Insights into the Gospel of John: Chapter 13

By Lloyd Ellefson

Many spiritual realities are revealed by Christ's teaching and explanations in the book of John. They are so tremendous! If we only look at the historical account, we'll miss what the Spirit is saying in Jesus Christ. I believe Christ's teachings go beyond Paul's teachings.

The natural mind will never bow to anything it cannot understand. Its own concept of things seems right to it, so it will not accept anything that conflicts with its carnal understanding. It is confused by spiritual realities because it cannot understand nor receive them. Since we are unable to correct the natural mind, we have to reject it. In order to follow the Lord, we have to reject the natural concept of spiritual realities!

Natural concepts always seem real to us even when we reject them. They appear logical to us. God is the cause of all things, but we only see the effect in different forms. Forms refer to the natural realm, for they are only effects. These forms are not the source, so we should not consider them as the source. Since God is the cause of all things, our emphasis must always be on Him. Therefore we have to see things the way they are in the spiritual realm!

Although we are Christians, we often see things only as they appear to our natural understanding. In order to overcome our natural understanding of the letter of the scriptures or a speaker's spoken word, our concepts have to change from the natural to the spiritual; we have to be raised up in our thinking. We have to listen to the voice of God, because it's the only voice that gives us life! Listening to His voice shuts out all other voices!

This voice is expressed in the Son of God. Jesus, the Christ and the Son of God, are not separate entities; they are one. Everything comes out of God and is first expressed through His Son. He is His spiritual Word of life. The Word produces the forms, and the forms produce a testimony. These are the steps in God's program - the process He uses to bring us back to Himself and the Father. This is His job - His purpose in the earth. This glorifies the Father!

"Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end." (v.1) His departure would bring Him to the Father; His emphasis was not on going to heaven.

It is interesting that it says, "He would depart out of THIS world". Is there another world? Of course there is! The world is just a system. Jesus lived in this world but He was not of it. His understanding and realization of things came from another world! Now He was about to depart out of this system, never to return physically to it again! He has been here, and He has left us with the provision and the opportunity to come to where He is! This means we have to be drawn by the Spirit and taken to where He went. He does not come back in the flesh but in the Spirit!

In John 14 Jesus said, "That where I am, there you may be also." At the time He said that, He had not yet been crucified and He had not been raised from the dead. But He was not living in this earthy concept; He was not bound in it like we are; if He had been, He could not have released us. He entered into our bondage, our prison of carnal thinking, in order to loose us, because we were prisoners. He did this first of all by testifying to our natural being, and then giving us the privilege and opportunity to receive His Spirit who edifies us, anoints us, and brings us into the consciousness that He had!

This is enough, isn't it? The reason we want more is because we still want something in the natural. We'd like to see our body become perfect through redemption and resurrection. We would like to be removed from this world - its coldness, its heat, its insects and all the evil people. We think this can only be accomplished by going to heaven where everything will be perfect and where we can have peace. This is natural thinking, but God's provision is greater! God has provided the Spirit of Christ to come to us inwardly to overcome all this natural thinking to which we are, or were in bondage.

We need to see things in the correct perspective. As long as we only live in that which is brought to our natural mind, our feelings and our senses, we are in a delusion. That which seems reality to our natural minds is a delusion. The Spirit has to open our eyes so we can reject the natural and put it to death.

When our eyes are opened to spiritual realities, we realize that we have been looking at the forms and not the source. The effects are forms and representations of God, but they are not God. We are not one with the forms - with nature nor with creation - but one with the Creator! We are to be one with God in Jesus Christ! This is what Jesus prayed for in John 17. Jesus came so that He could bring us out of the rule that is in this world, for its rule opposes the rule of the kingdom of God. It opposes the oneness we have with our Creator!

When Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world", it meant He had not come to be King of this world; nor would He ever become King of this world. So why do we talk about Jesus as our coming King? Since His kingdom is not of this world, we have to enter His kingdom in order for Him to become our King. His kingdom is not in this realm; it is not in the Adamic consciousness; it is in Christ's consciousness!

Jesus came to release us from the prison of our own mind - our natural conception of spiritual realities. This is wonderful news, isn't it? This is the good news of the gospel! We have polluted the gospel by conceiving natural thoughts about Christ, about heaven, the Bible, about the restoration of the Jews, the millennium, etc., because the natural mind cannot receive the things of the Spirit. They are foolishness to the natural mind and therefore it rejects them.

When Jesus said that the hour had come for Him to depart out of this world and to go to the Father, did that imply that He couldn't be with the Father while living in this world? No, of course not, because the Father is spirit and Christ is spirit, and they are one! Jesus was going out of this world because the time for His departure had arrived. He was an alien here, and so are we. Jesus was with the Father while He was in a physical body, but He would leave the limitations of this body and be with Him without those limitations. If we understand spiritually, it proves we are not of this world.

"During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him." (v.2) The devil didn't put this thought in his mind; he put it in his heart. With all the wonderful things Jesus had done, Judas should have known better than to betray Him. But this desire was in his heart. If it had only been in his mind, the heart could have overruled it. But when the heart rules a person, it will overcome that which is in the mind. That is why it is so important for man to believe with his heart, as we read in Romans 10.

God has given us a new heart, as was prophesied in the Old Testament. We are new creatures! When we have a new heart we don't have the same desires we used to have. It is not a case of trying to correct the old heart, but of receiving a new one and thereby rejecting the old one. This is the way it has to happen in every aspect of our nature.

"Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God." (v.3) Isn't that wonderful! Since we have the mind of Christ, we should also know that the Father has given all things into our hands, that we have come from God and that we are going back to Him. Isn't this what the gospel is teaching us? It says that our spirit came from God and will return to God - the flesh will return to the earth. If our only hope is in our physical life we won't want our bodies to return to earth (dust). We'll believe that God will resurrect the flesh. Then, if that hope is taken away, nothing is left. That is a very poor state to be in, and it's wonderful to be released from it!

"Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, `Lord, do You wash my feet?'" (vv.5-6) Why did Jesus take water? It is used to cleanse the body outwardly, and typifies the cleansing of the external walk. It wasn't until Jesus Christ poured out His Spirit, that we could be cleansed and purified inwardly by the fire of the Spirit.

This is very interesting because Paul was instructed to arise and be baptized, and to wash away his sins. (Acts 22:16) Water baptism doesn't wash away our old nature, but it releases us from the guilt-consciousness of all the outward sinful things we have done. The washing of regeneration brings us into a different walk - one that springs from an inward desire to do God's will, not only an outward change of behavior.

"Jesus answered and said to him, `What I do you do not realize now, but you wll understand hereafter.' Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!' Jesus answered him, `If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.'" (vv.7-8) Christ had to cleanse Peter's walk so that he could become one with Him. He also has to cleanse ours!

We think we can comprehend what God wants us to do by reading the scriptures and understanding them in the natural. Everything in that realm will end up in self-effort. To have a part with Him, He has to cleanse our walk - otherwise we will be walking in our own strength. Natural understanding cannot determine what Jesus is like, what God is like, and what He wants us to be like.

Typically, "Simon Peter said to Him, `Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.' Jesus said to him, `He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.' For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, `Not all of you are clean.'" (vv.9-11) In John 15:3 Jesus said, "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you." They were clean on the inside because Christ had done a cleansing in them. The cleanness of the inner man produces a clean walk, but the feet get dirtied as they touch the earth, so they need to be washed. but their walk needed to be corrected. Yet they were not all clean! Judas allowed Satan to enter his heart and later betrayed Christ!

"So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, `Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.'" (vv.12-14) Some people have taken this literally, and have taken a basin of water and washed one another's feet. There is nothing wrong with that, but it only brings this into the natural realm. However, it must not become a form and bondage. It is not necessary for justification, to be freed from guilt, or to fulfill the scriptures.

Washing someone's feet does not cleanse his walk, though it may manifest humility - whether inward or only outward. But if that person can be brought into a greater understanding by words of faith and life, the presence of Christ will bring about a change in him. This is really worthwhile!

Jesus submitted Himself to the Father by receiving an earthly body with its limitations - like tiredness, hunger, and the indignities that humanity is subjected to. His submission produced a walk that was governed by an understanding in the Spirit. He is the power within us.

"For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you." (v.15) If He, the living Word of God, served the disciples, how much more we, who have received Him as Lord and Master, should give up whatever desires we have for ourselves, and serve others?!

"Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him." (v.16) Jesus emphasized that the servant is not greater than his lord. Christ is our Lord, and the Father who sent Him is greater! Everything Jesus did was to bring us into a recognition of what God has done.

God's purpose in having His image and authority expressed by Jesus Christ, was to draw man to Himself. Jesus Christ was the expression of God in the form of a man. He was not born in sin, nor conceived in the flesh; He was different! He was in this realm doing the Father's business! The extent of His humility was made evident by His willingness to suffer rejection, to be mistreated and killed!

Jesus represented the Father, and only did what the Father told Him to do! The rejection He experienced and the blows He received, actually fell on His Father, because Jesus was portraying the Father's revelation of Himself. They were more of an attack on the Father than they were on Christ. This may come as a surprise to us! Man's idea of God pitted against a true revelation of God, was the cause of these attacks.

Similarly, we bear the rejection and the fiery trials that come upon us because of the Christ in us. These are really attacks against the Father. In our oneness with Christ we are representing the Father, but He always remains greater than we! He is the source of our actions. He that sent us is greater than we are! That is why we do not want to represent ourselves, but the Christ who is always representing the Father! Christ does not receive glory for Himself, and neither should we!

"If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the scripture may be fulfilled, `He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.'" (vv.17-18) This quotation is from Psalm 41:9. It refers to God's word to Satan in Genesis 3:15, namely that Satan would bruise the heel of Eve's progeny, and the one she brought forth would crush his head. Satan works through the religious system - as demonstrated in Judas Iscariot and the Jewish religious system. Satan comes against Christ through man.

"Lifting up the heel" means to disregard or turn your back on someone, leave him, or betray him. God is sovereign, and whatever He prophesies happens! He had prophesied that someone would do this to Jesus - so someone had to do it. But woe to the man who is going to be used in this manner! Blessed is the man whose identification is with Christ in His rejection!

Christ 's walk was in God, so everything else was secondary. Christ Himself is the truth, so truth has always been; He was with God as the Word before He was manifested in the flesh. He always existed and truth always existed, so error could only come on the heels of truth. If truth did not exist, error could not exist! It always works against truth!

This is one of the keys to our deliverance. Truth destroys all the error that comes in contact with it! If we are in truth, we will not work against truth. It is a power which actually destroys all its enemies. Nothing can withstand truth! Error is dissipated when truth comes.

In response to Peter's declaration that Jesus should not suffer, Jesus replied, "Get behind Me, Satan!" Why behind Him? Because Satan had no business telling Jesus what to do! Jesus was not accepting advice from Him! Satan could only operate against what Jesus had already said and against the truth that He is! So Satan can only come behind the truth and try to destroy it. If he doesn't have truth to destroy, he can't do anything. When we are walking in truth, Satan is walking behind us. He is not before us and obstructing us. His place is behind us!

In John 20:21 Jesus said, "...as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." Notice that we have to be sent by Christ! Volunteers are unacceptable! They are serving God because they think they have a legal responsibility to make up for all that God has done for them! They think they have to keep working and proselytizing in order to sustain their forgiveness. They try to produce clones of themselves. All kinds of perversions come out of this thinking.

"From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and He who receives Me receives Him who sent Me." (vv.19-20) When God sends us, our work is not initiated by us. It is His idea, not a choice we make for ourselves. We are not trying to repay God for what He has done for us, but are living the Christ life - not exercising our will but the will of the Father! This will result in spiritual words coming forth from us. When people receive these words, they are receiving not only the Christ, but also the Father. This is a high calling!

Many think that the fulfillment of God's promises is only for the future - like insurance. They think they will be rewarded later on because they have received forgiveness. However, salvation and rewards are for today! We only have today, and today is now. God is now and Christ is now, and we are growing now! If we are still living a few years from now, it is still now. God is always in the now, and Christ is always in the now and always the same! He wasn't any different yesterday, and He isn't any different today, nor will He be different tomorrow.

Therefore our relationship to God is not influenced by time, such as days, years, seasons of the year, or the situations we are in. Our relationship to God only changes from within. It changes and grows in depth as we come into the understanding and consciousness of who God is. This changes our walk and testimony now.

In Luke 16:16 Jesus said, "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John." John introduces us to Christ, and when Christ becomes our life, there is reality! He is no longer prophetic because the fulfillment has come! Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of prophecy! All the promises of God have their "Yes" and their "Amen" (their fulfillment) in Jesus Christ. This is all-inclusive; it is for Jew and Gentile, sowing and reaping, as well as for the wrath of God. Everything is fulfilled in that Word of God which is Jesus Christ! To get into Christ, we have to repent from living in the realm of things to come, and begin to live in the things that ARE! We move from prophecy to fulfillment! This gives us a new sense of being, and causes us to walk in an inner realization of life that has no beginning and no end. This is what we grow in; and we grow in it now!

Let's not get back into the old rut of relegating to the future everything that we have in Christ now! We are no longer living in the Old Testament prophecies - in future events and wishful thinking, hoping that God will soon fulill His promises. They are being fulfilled spiritually in us today. We need to realize that everything is in Christ; and we HAVE Christ! Let's receive this! Postponement is actually rejection, because fulfillment has already come and it is available NOW, for Christ is NOW. He is the One who brings prophecy up to date and into fulfillment! So the law and the prophets were proclaimed until John, and now the kingdom of God is preached!

The kingdom of God is the rule of God. His kingdom is not of this world. Since Jesus is not the King of this world, He is calling us out of it, and telling us that we are NOT of this world. This world is not creation; it is a system of rule, and rules by the understanding and the consciousness that is in the earthy Adamic humanity. God rejected that rule. and through Jesus Christ He put it to death. If we have faith, we'll also put it to death.

"When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, `Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.'" (v.21) This was in the plan of God. Everything Jesus did originated in the Father, for He only did what the Father showed Him to do. In John 14:10 He said, "I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works." He did not just imagine that one of them would betray Him - He knew it! He said, "Haven't I chosen you and one of you is a devil?" Christ's ministry was for the whole world, and this included Judas!

"The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking. There was reclining on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. So Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to him, `Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.' He, leaning back thus on Jesus' bosom, said to Him, `Lord, who is it?' Jesus then answered, `That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.' So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. And after the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to Him, `What you do, do quickly.'" (vv.22-27)

Judas suddenly discovered that Jesus knew what he was going to do; but that did not change him, nor did it stop him! Isn't that strange? Judas didn't say, "How did You know what I was thinking?" or "I'm going to be guilty of this crime." The discovery that his thoughts were known to Jesus didn't seem to evoke any feelings of surprise, guilt or second thoughts in Him. Nor did he seem to realize the hatefulness and enormity of his crime. He apparently just had to do it.

"Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him. For some were supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, `Buy the things we have need of for the feast'; or else, that he should give something to the poor. So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night." (vv.28-30)

This clearly reveals the deception that was in Judas, and the truth that was in Jesus Christ. The other disciples were oblivious to what was transpiring. This ignorance also applies to humanity, for it does not know what Christ is doing even if it is at supper with Him. This of course was not a common supper; it was the Passover meal.

The Passover was celebrated in remembrance of that time in Egypt when the angel of death passed over those who had eaten the lamb and participated in the feast. (Exodus 12) The first Passover was actually a release or a deliverance from Egypt. The world and its system had made them prisoners. It was a deliverance from sense knowledge. Moses delivered Israel out of Egypt, and through him they received the written law later on. But the principle of the law was already in operation in bringing about their deliverance, for it was the keeping of the Passover that delivered them. In this first Passover they passed out of the death to which they had been subjected.

Everything Israel had done in Egypt was for the world system. The bricks they had made, and the buildings they had erected, were for Pharaoh and the Egyptian system. Since Egypt typifies bondage, it is called the house of bondage. Later on we read that Abraham took Hagar, an Egyptian woman, as his concubine. She was a type of the bondage the world system brings.

When Israel came out of Egypt, they passed from death into the life of a new law and into a new sense of being in God. In 1 John 3:14 we read that we know we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. We have been quickened together with Christ. This is our Passover. We have passed over the gulf which separates death and life. This is not something we anticipate as a future event. It has already happened; we have passed from death into life! Because this has taken place, we understand and love those who have also passed from death into life; they are our brethren!

"Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said, `Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.'" (v.31) Notice that here Jesus again calls Himself the Son of Man. As a matter of fact, in most of the references to Himself, He calls Himself the Son of Man. Read the gospels and take note of this. It's a tremendous study! If we do not understand who the Son of Man is, we don't understand who the Christ is. It is the Son of Man (this new humanity) who carries the anointing. The flesh does not profit us. Jesus said that now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. God is glorified in the spiritual man!

"If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately. Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You wll seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, `Where I am going, you cannot come.' A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (vv.32-35)

One of the greatest misconceptions is the meaning of the word "love" in the gospels. There are three different Greek words which are translated into English with the one word "love", and we tend to think of the Greek word "agape" as representing God's love. "Agape" simply means a higher love or benevolence. It is incapable of bringing us into a realization of the love of God! We have to read God's definition of love in 1 Cor. 13 in order to recognize that love does not seek its own! What an order! The love of God in us does not seek nor demand that which rightfully belongs to us!

Look at church denominations. Are they demonstrating the love of God or are they more interested in proselytizing people in order to get them to join their church? Do they seek to instill their own doctrines into people? Do they only want them to know God according to their ideas? Do they want them to become Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, etc.? Are they willing to bring people to Christ and leave them to Christ, without establishing them in their doctrine? Their priests, bishops, reverends, and pastors do not operate without taking an oath of conformity to the doctrines of that church. They are ordained into that particular doctrinal pattern of understanding and behavior. They are seeking things for themselves. Love does not seek its own!

This demonstrates how we have actually perverted the meaning of love. Human love is selective. Our love depends upon how receptive others are to who we are. We love those who have a pleasing personality, appreciate what we give them, and who are nice to us. The physical attraction to the opposite sex, may involve more lust than love. True love does not seek its own way; it constantly wants to do something for others! It wants what is best for the other person.

This is the type of love Christ revealed. Although Jesus loved John and lay on His breast, He loved and cared for all. His love did not condone who they were - He was not blessing the state they were in. His love brought a deliverance from their captivity to themselves! He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19)

Our anointing also brings deliverance. It delivers us out of who we are. Love which accepts people where they are at, is merely a starting point, but it is not enough. We need a love which brings us a release from our bondage! This depth of love is God's message to us in Christ! This is the message we preach!.

God's love is objective; it is universal; it does not love one person more than another; it is not limited to those who love Him in return. He just keeps on loving us! The old English word "charity" probably describes God's love better than the word "love". Charity is an act of goodwill toward someone in need, and involves giving up something one possesses - there is a cost involved. This is what God does! He is always giving and supplying for His creation. We still have a long way to go in our love for one another!

Love is the fruit of the Spirit! It is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit; it is the very essence of God! Receiving the love of God brings maturity! We can't make people love one another. Love grows with faith, for we have to believe that the love of God has been poured into our hearts! It grows with the understanding of how great God's love is, and what He has actually accomplished in us and for us! This brings greater depth into our relationship with God!

"Simon Peter said to Him, `Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered, `Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.'" (v.36) Peter was unable to follow Him now. He was unable to follow Christ in His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. So what did Jesus mean by the statement, "You will follow later?" Christ's leading was spiritual, and Peter was still in the flesh. Later on Peter would be able to follow Him, for he would receive the Spirit, and the Spirit would bring him back to the Father.

"Peter said to Him, `Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.'" Peter thought he could do something beyond his ability. "Jesus answered, `Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.'" (vv.37-38) As we look back, we see that NONE of the men He had called, followed Him. He trod the winepress of God alone. At that stage He was the only man, the only representative of humanity who knew what God was doing; and He was the only one who knew who He was! All the others were under the delusion (the sleep, the consciousness) that is in Adam.

When God put Adam to sleep (the actual word in the Hebrew is stupor - an unconsciousness), Adam was not awakened until Jesus Christ came. Isaiah prophesied and said, "Arise, shine, for your light has come." The prophets prophesied about the One to come, the One who is this light, this awakening. When Christ was manifested, He became the trumpet that awakened humanity out of the sleep of Adam. He raised humanity into a consciousness of God that Adam never had, never could have, and never will have.

Those of us who have followed Christ in the regeneration, understand that we have been awakened from this sleep - from the unconsciousness or ignorance of who God is and who we are. We have been raised from the death in Adam into the life in Christ. We ought to grow in our knowledge of life!

Our ministry should spring from God! Our carnal mind cannot bring us understanding, nor can the Adamic man improve. We are not waiting for prophetic utterances to bring us new comprehension. We have passed from death to life, and are now living and maturing in the Lord! Since we have been made a new creation, we can now mature in Christ, the new man! Once we understand this, we won't try to improve the old man; nor will we develop false theories of what God will do in the future.

Our spiritual development comes as a result of a solid foundation of spiritual reality that blesses us and causes us to have joy within! Our desires and our hearts are for that which is spiritual, and we don't want to walk any other way! The natural no longer edifies us. Trying to get God's blessings by our good works is a thing of the past! We know that we have been forgiven and that we are new creatures in Christ Jesus! This is the basis for our growth!

It is so tragic that Christians are still struggling to perfect the old, instead of rejecting the old man and embracing the new. Also, many are only being encouraged to improve and mature in Adam. That is the reason their growth is so stunted. We are in life now and have to grow in this life. The prophetic word has already been fulfilled in Christ. If we are not receiving what Christ has done for us, we are rejecting Him. Then we are just like the Jews who looked for the Messiah when He was in their midst.

My desire is that Christians might see who they are in Jesus Christ! We have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. We have been awakened to who God is; we have been made alive to God; we now have faith in spiritual things! This surpasses our dependence on natural things!

As more believers are raised up into this realization, we will receive various aspects of truth from them. This will help us in our spiritual growth. The truth that is supplied by the members in the body of Christ, becomes life to us by the confirmation of the Holy Spirit. People who are still in Adam, are unable to help us grow and mature in Christ. Since our life is spiritual, our food for growth is also spiritual! Therefore let us walk by the Spirit!

God bless you! Amen.

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