John 8:31-47

John chapter 8.

John 8 · chapter mention

Our text for today is John chapter 8 verses 31 through 47.

John 8:31–47

!

This, the first proclamation of the gospel called the Proto-Evangelion,

the promise of one who will come to crush the head of Satan,

establishes a thematic line that should be carefully traced all throughout the Old Testament and to our text today.

I can't under-present the emphasis that should be made in thinking in these terms as we read the Bible.

A careful reader of the Old Testament will note the conflicts that arise between those who oppose God,

metaphorically offspring of the serpent,

and those who are shown God's favor, metaphorically offspring of the woman,

all of which culminates in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Children, you may have heard him called the Snake Crusher

in some of the reading that your parents do with you.

This theme should be present on our minds as we look at today's text.

The conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of his day has been growing in John's gospel.

In chapter 5, his opponents didn't like him healing on the Sabbath and calling God his Father.

They make a plot to kill him at that point.

In chapter 6, they didn't like him telling them they would have to eat his flesh and drink his blood to have eternal life.

Last week, we saw in chapter 8 that Jesus tells them that they will die in their sin,

that he is the great I Am, that is, God incarnate,

and that he is the source of truth on earth,

all of which they do not like.

The conflict is white hot where we have arrived in chapter 8.

You know where it's headed.

It is reaching its high point here.

Jesus' opponents, just like that crafty serpent in the garden,

undermined Eve's faith in saying,

has God really said our feigning moral superiority

while murderous intentions dwell in their hearts?

Jesus has no tolerance for this tactic.

Jesus stopped pulling punches at all at this point.

He will state in today's text without question

that they are offspring of the serpent,

bent to his will, set against the one who can set them free.

So you see, when the most important of matters are considered,

there are really only two categories of people.

The offspring of the serpent,

the offspring of the woman.

We're presenting it in a different way

as we've been preaching through this text.

What are we to do with Jesus?

Are we to accept him as he presents himself,

Lord of the universe,

the one in which we must believe to be saved,

or are we to reject his teaching,

call him a liar or a lunatic?

What we do with him determines

whether we are offspring of the serpent

or offspring of the woman.

Which are you?

This question deserves the severest of our attention.

It's an incredibly important question

to ask and to answer.

And I hope we might answer it

in the affirmative offspring of the woman

born of the son.

So let's look together at verses 31 through 47,

but let me lead us in prayer before we do.

Father, help us this day as we take up your word.

Brief moments we have this morning together.

We want to rightly understand it.

We humbly recognize

that it was written for your glory

and for our good.

And we recognize that we need your spirit

to work in our hearts

that we might believe its promises

and obey its commands

and have affection for you, its author.

We pray, Father, our time together

will honor and glorify Christ.

And we pray this in his name.

Amen.

I'll begin reading in verse 31.

So, Jesus said to the Jews

who had believed in 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.

I know that you are offspring of Abraham,

yet you seek to kill me

because my word finds no place in you.

I speak of what I have seen with my father

and you do what you have heard

from your father.

They answered him,

Abraham is our father.

Jesus said to them,

If you were Abraham's children,

you would be doing the works Abraham did.

But now you seek to kill me,

a man who has told you the truth

that I heard from God.

This is not what Abraham did.

You are doing the works your father did.

They said to him,

We were not born of sexual immorality.

We have one father,

even God.

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.

Boy, if they weren't mad at him before,

they certainly are now.

Two groups, you see.

One free, to put it differently.

The other enslaved.

Our outline for this morning

will center on the freedom

that Jesus promises in verse 32.

The first point will be

the path to freedom

and the second,

the pretense of freedom.

Number one,

the path to freedom.

Verses 31 through 32

and then 35 and 36.

First, in order for us to be free,

we must believe in Christ.

Our text starts,

so,

Jesus said to the Jews

who had believed him.

This is a response

to what?

The previous verse.

You'll notice verse 30.

You look up your page.

As he was saying these things,

many believed in him.

Now, you may recall

that John doesn't exclusively use

the term the Jews

to refer to the religious leaders

that opposed Jesus.

We talked about that last week,

if memory serves me.

But that he does most regularly

use the term in this way.

This makes it really important

for us to ask the question,

why this phrase,

in this place?

Why does he state it this way?

He's most often using this phrase

to speak of Jesus'

Jewish religious opposition.

So, why here?

We see,

many believe.

So, Jesus said to the Jews

who had believed.

Certainly, John could have said

those who had believed in him,

referring back to verse 30,

but he doesn't make that choice.

In fact,

John records what Jesus says,

and then the response

in the rest of our text,

beginning in verse 33,

they answered him.

And then John records

Jesus' indictment

of those who answered him.

What are we to do with this?

I want to separate them out.

I want to make them

two separate groups of people.

I want to apply some conjecture

that there's different groups

standing around

as he's teaching

in the treasury,

in the temple.

The text doesn't give us

any clues

that that's what's happening here

at all.

Last week,

in speaking of those

who will die in their sin,

I concluded with hope

because of verse 30.

But to my shame,

I had not gathered

the full context

of what is happening here.

precursory read it through,

but didn't really think

what's going on

in these verses.

Now,

I read a slew

of explanations this week

trying to hang on

to the individuals

in verses 30 through 32

as genuine believers.

believers.

But I found them

all wanting.

Really,

don't want to say,

I think I got that wrong.

I think I misunderstood

verse 30,

but none of the explanations

really held much

muster.

If we are faithful

to the words presented to us,

and yes,

even to the original language

in which they were written,

some of you might be

running off on your devices

to try to sort it

out.

You'll be disappointed.

We must conclude

that the Jews

being addressed

have not

truly

believed.

Jesus,

as he is God,

knows the hearts of men,

and he knows

these men are fickle

just like those

encountered

previously.

Do you recall,

this isn't the first time

we have seen

this issue

in John's gospel.

I'll take you back

to John chapter 6,

John 6 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 60.

After Jesus

had spoken

of eating his flesh

and drinking

his blood,

metaphorically,

to be sure,

when many of his disciples

heard it,

disciples,

followers of him

heard it,

they said,

this is a hard saying.

Who can listen to it?

But Jesus,

knowing in himself

that his disciples

were grumbling

about this,

he's aware of it,

said to them,

do you take offense

at this?

Then what if

you were to see

the Son of Man

ascending to where

he was before?

It is the Spirit

who gives life.

The flesh

is no help at all.

The words that I have

spoken to you

are Spirit

and

life.

But there are

some of you

who do not

believe.

For Jesus knew

from the beginning

who those were

who did not

believe.

You see the exact

same thing happening

in our text today.

Those who said

they believed,

Jesus already knew

they did not

believe

and who it was

who would betray him.

And he said,

this is why I told you

that no one

can come to me

unless it is granted

him by

the Father.

After this,

many of his

disciples

turned back

and no longer

walked

with him.

What's happened

before,

I think we're

seeing it happen

here again.

Professions,

we believe,

and Jesus

exposes

their unbelief.

But all the same,

Jesus is

presenting

the path

to freedom.

His listeners

are hearing it

and we're

hearing it

as well.

If these people

who are said

to have believed

did not believe

savingly,

then what are we

to think

of our own

belief?

We must believe.

We must believe.

We must believe

that Jesus

is the Christ,

the God-man

sent to live

the life

demanded of us

that we

have not lived,

to die the death

that we

deserve

because of our sin,

to resurrect

as a defeat

of death

that we may have

eternal life.

Is saving

belief

just about

getting the

gospel equation

right?

Were the people

in our text

just missing

some bit

of detail?

Not at all.

Of course,

we must believe

certain things

to be saved.

But the biblical

idea of belief

steps beyond

just logging

some facts

in our minds

and acknowledging

them

as true.

This is not

the picture

of belief.

The word,

the Greek word,

doesn't really

even allow

for that.

The word

believe

can also

be translated

trust.

It's a

throwing yourself

upon

the truth

you say

that you

believe.

So last week

I very briefly

talked about

the parachute

analogy

and me

and the boys

lining up

on our couch

and jumping off

and trying to

explain faith

to them,

what it means

to believe

in something.

If you're

to believe

that a parachute

will save

your life

if you were

thrown out

of a plane,

you put it

on differently

than if you

just were

on the ground

saying,

sure,

sure,

parachutes

catch people

when they

fall.

There's

actually some

action that

follows.

I genuinely

believe

that this

will catch

me,

will save

me in

the end.

Or perhaps

an accident

is imminent

or you're

going to

crash your

car into

a brick

wall

and your

seat belt

is on

and you

know that

there's an

airbag

that will

deploy

and as much

as it may

hurt when

that happens,

you believe

that it will

in fact

save you

from destruction.

This is the

way we grasp

hold of the

truth of the

gospel.

We understand

our sin

and we understand

what is bought

for us

and we know

that eternal

damnation is

just and

right.

It's what

awaits us

if we don't

turn from

our sin

and place

our faith,

our trust

in Christ.

We must.

We must

believe.

We must

believe in a

way that

evidences

our belief.

We take

hold of

Jesus in

that way.

We give

our very

life that

we might

belong to

him.

It's going

to work

out in

the way

that we

live.

We're

going to

hold on

to him

not just

as our

savior but

also as

our

Lord.

All of

me.

I'll give

all of

myself

to you.

We live

in an age

of cheap

grace and

decisionism

where what

it means

to be

saved is

to raise

a hand,

walk an

aisle,

sign your

name on

a card.

Many

people have

done those

things and

the Lord

has saved

them but

not because

of the things

that they

did.

And then

salvation

and some

perspective is

granted to

those

individuals.

No follow

up,

no discipleship,

no meaningful

church membership,

no effort to

watch and be

careful,

to see what

happens when

the son of

tribulation

comes.

Do these

people dry

up and not

produce fruit?

Are they

actually in

Christ?

Do they

press on

in him?

Persevere

to the

very

end.

Beloved,

good trees

produce

good

fruit.

Those of

you who

may be out

of Christ

this morning,

bad trees

produce

bad fruit.

Apples

don't grow

on pear

trees,

right children?

Now you

may be

thinking that

is all

well and

good.

This kind

of active

faith.

But are

those ideas

found here

in Jesus'

words?

Yes,

they are.

He says

to those

who believe,

profess to

believe,

if you

abide in

my word,

you are

truly

my

disciples.

And you

will know

the truth

and the

truth

will set

you free.

So we

must believe

that Jesus

is the

Christ

and we're

going to

evidence that

by obeying

his

word.

The evidence

of belief

is an

abiding

or remaining

continuing

in

Jesus'

word.

faith.

D.A.

Carson

said of

this text,

quote,

holding to

Jesus'

teaching not

only establishes

the genuineness

of faith,

it also has

its own

authenticating

power.

We come to

know truth

not simply by

intellectual

assessment but

by moral

commitment.

Not only do I

see that it's

true but I

arrange my

life according

to it.

Judaism,

you may not

know,

taught that the

study of the

law is what

makes a man

free.

The study of

it, not the

obedience to it,

but the study of

it is what makes

a man free.

Jesus taught

that the law

serves to

point to

him.

John 14

and verse

6,

Jesus there

said,

I am the

way and

the truth

and the

life.

No one

comes to the

Father except

through me.

You may

recall John

1 and verse

14,

and the

word became

flesh and

dwelt among

us and we

have seen

his glory,

glory is of

the only

son from

the father

full of

grace and

truth.

In

John 5

and verse

39,

Jesus

indicts the

Pharisees by

saying,

you search

the scriptures

because you

think that in

them you have

eternal life

and it is

they that

bear witness

about me.

It's all

meant to

take us

savingly

to

Jesus

Christ,

to be set

free in

him.

And

having been

set free,

we are

free to

follow him.

John 14

and verse

15,

Jesus says,

if you

love me,

you will

keep my

commandments.

The evidence

of your

love for

me is that

you will

obey me.

John 15

and verse

10,

if you

keep my

commandments,

you will

abide in

my love

just as I

have kept

my father's

commandments

and abide

in his

love.

And then

verse 14

of the same

chapter,

you are my

friends,

if you

do what

I command

you.

We

must

get

this

right.

So

many

Christians

misunderstand

this teaching.

We are

justified

by grace

alone,

through faith

or belief

alone,

in

Christ

alone.

I want

that to be

programmed in

your brain.

if you've

been around

here for

a while,

we have

said this

again and

again and

again.

We are

justified

by grace

alone,

through faith

alone,

in Christ

alone.

We are

not,

we cannot

be saved

by our

works.

But

saving

faith

is a

faith

that works,

that evidences,

that it's

real in

it's

working.

So

what are we

to do

with our

belief?

Invited

examination.

Help me

faithfully

follow Jesus

to the

end.

I plead

with you,

help me

faithfully

follow Jesus

to the

end.

Show me

if there's

any error

in my

way.

Show me

where I'm

not being

obedient to

the word.

And thank

you for

all the

times you've

done this

for me,

that I

might repent

and believe

and show

that my

faith is

a saving

faith.

faith.

Now we

have thought

briefly about

the path

to freedom,

but let's

look just

for a

moment at

the nature

of that

freedom.

Hop down

just a bit

in the text

to verses

35 and

36.

There Jesus

says,

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.

Jesus

uses an

analogy to

show us

the glory

of the

freedom

found in

him.

If we

have been

justified,

it's a

courtroom

scene,

right?

Our sin

expunged,

it's taken

away,

perfect

law keeping

given to

us by

grace alone

through faith

alone in

Christ alone.

If this

is true

of us,

we're

forgiven.

What a

wonderful thing.

We're

counted as

righteous.

What a

wonderful thing,

but that's

not

all.

I think

in the

past,

I've

spent too

much time

on

justification,

so important,

very vital

Christian

doctrine,

I don't

want to

neglect it

in any

measure,

but if

we have

been

justified,

we have

been

justified

for

something.

If it

doesn't

spring into

your mind,

I've

failed you.

I want

it to

start

springing

into

your

mind.

We've

been

justified

so that

we are

adopted.

Not so

that we

might be

adopted,

but so

that we

are

adopted.

God

can

welcome

us

back

into

fellowship

with

him

as

sons.

Ladies,

you want

to be

sons.

Sons

get all

of the

inheritance.

This is

Bible

language,

so just

accept it.

It's

fine.

Now,

at times,

I am,

and I

hope it

presents

itself as

humble,

because

they're

the

translators.

I

just

think,

ah,

I

could

have

gotten

that

a

little

bit

better.

But

here,

I

want to

commend

them

on

their

punctuation

of

these

two

verses.

I

think

it's

just

right.

He

says,

the

slave

does

not

remain

in

the

house

forever.

The

son,

lower

case,

the

son

remains

forever.

And

for those

of us

in

Christ,

I

think

we

should

find

ourselves

right

there.

Set

free

from

the

power

of

sin,

now

justified,

adopted,

a

son

who

remains

forever.

And

then

note

who

accomplishes

that

work,

right?

By

grace,

through

faith,

in

Christ.

So,

if

the

son,

capital

S,

the

son

sets

you

free,

you

will

be

free

indeed.

Indeed.

Really,

truly

free.

Right?

Not

some

flawed

facsimile

of

freedom,

a

real

freedom.

Free

indeed.

If

this

thought

doesn't

enliven

your

mind

and

warm

your

heart,

then I

fear that

you have

never

really

felt

the

weight

of

your

captivity

to

sin.

Whether

former

or

present

captivity

to

sin,

you've

never

really

comprehended

what an

offense it

is to

God

and how

ensnaring

it can

be.

you

have

difficulty

identifying

with

Paul

at the

conclusion

of

Romans

7

and

into

8.

And

yes,

I

believe,

I

believe

with

fervency

that

Paul

is

talking

about

his

present

set

free

from

sin

state.

Just

spiritual.

But I

am of

the

flesh

sold

under

sin.

For

I

do

not

understand

my

own

actions.

For

I

do

not

do

what

I

want,

but I

do

the

very

thing

I

hate.

Now,

if I

do

what

I

do

not

want,

I

agree

with

the

law,

that

it

is

good.

So

now,

it's

no

longer

I

who

do

it,

but

sin

that

dwells

within

me.

For

I

know

that

nothing

good

dwells

in

me,

that

is

in

my

flesh.

For

I

have

the

desire

to

do

what

is

right,

but

not

the

ability

to

carry

it

out.

For

I

do

!

the

do

right,

evil

lies

close

at

hand.

For

I

delight

in

the

law

of

God

in

my

inner

being,

but

I

see

in

my

members

another

law

waging

war

against

the

law

of

my

mind

and

making

me

captive

to

the

law

of

sin

that

dwells

in

my

members.

Wretched

man

that

I

am,

who

will

deliver

me

from

this

body

of

death?

Thanks

be to

God,

through

Jesus

Christ

our

Lord.

So

that

I

myself

serve

the

law

of

God

with

my

mind,

but

with

my

flesh

I

serve

the

law

of

sin.

There

is

therefore

now

no

condemnation

for

those

who

are

in

Christ

Jesus.

For

the

law

of

the

spirit

of

life

has

set

you

free

in

Christ

Jesus

from

the

law

of

sin

and

death.

If

you

have

understood

the

depth

of

your

sin

then

you

rejoice

at

being

free

indeed.

Truly

!

Really

free

from

slavery

to

sin.

Charles

Wesley

wrote

in his

famous

hymn

And

Can It

Be?

This is

in your

bulletin

if you

care to

see it.

Long

my

imprisoned

spirit

lay

fast

bound

in

sin

and

nature's

night.

Thine

eye

diffused

a

quickening

ray

I

woke

the

dungeon

flamed

with

light.

My

chains

fell

off

my

heart

was

free

I

rose

went

forth

and

followed

thee.

So

Jesus

presents

a

pathway

to

freedom.

When we

believe

in

Christ

and

so

evidence

that

faith

in

the

way

that

we

live.

A

second

point

and

we'll

move

fairly

quickly

through

this.

I

think

I'll

pick

up

some

of

this

language

the

next

time

we're

in

John

together.

It

builds

as

the

chapter

proceeds

on.

So

if

this

is

unsatisfying

to

you

I

hope

perhaps

I'll

come

back

to

it.

We

see

secondly

the

pretense

!

the

pretending

or

the

shamming

of

freedom

the

putting

on

as if

it's

true

when

it's

not.

Notice

verse

33

they

answered

him

to

this

the

truth

will

set

you

free

they

say

we

are

offspring

of

Abraham

and

have

never

been

enslaved

to

anyone

how

is

it

that

you

say

you

will

become

free?

Now

the

Israelites

have

been

enslaved

by

Egypt

Syria

Babylon

Medo

Persia

Greece

Syria

and

at

the

time

of

this

exchange

by

Rome

undoubtedly

no

debate

about

they

were

enslaved

so

they

must

not

have

been

referring

to

physical

enslavement

when

they

say

this

but

rather

spiritual

enslavement

this

is

important

to

note

because

what

is

happening

here

is

not

a

confusion

of

terms

Jesus

isn't

just

talking

past

them

leaving

them

scratching

their

head

right

he's

not

talking

on

one

level

and

them

on

another

they

fully

understand

the

spiritual

nature

of

what

Jesus

is

saying

and

yet

they're

in

this

debate

with

him

he

reinforces

I

say

to

you

everyone

who

practices

sin

is

a

slave

to

sin

they

are

talking

about

the

same

thing

spiritual

enslavement

you need

to be

set

free

we don't

need

to be

set

free

we're

not

slaves

to

sin

yes

you

are

Nathan's

summary

of it

clearly

we see

what's

going

on

here

is

the

very

opposite

of a

faith

that

works

here

Jesus

presents

people

whose

normative

activity

their

practice

is

sin

not

as

sons

but

as

slaves

those

of us

who are

in

Christ

this

morning

do

we

still

sin

yes

we

do

we

are

like

Paul

at

the

end

of

Romans

Romans 7 · chapter mention

chapter

7

yes

we