The purpose of our faith is to obtain eternal life

God is eternal. The eternal God has given us grace and faith. We serve God by the very faith He gave us, and we depend on God because of the promise He gave to us.

We gain eternal life by believing in Jesus. The purpose of our faith life is to gain eternal life. Our goal is not to gain prosperity or happiness in this world, but to gain eternal life. Without eternal life, faith in Jesus is meaningless. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

In order to gain eternal life, you must know God. Jesus said, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3) Knowing God and Knowing Jesus are not two different things. We cannot see God with our eyes, but we can see the Son whom God sent. Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?…Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” (John 14:9-11)

By His resurrection Jesus opened the way to eternal life

Jesus was well known for healing the sick and performing signs and wonders, but the prophets had also done similar things. But Jesus did something that no one else had ever done. He has opened the way to eternal life.

Everyone dies. But death is not the end of a man. Everyone must travel one of three paths after they die. Those who believe in Jesus will pass through paradise and enter into eternal life. They will not be judged. Those who live under the law, struggling under the convicting of their conscience, will be judged along with Abraham. The third path is for unbelievers who neither followed the law or their conscience. These will pass through Abyss to be cast into hell. Everyone will take one of these paths into eternity. That is why we believe in Jesus Christ.

In order to know God, one must know Jesus Christ. Only then can you have eternal life. Some people in the church are more interested in religious rituals and doctrines or in following a certain set of rules in order to appease their conscience rather than in knowing God. They have no part in eternal life. Our blessed hope is that we will be changed into spiritual beings or be resurrected from the dead to meet the Lord in the air when He returns. Therefore, we must be made free from the rule of conscience. Whoever, even though he claims to believe in Jesus, is ruled by conscience will face the judgment of conscience.

Everything that has breath dies and the breath of life is extinguished. Once a man loses his life, he can never regain it. People endeavor to extend their lives by taking care of their bodies and it may work to a certain degree, but no one can escape death. Some people maintain a youthful appearance well into their old age, but still they cannot avoid death.

Since the creation, all men have faced death. Even the Son of God was destined to die when He became a man. Hebrews 2:9 says that Jesus became a man in order to taste death. Abraham died, so did David. After they died no one saw them again because no one had risen from the dead.

But Jesus came and said, “I am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26) We believe that Jesus rose from the dead. People killed Jesus, but God raised Him to life. When Jesus appeared to His disciples, they thought He was a ghost. He said to the disciples, “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” (Luke 24:39) They witnessed Jesus breathing and eating food. By this we know that resurrection involves regaining a body.

Those who take part in the resurrection of Jesus

Those who abide in Jesus will be resurrected as well. But unlike Jesus, our flesh will not be resurrected. Because they are made of dust, our bodies will return to dust, but our spirit, which came from God and is nurtured by God’s word, will be transformed into a body. Therefore, even if our bodies are cremated, that will not affect or prevent our resurrection.

There are two resurrections of the dead: the first and the second resurrection. Those who lived under the law will also be raised. They will be resurrected in order to be judged. (John 5:29) This is the second resurrection. Those who are united with Jesus Christ will partake in the first resurrection and will be delivered from the judgment. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24)

How many people will partake this first resurrection? Revelation 7:4 says, “And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed.” Among all the Israelites ever born on earth, only 144,000 will take part in the first resurrection. On the other hand, among the Gentiles, countless numbers of people will have a part of the first resurrection. “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10)

Believing in Jesus brings us face to face with the most shocking message anyone will ever encounter: that a man can be resurrected and live forever. Until Jesus’ resurrection, it was universally believed that man could not exist beyond the span of his life. But through Jesus we came to know that there is a resurrection of man. Jesus is saying, “I am the resurrection. Do you believe this?” Our faith is defined in how we respond to this question

Jesus was the first one to bring the message of the resurrection to the world. The word gospel is generally defined as good news, and Jesus brought a message which had never been heard before. Matthew 4:17 says, “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” To mankind, the gospel is the “news” that Jesus preached.

What does Jesus say to us? he says, “I am the resurrection. If you believe in Me, you will live again. Be reconciled to Me and take part in the resurrection.” Jesus calls us to be baptized. Anyone who is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ admits that his spirit is dead and that he has been untied with Jesus Christ when he came out of the water. Baptism is the experience of faith in the resurrection.

Let us be filled by the Holy Spirit and take part in the first resurrection.

Hundreds of people witnessed the resurrection of Jesus. Many of them witnessed Jesus ascending into heaven. Jesus commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which you have heard from Me.” (Acts 1:4) They prayed earnestly in an upper room to receive the Holy Spirit as Jesus had commanded, and on the day of Pentecost, they received the Holy spirit. Thus it was fulfilled which Jesus had said on the last day of the feast, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38)

John 7:39 says, “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” The Holy Spirit was to come only after Jesus was glorified. Jesus said, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7) Therefore, as believers began to receive the Holy Spirit, it also served as confirmation that Jesus had indeed ascended into heaven.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Jesus was raised from the dead because the Holy Spirit dwelled in Him. The Holy Spirit also dwells in us and that is the reason we will be resurrected at the appointed time.

God indwells those who believe in the resurrection of Jesus and are united with Him in His resurrection, seals them, and gives the Holy spirit to them as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 1:22) The Holy Spirit brings the believers together to form the church, and appoints overseers to shepherd the churches. (Acts 20:28) Jesus is in heaven but He sends the Holy Spirit to those who call on His name so they can do Jesus’ work. So our duty as those who received the Holy Spirit is to represent Jesus, manifest His power, and testify about His life.

Do not blaspheme the Holy Spirit. The Lord warned, “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven men.” (Matthew 12:31-32) How can anyone who grieves the Holy Spirit or quenches the work of the Holy Spirit partake in the first resurrection?

We must not be found sleeping when our Lord returns and miss out on the first resurrection. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit so that our souls can take part in the first resurrection. You cannot do good work if you are not filled with the Holy Spirit, even if you are willing. You cannot speak the truth if you are not filled with the Holy Spirit, even if you are willing. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we can take part in the first resurrection!

What is Berea?

What Berea pursues is to emulate the faith of the Bereans and adopt their attitude of faith. Berea is to preach the word of God alone. It is neither to interpret the Bible, nor research it using a scholar’s theory. It is simply to have faith.

The Berea Movement is a theocentric movement of faith. Theocentricism is to approach the Will of God as Righteousness. The First Righteousness is to that ‘God loves the Son’, the Second Righteousness is that ‘the works of the devil have been destroyed by the Son’, and the Third Righteousness is that ‘mankind has been saved by the meritorious blood of Jesus Christ and they have received eternal life’. Just as God has fulfilled His will in heaven, the Son has fulfilled it on earth.

To drive out demons, to heal the sick, and to speak in tongues are what follows to those who believe in Jesus. Therefore, every Christian must have this experience. But one cannot please God for having these experiences alone. To believe the word, to teach it, and to preach it is what pleases God. This is His good, pleasing will. The will of God is that we abide in Jesus. Just as Jesus abode in the Father, we abide in Jesus and as a result we abide in the Father. In this way, not only are we able to love God, but we are able to please Him.

When we preach the word, we do not do so to please men. Rather, we let them know that Jesus Christ suffered for them, and that we ourselves must also struggle against sin to the point of shedding out blood, and at last be victorious. What is the gospel of the Lord Jesus? It is that the Lord Jesus bore our sins and redeemed us, that we have the courage to come before the Lord, and under his wings of grace, we clothe ourselves with the Lord’s blood and receive justification. Who can condemn those whom the Lord has justified? Just who can cut us off from the love of the Lord?

Faith is love. More specifically, it is the act of loving God. With all one’s heart, with all one’s soul, with all one’s strength, with all one’s mind, and with all one’s life, one must love God. 1 John 4:6 says: ‘We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.’ We must pay close attention to this word.

To gain faith is not through man’s wisdom, but by the help of the Spirit. And to conduct one’s pastoral ministry is not by man’s wisdom, but by the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God is the word of truth as recorded in the Bible.

I am a man of weakness. Therefore, I believe in the power of the blood of the Lord Jesus. I am lacking in human knowledge. But I trust in the word of the Bible. I lack human wisdom. Therefore, I wholeheartedly trust in the wisdom of the Bible. If anyone denies what I have done in response to faith in the blood of the Lord Jesus, and holding to the word of the Bible and the wisdom that comes from the Spirit, he does not deny me, but he denies the Lord Jesus. This is because the Lord Jesus has poured out His blood, His word and the Spirit into our souls.

The Bereans are those who are humble before the Bible. Let us all become true Bereans and love the church with all sincerity.

Semuon

Outline translated by Sarah Lee
Letter translated by John Kim
Interpretations by Daniel Hong
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee