“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1).
This comforting verse is directly related to faith in God and faith in Jesus Christ. It has brought comfort to many believers throughout the centuries. It has also brought a false and temporal comfort to many who are not believers in Jesus Christ. It is not sufficient to believe in God; each individual must also believe in the Son of God before these precious words can provide true and abiding comfort. Those who acknowledge God, but not His Son, utterly fail to realize that it is only through the Son that grace emanates from God to mankind. Apart from the Son of God, God’s grace does not become operative. Those who receive God’s amazing grace must receive or believe in the Lord Jesus Christ through whom came grace and truth.
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1: 17-18).
Any understanding or recognition of God, in the person of Jesus Christ, is to see Him as the Creator and sustainer of all mankind. As such He is the omnipotent and Sovereign God. “For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him which is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:9-10). God the Father is the divine planner; the Son is the revealed member of the triune Godhead and executes God’s amazing plan. The Holy Spirit illuminates and provides spiritual comprehension of the gospel of the grace of God to those who believe in the only Savior, the Lord of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
Grace has application only to those who through faith have acknowledged their wretched condition and need of salvation that resides only in the Lord Jesus Christ. These comforting words of grace from the lips of Jesus Christ point to the believer’s future eternal state. “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14: 2). What amazing certainty is here! The veracity of the Son of God Himself is the guarantee that there are many mansions in the Father’s house which He is preparing for those who believe in Him. For anyone not having great possessions here on Earth, there will be eternal mansions awaiting those who have received Him as their only Savior.
“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1).
The comfort of these eternal words rests on the unchanging and unchangeable word of the Son of God. There is a condition attached to these comforting words of grace, but this condition is not dependent upon man. It is dependent upon the Son of God Himself as it is He who said: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14: 3). He did go! The condition has been fulfilled, and now there is not the slightest question about His coming again and receiving to Himself all who have believed in God and in Him as the Lord Jesus Christ. There is absolute certainty that the work of grace will be executed and carried through as promised because it depends upon the Father and the Son and not in the least upon human merit and faithfulness. It is this certainty as to the final outcome of the believer that gives force and effect to the words, “Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1).
These eternal words of promise and comfort were spoken to the eleven disciples, including Peter. It is not without relevance that one of the last statements from Peter was that he would never deny Jesus. To this well-intentioned statement by Peter, Jesus responded, “The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice” (Luke 22:34). Peter’s three-fold denial would not alter God’s purpose in grace because the promise does not depend upon human merit but upon His departure and going by the way of the Cross and the grave. Sadly, multitudes of believers are troubled when they think of the Lord’s return. To them it is not a comforting expectation. They believe He will return, but because they confuse the demand for perfection by the law with grace, they are very uncertain that His words “I will receive you unto myself” (John 14:3) are specifically for them. It is the sureness of His coming and the belief that each believer will be taken which is the true comfort of grace.
There is another provision for comfort to those who are the objects of His amazing grace. Jesus had walked with them in human form for three years. He had repeatedly pronounced that He was about to go away, and even though He had definitely declared that He would return and take them to be with Himself. They understood there must soon be a period of time during which He would be absent. The great hope of His return was given that their hearts might not be troubled while He was away. God’s provision for the troubled disciples was to be greater than anything they could have expected. “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows Him; but you know Him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:16-18). This masterful promise is God’s loving provision for His expectant children during His absence. It is the promise of THE COMFORTER. The Greek meaning of Comforter is “one called alongside to help.” As the third member of the trinity, the Holy Spirit is infinite in His attributes and can never fail in His work of revelation and comfort. He comes along side during a believer’s infirmity and makes intercession according to the will of God.
“Likewise, the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searches the heart knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).
What is even more amazing, this blessed ministry of comfort can never be broken as He is given to abide forever. Please note that He is a gift and, “The gifts of God are without repentance” (Romans 11:29). The Holy Spirit never leaves the one to whom He has been given to help in time of need. A number of misinformed Bible teachers proclaim that the Holy Spirit leaves when a believer sins. If this were true there would be no helper in a critical time of need, and the one who was given to come alongside to help would be constrained or may depart when most needed. If there were a clear understanding that the work of Christ removed the believer from condemnation of the law, no one would fall into the error of thinking the Holy Spirit will depart on the occurrence of personal sin. To do so is nothing less than to limit grace by the Law.
This false limitation of God the Holy Spirit is further observed in that the Comforter is also “the Spirit of truth,” and Jesus says of Him, “He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). The essential work of our amazing Comforter is to guide into a life of truth. The word of God says of itself, “thy word IS TRUTH” (John 17:17). When a believer commits a sin, it is a departure from the truth. When this occurs (and it will) the work of the Spirit of truth is to provide guidance and light away from sin and darkness back into the truth. Sin in the life of a believer becomes an unacceptable pulsating sore that has no place in the Christian way of life. To say or teach that sin causes the Holy Spirit to depart is to deny the effectiveness of His work in convicting of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The perfect work of the Holy Spirit provides sufficient power for the believer to achieve victory over sin and not to be victimized by it.
“Sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14).
The remedy for the dominion of sin under grace is to realize that the Spirit of Truth guides into all truth; the believer is to follow that truth and walk in the light of His word. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). In many passages of scripture in the book of John, Jesus told of the comfort of grace that is available to every believer during the good and bad occurrences in the Christian way of life. Although there will be tribulation in the world, He has overcome the world. “These things have I spoken unto you, that IN ME you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Just as Jesus brought His farewell message of grace to those who had received Him, so also Moses, shortly before his death, gave a message concerning the law to those to whom it had already been given. Please carefully note the contrast between these two messages. Here are the words of Moses: “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt harken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt harken unto the voice of the Lord thy God” (Deuteronomy 28:1,2).
These powerful words of God provided promises of future eternal blessings for Israel. However, they are much different when contrasted with the promise of many mansions in the Father’s House. This Mosaic promise does extend beyond things of the Earth. There is nothing heavenly here. These promises are conditioned on the observance and fulfillment of all the commandments. Surely there is no comfort here as the people had sinful natures that kept them from fulfilling or doing well all that was commanded. Also, there was no “Comforter” to guide them into all truth. If this concluded the matter there would be many losses of blessings, but there were other penetrating words: “But it shall come to pass, if you wilt not harken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee” (Deuteronomy 28:15).
In this very hour Israel is realizing, to a substantial degree, the meaning of the long list of curses that follow this requiring statement. Surely there is no comfort in the Law! Those who attempt to bring the believer in God’s administration of grace under the law, must also observe the total impact of this message by Moses. The law cannot be embraced and made applicable without its penalties as, in so doing, it would lose its force and effect as law. Law and grace are two opposing administrations by which God deals with man. They cannot be mixed without doing violence to both. The law causes fear; grace provides deliverance and brings comfort! Please think closely about the strict requirements of the law, which no one kept, except Jesus Christ. Then notice the clear lines of demarcation between law and grace.
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Galatians 2:16).
“But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the Just shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:11).
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24).
“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace.” (from the sphere of grace and not from God’s saving grace (Galatians 5:4).
“Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28).
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for YOU are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14).
“What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid” (Romans 6:16).
“Being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:18).
“But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:6).
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).
“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3).
“Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that BELIEVE are justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38,39).
If any of this Bible information is not clear to you, please rest assured that the illumination power of God the Holy Spirit will provide understanding and clarity regarding the fact that eternal life may be appropriated by a simple act of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is not seeing, it is believing. Meritorious faith must have an object, and the object of faith must rest in the unseen and unfelt Savior–the Lord Jesus Christ! Receive Him, trust in Him, deposit all of your faith in Him, and He will accept you into the royal family of God and save your eternal soul.
Believe the words of the Apostle Paul and Silas when asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). The answer was simple, and to the essential point of salvation,
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou Shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
So it is, and so shall it ever be… man is saved by grace through faith alone and this promise is sure because it comes from the character of a trustworthy and merciful God.
“For by grace are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).
