GRACEINFOCUS WWW.FAITHALONE.ORG JULY/AUGUST 2019 labor for the food which endures (John 6:27-29) The glory of the lord / the hand of god prevails / spiritual sight / hurt by PLUS those who are close / annual conference / celebrity pastors / and more! JULY/AUGUST 2019 CONTENTS 3 From the Editor 4 Labor for the Food Which Endures (John 2:27-29) BY BOB WILKIN 8 The Glory of the Lord (Mark 9:2-3) BY KEN YATES 10 Asa Mahan’s Assurance BY SHAWN LAZAR 12 The Hand of God Prevails (Acts 12:6-11) BY ZANE HODGES 14 Top 5 Reasons to Memorize Scripture LIGHTSTOCK 45 The Mailbag BY SUMMER STEVENS 46 Three Ways to Comfort a Suffering 16 Walking in the Light? Two Views of Friend (Job 2:11-13) 1 John BY SHAWN LAZAR BY DON AND KIM REIHER 22 I’m Amazed at Modern Evangelical Terminology BY BOB WILKIN GRACE IN FOCUS 25 The Bookstore Volume 34, Number 4 GRACE IN FOCUS is a 33 Spiritual Sight © 2019 by Grace bimonthly magazine about Evangelical Society the gospel, assurance, and BY NATE STEVENS related issues. For your EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 36 Hurt by Those Who Are Close free U.S. subscription Robert N. Wilkin, Ph.D. sign up on our website BY BUD BROWN EDITOR AND DESIGNER or send your name and 39 2019 Annual Conference Shawn Lazar address to P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202. If OFFICE MANAGER 40 Celebrity Pastors and Their Staff May you would like to make a Bethany Taylor Not Know tax-deductible donation to CIRCULATION BY LUCAS KITCHEN offset the costs of printing Mark “Tail Feathers” Gray and postage, it would be greatly appreciated. Address changes? Comments? Prayer requests? Testimonies? Send them to [email protected]. Theological questions? Send them to ques- [email protected] or write to Grace in Focus, P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202. 2 JULY/AUGUST 2019 | faithalone.org JULY/AUGUST 2019 FROM THE EDITOR e’re now entering the second half of 2019. Soon we will be in what I call Wour “vision year”—2020. Shawn and I have been having a lot of fun with our radio program/podcasts. Well, it is fun, but it is also a lot of work. We find it exhausting to do more than 4 or 5 shows in a day. Since we need 22 shows a month, we need to record 5 or 6 times a month. With all our other responsibilities, it is challenging at times to find time to record. In January we started a daily 15-minute pro- gram on five stations plus our website. We have covered the following topics in the first six months of the show: • Confident in Christ (one show per chapter) • The Ten Most Misunderstood Words in the Bible (one show per chapter) Working On the Radio • 1-3 John • Romans 5-8 Bob Wilkin, • Turn and Live: The Power of Repentance EDITOR-IN-CHIEF (one show per chapter). We hope to add several more stations by the We are currently recording a series on James end of 2019 and then more again in 2020. that should come out in July. Thank you for supporting our ministry. We are We plan to have Ken Yates come in and record truly partners in grace. a series on his book, Hebrews: Partners with Christ. We also plan to bring in Lucas Kitchen to record shows about his book, Eternal Rewards. And we will be recording shows, Lord willing, on Shawn’s books on assurance, Beyond Doubt, and election, Chosen to Serve. We began on five stations. In May we added a station in Dallas. So now we are on stations in Dallas, Shreveport, Pensacola, Mobile, Scranton, and Albuquerque. faithalone.org | JULY/AUGUST 2019 3 LIGHTSTOCK 4 JULY/AUGUST 2019 | faithalone.org Labor for the Food Which Endures (John 6:27-29) By Bob Wilkin “Do not labor for the food The Lord is not saying in John birth. Ephesians 2:8-9 grows which perishes, but for 6:27 that it is wrong to labor out of the Lord’s teaching. the food which endures to for one’s daily bread, which is However, what you discover everlasting life, which the food that perishes. What He when you look at commentar- Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has was saying is that it is much ies on John is that the Lord’s set His seal on Him.” Then more important to labor for words in vv 27 and 29 are only they said to Him, “What food which endures forever. partially understood by most shall we do, that we may His audience—unbelieving commentators. work the works of God?” legalists—is confused. They Jesus answered and said to think He is saying that if they Food that Endures to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in do the right works, they will Everlasting Life Him whom He sent” (John earn everlasting life. They ask, Considering the question 6:27–29). “What shall we do, that we asked in John 6:28 and the esus had just fed 5,000 men, may work the works of God?” Lord’s answer in John 6:29, the Jplus women and children. He (John 6:28). Jesus’ response is audience misunderstood (see had provided them with food. not what they expected: “This Carson, John, p. 284). They However, like the water from is the work of God, that you thought the Lord was challeng- the well in John 4, that food believe in Him whom He sent” ing them to labor to produce was only a temporary solution (John 6:29). good works that would result in to their physical needs. For anyone familiar with them having everlasting life. As becomes clear later, the John’s Gospel up to this point, The Lord is talking about audience wants the Lord to give this is a straightforward state- working for food “which them a continuous supply of ment that the sole condition of endures to everlasting life.” food to eat (John 6:34, “Lord, everlasting life is faith in Christ. A few moments later, the Lord give us this bread always”). Not works which we may do, Jesus calls Himself “the Bread whether before or after the new of Life” (John 6:35). This faithalone.org | JULY/AUGUST 2019 5 passage is parallel to the water That is what I argued in our Why Did Jesus Speak Instead of life teaching in John 4. Once Grace New Testament Com- of the Work, Singular, of a person partakes of the Bread mentary (Vol. 1, pp. 394-95). of Life, he has everlasting life Check it out for more details. God? that can never be lost. Tasker says that the Lord The Lord’s wording here But why would anyone need either was talking about “the was intentional. They asked to labor for that food? We don’t food which endures…and about “the works of God.” He have to labor to receive gifts, do results in eternal life” or “the answered about “the work of we? Isn’t that what Rom 4:4-5 food which lasts to eternity” God.” says? (John, p. 99). The latter option The works are plural works. We do not need to labor for does not contradict the faith The work is singular. everlasting life itself. It is a alone message. The former The Lord specifically identi- gift. And as Rom 4:4-5 says, option would contradict the fies what “the work of God” we cannot labor for a gift. faith-alone message of John is—believing in Him. But we might need to labor 6:29, unless Tasker meant that It is possible that the Lord is for the food, i.e., the message, it results in fullness of eternal using the word work ironically. that endures to everlasting life, life (but that’s not what he Some think it must be since and which may be believed or meant). Paul said that salvation is not rejected. Hence, the Lord is of works. However, Paul did talking about laboring for the The Son of Man Will Give You not say that salvation is not of message of life, not for everlast- Everlasting Life work. Like the Lord Jesus, Paul speaks of works, plural. ing life itself. The audience did not yet have The other possibility, which It might be relatively easy to everlasting life. But anyone seems most likely to me, is that come to faith in Christ if you in the audience who did “the the Lord means that the only grow up in a home that teaches work of God” would have it action that a person can do the faith-alone message. But it is immediately. to obtain everlasting life is to hard for most people to believe Everlasting life is a present believe in Him. a message that is widely rejected possession for the believer. even among people who call Is believing in Jesus Christ themselves Christians. What Did Jesus’ Questioners an action? Of course. Anytime The Jews of Jesus’ day were Think the Works of God we believe, we act. While it is steeped in works salvation. a passive action, it is action, They thought that good Jews Were? nonetheless. And it may take got into the kingdom (cf. Luke They expected to hear some some effort on our part to hear 18:9-14; Acts 15:1; Gal 1:6-9). of the Ten Commandments the right message.