Bearing Witness - John 5:30-47

Oftentimes, we know that we are going to eventually go to Heaven, but we don't realize the many signs in our lives that God has placed for us to act upon His word in the present. Throughout our agendas and daily lives, God wants us to not bear witness to ourselves, but to Him. 

Read John 5:30-47

After Jesus healed a lame man during a Jewish feast, the leader establishment was outraged at him for upsetting the status quo. They believed he was doing good works for his personal image and gain, rather than for the Father. Jesus chastised the leader establishment for not being genuine. Rather than having God in their hearts, there was only pride and ego, their traditions, and no real belief in God. He said to them, “I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain that praise that comes from the only God? Bud do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" (vs. 42-47, NIV). God knows the condition of our hearts and where our faith is. We can try and hide it and glorify ourselves and say we’re glorifying God, but ultimately God knows where we stand. Take this time to confess to God when you’ve been taking the glory when he should be receiving it.

Through verses 30-32, Jesus says that if he alone bears witness to himself, it doesn't count. But if there is another who bears witness to him, the testimony is true. 

Through this, God wants us to realize the stark-- yet inconvenient truth that we are not to live for others. Sometimes we want to impress others, such as parents to get that perfect ACT score, or peers with shiny gadgets, brand names, and music collections. There is not much fault in that, until those earthly things become our priorities and life goals. God desires for us to impress Him-- to make endeavors in His glory. Even Jesus said in John 5:41: "I do not receive glory from people". Even Jesus Christ says this-- and compared to him, we are soiled with sin. He doesn’t need our worship or glory, but he loves us enough to allow us to be in a relationship with him and to enter his presence by what Jesus did on the Christ. Because of this, we should be witnesses for Christ to reflect what he has done for us.

He calls for us to be consistent, unchanging, and faithful through this passage. We shouldn't forget that God will bear witness until we draw our last breath. When we do good works, God should be the first thing on our minds. His reward is the gift of eternal life and the empowerment of living now. This implies that our belief should lead to good works. Our works show our commitment, confidence, and solid identification that we have been transformed. The Bible is His word in printed form, but it must also echo through our hearts with our daily actions. We can obey His word and principles by doing this. 

Take a moment to pray for God's word and ask Him to let it dwell in us. Pray that we can realize that God is the only one who can give us righteousness-- and that our lives bear testimony as to who he is.