WHAT MUST I DO?

What is the right thing to do? Whenever a person becomes old enough to grow aware of his or her own use of reason, this question must arise. Why am I here? Why was I born into this world, existing with so many others, all captivated by this same awareness? What must I do? I believe in my existence.

I'm aware that "I am." I must be a relative of God, who also said, "I am." I believe it's true, then. I am from God. I am also aware that there is a certain inborn luminosity that draws my heart away from darkness like a moth. I reach for this light, but I can't grasp it.

I desire it, but it eludes me. What must I do to achieve this light? What is it?

According to John's gospel, the answer is "True Light." This "True Light" shines in the darkness and illuminates every person who is born into the world.

The Hebrew rendition of the term "True Light" means a covenant light, or an established, promised light.

In Jeremiah chapter 31, the prophet announces that God has instituted a new covenant with mankind because the old covenant, which contained laws and commandments inscribed in stone and written in pen, was hostile to mankind and easily broken and forgotten.

In the new covenant, God has placed the sum of the law within our minds and within our hearts. There He has inscribed it. In this way, a communion with God is inherently understood.

As John the Baptist preached repentance from dark works, many people asked about the fruits of repentance, saying, "What must I do?" These people were both Jews and Gentiles (non-Jewish). John therefore expressed this notion to them: "Do good works." It becomes evident then that doing good works is an outward sign that favors salvation.

It has been said (and rightly so) that doing good works is not salvation. Jesus is salvation. Nevertheless, let us not downsize the concept of good works before salvation.

Because of this new covenant, which has become an inherent Light to all of mankind, good works are working. However, evil works continue to work too because not every person shall be drawn from darkness unto the Light. Some hate the Light and will never come to the Light. But everyone who practices the works of True Light comes to the Light, proving that he or she has been fashioned by God, whose workmanship continues according to a predestined and timely salvation.

Remember that Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him."

Salvation is an honor and a great privilege. It clearly belongs to the Lord, and His desire is for you. So to answer the question "What must I do?" keep working the good works of God, and wait expectantly for His salvation.

WHAT DID JESUS SAY?

The counsel from John the Baptist truly challenges the inquisitive heart, but what did Jesus say?

In the third chapter of the gospel of John (not the Baptist), Nicodemus, a Jewish ruler and teacher in Israel, came to Jesus by night. He came seeking a deeper understanding about the truth in the words of Jesus. He was already aware of the fact that Jesus was sent from God because of His miraculous deeds. It was then that Jesus told him what he must do. He said, "You must be born again." That means being born of the water and of the spirit. Without this, no one can enter the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus did not understand this rebirth concept.

"What does it mean to be born of the water and of the spirit?" he asked. He could understand only earthly things, such as being born in the flesh. However, Jesus was not talking about earthly things but about heavenly things — things of the spirit. And the spirit, being compared to the wind that blows in all directions according to the will of God, cannot be seen, but the sound of its testimony is evident by those who declare it.

BEING BORN OF THE WATER

In order to begin our studies of "being born of the water," we must first determine what the meaning of the word water is. It is first seen in the Book of Genesis and last seen in the Book of Revelation. It is used hundreds of times throughout the Bible, but whether singular or plural in form, and whether found in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, the word water is derived from the same Hebrew word, mayim, which means the springs or semen of the water of life.

This indicates a rudimentary substance for biological life that has evolved into molecular DNA within the seed of mankind.

As discussed earlier, some people refuse to accept True Light, which is given by God to illuminate the waters of life within mankind. These people love the works of darkness and therefore hate the Light, and they will never come to the Light. And there are those who love the existence of True Light and come to the Light, exhibiting a life of Light. Herein is the difference between darkness (which indicates a spiritual countenance of sorrow and death) and Light (which indicates a spiritual countenance of joy at the birth of life).

In the fourth chapter of the gospel of John, we see Jesus talking to a Gentile woman at a well in the city of Samaria. He indicates to her that He is the source of water that gives everlasting life, and that the men she is associated with are not the source of water that gives everlasting life.

In a subtle way, Jesus is saying to her that He is her true husband, for the waters (lineage) of the Gentiles do not bring forth salvation as a resurrection from eternal death to eternal life; for salvation is of the Jews.

This same concept is recognized in the gospel of Mark. Here, Jesus teaches that ultimately God is the promise of eternal life, which exists within the living seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And so it is that the true water of the spirit of life that was breathed into Adam flows through the seeds of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and unto Jesus the Jew.

The woman at the well was not a Jew; she was a Gentile. Nevertheless, she expressed her hope of glory according to her faith in the promise of salvation, which was also allotted to the Gentiles and foretold by the prophets of old.

So how does the promise of living water, which is to spring up throughout a people who are not Jewish, come to fruition?

Consider the story of Ruth from the Book of Ruth.

Ruth's lineage came from Moab, the son of Lot, the nephew to Abraham. She was not a direct descendant of Abraham in whose seed (Isaac) the blessings of glory belong. Nevertheless, after her husband died, Ruth attached herself to her mother-in-law, Naomi, whose lineage was of the seed of Abraham, being manifested within the tribe of Judah of the sons of Jacob, also known as Israel.

As the story unfolds, Ruth refuses to leave Naomi and maintains her position in saying, "Where you go, I will go and where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. Where you die and are buried, there will I die and be buried."

In this case, the faith of Ruth was...