The Son can do nothing of his own accord

We can talk of the love of God, but to truly love God means to have a prayerful relationship with Him that transforms our lives “within”. Daily Bible reading and meditation is an essential foundation for achieving this.

“The Son can do nothing of his own accord”

(April 13)

In our readings in John’s Gospel we start to encounter the many statements of Jesus about how he looks to the Father for guidance; that he does nothing out of his own initiative. His response in the time of his temptation in the wilderness demonstrated this. Three times he said,

“It is written”.

His Father’s inspiration of the Old Testament writers was his inspiration and resultant guidance.

What an example to us– and the more we read and meditate and digest the Scriptures the more our inner strength develops. The words of Jesus are a prime part of that inner strength for he said,

“The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (6:63).

We read today in chapter 5,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing” (verses 19,20).

We know the Father loves all those who commit their lives to believing in and following the Son and in making him their Lord. For this reason we specially note Jesus’ words in verse 24,

“Truly, truly I say unto you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but is passed from death into life”.

This means he does not experience the judgement of condemnation. This is made plain in verses 28,29,

“… an hour is coming when all in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgement”.

Jesus then goes on to make the point,

“I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me” (verse 30).

This again makes it clear that Jesus was a separate being from his Father and had a separate will, distinct from God’s. The man made doctrine of the Trinity of later centuries confused all this; theologians try to ‘escape’ from this confusion by declaring it a ‘mystery’ – but it is a man-made mystery.

Finally we noted Jesus words’ to his critics;

“I know you do not have the love of God within you” (verse 42).

We can talk of the love of God, but to truly love God means to have a prayerful relationship with Him that transforms our lives “within”. Daily Bible reading and meditation is an essential foundation for achieving this.

Preceding article: Outflow of foundational relationship based on acceptance of Jesus

Please do find following articles to read and to continue your search for Truth:

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What To Do About The Old Testament Law (jsparkblog.com)
Though the Old Testament Law was entirely fulfilled in Christ for us, the OT Law still stands in principle for us today. Even the weird things about shellfish and fibers shows a very meticulous God who was perfect, even quirky, and shows a God we could’ve never made up.
The Role of the Holy Spirit in the First Testament (christianity201.wordpress.com)

The basic meaning of the Hebrew word ruach and the Greek word pneuma — the words translated “spirit” in English Bibles — is “air in motion.” The NIV translates ruach as “spirit” 176 times, “wind” 79 times, and “breath” 31 times. Ruach is also sometimes used metaphorically for the heart, the mind, and various emotional states. I suggest the biblical writers seized this idea of air in motion to conveys the mysteriousness of God, of other supernatural beings, of the human intellect, and of the animating life force (the “breath of life”). Like the wind, these invisible forces that can be called “spirit” are immaterial, yet powerful.

The Hebrew Bible also describes the Holy Spirit as a divine presence to some degree distinguishable from YHWH (YHWH is the Hebrew Bible’s name for God, typically translated in English Bibles as “LORD”). Generally, YHWH dwells in heaven, or in his temple, while the Spirit is poured into or on people. The first category for this study is thus the Spirit as YHWH’s presence on earth. Here are some key passages that convey this function of the Spirit, i.e., spreading or mediating the presence of the Creator:
In the writing of The Great I Am Passages (supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com) we clearly see the trap where a lot of preachers want to have their followers fall in. They try to proof that Jesus would be God because he says ‘I am’ but forget that they themselves very often say ‘I am’. Is it because they want to believe themselves that they may be God also, because we do have to become one with Christ like Jesus was one with his heavenly Father? Naturllay we do hope not, but want to point out how unfounded such a reasoning is of the “I am” witnessing.
Jesus doe snot say at all he is The God but talks about his function in this world system where he becomes:
the bread of life + the way, the truth, and the life and that he is the true vine
Also in Drew Mazanec responds to a challenge on Judaism and rabbi Tovia Singer (winteryknight.wordpress.com) the article writer considers trinitarism being the true Christianity, though it is not. So starting off with a wrong idea or thesis his working out goes wrong as well. The writer also says:
Look at how brittle the “Bible only” blind faith approach is when confronted with a contradictory view. This is the view that is praised in the majority of our churches, and it is a cancer on authentic faith. We have people with an A. W. Tozer Bible study / devotional level understanding of apologetics going off to college and losing their faith when they meet people who don’t accept the Bible.
When you wonder about your role in the future of the world, look to Christ… (reallifecatholic.com)
Jesus describes his saving work with a rather strange comparison: he compares himself to a symbolic bronze snake!
Killing Jesus Actor Reveals ‘Amazing’ On-Set Moment (stream.org)
Alexis Rodney, who played Peter in Killing Jesus, told The Church Boys podcast that the notable event unfolded while the actors were filming what is believed by orthodox Christians to be the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy.
Your best personality. (yoursuccessinspirer.com)
Who is your best personality in the bible? What do you admire in them?
Many Christians like the one who wrote Jesus Has Always Been Immortal (danielmiessler.com)get to wonder about lots of things and in particular also about the Jesus’ sacrifice. No wonder when you know the Bible tells us that God is an eternal Spirit to Whom man can do nothing and to Whom can death do nothing. God can not die, but when Jesus is God he would have faked his death. But what they do not seem to see is that at several times Jesus and God would not have told the truth, which according to God’s Own Words would be called sinning, though God His Word says clearly God does not tell lies and that Jesus did not sin, though he could sin.
The danger is also that many trinitarians do believe like Muslims that Jesus did not die and isn’t dead. The writer of the article believes Jesus actually only died for three days. But then he comes to a strange conclusion: “So he was alive for…infinity, and he will remain alive for…infinity—but with a three-day gap in between where he experienced the same or less suffering that millions of other regular humans have experienced in their lives, e.g.: maimed soldiers, people with painful disabilities, people being tortured in the Middle Ages, parents losing a child, etc.” forgetting that Jesus had a beginning, being born and not having there before.