We would not know who God is without the Word of God. The 6Word (JESUS CHRIST) is God’s revelation of Himself to humankind. We would not know what righteousness is without the Word. The Word defines righteousness. We would not know the fullest definition of sin without the Word. We would know neither of our origin nor of our destiny without the Word. God’s plan for the ages would never be ours without the Word of God.

  • Quote from “3:16” of Max Lucado:

If you know nothing of the Bible, start here. If you know everything in the Bible, return here. We all need the reminder. The heart of the human problem is the heart of the human. God’s treatment is prescribed in 7John 3:16.

Moses disciplines Israel. The two stone tablets contained the 8ten commandments. These were not the only code of laws in the ancient world. Other law codes had come into existence when cities or nations decided that there must be standards of judgment, ways to correct specific wrongs. However, God’s laws for Israel were unique: (1) they alleviated the harsh judgments typical of the day; (2) they were egalitarian, democratic or free – the poor and the powerful received the same punishment; (3) they did not separate religious and social law. All laws rested on God’s authority.

      9Hiding or keeping God’s Words in our heart is a deterrent to sin. This alone should inspire us to memorize Scripture. Memorization alone will not keep us from sin; we must also put God’s Words to work in our life by yielding, surrendering to the Holy Spirit and help us.

God will discern whether or not we make every effort and whether or not we have truly come to faith in Christ; nothing in all creation can hide from Him. We may fool ourselves or other Christians with our spiritual lives, but we could not deceive God. He knows who we really are because the 10Word of God is full of living power. The Word of God cannot be taken for granted or disobeyed. The Israelites who rebelled and learned the hard way that when God speaks, they must listen. Going against God means facing judgment and death.

The Word of God is living, life changing and dynamic as it works in us. The demands of the Word of God require decision. We not only listen to it, we let it shape our lives. Because the Word of God is living, it applied to these first-century Jewish Christians, and it applies as well to Christians today. Most books may appear to be dusty artifacts just sitting on the shelf, but the Word of God collected in Scripture vibrates with life.

The Word of God penetrates through our outer façade, frontage, pretense, outward show, or public image and reveals what lies deep inside. The metaphor of the sharpest knife pictures the Word of God cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires, revealing what we really are on the inside. Nothing can be hidden from God; neither can we hide from ourselves if we sincerely study the Word of God. It reaches deep past our outer life as a knife passes through skin.

Two thoughts are presented by the phrase, everything is naked and exposed before His eyes. (1) We cannot give excuses, justifications, or reasons – everything is seen for exactly what it is. No one can deceive God. (2) We are exposed, powerless, and defenseless before God. The word refers to paralyzing grip of the wrestler in a choke grip or hold.

The Word of God penetrates like a sword, and is exposing us to God Himself to whom we must explain all that we have done. All people must give an account to God, but without trappings and rationalizations. These words give warning that believers must be careful not to drift away, but to obey God wholeheartedly. God is the final judge.

It is noteworthy; however, that there was a condition attached to the promise of God that only then will we prosper and succeed: total victory depended on firm and constant meditating day and night, talking and obedience of the Words of God, by 4Joshua and all the people including us, to all the laws of God.

First, Timothy was to 11preach the Word of God – the message of the Gospel. The word suggests vigorous proclamation! Paul wanted Timothy to be bold and passionate. It was up to Timothy to preach the Gospel so that the Christian faith could spread throughout the world. Timothy should always be persistent, whether the time is favorable or not, Paul, soon to die, may have looked back on his life realizing how short the time had bee. Paul urged Timothy to make the most of the time he would be allotted on this earth. Timothy would need to patiently correct those who were in error by explaining the truth, helping them to understand and accept it. He should rebuke those were sinning by explaining their sin and their need for repentance. He should encourage those who were growing, for even those growing in the faith need instruction and guidance. Patience should always characterize Timothy’s attitude as he dealt with the people in his church; good teaching (or doctrine) should be the basis for his words.

      The expression be quick to listen is a beautiful way of capturing the idea of active listening. We are not simply to refrain from speaking; we are to be ready and willing to listen. This “quick” listening is obviously to be done with discernment. 12We are to check what we hear with God’s Word. If we do not listen both carefully and quickly, we are liable to be led into all kinds of false teaching and error. Quick to listen and slow to speak should be taken together as sides of the same coin. Slowness in speaking means speaking with humility and patience, not with hasty words or nonstop gabbing. Constant talking keeps a person from being able to hear. Wisdom is not always having something to say; it involves listening carefully, considering prayerfully, and speaking quietly. When we talk too much and listen too little, we communicate to others that we think our ideas are much more important than theirs. James wisely advises us to reverse this process. We need to put a mental stopwatch on our conversations and keep track of how much we talk and how much we listen. When people talk to us, do they feel that their viewpoints and ideas have value?

            The second coming of Christ – the moment God’s people had been waiting for (See 13Mark 14:62; 14Luke 24:30). Christ’s return will be unmistakable. Heaven will be opened, as Christ, on a white horse, makes His entrance. The white horse symbolizes victory. (Some think this is the same rider as mentioned in 156:2, who was also on a white horse. They suggest that the rider symbolized Christ and the spread of the Good News across the world.

            This rider is named Faithful and True, judges fairly and then goes to war. The order of words indicates that the warfare is a result of God’s judgment on the inhabitants of the earth who have completely rejected Him. Although Jesus is called “Faithful and True,” “Word of God” (1619:13), and “King of kings and Lord of lords” (1719:16), these verses imply that no name can do Him justice. He is greater than any description or expression the human mind can devise.

Published by Elias A Busuego Jr PhD DTM

Elias A. Busuego, Jr., PhD, DTM is self-described as “proud of the only two women in my life – my wife and my daughter (with her husband and one grandson & one granddaughter). I am also proud of my three sons: John and his family (two sons & 1 daughter); Christopher and his family (with his wife and one grandson & one daughter); and Elias Jr. IV and his family (with his wife and one son & one daughter), who are all serving in the U.S. military.” The author states that he read the Bible back-to-back, and learned the history behind it, but did not understand its deeper spiritual perspective until he experienced of being Born-Again, born in spirit. Since he was Born-Again on March 17, 1972, he started understanding the Passage and/or Scripture on John 3:3-7 NLT. These are most of his favorite verses. In John 3:3-7 NLT says, “3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again? "Jesus replied, “I assure you; no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ In John 3:5 – This statement has perplexed and divided commentators for many centuries. Some traditions have taught that the water denotes physical birth (referring to the “water” of amniotic fluid or even semen) and Spirit to spiritual birth – in which case our Lord Jesus Christ would be saying that a person has to have two births: one physical and the second, spiritual. This view builds upon the preceding context when Nicodemus referred to physical birth. It also points to the parallel our Lord Jesus Christ makes in verse 6. According to this position, our Lord Jesus Christ would have been granting the Pharisee’s point in order to highlight the nature of the second birth as spiritual. Two strengths of this interpretation are that it avoids making the physical act of water baptism a necessity and that it avoids bringing almost a “third birth” idea into the discussion. If water doesn’t refer to natural birth, say its defenders, then our Lord Jesus Christ seems to be saying that a person must be born of their parents, born of water, and born of the Spirit. Other traditions have taught that the water refers to baptism and the Spirit to spiritual regeneration – thus, our Lord Jesus Christ would have been saying that a person must both be baptized and receive the Spirit in order to enter the Kingdom of God. This view is at times influenced by the belief that the sacrament of baptism is itself a requirement for salvation. A parallel view makes water refer to baptism but places the emphasis on teaching two steps of baptism; one by water, the other by the Spirit. For support, these views point to the larger context in John where John the Baptist and water baptism are mentioned just preceding the events in Cana and following this encounter with Nicodemus. They also rely on the tendency of previous generations of Christians to equate the mention of water with baptism. But in the first seven chapters of John, water appears in some way (naturally or symbolically) in each chapter. To associate water and baptism too closely makes baptism a higher priority than the Scriptures give it. Here, for instance, if our Lord Jesus Christ was speaking of two completely separate acts, two baptisms, it is odd that the rest of the discussion between our Lord Jesus Christ and Nicodemus never again refers to the subject but revolves entirely around the work of God’s Spirit. Still other traditions have taught that our Lord Jesus’ reference to water is not physical in either the sense of birth or baptism. The term water is simply another description of the Spirit – or the Spirit’s activity of cleansing and giving life (see John 7:37-39). In John 3:6 – Humans can produce only more human beings; this answers Nicodemus’s question in verse 4. Only God the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven. At the same time God puts His Spirit into us, we are given a new regenerated human spirit. It is God’s Spirit, not our effort, that makes us children of God (John 1:12). Our Lord Jesus’ description corrects human hopes that we might somehow inherit goodness from parents or earn it by good behavior, church background, or correct associations. At some point we must be able to answer the question: Have I been born of the Spirit? In John 3:7 – Our Lord Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus that evening has been heralded to all the world ever since. Both Jew and Gentile have heard the divine mandate: You must be born again. Without the new birth, one cannot see or enter into the Kingdom of God. In those words, millions have heard our Lord Jesus Christ speaking directly to their hearts and our hearts. Behind our Lord Jesus’ challenge is His invitation to each of us –” You must be born again; allow me to do that for you.” Since he was born again on March 17, 1972, he started also understanding his other favorite Passage on Romans 12:2 NLT. “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” When Elias offered his entire self to God, a change happened in his relation to the world. As one of Born-Again Christians, he believes we are called to a different lifestyle than what the world offers with its behavior and customs, which are usually selfish and often corrupting (Galatians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:14). He commented that Born-Again Christians are to live as citizens of a future world. There will be pressure to conform, to continue living according to the script written by the world, but Born-Again Christian believers are forbidden to give in to that pressure. But refusing to conform to this world’s values must go even deeper than the level of behavior and customs – it must go to the transforming of the way we think. In Elias testimonies as a Born-Again Christian believer, he emphasized that born-again is an experience and he experienced a complete transformation from the inside out. And the change must begin in the mind, where all thoughts and actions begin. Much of the work is done by God’s Spirit in us, and the tool most frequently used is God’s Word. As we memorize and meditate upon God’s Word, our way of thinking changes. Our minds become first informed, and then conformed to the pattern of God, the pattern for which we were originally designed. When we as Born-Again Christian believers have had our minds transformed and are becoming more like our Lord Jesus Christ, we will know what God wants and we will want to do it for it is good, pleasing to God, and perfect for us. It is from those gleanings that he was able to write this book.