Today's Bible Study: What is a believer’s role in the evangelism of the world? In the context of the Samaritan woman and village coming to faith in Christ, Jesus spoke of the harvest and the need for workers in John 4:35. Jesus used the fact that they were surrounded by crops growing in the field and waiting to be harvested as an object lesson to illustrate His urgency about reaching the lost, which the “harvest” symbolized. The event probably happened in December or January, which was 4 months before the normal spring harvest (mid-April). Crops were planted in November, and by December or January the grain would be sprouting up in vibrant green color. Jesus points out the Samaritan woman and people of Sychar (“lift up your eyes”) who were at that moment coming upon the scene (v. 30) looking like a ripened “harvest” that urgently need to be “gathered,” i.e., evangelized.“ Already white for harvest.” Their white clothing seen above the growing grain may have looked like white heads on the stalks, an indication of readiness for harvest. Jesus knew the hearts of all (2:24), so was able to state their readiness for salvation (vv. 39–41). This episode represents the first instance of cross-cultural evangelism (Acts 1:8). In vv. 36–38, the Lord’s call to His disciples to do the work of evangelism both then and now contains promises of reward (“wages”), fruit that brings eternal joy (v. 36), and the mutual partnership of shared privilege (vv. 37,38). When He talked with the Samaritan woman, Jesus was performing the will of the Father and thereby received greater sustenance and satisfaction than any mere physical food could offer Him (v. 34). Obedience to and dependence upon God’s will summed up Jesus’ whole life (Eph. 5:17). Certainly, the same is true for any follower of Christ. ```©BY PASTOR JUDAH OLATUNDE` http://judaholatunde.blogspot.com/2025/05/what-is-believers-role-in-evangelism-of.html

Today's Bible Study: What aspect of worship toward God is absolutely essential? In His conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4:24, Jesus reminded her that “God is Spirit.” This verse represents the classical statement on the nature of God as Spirit. The phrase means that God is invisible (Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:27) as opposed to the physical or material nature of man (1:18; 3:6).The word order of this phrase puts an emphasis on “Spirit,” and the statement is essentially emphatic. Man could never comprehend the invisible God unless He revealed Himself, as He did in Scripture and the Incarnation. “Must worship.” Jesus is not speaking of a desirable element in worship but that which is absolutely necessary. “In spirit and truth.” The word “spirit” does not refer to the Holy Spirit but to the human spirit. Jesus’ point here is that a person must worship not simply by external conformity to religious rituals and places (outwardly) but inwardly (“in spirit”) with the proper heart attitude. The reference to “truth” refers to worship of God consistent with the revealed Scripture and centered on the “Word made flesh” who ultimately revealed His Father (14:6). The Samaritans also anticipated Messiah’s coming. The Samaritan woman responded, pushing toward the future.“ I who speak to you am He”—Jesus forthrightly declared Himself to be Messiah, though His habit was to avoid such declarations to His own Jewish people, who had such crassly political and militaristic views regarding Messiah (10:24;Mark 9:41).The “He” in this translation is not in the original Greek for Jesus literally said “I who speak to you am.” The usage of “I am” is reminiscent of 8:58. This claim constitutes the main point of the story regarding the Samaritan woman, upon which all worship is centered. `©BY PASTOR JUDAH OLATUNDE http://judaholatunde.blogspot.com/2025/05/what-aspect-of-worship-toward-god-is.html

Today's Bible Study: What does it mean to be “born again”? In John 3:3,Jesus answered a question that Nicodemus does not even ask. He read Nicodemus’s heart and came to the very core of his problem, i.e., the need for spiritual transformation or regeneration produced by the Holy Spirit. He tells Nicodemus that he must be “born again.” The phrase literally means “born from above.” New birth is an act of God whereby eternal life is imparted to the believer (2 Cor. 5:17; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:3; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18). Chapter 1:12, 13 indicates that “born again” also carries the idea “to become children of God” through trust in the name of the incarnate Word. Unless one is born again, he “cannot see the kingdom of God.” In context, this is primarily a reference to participation in the millennial kingdom at the end of the age, fervently anticipated by the Pharisees and other Jews. Since the Pharisees were supernaturalists, they naturally and eagerly expected the coming of the prophesied resurrection of the saints and institution of the messianic kingdom (Is. 11:1–16; Dan. 12:2). Their problem was that they thought that mere physical lineage and keeping of religious externals qualified them for entrance into the kingdom rather than the needed spiritual transformation which Jesus emphasized (see 8:33–39;Gal. 6:15). The coming of the kingdom at the end of the age can be described as the “regeneration” of the world (Matt. 19:28), but regeneration of the individual is required before the end of the world in order to enter the kingdom. Restating it, Jesus said that one must be “born of water and the Spirit” (v. 5). Jesus referred not to literal water here but to the need for “cleansing” (Ezek. 36:24–27). When water is used figuratively in the Old Testament, it consistently refers to renewal or spiritual cleansing, especially when used in conjunction with “spirit” (Num. 19:17–19; Ps. 51:9, 10; Is. 32:15; 44:3–5; 55:1–3; Jer. 2:13; Joel 2:28, 29). Thus, Jesus made reference to the spiritual washing or purification of the soul, accomplished by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God at the moment of salvation (Eph. 5:26; Titus 3:5), required for belonging to His kingdom. ©BY PASTOR JUDAH OLATUNDE http://judaholatunde.blogspot.com/2025/05/what-does-it-mean-to-be-born-again.html

Today's Bible Study: Note the powerful words loaded into John 1:1. “In the beginning.” In contrast to 1 John 1:1 where John used a similar phrase (“from the beginning”) to refer to the starting point of Jesus’ ministry and gospel preaching, this phrase parallels Genesis 1:1 where the same phrase is used. John used the phrase in an absolute sense to refer to the beginning of the time-space-material universe. “Was.” The verb highlights the eternal preexistence of the Word, i.e., Jesus Christ. Before the universe began, the Second Person of the Trinity always existed; i.e., He always was (see 8:58). This word is used in contrast with the verb “was made” (or “were made”) in v. 3, which indicate a beginning in time. Because of John’s theme that Jesus Christ is the eternal God, the Second Person of the Trinity, he did not include a genealogy as Matthew and Luke did. In terms of Jesus’ humanity, He had a human genealogy; but in terms of His deity, He has no genealogy. “The Word.” John borrowed the use of the term “Word” not only from the vocabulary of the Old Testament but also from Greek philosophy, in which the term was essentially impersonal, signifying the rational principle of “divine reason,” “mind,” or even “wisdom.” John, however, imbued the term entirely with Old Testament and Christian meaning (e.g., Gen. 1:3 where God’s Word brought the world into being; Pss. 33:6; 107:20; Prov. 8:27 where God’s Word is His powerful self-expression in creation, wisdom, revelation, and salvation) and made it refer to a person, i.e., Jesus Christ. Greek philosophical usage, therefore, is not the exclusive background of John’s thought. Strategically, the term “Word” serves as a bridge-word to reach not only Jews but also the unsaved Greeks. John chose this concept because both Jews and Greeks were familiar with it. “The Word was with God.” The Word, as the Second Person of the Trinity, was in intimate fellowship with God the Father throughout all eternity. Yet, although the Word enjoyed the splendors of heaven and eternity with the Father (Is. 6:1–13; see 12:41; 17:5), He willingly gave up His heavenly status, taking the form of a man, and became subject to the death of the cross (Phil. 2:6–8). “Was God.” The Greek construction emphasizes that the Word had all the essence or attributes of Deity, i.e., Jesus the Messiah was fully God (Col. 2:9). Even in His incarnation when He emptied Himself, He did not cease to be God but took on a genuine human nature/body and voluntarily refrained from the independent exercise of the attributes of Deity. ©BY PASTOR JUDAH OLATUNDE http://judaholatunde.blogspot.com/2025/05/note-powerful-words-loaded-into-john-11.html