come from “the will of the flesh.” The flesh speaks about who you are as a person. Whenever you see that word “flesh” in the Bible, it normally refers to a person’s body. It refers to who that person is. John is saying here that salvation doesn’t come through something you deeply desire or from your human will. He is saying that salvation has nothing to with us.

3. A child of God does not come from “the will of man.” Not only can your family not save you or can you save yourself, but no one else can save you either. No minister or pastor or elder or Christian teacher. The only way of salvation is through God like the end of vs. 13 says, “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, BUT OF GOD.” No human agency or instrumentation made salvation possible.

To be like this means that we are given the “right to become children of God” (vs. 12). In other words, by receiving Christ we can now call ourselves children of God and not children of the devil. That is our “right” as adopted children. When you are a Christian, you are one of God’s chosen, adopted children.