This scripture is often quoted alone, yet this whole chapter is full of wisdom that benefits the reader. While every scripture labeled 3:16 doesn’t compare with Christianity’s cornerstone scripture in John 3:16, this is certainly an important scripture nonetheless.

So much of how I interpret the Bible is centered around who I am in Christ; my identity.

Why is identity so important?

In the Garden of Eden, we exchanged our identity in God for another that promised us something that we thought we needed.

Mankind thought they needed something to make ourselves more like God, but we were deceived. We already were like God and instead of trusting in His Word to tell us what we needed and who we are, we exchanged His perfect image and reflection in us, for a corrupted image that no longer resembled the Father.

The world is always trying to tell us who we are even though our identity is already established once and for all in Christ Jesus.

Whereas God had made a temple His dwelling place in the Old Covenant, God makes our spirit His dwelling place under the New Covenant.

When we realize that we are one with God and that He is with us all the time, we make things difficult on ourselves when we continue in sin despite having accepted Christ. We corrupt our way of thinking when we accept the unacceptable. This doesn’t mean that we corrupt our spirits per-say, it means that we filter the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and may block the outflow of God’s Spirit through us.

Therefore, let us remember that when we sin, “miss the mark”, have unrenewed habits or whatever you want to call these things, God is faithful to forgive if we turn back to Him.

This scripture and the the one following are also talking about false-teachers corrupting the church. The temple of the Holy Spirit refers to the church itself. To those who corrupt the church, it says God will destroy the corrupted. This could mean, “bring to ruin”. While we may not believe that God would destroy us, we just remember that God’s church is holy and someone who would intentionally deceive or corrupt believers has not truly placed their faith in Christ.

I’ve been asked, how would you know if God has stopped dealing with you and has cast you aside? How would you know if God has given up on you? My answer is always the same: If you can ask the question and are concerned deeply about the answer, then you can be certain that God has not given up and you and you are still on the straight and narrow road.

It is those who no longer care to ask the question or those who are not concerned with the answer that may have gone too far and have rejected Christ. I say “may” because only God truly knows the heart.

I’ve also been asked, “what about when I don’t feel the presence of God like I did before?”

When I put on a new pair of shoes, they are stiff and hard and it takes time to break them in. Until that happens, I am very conscious of each step I take because I feel that stiffness.
When they are soft and pliable, I barely feel them on my feet and might even forget I’m wearing them. Have you ever put sunglasses on the top of your head and then forgot where you put them because you didn’t remember they were there? Do you feel the shirt you are wearing? Do you feel the presence of your underwear?

The answer to these questions is probably, “no”. The answer to the questions of why we don’t feel the presence of God sometimes is often because like clothes, He is so close that He is a part of us. He is so close that we can barely tell He’s there. Yet you wouldn’t deny that you are wearing clothes that you don’t feel, or sunglasses on your head that you didn’t feel either.

Paul talks about how we are to “put on Christ” in Galatians 3:27 and Romans 13:14.

This is literally like saying we are to put on clothes or robes.

I truly believe that this analogy serves as a reminder that Jesus is with us whether we feel him or not.

God dwelling in us is more than just us becoming one in spirit with Him when we believe and receive salvation.

John‬ ‭15‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

We can do nothing without Christ in us and us in Him. We have life as long as we abide in Him.

John‬ ‭15‬:‭6 goes on to say, “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

A branch that breaks away from a tree, withers and dies and is only suitable for firewood.

Here, it is saying that men gather the branches that have fallen away and they are the ones that cast them into the fire. We have to realize that there are people out there that look to gather you up and use you for their purposes. There are people that want to use you up and burn you out. They take advantage of your brokenness for their gain.

Job‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬ says; “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.”

‭‭Job’s wife and three friends condemned him. Friends may turn against you, but even Job’s wife turned against him. Sometimes, when you are down and at your worst in life, you find that those that you thought loved you and were your closest friends and allies will turn against you. Seemingly, for no other reason than to drag you down and see you fail so they can gloat in some way and lord over you. People will do almost anything to prove they are “right” and you are “wrong”, all the while being “evil” hearted towards you.

Note that it is not God who casts you “into the fire” when you are a broken branch, it is other people.

How are we cut off? By unbelief.

Romans‬ ‭11‬:‭23‬ says, “And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.”

If we are cut off by unbelief, we can still be grafted back in. We may have separated from the vine but we aren’t in the fire yet.

Unbelief breaks us away from the vine, Jesus, which is our life. This doesn’t mean that we lose our salvation, but when we cut off the source of life, a process of death begins to work in us that can eventually lead us to rejecting Christ. A real dead branch cannot be grafted back into a living vine and come back from the dead. Yet the miracle of salvation is that even when dead, we as “spiritual branches” can be made alive again in Christ.

Even with the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, it is important for us to put on Christ, even daily, by recognizing who we are in Him, and then abide in Him by believing His Word. When we are grafted in, His goodness abounds in us.

‭‭We may not always be holy or righteous in actions, but let us always continue to work towards improving our responses, behaviors and habits to reflect our true nature in Christ.

– Bishop Joshua Maynard

My good friend, Tom Tompkins has a great book about the book of Job that I believe is an awesome resource to study.

Understanding the Book of Job

https://www.facebook.com/utboj

You can purchase the book on Amazon.com using the link below.

https://a.co/d/c56sCN6