John 21:23
So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
Fantastic verse!
True to our theme that John 18-21 provides the studious Christian with a remarkable course in good theology, and theology, as John Frame defines it, is, “the application of Scripture, by persons, to every area of life.” (Frame, Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Christian Belief).
In our case, we should endeavor to live biblically in all things. We should pray for the mind that’s set on the Spirit (Romans 8:6) and the way to do this is, alas, through the study and application of the Word of God (John 17:17). This is a lifetime treasure for the Christian. It’s eminently rewarding. It refreshes the mind and delights the spirit. Truly blessed is the man or woman who walks not according the the counsel of the world, but sets their mind on the law/word of God (Psalm 1). And this law is the new law of faith, not according to the old written law but in the new life of the Spirit that testifies that our sins are forgiven. This new law of faith has not overthrown the law but actually upholds it through faith in Christ (Romans 3:31). Indeed, from faith, to faith, the righteous by faith shall live (Romans 1:17).
It’s a great error to think that the individual is righteous before God based on works. On the contrary: it’s the righteousness of Christ that’s imputed to us through faith. Our sins are forgiven because He has become our federal head and taken upon Himself the just penalty that our sins deserved. In short, we give Him our sin and He gives us His righteousness. This is what it means to say that “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3) and makes sense of the fact that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Romans 10:4). This is critical. God is holy and no one can stand before Him who is in sin anymore than a man could stand at the North Pole in swim trunks and flip-flops and survive. All false religions and philosophies have this in common: they downplay the severity of sin and, consequently, the holiness of God. Scripture teaches us, though, that God’s righteousness is a glorious and non-negotiable fact of reality, which is precisely why the Christian faith is so reasonable because by the gospel God is both just (in that He punishes sin at the cross) and justifier (of the one who has faith in Jesus).
By the gospel, God’s righteousness is revealed. And because man is forever in the business of ignoring or minimizing his own sin, he must, consequently, diminish in his evaluation the holiness of God. It’s only in the gospel of Jesus Christ that these things are reconciled.
This brings us to this fascinating admission by John. Forgetting the glory of Christ and the sovereignty of God, rumor spread among the brethren that John wasn’t going to die. The Bible is often misunderstood because we insist on fitting it into categories of human glorification rather than the glory of God. That’s the likely seed of the misinterpretation and gives us a clue on how to avoid our own errors today.
Jesus’ statement to Peter had to do with His sovereignty, not John’s fate. It’s a common error of our lives that we often seek to have the satisfaction of knowing exactly how things will turn out rather than looking for the glory of God in our circumstances. The very fact that we don’t know the future is meant to lead us to praise the God who is sovereign over history! This rankles our fleshly impulse to be the master of our life rather than be a servant of the most high God and this leads us into illogical positions.
For example, many Christians spend hours of study devoted to “special findings” of prophecy or law. The study of Scripture that doesn’t result in the glorification of Jesus Christ and our utter devotion and dependence upon Him is missing the point. The Bible is about Jesus Christ, not a thousand and one little mysteries about the future. The book of Revelation, for instance, isn’t some kind of bizarre Nostradamus chronicle for the church where we sit around and puzzle over exactly where we are in history, searching for clues everywhere. Every word and every chapter in every book points us to Jesus Christ and His finished work at the cross. There are a good many auxiliary points, yes, but if we drop this context we drop the purpose of God’s special revelation. We are secure in Christ and God has defeated sin in our lives through faith. He will deal ultimately with sin and evil in a time to come, which we don’t know and He won’t tell us. The reason for this should be obvious but, sadly, isn’t. If we were to know exactly what tomorrow held, we’d grow prideful and pride is, indubitably, the enemy of faith. Faith is trust in God; pride is trust in self.
So, this is how we’re to see this exchange by the sea. Peter, like all of us, wanted to know about the future. Jesus basically told him, “focus on your security in Me and I will make straight your path.” Likewise, we can avoid needless errors in our theology if we humble ourselves and accept before God our status as men and women. Righteousness through faith doesn’t grant us God’s sovereignty. We aren’t to know the times and not knowing the particulars of tomorrow isn’t a sin. We should spend more time on loving our neighbor, defeating sin in our lives, being productive in our vocation, and so on rather than worrying about the future. What if…what if…? Those are the ghosts of doubt that haunt the minds of too many believers because they’ve lost their focus on God’s blessed sovereignty.
This isn’t to say that Christians should neglect their earthly duties nor shun battles they’re called to fight. This isn’t a call to the Neoplatonism of the past, which believes that the material world is low and irrelevant to religion. On the contrary, the Bible teaches us that Christ is Lord of every area of life. He is Lord of our homes and schools, our arts and sciences, our vocations and governments. Indeed, there is nothing independent of the will and authority of God. Thus, we’re raised up to see our lives and futures as belonging to God. And as our faith grows we understand more and more, especially through our trials, that He can be trusted and that we have a salvation that can’t be stolen. So we say then, “whatever the Lord will do will be good because He is the Lord.”
In this way, therefore, we pray, “not my will, Lord, but yours.”
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