John 8:31-36 ESV
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, “You will become free”?’
“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’”
It appears, as we move further on down into this passage of
Scripture and this conversation Jesus had with this group of Jews that,
although they may have believed some of the things that Jesus said, they didn’t
believe in him, and they didn’t believe everything he said, and Jesus knew
that. And I believe that is why he said what he said to them, to let them know
what true belief in him was all about.
For, true belief in Jesus Christ involves us being the Lord’s
disciples, his followers. We can’t believe in Jesus and not follow him with our
lives, in other words. For we must abide in him and in his word to be his
disciples, and to abide in him and in his word means to comply with, to obey,
to follow, to conform to, to act in accordance (agreement) with him and with
his word, and it is to uphold (support, maintain) the word of the Lord.
And to be a disciple of Christ means that we now follow him in
obedience, and that we do his will, and that we listen to what he says. We
emulate him with our lives, and our desire is for him and for his word. We want
to do what pleases him. We hunger and thirst for righteousness, and we love his
word and so we diligently read and study the Scriptures so that we might learn
from them how we are to live, so that we can live by them.
And if we are the Lord’s true followers, and now the Holy
Spirit is living within us, the Spirit is going to be leading us to the truth,
and we will be learning the truth, and in the power of God we will now be
applying the truth of God’s word to our daily lives. For it is the truth of God’s
word, when we believe it, and when we apply its truths to our lives, which sets
us free from our slavery to sin, for it teaches us the true message of the
gospel of Christ.
For it teaches us that everyone who practices sin is a slave
to sin, and that the only way we can be free from our slavery to sin is to
believe in Jesus Christ with God-given and God-persuaded faith in Christ which
dies with Christ to sin and is raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in
him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his
righteousness. And this can only be accomplished in the power of God.
John 8:42-47 ESV
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
Now the Jews claimed that Abraham was their father and that
God was their Father. But Jesus told them that if Abraham was their father,
they would be doing the works Abraham did. And if God was their Father that they
would love Jesus, for he came from God the Father, and it was God the Father who
had sent Jesus to the earth. But they could not bear to hear the words of
Jesus, and in reality, they were seeking to kill him (see vv. 37-43).
So Jesus told them plainly that they were doing the works
their father did and that their father was the devil. Ouch! And he told them
that their will was to do their father’s desires, i.e. the desires of the evil
one, not the desires of God whom they claimed as their Father. Now that kind of
talking would definitely not fly in modern Christianity in America today where
they are stressing that we speak only what is positive and nothing negative.
And then Jesus gave a description of the devil as a murderer
from the beginning, and as one who does not stand in the truth, because there
is no truth in him. And when he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for
he is a liar and the father of lies. And many are those who are professing
faith in Jesus Christ but who are living like the devil, and so the devil is
really their father and not God as they profess.
And that is because the faith that they profess in Jesus is
not God-given and God-persuaded faith, but it is a faith created in the minds
of humans which makes no requirements for repentance (turning from sin) and for
obedience to our Lord, but which promises people forgiveness of sins and heaven
as their eternal home. So, they feel at liberty to continue living in sin,
convinced their sins are all forgiven and heaven is their eternal destiny.
But that is not the faith and it is not the gospel that
Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught. They taught a faith that resulted
in us dying with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and us walking in
obedience to our Lord in living godly and holy lives, pleasing to God. And they
taught that if sin is our practice, and if righteousness and obedience to God
are not our practice, that we will not inherit eternal life with God.
So, learn the truth, believe the truth, repent of your sins,
and now follow Jesus Christ with your lives, in truth, and obey his commands.
Seek the Lord
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off Isaiah 55
“Come to Me all you
who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and
eat what’s good today,
And your soul will
delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and
you will live.
I have made an
eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of
the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while
He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked
forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the
Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons
him.
“For My thoughts are
not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My
ways,”
declares the Lord,
our God.
“My word that goes
out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return
to Me unfulfilled.
My word will
accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal
I intend.
You will go in joy
and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will
burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees
clap their hands.”
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