JESUS SPOKE THE WORD OF GOD — NOT HIS OWN WORDS
Christians understand that there was something special about Jesus, but they wrongly ascribe extraordinary power and authority to him — even to the point of saying he is God. This is a wrong interpretation of scripture.
Because Jesus spoke for God, he was an active agent in God’s miracles of healing. This fact makes it easy to believe that it was the human Jesus who did the miracles. The problem with this thinking, however, is that it was the power of God’s word spoken by Jesus that accomplished the miracles — not Jesus. The human Jesus did not have power and authority to perform miracles. Only God can perform miracles.
STUDY TIP: See Signs, Wonders and Miracles, and Sickness, Disease, Blindness, and Deafness for understanding of the symbolic meanings of miracles.
But Scriptures clearly tell us that everything Jesus said and did focused on the word of God. He did nothing by his own initiative for his own benefit. He is one of a long list of true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses and warriors whom God sent, and continues to send, to speak for God to people who could not and would not listen to God’s voice.
STUDY TIP: See TRUST, BELIEVE JESUS’ WORDS — NOT THE PERSON JESUS
Consider these scriptures:
John 7:16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.
COMMENTARY: Jesus could not have said more plainly that God speaks through him. This affirms that he was an angel/messenger, messiah who was anointed by God and sent by God to speak for God. This fact is critical because it affirms that Jesus had no internal, natural, human, power or authority of his own. Everything of value (i.e. his words) that he exhibited came from God. He was not God. He was just a man who spoke for God.
The power and authority to speak for God was not unique to Jesus. He is only one of many true prophets sent by God to speak for God. God sends true prophets to speak for him because religious people only know how to listen to false prophets and do not know how to hear his voice. They are spiritually deaf to hearing God’s voice.
True prophets are qualified to speak for God because they know how to hear his voice. He anoints them with spiritual power and authority to speak on his behalf to spiritually deaf religious people. True prophets know what God’s voice is like. They know how to interpret the spiritual meaning of Bible Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Copies, and Shadows. They also know the languages of natural men.
Because true prophets know God’s language and man’s language, they are useful servants who report the spiritual meaning of the Bible for people who only understand its literal meanings.
True prophets are mediators of God’s words. False prophets only report their personal interpretations of the literal words of Bibles written by men.
True prophets such as Jesus reinterpret the written words of the Bible so that Jews and Christians can understand the spiritual meaning of the Bible. Thus it can be said that Jesus was a mediator between God and man. He never said or did anything that did not serve the purpose of teaching people how to hear God’s voice for themselves so that they did not always need a mediator.
Jesus and all other true prophets past and present reinterpret scripture so that man can understand what God says without stumbling on the lying words of Bible scribes/editors.
John 12:49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.
COMMENTARY: See commentary above. This verse should be a caution for Christians who put their trust in the human Jesus. It is good to trust his words because he spoke for God, but Jesus never said people should trust him as a person.
STUDY TIP: See Belief, Trust and Faith for more about trusting God’s word and not trusting the human Jesus.
John 14:10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
COMMENTARY: Jesus was, and is, the spirit of prophecy. That is why he could say that he is in the Father and that the Father is in him. What this verse means, therefore, is that the spirit of prophecy is in God and the spirit of prophecy is in Jesus. It is this spirit of prophecy that enables/empowers Jesus to speak God’s words.
God’s one and only work is speaking to hearts. All of God’s creative works are accomplished when he speaks.
God makes himself known to people by writing his laws on hearts. He writes his laws by speaking his laws/words/commandments to hearts. He speaks to hearts directly and he speaks through true prophets whom he anoints to speak for him. True prophets do God’s works when they speak his words to hearts.
STUDY TIP: See this link for understanding of God’s works.
John 10:37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father.
COMMENTARY: God’s works are evident only in his words. Jesus, and all other true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses and warriors do God’s works when they speak for God.
STUDY TIP: See this link for understanding of God’s works. See this link for understanding of good works and deeds.
People should believe Jesus’ words because they are God’s words. False prophets who do not speak for God should not be believed. All Old/First Covenant religious people are false prophets. They should not be believed.
STUDY TIP: See this link for understanding of belief.
John 17:6-10 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.
COMMENTARY: The way Jesus reveals God to people is through his words. The only way to know God is through his words because God and his words are one. It is impossible to separate God from his words.
The only thing that God gave to Jesus was the spiritual anointing that enabled him to speak God’s words. Jesus spoke God’s words and some people accepted God’s words spoken by Jesus. When people understood that Jesus was sent by God to speak to the people, the hearts of people who accepted God’s words were raptured/lifted up.
God exists in his words. God and his words are one in the same thing. All that God has is his words and he shares all that he has with true prophets/messiahs like Jesus. The glory that comes to Jesus is God’s word.
John 14:21-23: He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot ) said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
COMMENTARY: This is a verse that Bible scribes/editors have wrongly translated and given it a meaning that is not correct. The highlighted (i.e. linked) words are the only words that appear in the original Greek text. The words that are not highlighted are words that Bible scribes/editors inserted to make the verse agree with their religious beliefs. The words in bold red are inserted words not found in the original, Greek text.
If we remove all inserted words, the verse would read as follows:
has commandments keeps one loves loves loved Father love reveal myself Judas Iscariot said Lord, what has happened going reveal yourself world Jesus answered said If anyone loves follow word Father love him and come to him and make dwelling him
Most people would agree that this text is difficult to understand. It is reasonable, therefore, to make some adjustments to make it readable. But, the Bible scribes/authors went too far in making their adjustments to English. They didn’t just make the Greek readable, they distorted the meaning of the text.
When we compare the Bible text with the Greek text, the main differences we notice are the words in bold, red. These words do not appear in the original Greek text. By inserting these words, Bible scribes/authors changed the meaning of the Greek text in a way that puts undue focus on Jesus and less focus on the father. If we remove the words that refer to Jesus, the text could read as follows:
He who has commandments and keeps them is the one who loves; and he who loves will be loved by Father, and will love him and will disclose himself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot ) said, “Lord, what then has happened that you are going to disclose yourself to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves, he will keep father’s word; and father will love him, and will come to him and make abode with him.
This translation is a much more accurate translation of the Greek text. It focuses on God’s love and God’s words — not on Jesus. Furthermore, it does not say or even imply that Jesus will make his abode in the hearts of Christians.
This translation places the focus of the verse on keeping (i.e. obeying, living by) the Father’s words — not on loving Jesus. Jesus makes very clear that evidence of loving him is found in keeping his words which are God’s words.
STUDY TIP: It is impossible to understand this scripture without first having a correct understanding of love. See this link and this link for understanding of love.
Jesus does not make an appeal here for people to love him as a person. He only wants people to love God’s words. Just like Jesus did not seek any glory for himself, he did not seek to have people love him. There was nothing attractive about Jesus that people should want to love him. Jesus’ only value is that he speaks the father’s words. This agrees this other scriptures in which Jesus says that his words are not his own and that he speaks for the Father.
The verse says that God will love those who keep (i.e. obey) God’s words spoken by Jesus, come to those who hear and obey God’s words. It does not say that both Jesus and God will love them, come to them and live in them. Only God makes his home in the hearts of his people.
Looking at the scripture without the words inserted by Bible editors, we see that only the father loves the person who keeps God’s words. It does not say that Jesus loves the person who keeps God’s words.
Furthermore, the scripture says that only the father makes abode (i.e. lives in the heart) of the person who keeps God’s words. It does not say that Jesus makes abode (i.e. ives in the heart) of the person who keeps God’s words.
See this link for understanding of love.
John 14:24 “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.
COMMENTARY: Jesus says clearly here that the words he speaks are God’s words — not his own. Despite this disclaimer, Christians insist on following Jesus and believing that he has special powers to perform miracles. Failing to understand that there was nothing special about Jesus except the fact that he spoke for God, they imagine that he is equal to God. This belief wrongly exalts the person of Jesus and wrongly diminishes God by putting Jesus above God. This is nothing more than idolatry. It is a clear and obvious violation of the First Commandment.
We see from the above scriptures that Jesus did not speak for himself. He spoke for God. This fact proves that Jesus is one of a long line of true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses, warriors and apostles whom God sent to speak for him.
1 John 2:14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men,because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
COMMENTARY: This verse is another example of wrong translations by Bible scribes/editors. The words that are not linked do not appear in the original Greek text. They were added by scribes/editors to make the verse agree with their Christian doctrines. If we removed the words inserted by scribes/editors, the scripture would read as follows:
written you fathers because known from beginning written you men because are strong and word God abideth in you and overcome one
By inserting the words “him that is,” Bible scribes/editors communicate the idea that Jesus is the one who is known from the beginning. That is not what the verse is meant to say. What is known from the beginning is the word of God which abides/dwells in the hearts of believers. Thus the wrong translation puts the emphasis on the person of Jesus instead of on God’s words, and wrongly conveys support for the doctrine that Jesus himself — not God’s words spoken by Jesus — has power to overcome the wicked one whom everyone assumes to be satan or the devil. This is a wrong interpretation. The true message of the verse is that God’s spoken word overcomes an evil, impure heart. The only thing Jesus does is speak God’s word.
It is also worth noting that the word “wicked” does not appear in the original Greek text. It is another word inserted by Bible editors to make the finished text agree with the Christian doctrine regarding the devil or satan and to exalt the person of Jesus. Bible editors, having decided to translate the Greek word “poneros” with the word “one” needed to somehow qualify or explain who the “one” is or the verse would lack meaning. Inserting the word “wicked” was an easy choice of an adjective to describe ‘one’ because it agreed with the doctrine that Jesus overcomes the devil.
STUDY TIP: See this link for understanding of the symbolism of serpents, devils and demons.
The problem for Bible editors/scribes began when they decided to translate the Greek word “poneros” as “one.” Poneros has a definition that is far broader than the idea of one person or one thing. Whatever poneros means, it is clear that it is overcome when God’s word abides in the heart. When we remember that God’s word has power to separate/divide a religious life from a spiritual life, we conclude that the main message of 1 John 2:14 is that God’s word has power to overcome religion, and that it does this by changing an evil, impure heart that loves religion to a clean, pure heart that hates religion.