John 6:28, "Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?"
JOHN 6:24-29
All throughout history, mankind has been
seeking ways to do the works of God.
Everyone has a knowledge within them of the reality of God (Rom. 1:18-20)
Therefore, Paul began to prove that every person already has an instinctive knowledge of God’s wrath against their sin. We don’t need to prove God’s wrath; God has already done that. What people need to know is the good news that God placed His wrath for our sins upon His own Son so that we could be completely forgiven. This good news will draw people to God more than the bad news will ever drive people to God.
Note 2 at Romans 1:18: In Romans 1:18-20, Paul was declaring that God has revealed Himself to all mankind. Old Testament scriptures proclaim that God has revealed Himself to everyone through nature (Psalms 19:1-3), but Paul was stating here that there is an intuitive revelation of God within every person.
There are five words used in these three verses to describe the extent to which God has revealed Himself to mankind, and they are worth special note. Any one of these five words used by itself would have made a strong argument for Paul’s case. However, the combination of these words in just two sentences emphasizes the certainty of Paul’s claims.
The use of the word “all” in Romans 1:18 shows the extent to which God has revealed Himself. God has placed a witness within every person against all ungodliness and unrighteousness.
In Romans 1:19, the Greek word that was translated “manifest” is the Greek word “PHANEROS,” and it means “shining, i.e. apparent” (Strong’s Concordance). The Greek word translated “shewed” in this verse is “PHANEROO,” which is derived from PHANEROS. PHANEROO means “to render apparent (literally or figuratively)” (Strong’s Concordance). These words make it very clear that this instinctive or intuitive knowledge is not so subtle that it can be overlooked. God gives every individual the right to choose, but there can be no doubt that every person has, at one time, clearly seen and understood (Romans 1:20) the basic truths of God’s existence.
In Romans 1:20, Paul said this inner witness of God causes the individual to clearly see the invisible things of God and even understand the Godhead. The Greek word that was translated “clearly seen” is the word “KATHORAO,” and it means “to behold fully, i.e. (figuratively) distinctly apprehend” (Strong’s Concordance). This leaves no doubt that every person who has ever walked the earth has had a clear revelation of God. The use of the word “understood” emphatically states that God gave man not only knowledge but also the understanding to use that knowledge.
Therefore, no one will be able to stand before God on the Day of Judgment and say, “God is not fair.” He has given all people who have ever lived, regardless of how remote or isolated they may have been, the opportunity to know Him. They are without excuse.
Someone might say, “If all this is true, then why can’t we observe more of this intuitive knowledge of God in the lives of those who have not heard the Gospel?” Paul gave the answer to this in Romans 1:21-23 (see note 1 at Romans 1:21).
Andrew Wommack's Living Commentary.
Romans 1:18-20 describes that everyone has an intuitive knowledge of the wrath of God on the inside of them.
Beginning in Romans 1:21, Paul was describing the progressive steps that people take away from that God-breathed revelation. The fact that people depart from that revelation doesn’t void the fact that God has placed it there. The steps described here in walking away from that revelation apply to anything the Lord has shown us or spoken to us.
The first step that people take away from any revelation that God has given them is they fail to glorify Him as God. The word “glorified” means “to render (or esteem) glorious” (Strong’s Concordance). The word “esteem” means “to place a high value on; respect; prize” and “to judge to be; consider” (Houghton Mifflin American Heritage Electronic Dictionary). Basically, people magnify, esteem, or place a greater value on something other than God.
Moses esteemed reproach to be greater than riches (see my note at Hebrews 11:26). Jesus disesteemed the suffering of the cross and focused instead on those who would be freed through His offering (Hebrews 12:2).
Psalms 69:30 says that we “magnify” God (one of the definitions of glorify) with thanksgiving. The same Greek word that was translated “glorified” in Romans 1:21 was also translated “magnify” in Romans 11:13. Also, Jesus said the leper who returned and gave Him thanks for his healing had glorified Him (Luke 17:16-18). In Romans 4:19-21, Abraham “was strong in faith, giving glory to God”. He esteemed God’s promise more than he valued anything else.
For instance, the doctor says you are going to die. That won’t stop you from being healed unless you place a higher value on what the doctor says than on what God says. If you glorify God instead of the sickness, you will retain the revelation and sickness will have to flee, because “to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). So, you should begin to magnify the Lord instead of the negative report. You do that by controlling your heart through controlling your thinking. Your thoughts magnify whatever you focus your thinking upon. If you see marital problems, what should you do? You should go to God’s Word and magnify what God says instead of what you see.
In Mark 6:41, Jesus “looked up” and blessed the five loaves of bread and two fish before dividing them among the multitude. The Greek word that was translated “looked up” was translated “receive sight” (or some form of this) fifteen times. This is referring to Jesus seeing with His spiritual eyes into the supernatural realm of God instead of being bound to the natural realm, where the five loaves and two fish were not enough. He glorified God’s ability beyond the limitations of the natural.
The spies who searched out the land of Canaan in Numbers 13 are classic examples of people who glorified the problem more than the Problem Solver. This took all thankfulness away, and their imaginations became vain. They had more to be thankful about than any of their ancestors, yet they forgot all that God had done for them and complained, glorifying the negative. The result was that they died in the wilderness and never saw the Promised Land.
In Hebrews 12:2, Jesus set joy before Him and despised the shame of the cross. The Greek word that was translated “despising” there means to “disesteem” (Strong’s Concordance). Jesus glorified the good and disesteemed the bad. That’s why He was able to endure the cross. In Hebrews 12:3, we are told to consider Jesus and what He went through lest we be weary and faint in our minds. Our minds are where the battle is being fought. Those who rule in absolute victory don’t usually have things different on the outside, but they think differently on the inside.
The second step away from the revelation of God is not being thankful. Thankfulness involves memory, humility, and reflection. Busy people are not usually thankful. They don’t have time for reflection. Again, Psalms 69:30 says that thanksgiving magnifies God. It takes time and effort to remember and be thankful. 2 Timothy 3:1-2 says that one of the signs of apostasy in the last days is that people will be unthankful. That characterizes our day and age. To be thankful, one has to remember. Psalms 103:2 says to “forget not all his benefits.” The reason we were commanded not to forget is because it is our tendency to forget. We will forget if we don’t make an effort to remember. Thankfulness helps us remember.
The next thing mentioned in Romans 1:21 is imagination (see my note at 2 Corinthians 10:5). Imagination is the main part of our memory. If we don’t glorify God and become thankful, our imagination just naturally begins to start picturing what we focus on. We picture and remember the negative. That’s a vain imagination.
The fourth and final progressive step away from God and/or any revelation we get from Him is that our foolish hearts becomes darkened. Ephesians 4:18 speaks both of the blindness of the heart and of the understanding being darkened. The foolish, darkened heart being spoken of here is the heart of a person whose understanding (imagination - see my note at Proverbs 15:28) is vain, or negative, and that makes them hardhearted (see my note at Mark 6:52).
Andrew Wommack's Living Commentary.
Humans have a desire to be right with Him. Thus if we would but realize this and come to accept it in our lives - our relationship with God would vastly improve! However, just as with these Jews, few agree with the Lord as to how to do it.
These Jews were willing to do something to obtain salvation, but they were not willing to commit themselves to the Gospel principles of Jesus and accept His gift.
This is one of the major differences between Christianity and all the other religions of the world. Religion attempts to be willing to make sacrifices to obtain right standing with God, while Christianity recognizes our human complete inability to ever do enough to ever save ourselves and thus calls for total faith with reliance upon what Jesus did for us - period!
No one deserves salvation. It cannot be earned by what the Bible calls "dead works" (Heb. 6:1; 9:14). Dead works include all religious activities, good deeds, or charity that one may do as an attempt or means of being justified before God.
Faith towards God and what He has done through Christ Jesus is the only means of receiving His freewill gift of salvation. Salvation is not about being sinless, rather it is about coming to love God and thus receiving a His awesome personal relationship for all Eternity!
He only asks us to believe.
Everyone has a knowledge within them of the reality of God (Rom. 1:18-20)
Life For Today Study Bible Notes
Note 1 at Romans 1:18: Paul’s purpose in writing Romans 1:18-20 was to explain why the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). The problem was that then, just as now, most people felt the way to get others to come to God was to condemn them and scare them out of hell. People doubted that Paul’s good news of the love of God would be enough to cause repentance.Therefore, Paul began to prove that every person already has an instinctive knowledge of God’s wrath against their sin. We don’t need to prove God’s wrath; God has already done that. What people need to know is the good news that God placed His wrath for our sins upon His own Son so that we could be completely forgiven. This good news will draw people to God more than the bad news will ever drive people to God.
Note 2 at Romans 1:18: In Romans 1:18-20, Paul was declaring that God has revealed Himself to all mankind. Old Testament scriptures proclaim that God has revealed Himself to everyone through nature (Psalms 19:1-3), but Paul was stating here that there is an intuitive revelation of God within every person.
There are five words used in these three verses to describe the extent to which God has revealed Himself to mankind, and they are worth special note. Any one of these five words used by itself would have made a strong argument for Paul’s case. However, the combination of these words in just two sentences emphasizes the certainty of Paul’s claims.
The use of the word “all” in Romans 1:18 shows the extent to which God has revealed Himself. God has placed a witness within every person against all ungodliness and unrighteousness.
In Romans 1:19, the Greek word that was translated “manifest” is the Greek word “PHANEROS,” and it means “shining, i.e. apparent” (Strong’s Concordance). The Greek word translated “shewed” in this verse is “PHANEROO,” which is derived from PHANEROS. PHANEROO means “to render apparent (literally or figuratively)” (Strong’s Concordance). These words make it very clear that this instinctive or intuitive knowledge is not so subtle that it can be overlooked. God gives every individual the right to choose, but there can be no doubt that every person has, at one time, clearly seen and understood (Romans 1:20) the basic truths of God’s existence.
In Romans 1:20, Paul said this inner witness of God causes the individual to clearly see the invisible things of God and even understand the Godhead. The Greek word that was translated “clearly seen” is the word “KATHORAO,” and it means “to behold fully, i.e. (figuratively) distinctly apprehend” (Strong’s Concordance). This leaves no doubt that every person who has ever walked the earth has had a clear revelation of God. The use of the word “understood” emphatically states that God gave man not only knowledge but also the understanding to use that knowledge.
Therefore, no one will be able to stand before God on the Day of Judgment and say, “God is not fair.” He has given all people who have ever lived, regardless of how remote or isolated they may have been, the opportunity to know Him. They are without excuse.
Someone might say, “If all this is true, then why can’t we observe more of this intuitive knowledge of God in the lives of those who have not heard the Gospel?” Paul gave the answer to this in Romans 1:21-23 (see note 1 at Romans 1:21).
Romans 1:19
Note on Romans 1:19
Notice this knowledge is in them. There is an intuitive knowledge of God’s existence and man’s transgression against Him within every person who has ever lived. We are without excuse (Romans 1:20).Romans 1:20
Note on Romans 1:20
Because God has revealed Himself in every person’s heart (Romans 1:18-20), there will be no excuse for those who didn’t respond positively to this inner witness. We are without excuse.
Life For Today Study Bible Notes
Note 3 at Romans 1:20: The Easton’s Bible Dictionary definition of the word “Godhead” is “the essential being or the divine nature of God.” Therefore, Paul was stating that God has given every person an intuitive revelation of His divine nature. What a statement! And what a responsibility when people will have to stand before God and answer for the perversions they have perpetrated in the name of God. In their hearts, they knew better.Andrew Wommack's Living Commentary.
Beginning in Romans 1:21, Paul was describing the progressive steps that people take away from that God-breathed revelation. The fact that people depart from that revelation doesn’t void the fact that God has placed it there. The steps described here in walking away from that revelation apply to anything the Lord has shown us or spoken to us.
The first step that people take away from any revelation that God has given them is they fail to glorify Him as God. The word “glorified” means “to render (or esteem) glorious” (Strong’s Concordance). The word “esteem” means “to place a high value on; respect; prize” and “to judge to be; consider” (Houghton Mifflin American Heritage Electronic Dictionary). Basically, people magnify, esteem, or place a greater value on something other than God.
Moses esteemed reproach to be greater than riches (see my note at Hebrews 11:26). Jesus disesteemed the suffering of the cross and focused instead on those who would be freed through His offering (Hebrews 12:2).
Psalms 69:30 says that we “magnify” God (one of the definitions of glorify) with thanksgiving. The same Greek word that was translated “glorified” in Romans 1:21 was also translated “magnify” in Romans 11:13. Also, Jesus said the leper who returned and gave Him thanks for his healing had glorified Him (Luke 17:16-18). In Romans 4:19-21, Abraham “was strong in faith, giving glory to God”. He esteemed God’s promise more than he valued anything else.
For instance, the doctor says you are going to die. That won’t stop you from being healed unless you place a higher value on what the doctor says than on what God says. If you glorify God instead of the sickness, you will retain the revelation and sickness will have to flee, because “to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). So, you should begin to magnify the Lord instead of the negative report. You do that by controlling your heart through controlling your thinking. Your thoughts magnify whatever you focus your thinking upon. If you see marital problems, what should you do? You should go to God’s Word and magnify what God says instead of what you see.
In Mark 6:41, Jesus “looked up” and blessed the five loaves of bread and two fish before dividing them among the multitude. The Greek word that was translated “looked up” was translated “receive sight” (or some form of this) fifteen times. This is referring to Jesus seeing with His spiritual eyes into the supernatural realm of God instead of being bound to the natural realm, where the five loaves and two fish were not enough. He glorified God’s ability beyond the limitations of the natural.
The spies who searched out the land of Canaan in Numbers 13 are classic examples of people who glorified the problem more than the Problem Solver. This took all thankfulness away, and their imaginations became vain. They had more to be thankful about than any of their ancestors, yet they forgot all that God had done for them and complained, glorifying the negative. The result was that they died in the wilderness and never saw the Promised Land.
In Hebrews 12:2, Jesus set joy before Him and despised the shame of the cross. The Greek word that was translated “despising” there means to “disesteem” (Strong’s Concordance). Jesus glorified the good and disesteemed the bad. That’s why He was able to endure the cross. In Hebrews 12:3, we are told to consider Jesus and what He went through lest we be weary and faint in our minds. Our minds are where the battle is being fought. Those who rule in absolute victory don’t usually have things different on the outside, but they think differently on the inside.
The second step away from the revelation of God is not being thankful. Thankfulness involves memory, humility, and reflection. Busy people are not usually thankful. They don’t have time for reflection. Again, Psalms 69:30 says that thanksgiving magnifies God. It takes time and effort to remember and be thankful. 2 Timothy 3:1-2 says that one of the signs of apostasy in the last days is that people will be unthankful. That characterizes our day and age. To be thankful, one has to remember. Psalms 103:2 says to “forget not all his benefits.” The reason we were commanded not to forget is because it is our tendency to forget. We will forget if we don’t make an effort to remember. Thankfulness helps us remember.
The next thing mentioned in Romans 1:21 is imagination (see my note at 2 Corinthians 10:5). Imagination is the main part of our memory. If we don’t glorify God and become thankful, our imagination just naturally begins to start picturing what we focus on. We picture and remember the negative. That’s a vain imagination.
The fourth and final progressive step away from God and/or any revelation we get from Him is that our foolish hearts becomes darkened. Ephesians 4:18 speaks both of the blindness of the heart and of the understanding being darkened. The foolish, darkened heart being spoken of here is the heart of a person whose understanding (imagination - see my note at Proverbs 15:28) is vain, or negative, and that makes them hardhearted (see my note at Mark 6:52).
Andrew Wommack's Living Commentary.
Humans have a desire to be right with Him. Thus if we would but realize this and come to accept it in our lives - our relationship with God would vastly improve! However, just as with these Jews, few agree with the Lord as to how to do it.
These Jews were willing to do something to obtain salvation, but they were not willing to commit themselves to the Gospel principles of Jesus and accept His gift.
This is one of the major differences between Christianity and all the other religions of the world. Religion attempts to be willing to make sacrifices to obtain right standing with God, while Christianity recognizes our human complete inability to ever do enough to ever save ourselves and thus calls for total faith with reliance upon what Jesus did for us - period!
No one deserves salvation. It cannot be earned by what the Bible calls "dead works" (Heb. 6:1; 9:14). Dead works include all religious activities, good deeds, or charity that one may do as an attempt or means of being justified before God.
Faith towards God and what He has done through Christ Jesus is the only means of receiving His freewill gift of salvation. Salvation is not about being sinless, rather it is about coming to love God and thus receiving a His awesome personal relationship for all Eternity!
He only asks us to believe.
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