Nobody Is Without Sin

The Title of the Devotion:

GLORY

 

Bible Passage for Reading: John 5:41-47

"I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"

----------------------------------------------------

Notes from the Scriptures:

"Glory" is not a word used as much as it once was, because it signifies a kind of praise and honor not so common in our cynical modern world. It means a distinctly high type of praise, so high that we want to bow down in reverence. It is a confusing word, because it also means the thing owned or achieved by someone which is worthwhile of such extraordinary praise.

Christ here asks the question, how can we believe in Him if we seek glory from others but do not seek the glory that comes only from God? We must remember the Scripture that precedes this passage: belief in Christ is the key to His grace, therefore the key to forgiveness of our sins and, ultimately, to eternal life.

Imagine a perfect person, someone who has never done anything wrong. Would such a person not deserve our highest admiration? Of course he would (and unfortunately, many hypocrites pretend to be sinless just in order to earn the praise of others). But the Bible teaches us that nobody is without sin. Only through Christ's grace can our sins be forgiven, and only thus might we truly become glorious.

Of course one of the attributes of belief in Christ is seeking after a deep humility, which poses a dilemma. We cannot advertise our "goodness"; we cannot actively seek the praise of men, if we want the true glory that can come only from God.

So Christ says, "if someone comes in his own name, you accept him; how can you believe (if) you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes only from God?" He does not say that we cannot accept glory from others, or give them glory "in their own name", but He comes awfully close to it. This is especially true when we consider this passage with other of Christ's teachings, found in Matthew. "the meek shall inherit the earth".

---------------------------------