Greetings, people loved by God,
Today, let’s take a look at another apostle and their conviction of Christ:
and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot;
— Mark 3:18
When we first encountered the apostle Philip, he was with the disciple Nathanael, also called Bartholomew. Let’s revisit that interaction and examine Nathanael’s words:
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
— John 1:45
We saw that after encountering Christ, Philip went to Nathanael to tell him about Jesus. Nathanael’s immediate response reflected the skepticism of his day, as we see in his reply to Philip:
And Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
— John 1:46
It’s implied that Nathanael accepted Philip’s invitation and followed him to see Jesus. This speaks volumes about Nathanael’s character. His response, despite being doubtful, shows that he wasn’t skeptical just for the sake of it. Rather, there was a genuine urge within him to find the Christ, and he was willing to put aside his doubts to see if this news of Jesus was true. We see a glimpse of his sincerity underscored by Jesus’ description of Nathanael upon their meeting:
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said about him, “Behold, truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”
— John 1:47
In Jesus’ statement, He highlights Nathanael’s honesty because he was genuinely seeking the truth. He was not like the Pharisees, who appeared holy and zealous for good works but were disingenuous at heart. Paul later speaks of this hypocrisy to Titus regarding the Judaizers:
They profess to know God, but by their deeds, they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and unfit for any good work.
— Titus 1:16
Sadly, this same attitude is present in many believers today, where we want to appear zealous for good works, offering lip service and eye service to all things Christian. Yet, our motives are not centered on glorifying God; instead, they are driven by selfish ambition and vanity.
We see professing Christians attending church not to worship but to be part of a social club. Some join the worship team not to glorify God, but to showcase their skills. Others give large sums of money to the church not to support the advancement of the gospel, but to gain the attention of pastors and be recognized as wealthy.
This attitude becomes clear when these individuals don’t get what they want. People move from one church to another because they weren’t recognized for what they did. Some badmouth their leaders when they aren’t praised for their talents while serving.
Jesus’ comment about Nathanael highlighted that he wasn’t like these people who seek recognition for themselves rather than for God. After Jesus’ curious remark about his genuineness, Nathanael sought clarification:
Nathanael said to Him, “From where do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
— John 1:48
This was all Nathanael needed to be convinced. Based on Philip’s account of the Messiah, it seems they knew quite a bit about the prophesied Savior of Israel. Among their knowledge was likely the Messiah’s supernatural ability of omniscience. John MacArthur comments on this:
“He also revealed information that could only be known by Nathanael himself.”
— John MacArthur
Nathanael’s final confirmation of belief comes when he declares:
Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”
— John 1:49
What’s interesting here is that Nathanael directly addressed Jesus as the Son of God and recognized Him not only as divine but also as the King of Israel. In the Gospel of Matthew, Simon Peter also recognized Jesus with this very title, and Jesus responded by saying that this revelation was from God:
And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
— Matthew 16:16-17
We know that Nathanael’s confession was genuine based on Jesus’ affirmation and his response. From this interaction, we can learn several characteristics of true conversion.
A True Believer Identifies Christ as God
True salvation comes from God, and all true believers recognize that Jesus is God. They believe that Jesus is the divine Word mentioned in John 1, who was not only with God but was God Himself:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
— John 1:1
Any belief that falls short of recognizing Jesus as God is not genuine biblical Christianity. Some religions deny Jesus’ divinity altogether, while others claim to be Christian but do not acknowledge Him as God. Both groups are following a different Jesus, not the Jesus of the Bible.
A True Believer Identifies Jesus as Lord
Nathanael recognized Jesus as the King of Israel, submitting to His lordship. Submitting to Christ as Lord is a mark of a genuine Christian. True believers submit to their Lord:
That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
— Romans 10:9
Anyone claiming to be a Christian yet refusing to submit to Jesus as Lord by following the teachings and instructions of the Bible is not a genuine Christian.
I pray that we may learn these attributes of genuineness from Bartholomew’s character.
May peace be upon you.
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