<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>John 20;24-27<div><br></div><div><b>24. &nbsp;Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.</b></div><div><b>25. &nbsp;So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” &nbsp; But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”</b></div><div><b>26. &nbsp;Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. &nbsp;The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.”</b></div><div><b>27. &nbsp;Then&nbsp;he said to&nbsp;Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; &nbsp;do not be faithless, but believing.”</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Is <i>“believing” </i>in Jesus Christ the same as having the ‘gift of Faith’? &nbsp;Not exactly. &nbsp;We can say that to be&nbsp;believing in Jesus&nbsp;is an ‘activity’ of&nbsp;our heart, mind, soul, and spirit. &nbsp;It is God at work in the new-man, both to will and to do according to his own pleasure.<span>&nbsp;(see Philippians 2;13).&nbsp;We can say it is a verb, an activity of the new-man accomplished by the Word and Spirit of God in us.</span></div><div><br></div><div>‘Faith’ on the other hand is a noun, it is God’s gift into our hearts. By the gift of faith, we become&nbsp;believing, just as&nbsp;by the gift of an airline ticket, we fly.</div><div><i>“For by grace </i><u>you have been saved through <b>faith</b>,</u><i>&nbsp;this is </i><u>not your own doing, </u><u>it is the gift of God, </u><span>not the result of works, lest any man should boast.” &nbsp;</span>(Ephesians 2;8)</div><div><br></div><div>We can not ‘decide’ to be believing in Jesus, we can only decide to <u>not believe.</u>&nbsp; If we are believing, it is God’s work in us. &nbsp;If we refuse to be believing, we get all the terrible&nbsp;credit. &nbsp;U<span>nbelief is the ongoing work of the old-man,</span><span> the spiritually dead sinner. &nbsp;We can not choose God (he chooses us), but we can certainly reject him.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Thomas chose to ‘not be believing’, he chose to reject the Word. &nbsp;He chose to live spiritually in his old dead sinful man. &nbsp;That is what the old-man does, he trusts only in his carnal senses. &nbsp;Proverbs 3;5&amp;6 teaches, “<i>Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. &nbsp;In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”</i></span></div><div><span><i><br></i></span></div><div><span>Such ‘trusting in the Lord’ is God at work in the Believer. &nbsp;We take no credit. All glory goes to God for our salvation.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Praise to you Lord Most High for your mercy to Thomas. &nbsp;Bless us to reject the old unbelieving &nbsp;man of flesh, and keep us ever believing. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Note: &nbsp;It is the work of the Holy Spirit and the Gospel to give us the gift of faith <u>and to keep us in the faith.</u>&nbsp; <i>“I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him; but, the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true&nbsp;faith…” &nbsp; </i>(Luther’s Small Catechism, Explanation to the Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed.)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric</span></div><div><span>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed,’soak’ in the living Word.</span></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><b><br></b><br><br><a href="https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/?.src=iOS" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></body></html>


John 20;24-27
24.  Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.25.  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.”   But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”26.  Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them.  The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.”27.  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side;  do not be faithless, but believing.”
Is “believing” in Jesus Christ the same as having the ‘gift of Faith’?  Not exactly.  We can say that to be believing in Jesus is an ‘activity’ of our heart, mind, soul, and spirit.  It is God at work in the new-man, both to will and to do according to his own pleasure. (see Philippians 2;13). We can say it is a verb, an activity of the new-man accomplished by the Word and Spirit of God in us.
‘Faith’ on the other hand is a noun, it is God’s gift into our hearts. By the gift of faith, we become believing, just as by the gift of an airline ticket, we fly.“For by grace you have been saved through faith, this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not the result of works, lest any man should boast.”  (Ephesians 2;8)
We can not ‘decide’ to be believing in Jesus, we can only decide to not believe.  If we are believing, it is God’s work in us.  If we refuse to be believing, we get all the terrible credit.  Unbelief is the ongoing work of the old-man, the spiritually dead sinner.  We can not choose God (he chooses us), but we can certainly reject him.
Thomas chose to ‘not be believing’, he chose to reject the Word.  He chose to live spiritually in his old dead sinful man.  That is what the old-man does, he trusts only in his carnal senses.  Proverbs 3;5&6 teaches, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Such ‘trusting in the Lord’ is God at work in the Believer.  We take no credit. All glory goes to God for our salvation.
Prayer:  Praise to you Lord Most High for your mercy to Thomas.  Bless us to reject the old unbelieving  man of flesh, and keep us ever believing.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Note:  It is the work of the Holy Spirit and the Gospel to give us the gift of faith and to keep us in the faith.  “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him; but, the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith…”   (Luther’s Small Catechism, Explanation to the Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed.)
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed,’soak’ in the living Word.





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