by Matthew Borgstrom | May 1, 2022 | Uncategorized
The portrait of Christ put forth in the Gospel of John does not allow for any middle ground with Jesus—either he is all that he said he is or he is nothing that he said he is, including the Savior of the world. We don’t get to choose what version of Christ we want to...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Apr 22, 2022 | Uncategorized
When the end of the age comes, how exactly will Christians and churches, and namely leaders of those churches, be assessed by the Lord Jesus Christ in terms of their faithfulness? A clear answer is that Christ’s assessment of our lives will be based on faithfulness to...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Apr 15, 2022 | Uncategorized
In Mark 4:35-41, Jesus is not rebuking the disciples for being human, rather he’s rebuking them for what they conclude about their situation—“We are experiencing the consequences of this storm; therefore, Jesus must not be able to defeat it or he doesn’t care about...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Apr 8, 2022 | Uncategorized
When true faith is present, demands will not be made of Christ, even if those demands are made under the guise of extraordinary faith—“We’re just trusting in the Lord for this to happen…” That sounds good, but what exactly are you trusting in? What specific promise or...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Apr 1, 2022 | Uncategorized
As we look at John 4:38, we find a crucial teaching to remain humble in our disciple making efforts, whether that’s evangelizing the lost or helping fellow believers become more Christlike. In the lives of those we know, others have probably gone before us in planting...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Mar 25, 2022 | Uncategorized
As has been revealed beginning in John 3, to be transformed from a worshipper of self into a worshipper of God takes an act of supernatural grace. To be a worshipper of God is not the natural default outcome of anyone’s life. And to be ever more humbled, consider how...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Mar 25, 2022 | Uncategorized
By the conclusion of John 4:18, Jesus has made it apparent that by not seeking the living water that only God can supply, the Samaritan woman has sought after vastly deficient sources to quench her thirst in life. That being said, we might be tempted to condemn this...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Mar 11, 2022 | Uncategorized
John wraps up this remarkable third chapter of his gospel by highlighting the superiority of the Son’s testimony and the consequences of receiving or rejecting that testimony. This means that no one can ever say that Jesus is merely a good option in which to place...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Mar 4, 2022 | Uncategorized
The beginning of Eph. 5 begins with a lofty call to imitate God. However, as soon as we hear this call to imitate God, how does our flesh want to strongly object?—“But we aren’t God, we are sinful, weak humans. Therefore, that’s an unfair standard to place upon us.”...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Feb 25, 2022 | Uncategorized
In light of what the Apostle Paul commands in Eph. 4:32, here are some questions to see where we are at with regards to exemplifying compassion: Generally speaking, are you able to enter in to another person’s plight even if their circumstances are the direct result...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Feb 17, 2022 | Uncategorized
The parable in Luke 7:41-42 encapsulates a principle even understood in the world, which is the greater the mercy shown, the greater the love should be given to the one showing mercy. Therefore, virtually every human being could come up with the right answer to...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Feb 11, 2022 | Uncategorized
Up to this point in the Gospel of John, John the Baptist has consistently been pointing others to the Messiah, the Lamb of God–Jesus Christ. However, what sticks out in John 3:27-30 is that John is not only one who understands it’s his entire purpose in life to...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Feb 3, 2022 | Uncategorized
John 3:19-20 contains another antithetical teaching from John, in that if someone loves the darkness, the one will, by default, hate the Light. There is no mixing of the two; in order to have one, the other has to be eliminated. And it follows that whatever one hates,...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 26, 2022 | Uncategorized
Because God is love, John 3:16 teaches that he has a love for the world and that love manifested itself in the giving of the Son for the world. Now it is imperative we keep in mind that his love is not the least bit based on a positive or lovable perception of the...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 21, 2022 | Uncategorized
Amidst a discussion with Nicodemus in John 3:9-15, Jesus unveils that while he left the realm of heaven during his incarnation, he never left the state of having direct communication and fellowship with the Father. This is truly remarkable! All that being said, think...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 14, 2022 | Uncategorized
Last week, we concluded John 2 and discovered that Jesus was never going to be duped by spurious faith because has complete knowledge of what is in man, namely man’s natural state of spiritual deadness that is in bondage to the sinful nature and causes him to be...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Jan 6, 2022 | Uncategorized
In the end, based on the truths of John 2:24-25, Christ knows exactly why every single person gathers with the church, whether with pure or mixed motives. Christ will not entrust himself to one who is pursuing an affiliation with his church as a means of...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 22, 2021 | Uncategorized
In John 2:20, the Jews ask Jesus a follow up question that proves they are far from discerning what Jesus was saying and that is because even the components of the redemptive plan of God are folly to the natural mind. Paul taught this exact truth in 1 Cor. 1:22 For...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 15, 2021 | Uncategorized
The Scripture from Ps. 69, which is quoted in John 2:17 about Jesus Christ says that Zeal for your house will consume me. The zeal Jesus had for the Father’s glory led him to testify to this to the Jews gathered at the temple in John 7:18 He who speaks from himself...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Dec 3, 2021 | Uncategorized
Jesus’ mighty display of provision at the wedding feast in John 2 should greatly assist us in our understanding that we are completely helpless as it relates to fulfilling our greatest need. What was anyone at the wedding going to be able to do about the absence...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 27, 2021 | Uncategorized
John 1:38 records that Jesus turned to acknowledge the 2 followers trailing behind him and asks a question to them—Not who, but what do you seek? What an incredible question! We are going to see a lot of self-centered reasons for following Christ in this gospel and...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 18, 2021 | Uncategorized
Here is a summary of the significance of John the Baptist’s declaration in John 1:29—while there may have been many lambs used for sacrifices, only God’s lamb would provide the necessary and permanent atonement for sin. No wonder it’s recorded that sinners receive...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 10, 2021 | Uncategorized
In John 1:19-28, we have seen one who is determined to make sure no one thinks of him more highly than he truly is. This is because, even though he had a very significant ministry, he was not given a named role. He merely considered himself a voice crying out in the...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Nov 5, 2021 | Uncategorized
In John 1:15-18, we have seen Jesus Christ introduced as the One who is before all things; the One who has fullness of grace and truth and the One who brought forth the most complete revelation of God ever given. Despite that, we often adopt alternate focal points of...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 26, 2021 | Uncategorized
When John writes in 1:14 that God’s glory was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, he describes that glory to be full of grace and truth. Grace is undeserved kindness and truth isn’t merely pointing to the content of what Jesus said, namely that it was void of that...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 14, 2021 | Uncategorized
So here is how we should be processing John 1:12-13: 1) Stunned by grace and 2) understanding of rejection. 1) Stunned by grace—If you are in Christ, that means you have received Christ by believing in his name and if you received Christ, it was God’s will for you to...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Oct 7, 2021 | Uncategorized
The end of John 1:4 further explains the life in the beginning part of the verse, in that it was the light of man or light possessed by or given to man. This too, can easily refer to the sustenance of human life, which Leon Morris brings forth when he said:...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Sep 27, 2021 | Uncategorized
In John 6, Jesus exposes the motives of the crowds who were seeking him, namely because he miraculously provided food for them the day before in the feeding of the 5,000. In v.26, Jesus says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Sep 21, 2021 | Uncategorized
According to Heb. 13:17, submission to leaders is necessary because they have a God-given responsibility and a God-examined accountability. Their responsibility is to keep watch over souls. The leaders of a church, who have been verified as possessing the biblical...
by Matthew Borgstrom | Sep 13, 2021 | Uncategorized
Whenever we talk about biblical love, by definition, there’s always a sacrifice involved. What kind of sacrifice is entailed with regards to the gathering of the body of Christ? There are at least 3 of them: 1) The sacrifice of preparation–It takes significant...
