The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.
5 sermons cite this verse
… This Jesus says, The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Jesus is coming at you. Not in a bad, threatening way. He didn't come into the world to condemn the world. He's coming at you to take the stuff of your life and turn it into a great story. We know that the word of Christ never returns void, so hang on. That seems unbelievable. And it would be if it weren't for the fact that the words of Jesus are spirit and life. In the good news of Christ, God gives us the faith we need. Like the God who gives it, Christian faith is living and active. Because it is, the power of God in faith enables you to start shaping your own story. As a Christian, you are a story maker, a positive story maker. It's that lemon thing, you know. Life gives you a lemon and you turn it into lemonade. Life gives you a stumbling block and you turn it into a stepping stone. …
… What then, if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father. As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. And there's a finality in the Greek construction of that statement. So Jesus said to the twelve, "'You do not want to go away also, do you?' Simon Peter answered Him, "'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.' Jesus answered them, Did I myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil? …
… "'Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you, our spirit and our life. But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, for this reason I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father. As a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, You do not want to go away also, do you? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. Jesus answered them, Did I myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil? …
… You are going to hear his voice in the word. Jesus said, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. And He said, I've come that you might have life and have it abundantly. He will lead you in the paths of righteousness. That's the mastery of the shepherd. You know what's wrong with so many of us? We're just always trying to get out of trouble rather than to get into righteousness. I mean, it's all negative. I think I told you many years ago about a football player friend that I had whose name was Mike Colon. Mike played football for Auburn and went on to play for the Miami Dolphins as a linebacker. He said when he graduated from Auburn, the coach down there said, Mike, would you help me to do some recruiting? He said, sure, coach. He said, what kind of player are you looking for? He said, well, Mike, you know, he said, when you're playing football as a guy, you knock him down and he just stays down. Mike said, we don't want him, do we, coach? He said, no, we sure don't. But he said, Mike, there's a guy, you knock him down and he gets up, and then when you knock him down, he stays down. …
What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe. But Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who would betray Him. And He said, Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father. And from that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. And then Jesus said to the twelve, Do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we've come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered them, Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil? …