By guest writer I.F.
4 August 2024
Jesus said in John 14:6:
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life
In other words, Jesus is the ONLY way of truly living His spirit-filled Life in the world where you live, which is also the ONLY way in which we are required to truly witness Jesus to those around us.
Unfortunately, the verb that Jesus used in John 14:15 to specify the action that He intends His followers to have regarding His commandments, has been mistranslated in every English Bible translation as “keep”; but, the most literal translation of this Greek verb is “guard and protect”
John 14:15 in the original Greek says:
The Greek verb téreó which is translated as ‘you will keep’ by the Bible Hub interlinear actually means to ‘watch over’ or ‘to guard’.
Strong’s Concordance
téreó: to watch over, to guard
Original Word: τηρέω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: téreó
Phonetic Spelling: (tay-reh’-o)
Definition: to watch over, to guard
The mistranslation of the verb téreó has deceived the church into thinking that it is required to do the impossible and to live the Life of Jesus and to love with the unconditional Love of Jesus, completely unaided by Him.
But this is a false doctrine and is NOT what Jesus intended for His Church at all!
We know this because He has told us this explicitly, in John 15:5, when He said:
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.
In other words, we need to be organically or, more correctly, spiritually connected to and empowered by the Life and the Love of Jesus; that is why Jesus is the ONLY way of Living the Life of God and Loving with the Love of God!
Because of this mistranslation of the verb téreó, we falsely believe that we have already attained these Spiritual treasures and that we are richly adorned in them; but, in truth, we are spiritually destitute. As it was for those in the church of Laodicea, which is described in Revelations, as follows:
To the Church in Laodicea
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of My mouth.
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
(NIV Revelations 3:14 – 22)
God should be doing all the work in us, so that He can get all the credit for it; that is why we should ONLY be boasting about the work that God is doing in us, rather than congratulating ourselves on our own efforts in this regard!
This is also why His burden is light, because He should be the One Who is carrying it for us and in us:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
How do you know if Jesus is living His Life through you? That is easy to answer. Is your life consistently, hour by hour, full of the fruit of the spirit? And are you also loving everyone with the unconditional love of Jesus Christ Himself, which is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7! If so, then He is Living His Life and Loving His Love through you.
In any area that you are not, you need to stop witnessing to others in this area and doing things in His Name in your own ability and power; because, that is what is truly meant by taking the Lord’s Name in vain!
Instead, you need to pray and beg God to do this work in you and then you need to feed your spirit on Jesus, the Word of God, by meditating upon and speaking His words that pertain to this specific area, to your spirit. Doing this gives Jesus express permission to build up and educate your spirit in this area! In this way, you empower Jesus to do this work in you; because, when it comes to living His Life and loving with His Love the following scripture is apt:
With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
(Matthew 19:26)
This is our partnership with Jesus, we ask Him to do the work, we feed our spirits on Him (the scriptures that pertain to this work), and then, we patiently wait for Him to do the work in us. This can take years, but, we must resist the temptation to do in our own strength and wait for Him to do it Perfectly in us; and, once He has done the work in us, then we give Him ALL the glory for this miracle!
This also means that we should have empathy and compassion for all those who are not yet living the Life of God or loving with His Love, because we know that this is not due to our own efforts and religious observances; but, is only gifted to us by God and, therefore, can be taken from us too, if God wills it.
But, before ALL other things, we must aim to acquire the unconditional spiritual (Agape) Love of Jesus first, because this is our ONLY means of truly Witnessing God the Father to the world. Because God the Father IS unconditional spiritual Agape Love, it is His primary defining characteristic and this Love is entirely unavailable in mankind and, yet, all of mankind has a thirst that is only satisfied by this Perfect and Spiritual Love!