Teachings About How Believers Should Relate to the Trinity of God and How Believers Should Respond to Temptations and Challenges of Life

Introduction

Continuation from “The Teachings of the Lord Jesus.”

The Bible teaches us in Proverbs 1:7 that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; But the foolish despise wisdom and instruction,” and in Proverbs 9:10 that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” First, we should ask ourselves who is the Lord, and second, why should we fear the Lord? Our Lord is the Trinity of God, God the Father, God the Son, Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit, and the Trinity of God is One from eternity. The Lord Jesus Christ as the pre-incarnate Word is God of all creation as He is God in the Trinity of God (John 1:1-4, Colossians 1:15). God the Father has sent His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus as the light of the world, “who was born, not out of blood, nor out of the will of the flesh, nor out of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). And in John 1:14, we are told, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth,” meaning that from the first breath of life that the beloved Son of God has taken on this earth, His glory has shown to all humans: the glory from the Father Himself; the glory from the Father Himself has come down with the beloved Son as well, all humans can see through His grace and the truth that He is teaching to all humans: all His teaching is the truth of life and every human should take it seriously; the Bible is the Word of life for all. The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus is the only way to God the Father and the Trinity of God; every human on this earth can go to God the Father and the Trinity of God only through the Lord Jesus (John 14:6).

One might say, “why should I fear or revere the Lord God Almighty?” All humans should consider the creation around them as a testimony of the existence of the Trinity of God and that all things, seen and unseen, have a Creator, and we can relate to the Creator of all things only through the Lord Jesus Christ. All should remember that the Lord God Almighty is the Creator of all things, seen and unseen, and that the life of humans does not end here on this earth when we die (read our article: Body, Soul, and Spirit: A Biblical Perspective). Therefore, the Creator of all things (the Trinity of God) deserves our worship, so come and glorify the Creator through the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel of Luke 12:4-7, the Lord Jesus teaching the disciples and the multitudes teaches us all whom we should revere and fear, and why, saying, “Now I say to you My friends, Be not afraid of those that kill the body, and after this are not able anything more to do. But I will warn you whom you shall revere: Revere Him, who after having killed has authority to cast into the hell; yes, I say to you, Revere Him. Contrariwise, even the hairs of your head have been all counted. Fear not, you are more valuable than many sparrows.” Also, in the Gospel of Matthew 10:27, the Lord Jesus says: “And you should not be afraid of those killing the body, but are not able to kill the soul; however, rather fear Him being able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

When the Lord Jesus says, “those killing the body,” it refers to the ones who are against those who believe in the Lord Jesus. There are many like these around us, and many come among us. Be aware of those who are among you and pretend to be like you, but they are not. Those are the real enemies of the true believers in the Lord Jesus; watch out for them; some are church leaders. Also, the Lord Jesus teaches us all that there is a life after this earth and our souls do not just vanish but will end up either in heaven or hell. We must fear God, who has the power to “destroy both the soul and body in hell.” We should know that the Three in One is the Father, the Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit and that all have the power to destroy the soul, but only the Father has the authority to command the soul to be destroyed. Therefore, all should revere the Trinity of God through the Lord Jesus, the Son of God.

The Word of God tells all that the Lord God Almighty knows all things, and we live and move in Him (Acts 17:28), and God cares for us all and wants us all to know that we are valuable in His eyes, and He loves humans to the point that He sent His beloved Son to die for us and show us the way to be saved (1 John 4:9-10). If one “shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love; and he that abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. Herein, love is made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, even so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment; and the one that fears is not made perfect in love. We love, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:15-19). Therefore, if we love the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, from all our hearts and confess Him as the Lord of our lives, we love the Trinity of God, and we relate to the Trinity of God and God the Father with love, and as a result, God will show His love to us and will cast out all our fears; our souls will be safe for eternity with the Lord Jesus.

All believers must understand how they can relate to the Trinity of God, and the Lord Jesus teaches us about this in the Gospels. Also, how we respond to life’s temptations and challenges impacts our relation with the Trinity of God. During our life on earth, we all face temptations and challenges. The tempter is always waiting to use whoever is willing in their fight against God. They will use all those willing to work with them (1 Peter 5:8). All believers should take note that when anyone does work for the Lord God Almighty, the dark side will try to stop them (Acts 5:13-18). However, all believers should also understand that evil spirits cannot do physical work or bodily harm in any case; they can only play with the minds of humans; the Holy Spirit inside a believer protects our minds, hearts, body, spirit, and soul on account of our confession of faith in the Lord Jesus. Therefore, we must constantly pray and guard our minds and hearts, “and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

The Gospels contain many teachings about how believers should relate to the Trinity of God and respond to temptations and challenges of life. We group these teachings into six themes, as given below.

The Father sent His beloved Son to save the world, respect God’s authority.
The Father cares for humans and sends His servants to point to whom they should follow.
The Father is merciful, and He waits for all to repent and come to Him.
Blessed is the faithful servant.
How to respond to temptations.
How to respond to life challenges.

The Presentation of the Teaching Themes

This section describes all the teaching themes by highlighting their essential features. We present a complete list with links to Bible passages in the Gospels that relate to each theme, with a short description of each passage. These links point to our Bible Commentary Forever work, where you will find more helpful comments to understand the Word of God better.

1. The Father Sent His Beloved Son to Save the World, Respect God’s Authority

In John 3:16-17 we read, “For God so loved the world, that He gave the only begotten Son, so that everyone believing in Him may not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send away the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world may be saved through Him.” These verses merit some comments for further understanding.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave the only begotten Son.” As the verse tells all humans, because of love for His creation, the Father has given His only begotten Son to come down and be born as a human, and this is the true proof of the love the Father has. Even though the verse says “the world,” the love here has meaning from the Father for humans because the Father Himself has given His beloved Son to come down and be born as a human to save all humans.

“So that everyone believing in Him …” This part of the verse itself is a promise from the Father, that everyone who believes and trusts in the beloved Son of God will have eternal life with Him at the end.

“…but that the world may be saved through Him.” The world will be saved through the beloved Son of God; the world will also be judged fairly by the beloved Son of God Himself.

After the coming of the Son of God into the world, the Bible tells us that humans can relate to God the Father and the Trinity of God only through the beloved Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man (John 14:6). The Lord Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man and God of the Trinity of God; He is One with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit (read our article: The Trinity of God). The Gospels tell us how the Lord Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man at the same time; specifically, the Holy Spirit conceived the baby Jesus in the Virgin Mary’s womb. The Holy Spirit dwelt in the egg of Mary to make the egg conceive — God to be a Man (Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-20).

The Old Testament prophets have seen and announced the coming of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, into the world as the Savior of the world (John 8:56-59). The Lord Jesus, after His resurrection and ascension to the Father, has sent the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit, who testifies about the work of the Son of God to the whole world (Luke 24:49, John 15:26, 1 John 5:6-8, Acts 1:8). Therefore, we can only understand the Bible and relate correctly to the Trinity of God through the Holy Spirit and by believing and confessing the Lord Jesus as the Son of God and the Son of Man, and God of the Trinity (read our article: The Lord Jesus: the Son of God and the Son of Man).

The Father sent the Son to the world to show His love to humans and bring the humans back to Him through His Son; He didn’t send the Son to be a human so humans can impersonate or make images of His Son in any form or shape and lower Him down to some sort of idol (read our article: Who is Your God?). Specifically, in 1 John 5:21, the Holy Spirit, speaking through the apostle John, urges us all to guard ourselves from idols; therefore, we need to respect the Trinity of God and honor all the persons in the Trinity of God by guarding ourselves from idols. No person should worship idols of any kind, and no person should make images of any person of the Trinity of God, including the Lord Jesus. We must glorify the Father and worship the Trinity of God in spirit and in truth and in the name of the Lord Jesus, the beloved Son of God (John 4:24). By honoring the Lord Jesus, we honor the Father and the Trinity of God. The Father has given all judgment to His Son, Jesus Christ; so, honor the Son as you honor the Father; the Son gives eternal life to all that come to Him (John 5:22-27). We all must believe that the Lord Jesus is God of the Trinity and He is “the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only has immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable; whom no man has seen, nor can see; to whom be honor and power eternal” as written in 1 Timothy 6:15-16, and only through Him we can gain eternal life.

The Father has sent the Son into the world to save the world, but the world mistreated the Son of God and put Him on the Roman cross to die. While on earth, the Lord Jesus debated with the Jews, giving many parables that tell about His suffering and mistreatment coming from the humans He created. God cannot die, so the Lord Jesus, after He was crucified, was buried, rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended to heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of the Father, meaning He has full authority and power as the Father (Luke 24:36-53, Acts 1:9-18). God the Father has exalted the Son above all powers and authorities so all people can be saved by faith in His name (John 3:14-15). Let us humbly come to the foot of the cross of Calvary, glorify the name of the Lord Jesus, and give Him the praise and honor He richly deserves.

Below, we highlight all the Gospel passages that we group under this theme; we also provide hyperlinks to our Bible Commentary Forever (BCF for short), where you will find more comments and explanations.

BCF Links in the Gospel of Matthew: Matthew 20:20-23 (The mother of Zebedee’s sons comes to the Lord Jesus, worshiping and asking for a favor for her sons; the Father has full authority in all things: respect God’s authority); Matthew 21:37-41 (The parable of the master of a house and the farmers: the Father sent His beloved Son to save the world, but His people, with the hand of the outsiders, have killed God’s Son on a cross; now, the Holy Spirit will administer the leadership to whoever He pleases, to the ones who are worthy to do the work, not based on looks but on the heart).

BCF Links in the Gospel of Mark: Mark 10:35-40 (The sons of Zebedee, James and John, come to the Lord Jesus asking for a favor; the Father has full authority in all things: respect God’s authority); Mark 12:6-9 (The parable of a man who planted a vineyard and rented it to the farmers: the Father sent His beloved Son to save the world, but His people, with the hand of the outsiders, have killed God’s Son on a cross; now, the Holy Spirit will administer the leadership to whoever He pleases, to the ones who are worthy to do the work, not based on looks but on the heart).

BCF Links in the Gospel of Luke: Luke 20:13-18 (The parable of a man who planted a vineyard and rented it to the farmers: the Father sent His beloved Son to save the world, but His people, with the hand of the outsiders, have killed God’s Son on a cross; now, the Holy Spirit will administer the leadership to whoever He pleases, to the ones who are worthy to do the work, not based on looks but on the heart).

BCF Links in the Gospel of John: John 3:14-15 (The Father exalted the beloved Son of God not only for hope alone but also for people to be saved; the most important thing in life for humans on this earth to be saved is to believe and trust in the beloved Son of God; only through Him can we have eternal life); John 3:16-17 (Here is a promise from the Father: everyone who believes and trusts in the beloved Son of God will have eternal life with Him at the end; the world will be saved through the beloved Son of God, and the world will also be judged fairly by the beloved Son of God Himself); John 5:22-27 (The Father has given all judgment to His Son, Jesus Christ; honor the Son as you honor the Father; the Son has eternal life to give to all that come to Him); John 7:39 (Everyone who believes in the beloved Son of God will receive His Spirit, who will convince the heart to obey His teaching; all who obey and believe will receive the Spirit of the beloved Son of God); John 10:7-15 (The Lord Jesus is the good shepherd who laid down His life for all the world; He is the door of the sheep, and whoever enters through Him will be saved); John 14:1-4 (The Lord Jesus prepares a place in His Father’s house for all those who believe in Him; He will return to receive His own); John 14:13-18 (The Father is glorified on earth in His beloved Son, and only through the Son, Jesus Christ, can we reach the Father and receive the Holy Spirit); John 16:5-11 (The Son came from the Father to save the world and returned to the Father; being at the Father’s right hand, the Lord Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Him; the Holy Spirit, having come, convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment); John 17:11-17 (The Lord Jesus prays to the Father for His disciples to keep them in the Father’s way and from evil); John 17:25-26 (The true disciples know that the Lord Jesus comes from the Father).

2. The Father Cares for Humans and Sends His Servants to Point to Whom They Should Follow

God the Father has sent many prophets throughout the Old Testament time to call His people back to Him and show them the way to be saved. In the Gospels, the Lord Jesus talks in many parables about the servants of the Lord coming to earth to His chosen people to show the way. In this theme, we will focus on one particular parable from Matthew 21:33-36, the parable of the master of the house and the farmers. In this parable, the Lord Jesus says:

“There was a man, a master of a house, who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to farmers, and traveled abroad. Then when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruits. And the farmers having taken his servants, indeed they beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first, and they did to them in like manner.” It is important to fully understand the meaning of this parable for the purpose of this theme. Below, we explain this parable that the Lord Jesus gave to all humans.

“Master” refers to the Father; “house” refers to the seen and the unseen world; “who planted a vineyard” refers to the place to be for God’s people, the Jews, and the chosen ones; “set a hedge around it” means that the Lord put the guide and protection for His people; imagine the Holy Spirit covering them with His wings; that is the fence for His people; even today, all His children have a seal in their hearts to link with the Holy Spirit, and the wing of the Holy Spirit extends to that person; “dug a winepress in it” refers to the procedure (the call from the Lord) to separate the election among His children, the election of who has specific duties in life to do for the Lord; “built a tower” refers to the Word of God, all the regulations and the rules that have been written, and the Lord Jesus coming to point out the rule for all His chosen ones to follow that rule. Through the Lord Jesus, all have the same rule, and nobody can say, “I know the Lord more than another.” All will know Him because of the same rule; “rented it out to farmers” means that everything, the vineyard, the winepress, and the tower, has been leased; “farmers” refers to the Jews and the chosen ones; “traveled abroad” refers to the Father.

“When the season of the fruit drew near” refers to the times when the “farmers” make mistakes, and they need to repent; “his servants” are the election that went through the winepress; “to receive his fruit” refers to receiving the ones who repent and glorify the Lord in their hearts, the ones who come to the point of feeling sorry and want to restart again with the Lord.

The Lord sends His angel to the chosen ones (His servants) to give the message; those then go to the farmers (the Jews and the chosen ones), and they have been mistreated. These verses talk about what the humans did to the Lord’s servants. The Lord sent His servants to serve the humans, but they killed some, beat some, and stoned some, but the Lord never gives up; He keeps sending more of His servants. The Father’s love is greater than His anger.

Ultimately, before sending His Son into the world, God the Father sent His special messenger, John the Baptist, to give the baptism in water to humans for the repentance of sins and to prepare the way for the coming of God’s beloved Son, Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:1-12). In the Gospel of John 1:6-9, we read, “There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, that he might testify concerning the Light, that all might believe on account of him. That one was not the Light but came in order that he might testify concerning the Light.” This passage tells all humans that John is a witness to the Lord. John is a witness to the true Light, which is the most important thing, and we are also told of his duty. John, the man that the Lord used to be as a witness; all humans should look and think of the way of his faith; the way he lived may not fit all people, but the way of his heart and his faith all humans can look to as an example. Furthermore, the passage tells us that the beloved Son of God Himself exists from the beginning, from before the earth was created, and with the mercy of the Father, the true Light has come, not to be just the Light of the earth, but to be the true way for all humans to go to worship the Father in heaven; come to that Light for being saved. The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, is the true Light that came to give life to all that believe in His name (John 1:10-14).

In Luke 1:17, the Word of God tells us that John the Baptist came in the power of the old-time prophet Elijah to show the way to be saved and make ready for the Lord a people for Him. Elijah is a prophet of the Lord from the Old Testament time. To put two servants of the Lord in parallel, John and Elijah, here they are compared to the spirit and power. The difference between these two was that John would tell people about the beloved Son of God, and Elijah talked to people about the power of the Father. Sadly, as happened to many of the Lord’s servants, the people put John the Baptist to death, and sadly, they have also put to death the Son of God Himself, the Lord Jesus, by hanging Him on a Roman cross (Matthew 17:11-13). However, the God Most High has exalted His beloved Son by raising the beloved Son up from the dead, whom His own children have crucified on the cross; but the beloved Son of God is also God Almighty, so He cannot die; He is alive and has been raised from the grave (Luke 24:36-53, Acts 5:30-32). Meditating on this theme, we should believe the Word of God and listen to the work of all God’s holy servants; they all point to the coming of the Lord Jesus; therefore, come to the foot of the cross of the Lord Jesus, repent from all our sins, listen to the teaching of the Lord Jesus, and follow Him as our Lord and Savior.

BCF Links in the Gospel of Matthew: Matthew 21:23-27 (The Lord Jesus confirms to the Jews that John the Baptist was the messenger of the Lord, and he followed the Lord’s commandment to give the water baptism for the repentance of sins); Matthew 21:28-32 (The parable of a man and two sons: the Father sends His servants to the people to show the way; each person’s response to the Father’s call will determine where each one will go); Matthew 21:33-36 (The parable of the master of a house and the farmers: the Lord sends His servants to call people to repent and turn to the Lord, but they beat some, stone some, and kill some); Matthew 22:1-10 (The parable of a king who gave a wedding feast for his son: from the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion until His second coming to earth, humans are called to follow Him; the Father sends servants to testify about salvation through His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus).

BCF Links in the Gospel of Mark: Mark 11:27-33 (The Lord Jesus confirms to the Jews that John the Baptist was the messenger of the Lord, and he followed the Lord’s commandment to give the water baptism for the repentance of sins); Mark 12:1-5 (The parable of a man who planted a vineyard and rented it to the farmers: the Lord sends His servants to call people to repent and turn to the Lord, but they beat some, and kill some);

BCF Links in the Gospel of Luke: Luke 14:15-24 (The parable of the great dinner: The Lord sends His servants at dinner time to invite many to His Son’s wedding feast; dinner time is the time from the Lord Jesus’s crucifixion until His second coming on earth); Luke 20:1-8 (The Lord Jesus confirms to the Jews that John the Baptist was the messenger of the Lord, and he followed the Lord’s commandment to give the water baptism for the repentance of sins); Luke 20:9-12 (The parable of a man who planted a vineyard and rented it to the farmers: the Lord sends His servants to call people to repent and turn to the Lord, but they beat some, and dishonor some).

BCF Links in the Gospel of John: none.

3. The Father Is Merciful, and He Waits for All to Repent and Come to Him

In 2 Chronicles 7:14, the Scripture tells us, “If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” The Trinity of God (God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit) is waiting not only for the Jewish people to pray and humble to Him, but He is waiting for all of us to turn from our wicked ways and repent and ask forgiveness in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son, whom God the Father sent to the earth to die for our sins and give salvation and eternal life to the world. In Acts 5:31, the Scripture tells us that, “Him, God exalted as Prince and Savior by His right hand, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins,” meaning that the Lord God Almighty has exalted His beloved Son above all; the right hand of God the Father belongs to His beloved Son only; when sitting at the right hand of the Father, the Son will also have all authority of judgment as well. Now the Father has exalted His Son above all things, the beloved Son of God has the authority to give life to all He wills. And when the verse says, “to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins,” it tells us that the Trinity of God gives a chance to all humans, not only to His children alone. If all have a humble heart and a repenting spirit, forgiveness will be given to that soul. The forgiveness of sins will come after the repentance of the spirit. Those who put themselves higher than all, and have no humbleness, and are not willing to repent will be punished for eternity.

Moreover, Psalm 103:8 says, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness.” The Lord Jesus Christ is the true mercy, grace, and love of the Father to the human race, as John 3:16 tells all: “For God so loved the world, that He gave the only begotten Son, so that everyone believing in Him may not perish, but have eternal life.” All humans, regardless of race, color, shape, and language, are welcome in God’s Son’s kingdom. All should know that there is no other way for anyone to get eternal life if not through the Lord Jesus, the beloved Son of God, who died on the cross and was buried and rose on the third day. He is the One who is now exalted by God the Father to be at the Father’s right hand.

Many Bible passages talk about the Father’s mercy and love for all humans. This section highlights two Gospel passages most relevant to this topic: Luke 15:20-32 (the parable of a man and his two sons) and John 14:22-25 (come to the Father through the Lord Jesus). We will comment here in this theme on one particular verse from John 14:23, which says, “Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make a home with him.”

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” So, as the verse clearly tells, if you love the beloved Son of God, you will keep His teachings in your heart; but, when you keep His word, you must also read and meditate on the Holy Bible; the Holy Bible has all the teachings, and those teachings will make your heart ready to receive Him as well.

“And My Father will love him.” Give attention to what the verse has said to all true believers. The beloved Son of God has told all that the Father Himself will love you because you love the beloved Son of God. And this is the way the Father shows love to anyone: when that person meditates on the Holy Word, that person will realize the peace in their heart, and during that time, within the heart, they will have great joy because the Father Himself also is happy with that soul. The root of all happiness for the soul is the Holy Word of God.

“And We will come to him.” Give attention to the word “We”; this refers to the Trinity of God, and at the same time, the Spirit of the beloved Son of God will also be there.

“And will make a home with him.” When the heart of a true believer becomes home for the Lord, that heart of the blessed one will receive the greatest joy of life, which will also make the faith grow. The home is the place where God will dwell and also will make that home the proper place for receiving all praising of the soul; the request the soul will ask for the Lord to dwell in will receive the answer, and deep in the heart of true believers, it will acknowledge the answer they have received, which they can feel by the soul, not by the feeling of the head itself; that feeling will be deep down until the person cannot tell where that happiness comes from. Therefore, to decorate the heart to be the home of the Lord, all believers should put the praises in the heart which glorify the Trinity of God; the words used for glorifying the Trinity of God will decorate the heart of the soul itself for the Lord.

This is the greatest mercy that can be shown to a human heart: that the Father and the Son Jesus come and dwell in it.

Below, we highlight two Gospel passages that we group under this theme; we also provide hyperlinks to our Bible Commentary Forever (BCF for short), where you will find more comments and explanations.

BCF Links in the Gospel of Matthew: none.

BCF Links in the Gospel of Mark: none.

BCF Links in the Gospel of Luke: Luke 15:20 (The parable of a man and two sons: the father has pity on his son as he sees him returning home); Luke 15:21-23 (The parable of a man and two sons: the son asks forgiveness, and the father is happy to receive him back; the father cares for his son and celebrates); Luke 15:24 (The parable of a man and two sons: the father gladly forgives his son, saying, “for this my son was dead and is alive again; was lost, and is found”); Luke 15:25-28 (The parable of a man and two sons: the father loves both sons; the older son is discontent and angry that the father celebrates the return of his lost son, but the father encourages him); Luke 15:29-32 (The parable of a man and two sons: the Lord God loves all and He allows everyone to use all His created things without payment).

BCF Links in the Gospel of John: John 14:22-25 (Love the Lord Jesus, keep His word, and the Father will love us, and the Father and the Lord Jesus will come to make a home with us).

4. Blessed Is the Faithful Servant

As followers of the Lord Jesus, we must keep faith on this earth until the end of our lives, and only then will we have eternal life in heaven with the Lord Jesus in His kingdom. In the Gospel of Matthew 24:13, the Lord Jesus tells us that “the one having endured to the end, this will be saved,” and in John 6:40, the Lord Jesus tells us, “For this is the will of My Father, in order that everyone beholding the Son, and believing in Him, should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” These verses tell us all that we must be faithful followers (servants) of the Lord Jesus until the end of our lives, and when the end time comes, we will be raised up to life again and be part of the Lord Jesus’ kingdom. The Lord Jesus tells us in the Gospels that we must follow Him from our hearts and we must be faithful servants by doing the Lord’s will all the days of our lives; all believers must testify to the Word of God and what the Lord Jesus did for the world, specifically, that He came to the earth to show the way and bring salvation to all humans: He died on the cross, was buried and on the third day He rose again and now is seated at the right hand of the Father, meaning that He has full power and authority as the Father has.

Our faith in the Lord Jesus must be a testimony to all whom the Lord brings into our path, but we first must have the fundamentals of our faith in the Lord Jesus strengthened to be able to share the truth of the Gospel and be faithful servants. We encourage all reading this blog to check our core faith statements and meditate on the Word of God to understand who the Lord Jesus is and what He did for the world before they go out and share with other people (BCFM Core Faith). In the Gospel of Matthew 24:45-51, the Lord Jesus tells the parable of the faithful and wise servant. In this parable, the Lord Jesus blesses the faithful and wise servant but admonishes the evil servant. The faithful is the person who is willing at all costs to follow, and the servant is the person that the Lord has called for certain duties. There are many duties in the kingdom of God; the Lord calls many servants. The wise is the one that gets certain duties that need the wisdom to be done.

We, as the servants of the Lord Jesus, must look daily upon our Master and Lord and pray for guidance and protection; we need to pray at all times to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus to be refilled with the Holy Spirit to be able to hear the voice of our Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and do His will so we will be called faithful and wise servants. We must understand that as servants of the Lord Jesus, we will face many challenges, but if we stay firm in faith, He is faithful to us, and He will be our strength, guide, and support, and He will never fail us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). In the Gospel of John 15:18-23, the Lord Jesus tells all that the servant is not greater than their master. Specifically, in John 15:23, the Lord Jesus says, “The one that hates Me, hates My Father also.” The verse tells all believers the truth because there is no difference between the Father and the Son: they are One. If you have listened to the Son, you have listened to the Father as well; when you do not believe in the Son, you also have not believed in the Father who sent Him. In this verse, most people concentrate on the word hate, but hate here is not the feeling of dislike or detestation but refers to not accepting. His people did not accept His teaching when He told them where He was coming from.

Think this way as well: what are the reasons people hate God? Humans have no reason to hate God, but they do have reason to hate the beloved Son of God because He has come down and taken the form of a human; the weakness of being human, God has tasted, and because of that, humans cannot accept that now God knows all the weaknesses of humans because the Father has sent the beloved Son to be human, and use that human nature in condemning the human mistakes; however, this is not the true purpose that the beloved Son of God has come down to be human. He came down in order to save humans. The beloved Son of God in human form knows how much humans can take of suffering, and when He has returned to the Father, that knowledge as human will save the human souls in the end. Therefore, when they have reason to hate the Son, they also hate the Father at the same time, and for that same reason, they hate both the Father and the Son. Humans put the meaning on the word hate, but does anyone think what hate means for the Lord? Hate for the Lord is nothing like humans understand hate; by not accepting the authority of God, that is hate as well; if you do not accept His authority, you have hated your Master.

We know that the world hates us on account of our testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, but we must endure until the end, and we must be faithful servants worthy of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. The world might shame us or even order us to stop teaching in the name of the Lord Jesus, as the Jews did to the apostle in the book of Acts 4:17-18, and Acts 5:27-28, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, we must be bold like Peter and say, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

Below, we highlight two Gospel passages that we group under this theme; we also provide hyperlinks to our Bible Commentary Forever (BCF for short), where you will find more comments and explanations.

BCF Links in the Gospel of Matthew: Matthew 24:45-51 (The parable of the faithful and wise servant: the faithful is the person who is willing at all costs to follow the Lord, and the servant is the person that the Lord has called for certain duties).

BCF Links in the Gospel of Mark: none.

BCF Links in the Gospel of Luke: none.

BCF Links in the Gospel of John: John 15:18-23 (A servant is not greater than his master; believers must do their duty and share the Lord Jesus with those they meet, regardless of any persecution they might face).

5. How to Respond to Temptations

The book of Genesis tells us that the Trinity of God is the Creator of all the worlds, first the unseen world and then the seen world. God created all spiritual beings, and He gave them all free will. So, among the spiritual beings, there has arisen an enemy of God, the adversary, the evil one, the prince of the air, the tempter (Ephesians 2:2) who is out there in the spiritual world fighting God Almighty. He is a created being and has no power over God Almighty, but he tries to fight God in all ways possible. The Trinity of God created the heavens and the earth. Then He created the man Adam and then the woman Eve, and blessed them to multiply, so from them, all humans have been procreated (Genesis 2:4-3:24). The Lord God created humans for His pleasure and because of His love for His beloved Son, Jesus Christ (Revelation 4:11). God Almighty also gave all humans free will to choose their way. And, because of God’s love for humans, the tempter was out there from the beginning of human existence, since Adam and Eve, to trick them into following him and disobeying their Creator, the Trinity of God (Genesis 3:1).

The serpent (the tempter) of Genesis 3:1 is not like the serpent nowadays. The serpent that the first humans faced was a spiritual serpent, which is why the serpent could trick humans. Since the creation of humans, the tempter continuously fights God by using humans. But from the beginning, the Lord God tells all humans to do well, and we can rule over the evil ones, and they will flee from us, saying, “If you do well, shall it not be lifted up? And if you do not well, sin crouches at the door; and to you shall be its desire; but you do rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). The Holy Spirit speaking through Peter warns all believers, saying, “Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour, whom withstand steadfast in your faith, knowing that the same sufferings are accomplished in your brethren who are in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9); but further on in James 4:7-8, the Holy Spirit advises us, saying, “Be subject therefore to God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you doubleminded.”

As followers of the Lord Jesus, we must endure until the end, resist the evil ones, repent from all our sins, and always follow our Lord and Savior in all things. The Lord Jesus Himself, the Son of God and the Son of Man, the only sinless Man that ever lived on this earth (1 Peter 1:18-20), was Himself tempted after His water baptism and His Holy Spirit baptism. We read in the Gospels that the Lord Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led in the wilderness by the Spirit for forty days, fasting, where He was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 4:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13). Temptation comes to everyone, and the Lord Jesus is one hundred percent human. The Lord Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted as every human would be, so He is an example for us of how to overcome temptation. As the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus faced three major temptations: the temptation of the flesh, the temptation of pride, and the temptation of easy life and laziness. Going through these temptations, the Lord shows us the key to fighting temptations: stand firm on the Word of God; “it is written” is His reply to each temptation. For the purpose of this theme, it is beneficial to understand what the Lord Jesus teaches about these temptations; therefore, we will comment below on them.

The temptation of satisfaction of the flesh (Matthew 4:3-4, Luke 4:3-4). This temptation is a big temptation for all humans. When they are hungry, humans can do anything to satisfy their hunger. In response to this temptation, the Lord Jesus tells us that food for the soul is more important than food for the stomach.

The temptation of pride (Matthew 4:5-7, Luke 4:9-12). This temptation is the temptation to prove that you are somebody important, which is a hard temptation for humans. The Lord Jesus teaches that on earth, the Lord Jesus came to obey His Father and do the Father’s will. By not challenging the Lord, you admit that you are the Lord’s servant, and you keep your pride under control.

The temptation of an easy life and laziness (Matthew 4:8-11, Luke 4:5-8). This temptation is also a hard temptation for all humans. In Luke 4:5-8, we are told that the devil showed to the Lord Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and claims that he has power over them. By showing to the Lord of Life and claiming they have authority over all the kingdoms of the world, the devil is daring to claim his authority. However, we should understand that the devil does have authority, but only over those humans who reject the Lord of Life. And on the earth, itself, the devil can cause problems and suffering because, from the beginning, the Lord has given them a certain authority. The devil can break things on earth in the sense of destruction, but they cannot make anything disappear; only God can. The Lord answers the devil by saying, “It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.” The Lord Jesus has told the devil here the true way of salvation. The way of salvation also applies to all the fallen angels that fall by trickery; those angels still have a chance to be saved the same way as the children of humans. These angels relate to those angels before the creation of the world. At that time, the heavenly was occupied with many levels of rulers, and these rulers had a duty to give work to the angels. However, some rulers have betrayed the God Almighty, lifted themselves to be equal to the Creator, and tricked many angels into falling with them. When the Father threw them out of heaven, He also gave them a chance to repent, the same way as the children of man; all still have a chance to be saved.

In Luke 4:13, the Word of God tells us, “And having accomplished every temptation, the devil departed from Him until an opportune time.”

After the devil had tempted the Lord, they left Him, but they went in wait to take time and tempt Him again. This verse also tells all humans that when they have been tempted, it will never be once only; always, the same temptation will come and tempt them again until they have given that temptation to the Lord for help because only the beloved Son of God has already won against all the temptations that the devil has tempted Him.

Therefore, as children of God, we must always be ready in the Word of God, stay firm in the Word of God, and believe that our shield is our faith in the Lord Jesus, who won the victory against the evil one on the cross of Calvary. We are shielded by the blood of Jesus, which is our salvation seal put on our hearts when we go and are baptized in water (see our article: Water Baptism for a Christian).

As children of God, we have the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ in our hearts, and therefore, no spirits of any kind have power over us; there is no greater spiritual power than the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus Christ (1 John 4:4).

Below, we highlight all the Gospel passages that relate to this theme; we encourage all readers to check the hyperlinks to all the Bible passages, where you will also find more comments and explanations we provide in our Bible Commentary Forever (BCF for short) work.

BCF Links in the Gospel of Matthew: Matthew 4:3-4 (The temptation of satisfaction of the flesh: the Lord Jesus teaches that the Word of God is food for the soul and it is more important than food for the stomach); Matthew 4:5-7 (The temptation of pride: the Lord Jesus teaches that we should not test the Lord and must keep our pride under control); Matthew 4:8-11 (The temptation of an easy life and laziness: the Lord Jesus teaches that only through the Lord can we fight evil; we must commit to serving the Lord for all of our lives).

BCF Links in the Gospel of Mark: Mark 1:12-13 (The Lord Jesus walked through temptations for forty days alone in the wilderness; He relied on strength from His Father).

BCF Links in the Gospel of Luke: Luke 4:3-4 (The temptation of satisfaction of the flesh: the Lord Jesus teaches that the Word of God is food for the soul and it is more important than food for the stomach); Luke 4:5-8 (The temptation of an easy life and laziness: the Lord Jesus teaches that only through the Lord can we fight evil; we must commit to serving the Lord for all of our lives); Luke 4:9-12 (The temptation of pride: the Lord Jesus teaches that we should not test the Lord and must keep our pride under control); Luke 4:13 (The beloved Son of God has already won against all the temptations that the devil has tempted Him; we must give all our temptations to the Lord Jesus for help).

BCF Links in the Gospel of John: none.

6. How to Respond to Life Challenges

Life challenges are different than temptations; life challenges are difficult situations we face in our lives; temptations are different than life challenges because temptations come in the weak point of the mind; when the mind is weak, the temptation has power and can influence people if they don’t ask for help from the Lord. Whether rich or poor, we all face life challenges in our earthly lives. Some of us face challenges in life because of poverty, lack of sufficient income, sicknesses in the body or mind, loneliness, or many other conditions. But, whatever our condition might be, we should follow the Holy Spirit’s encouragement given through the apostle Paul in Philippians 4:11-13, saying, “for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound; in everything and in all things, I have learned the secret of both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. I can do all things in Him that strengthens me.”

The Lord Jesus Himself, the Son of God and the Son of Man, faced life challenges on this earth even from His birth; as a family, Joseph and Mary resided in a manger where Mary gave birth to the Son of God, the Lord Jesus (Luke 2:7). Later, Joseph had to take Mary and the Lord Jesus and flee to Egypt to protect the Lord Jesus from the dark attacks of Herod (Matthew 2:13-15). Then, throughout His ministry on earth, the Lord Jesus was hated by the leaders of the Jews, who constantly sought to destroy Him, ultimately managing with the help of the outsiders and the dark to put the Lord Jesus to death on a cruel Roman cross (Matthew 27:32-56, Mark 15:21-41, Luke, 23:26-49, John 19:15-19, Acts 2:23). The Lord Jesus came to earth to do the Father’s will and bring salvation to the whole world (John 6:37-39). So, He continued with His ministry on earth despite knowing that He would be betrayed by one of His own disciples and be mocked, abused, and crucified by His own people. Furthermore, the Gospels show that, regardless of the life challenges He faced during His ministry on earth, the Lord Jesus showed mercy and compassion to all and helped all who came to Him; He taught the multitudes, He healed multitudes physically and spiritually, and fed them when they were hungry.

In the Gospel of Matthew 8:19-22, a scribe and a disciple come to the Lord Jesus considering whether to follow Him, but each one had some earthly life challenges stopping them. The Lord Jesus answers the scribe, saying, “The foxes have dens, and the birds of the heaven nests; but the Son of Man has not where to lay His head,” and to the disciple, saying, “Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” By His answers, the Lord tells all that His true home is not on earth but in the heavens. Following the Lord Jesus means to build treasures in heaven, not on earth. He tells all that the living ones are with the Lord Jesus; He is the giver of life. We must follow Him, and we pass from death unto life; we are not among the dead anymore. Therefore, regardless of our life challenges, we must follow the Lord Jesus all our lives, and we will be with Him in His kingdom forever.

The Lord Jesus teaches us in the Gospels in many places how to respond to life challenges. In this theme, we selected only two passages from the parable of a man and two sons from the Gospel of Luke. Some call this parable the parable of the prodigal son, but we call it the parable of a man and two sons (Luke 15:11) since both sons play a role in this parable. Reading this parable in Luke 15:11-32, the Lord Jesus tells us that the younger son asks his earthly father to give him the part of his earthly inheritance falling to him, but the older son does not ask anything; instead, the older son remains at home with his father. Then, the Lord Jesus tells in the parable that the young son leaves his father and his home and takes a journey into a faraway country where he wastes all his inheritance and faces many life challenges before he decides to return home to his father and asks him to forgive him and help him. We will comment below on the passage in Luke 15:17-19, where the Lord Jesus teaches us how to respond to our life challenges.

Luke 15:17: “But having come to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father have an abundance of bread, but I am perishing here with hunger!”

“But having come to himself.” The Lord wants to tell everyone: when you come to yourself is when you realize that you yourself cannot make it alone. But you have someone who loves you and will give you according to your needs, regardless of whether they are earthly or spiritual; come to that One. God Almighty is the merciful One who will help you when you repent and come to ask for His mercy.

“How many hired servants of my father …” As this portion of the verse has told us, all Christians should think again. When you come to the Lord with faith, do not look at what someone else has, but go back to your God who has all of your needs, and you will have some left over. Don’t be proud of yourself; come back home to the Lord, your true Father.

Luke 15:18: “I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, Father, I have sinned to heaven, and before you;”

This verse tells us clearly that this son came to himself now and admitted his sin against his father, as all humans should do: admit your sins, ask for forgiveness, and believe that your God is merciful and that He will forgive you of all your sins if you repent.

“Sinned to heaven.” In this place, the saying “sinned to heaven” means sinned against the will of the Father. When God created humans, the children must obey their parents, and here, in this parable, the son did not obey his father. So, here it talks about children and parents who are believers. When saying, “sinned to heaven,” the person fights with God; when the person sins against heaven, that person intends to fight against the Father Himself.

Luke 15:19: “I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your servants.”

This verse is the heart of this parable: to see yourself as not worthy, but still wanting to serve the Lord God Almighty. To be a servant of the Lord, that is what the heart of all believers should want, not just enjoying God’s creation, but feeling yourself as God’s servant and doing according to His will. A servant will wait for the master’s order; you as a Christian should as well, wait upon the Lord’s mercy and wishes.

While on this earth, we all must honor our heavenly Father, be content with what the Lord provides for us, work hard to do whatever our hands can find to do, and provide for our needs and our family’s needs (Ecclesiastes 9:10, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15). Most importantly, we must be the Lord Jesus’ servants, a true light to those we meet, show love to all, and help others (Matthew 5:14-16).

Below, we highlight two important Bible passages that relate to this theme; you can follow the hyperlinks provided to find more comments and explanations, which we provide in the Bible Commentary Forever (BCF for short) work.

BCF Links in the Gospel of Matthew: none.

BCF Links in the Gospel of Mark: none.

BCF Links in the Gospel of Luke: Luke 15:11-16 (The parable of a man and two sons: honor your father and be content with what the Lord provides; do not waste the blessings that the Lord provides; work for a living); Luke 15:17-19 (The parable of a man and two sons: acknowledge your mistakes; repent and ask forgiveness from God and those you hurt; be humble);

BCF Links in the Gospel of John: none.

Conclusions

In conclusion, being disciples of the Lord Jesus is a blessing, and we should all know that for us, the Trinity of God (God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit) is our God. We need to know how to relate to the Trinity of God and how believers should respond to temptations and challenges of life, which we divided into six themes. Each theme presents an essential aspect of the main topic. As believers, we need to know how to relate to our God, the Trinity of God, and each Person of the Trinity. Specifically, we must understand that the only way to the Trinity of God and the Persons of the Trinity for a human is through the Lord Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man.

In our lives as the followers of the Lord Jesus on this earth, we need to honor and glorify the Father and pray to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus, and we need to pray constantly to be refilled with the Holy Spirit in the name of our Lord Jesus. We must keep the faith until the end of our lives on this earth, so we must give all our temptations and life challenges to the Lord Jesus, who won the victory over all temptations and life challenges; He is the only One who has mercy and can help us. We encourage all readers to stay firm in their faith and come to the Lord Jesus, repent, and ask for His help in all things.

Meditation Tasks:

Meditate prayerfully on each theme presented in this category and try to find the best way for yourself to relate to the Trinity of God.
Analyze your heart and mind and see if temptations are present; if so, go to the Lord Jesus, repent, and ask for His help.
We all face challenges in life; bring all your challenges to the Lord in prayer and ask for help and understanding.