John 4:10
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and Who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.
Proper knowledge is key to good living (Hosea 4:6). There is never a premium on ignorance. This is especially true in the realm of salvation. Knowledge of the Gospel opens the door to receiving the benefits of Calvary offered through its tenets.
The Benefit Of Knowledge
Education abounds on planet earth. There are schools everywhere— of every kind and on every level. Teaching in most cases begins at home almost as soon as a child is born. All of this is good. I think the more we know, the better we can handle life and use our lives for the good of others.
In the text we have singled out in this post, Jesus told the woman in Samaria, who we usually refer to as simply, the woman at the well, that if she was aware of, and could understand the quality of, the gift Christ could give her, speaking of His Spirit, she would certainly want it and ask for it. Indeed, the gift of the Holy Ghost is a life-transforming experience. It’s hard to imagine that anyone who could appreciate its power to regenerate a sinful soul and keep him out of hell would fail to seek Christ for it. The innate human quality of self-preservation would spring into action.
From this encounter between Jesus and the woman at the well, we can see that knowledge and understanding of spiritual things is key to receiving them. As Jesus said, “If you knew, you would ask in order to receive”. The things of Christ are just that good. In fact, any gift that comes from Christ is highly desirable because its very source reveals its goodness and desirability (James 1:17).
The Experience Of Receiving The Holy Ghost
I don’t understand how anyone can read the accounts in the book of Acts of people receiving the Holy Ghost and not be interested in doing the same. That was the very thing that piqued my interest in coming to salvation in Christ. Jesus went to Calvary for every human being. And, He went there in order to be able to pour out His Spirit (John 16:7). That means every person today is eligible to receive the Holy Ghost. That promise is also backed up by Old Testament prophecy (Joel 2:28-29; Acts 2:17-18). Knowledge of this certainty should inspire faith to ask Christ for His Spirit (Romans 10:17). What Jesus said to the woman at the well applies to every person. And each will know when he receives the Spirit because he will begin to speak in other tongues, as they did in the book of Acts (Acts 2:4).
Remission Of Sins
One of the greatest spiritual realities regards remission of sins. It is mankind’s greatest need. Fortunately, it is the easiest subject in the Bible to understand. The Bible is clear that remission of sins occurs through baptism in Jesus’ name (Acts 2:38; 22:16). It was announced on the very Day of Pentecost. Happily, baptism is also a very easy thing to do.
But simple knowledge of this profound reality is key. If people don’t know about it, naturally, they will never do it. They will assume remission of sins has occurred some other way— perhaps by their mere faith in Jesus. But their assumption will be wrong. And, by believing wrongly, they will miss remission of sins. As stated at the outset, the benefits of Christ’s death on the cross come through the tenets of the Gospel. That is according to Jesus’ own commission. It is the reason for the emphasis of Christ for each person to believe and obey the Gospel (Mark 1:15; 16:15-16; Matthew 28:20; Luke 24:47). And the terms of the Gospel were laid out on the Day of Pentecost per Christ’s instruction. Nothing in the Bible is presented more clearly than that.
It is very sad to realize how many people do not know that remission of sins is associated with baptism in the name of Jesus. I think that, if they knew the truth, they would want to have their sins washed away more anything else in life and would readily submit to baptism in Jesus’ name.
It is sometimes difficult to inform people.
Every Apostolic person has friends or family members to whom he would love to show the way of God more perfectly (Acts 18:24-28; 19:1-6). But, in these situations, it can be extremely difficult to find an occasion to share the truth. That is because often the persons just aren’t open to another view. They may believe they were informed correctly and, therefore, have already settled the matter of salvation and do not wish to question it. They may be especially reluctant to consider a view they perceive will involve change. It can be heartbreaking to the Apostolic because he knows that lack of true knowledge is spiritually destructive. Like Jesus said, If you knew, you would ask. But if a person doesn’t know, he can’t ask and is oblivious to his great loss (John 12:35). Such is a silent tragedy because God is not willing that anyone should perish but come to the knowledge of the truth (2Peter 3:9; 1Timothy 2:4). Jesus said the truth is what makes us free (John 8:31-32). He also described the way to eternal life as narrow (Matthew 7:13-14), prompting us to make our calling and election sure.
Would you describe yourself as a person who would want to know of something he was missing?