Spirit and Truth
Jesus is telling her that the unity of saints in his kingdom will include people who come with the right spirit and heart and also come to do.
Season 5, Episode 27 · Spirit and Truth
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The story behind the idea
Without any question, that personal element of faith and love in you is required to be a worshiper of God. Quick note on that, worshiper is not in any way limiting this to Sunday. Yes, that spirit must be in place when we assemble on Sundays, but we also, as we see in Romans twelve, worship God with our bodies in everything we do and everywhere that we go, and we must have the right spirit.
What stands out
Again, I know the answer is neither of those are right and both need to be changed. If you had to spend the rest of your life in one of those situations working on things, which would you choose?
Why it matters
You might run back through the examples and say, let's make sure we're worshiping in an authorized way collectively first and then start shaping hearts. Or let's make sure they are legally married in a way that God honors, and then let's take them to counseling. I can understand that, and I think I probably can even get on board with it, but I'm not sure that Jesus would agree with it.
A faithful way forward
We should be striving to grow in each of these things, and I'm not even buying the sequence argument. I mean, to take this to the New Testament, do you remember the 3,000 people who were baptized on Pentecost? It didn't start with an appeal to the things they needed to do. In fact, Peter in the sermon didn't even tell them what to do.
Put it into practice
Jesus is reading that all the time, and that's where he wants to begin making lasting changes in your life. Second thing, be careful how you judge the emotions of others. Your spirit, your emotions are personal and in that way subjective.
Take the idea with you.
- 01What idea from this study most needs my attention right now?
- 02Where does this challenge the way I am currently thinking or living?
- 03What is one faithful step I can take this week?
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