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The Sign For BeliefJohn 6:28-36

9.11.11

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The misperception is that we can do something to earn salvation.

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The Baltimore “Believe” Campaign

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(Titus 3:4-5) [4] But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our

Savior appeared, [5] he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit...

(Eph. 2:8-9) [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And

this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

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Most other religions say: do this, to be saved. Christianity says: do this, because you are saved.

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God gave manna to the Israelites: Exodus 16:15 and Numbers 11:7-9.

This crowd perceived that asa sure sign that God was trustworthy.

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2 Grammar Notes in Verse 32:1) “Truly, truly.” ἀμήν [Greek- “amen”]. Jesus would

say this to raise the force of what He is presenting next. The point is to stress the truth and validity of the sayings by his own acknowledgment of them.

2) “Gives...” The present tense of this verb indicates that God was giving the true bread in the form of Christ in the present. This seems to be explained in v.33 when Jesus says that the bread of God is a person who comes from heaven and gives life to all the people. He is describing himself!

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(Matthew 12:39) But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous

generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

(Matthew 16:4) An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a

sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.

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“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it?”

-C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed.