Key verse: The Apostle John declares, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life".
Introduction
The lesser witness in living the Paschal mystery is believing and proclaiming the facts of Jesus' passion, death, resurrection and ascension and forgiveness of sins in the mind of the flesh. The greater witness in living the Paschal Mystery also includes the personal experience of passing over from slavery to sin and spiritual death, into the freedom, agape love, glory and eternal life with the Godhead in Christ, while in our present physical bodies. It is faith, humility, obedience and following Jesus as the Son of Man and abiding in Christ as the Son of God, in the mind of the spirit. This greater witness in living the Paschal Mystery is realized when believers in all traditions, religions, cultures, ethnic and secular groups follow Jesus Christ, by laying down their lives in the mind of the flesh and taking them up again in the mind of the spirit (Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 10:16-18, Romans 8:1-17, 1 John 5:6-8).
True and false witnesses
Today's Epistle reminds us that witnesses and witnessing paschal faith communities may choose to believe and follow Jesus Christ, in living God's New Covenant relationship with mankind in the mind of the spirit or the mind of the flesh. Those who dwell in the mind of the flesh cannot experience, nor can they dwell in the greater witness and truth of living the Paschal Mystery (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 8:8-12). The Apostle Paul warns believers about the deception, condemnation and destruction of the mind of the flesh (Romans 8:1-11). The mind of the flesh produces the lesser and the false human witness of the Paschal mystery through spiritual blindness, spiritual deafness, spiritual sleep and spiritual death. The mind of the flesh is hostile to God. It rejects God's divine purpose and will for human lives, as revealed in Jesus Christ (Jeremiah 3:15, Romans 8:5-8, 1 John 5:9).
The Great Sin
The Old Testament, New Testament and Apocrypha scriptures reveals and proclaims that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. They affirm that as the Son of God and LORD, Jesus Christ is the full incarnation and full manifestation of the Godhead in human flesh (Colossians 2:9). As the fully orbed Son of Man and LORD, Jesus Christ is the way, truth, life. Jesus Christ is full revelation of God's plan of forgiveness, salvation, redemption, eternal life and kingdom living, here on earth (John 14:6). Those who believe in the Son of God, have the testimony of God's New Covenant in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony God has given concerning his Son (1 John 5:10).
God's Great Gifts
The testimony and true witness of the Gospel of Christ, as revealed in Jesus Christ, is that God has always given the great gifts of his image, likeness and eternal life to all mankind. The apostle Paul declared that down through the ages and generations, the mystery Christ, God's image and likeness, in the spiritual body of all mankind, has been hidden from all mankind, by the mind of the flesh. In the mind of the spirit, this mystery is now revealed to believers in all traditions, religions, cultures, ethnic and secular groups, who believe in Jesus Christ as God's Anointed, Messenger, Messiah and LORD (Genesis 1:26-31, Colossians 1:1-27). God's gift of eternal life is in God's Only Begotten Son, (CHRIST, LOGOS, ADONAI, JEHOVAH, LORD), who in the power and begetting of the Holy Spirit, came down from heaven, and became fully incarnate and fully manifested in Jesus Christ, the Son of Man (Matthew 1:18-25, 1 John 5:11).
CHRIST is eternal life
The greater witness in living the Paschal Mystery is found in witnesses and witnessing paschal faith communities who steadfastly follow Jesus Christ in laying down their lives in the mind of the flesh and taking them up again in the mind of the spirit (John 10:14-18). By steadfastly following Jesus Christ in living the Paschal Mystery in the mind of the spirit, Christ-centered, Holy Spirit-based believers in all traditions, religions, cultures, ethnic and secular groups now have eternal life. The sure promise of eternal life is realized in those who believe in and have a personal relationship with and abide in God's Begotten Son, the LORD (CHRIST, LOGOS, ADONAI, JEHOVAH), as revealed in Jesus Christ as LORD (John 3:11-18, 1 Corinthians 15:45-52, 1 John 5:12).
Key to this Epistle
The Apostle John wrote today Epistle, so that believers in all traditions, religions, cultures, ethnic and secular groups would choose to live their lives in the mind of the spirit. John wanted believers to have the assurance and experience of eternal life in Christ, while in our present physical bodies. He declares that eternal life is realized in those who believe in the name of the Son of God. What do you believe about the name, nature, presence and work of the Son of God in your heart, mind, life and relationships (1 John 5:13)?
Conclusion
Are you following Jesus Christ by laying down your life in the mind of the flesh and taking it up again in the mind of the spirit (John 10:14-18)? Are you numbered among those believers who have chosen the greater witness of the Paschal Mystery, within your witnessing paschal faith community? Have you chosen to be a true witness and beacon of light, by living your life in the mind of the spirit? Or have you chosen to be a lesser witness and salt without savor, by living your life in the mind of the flesh (Matthew 5:13-16)?
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