SERMON: True Believers are Free (John 8:31–36)
True Believers are Free (John 8:31–36)
Series: “John:
Life in Christ’s Name” Text:
John
8:31–36
By: Shaun
Marksbury Date:
September
3, 2023
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion:
AM Service
I.
Introduction
One
of the harsh realities of church life is the fact that every congregation
contains a mixture of believers and unbelievers. This was true in the people of Israel, and Jesus
highlighted it with His parable of the of the wheat and the tares. In Matthew 13:24–30, we read,
Jesus
presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be
compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy
came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain,
then the tares became evident also. The
slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed
in your field? How then does it have tares?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’
The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering
up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ‘Allow both to grow together until the
harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First
gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the
wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
His
disciples didn’t understand the meaning of this parable, so He explained that
He is the one sowing the seed in the world.
The wheat sprouting up is the sons of the kingdom of God. However, the devil (the enemy) sows his own
seed, and sometimes the false growth is as indistinguishable from true growth as
wheat is from tares. It isn’t until harvest
approaches that people can see the difference, and our Lord will send forth His
angels to throw all the tares into the furnace of fire so the righteous can
shine forth (vv. 36–43).
As
we move through Acts and the epistles of the New Testament, we find that the
church is no more immune to the enemy sowing his seed than Israel was. In every congregation, wheat and tares grow
together, and we are sometimes unaware of the differences. When everyone claims to believe in Jesus and,
as far as we can tell, lives relatively within a biblical framework of morality,
all anyone can see is the same crop growing ready for harvest.
It’s
only when someone is found to be living in unrepentant sin that the false
believer is discoverable; otherwise, we can only assume the best and trust in
the Lord to know who His people are. There
are some who profess to be Christians who are complete hypocrites. There are others who believe in Jesus on some
level, but they are not true believers in Him. There are many who are true believers but who
sometimes live inconsistently and need correction. Only time will reveal who is a wheat and who
is a tare.
It's
with that knowledge that we approach a passage containing people who believe Jesus. They have heard what Jesus has said
throughout this festival, and they find His to be the more compelling
argument. However, whether they are
truly converted by it remains to be seen.
So,
in this passage, we have our Lord describe the marks of true believers. True believers abide in the Word, true
believers understand the bondage of sin, and true believers have their souls declared
free. Let’s consider the first of these.
II.
First, True Believers Abide in the Word (vv. 31–32)
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had
believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of
Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
We
read back in v. 30 that, “As He spoke these things, many came to believe in
Him.” Now, Jesus is addressing “those
Jews who had believed Him.” He seems to turn
away from the unbelievers and turn toward these believers, using an emphatic
pronoun in the original language — “Y’all, if y’all continue.” It seems like this should be a more pleasant
encounter than we’ve been reading about, yet that is not the case.
This
group presents us with a conundrum. As they
continue to consider Jesus’s words, they grow more hostile. As we go beyond today’s passage, we’ll even note
that they suggestively refer to Jesus’s past, and some even grow ready to stone
Him. This belief turns to unbelief quickly.
What
went wrong? The first clue that
something is amiss might be in the words, “had believed Him.” There’s nothing implicitly negative here, yet
the wording is somewhat unique. Usually,
John talks about having faith “in” Christ, but at this instance, he switches to
talk about those who “believed Him,” without the preposition. It may be that there is nothing significant
here, but this does seem to indicate a belief in the truth of what Jesus was
saying rather than a full-hearted trust in Him.
Let’s
consider this with how Jesus addresses them.
He calls them first to continue in His word. In fact, the term is a familiar one in this Gospel
— menō, which can mean to “remain”
(the Legacy Standard Bible uses “abide” here). As one study points out, this is the same word
used to describe Jesus’s relationship with God, Jesus’s relationship with the
believer, and God’s relationship with the believer. [1] There
should be, within the true believer, an abiding sense of the Word,
then.
If
these Jews had developed an appreciation for His truth, they should want to abide
or remain in it. If they trusted in
Him, they should seek to follow all that He has to say. They should want to be His disciples, in
other words. Remember, a disciple is fundamentally
a student, a pupil. In the ancient
world, a disciple chose to follow a Master, a Rabbi, one trusted to lead them
in accurate knowledge and wisdom. A
disciple would continue in the word of the teacher, obeying and following it.
Jesus
is calling them to true discipleship, then. In fact, whether someone abides in the teaching
of Christ is a simple, biblical test of who is a true believer. As we read in 2 John
9, “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does
not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and
the Son.” If a person professes to
believe Christ, but that person refuses to do anything Christ commanded, then
that person doesn’t have the Father or the Son. Of course, a true believer may fall short at
times, but he will strive to remain in Christ’s word. However, we might also find some folks who
follow for a while in their own strength, according to the flesh, but when they
inevitably stop following His Word, they reveal that they were never converted
to be true disciples.
This gives us a glimpse of what we should be
doing in churches, by the way. We should
be teaching people to observe all that the Lord has taught us (per the Great
Commission, Matthew 28:19–20). We’re not
here to entertain or to get people pumped up; we’re to explain the Bible and to
call people to follow Christ. If we find
someone who is pursuing sin instead in our midst, we practice church discipline
on that person, as our Lord commanded.
We are all striving to be true disciples of Jesus Christ, by His grace.
Some might argue that preaching such a
requirement for the Christian life makes following Jesus harder. However, that’s the kind of discipleship to
which our Lord calls us. His Apostle
Paul told us, “Test yourselves to see
if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” (2 Cor. 13:5). Similarly, James warns of a kind of faith
which is dead (James 2:17–20). And this
same Apostle John tells believers that some fall away to show that they were
never truly of our number (1 John 2:19).
Disciples follow Christ.
In the next verse here, we read that those
who abide in the word of Christ have a promise: they will know the truth. Of course, we’ve already read that we receive
truth in Jesus Christ (John 1:14, 17). This
promises we will come to know the truth through abiding in the Word of
Christ, for Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes
from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” This isn’t a promise that we will know the
truth before we decide to follow Christ, though; we will only have enough information
we need so that we are without excuse.
Once we decide to become a follower of Christ, though, we will come to
know the truth we need.
This truth will have a tangible result in
our lives. It will make us free. His isn’t some esoteric, Gnostic, hidden
knowledge, nor is it lofty, philosophical, pie-in-the-sky belief system. To make the comparison, He’s not offering a PhD
which will rack of thousands in student debt and provide no real-world job
opportunities. Instead, He’s offering
concrete truth for the world which exists, truth which sets the prisoner free!
Now, Jesus doesn’t elaborate this freedom in
this verse, but He does later. He’s speaking
first of justification, wherein God declares us free from the condemnation of
sin. That freedom comes in believing in
Christ alone for salvation, which is what He teaches us. He is also speaking of sanctification,
wherein we are, over time, set free from sin and its effects as we apply the
power of His Word to our lives. It’s a
sharp, two-edged sword which can cut us free from deceptions and break the
chains of our sinful condition.
True
disciples will want to abide in this kind of word. Unfortunately for these individuals, their
faith is unsettled, meaning they are not ready to be Jesus’s disciples. The reason for this is because they have sin
that they are unwilling to surrender.
They are, in fact, bound to it, as we will see next.
III.
Second, True Believers Understand the Bondage of
Sin (vv. 33–34)
They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s
descendants and have never yet 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 commits sin is the slave of
sin.”
The
concept of freedom of freedom here implies slavery, so the Jews take offense
(v. 33). This is still offensive to
people; they don’t want to think of themselves as in bondage. Even the person strung out on opioids is enslaved
by them by any rational standard, but the addict will disagree. When a person sits in front of his phone or
computer viewing pornography for hours on end, he is also enslaved.
Some
sins, though, are less obvious — the person who lives for the approval of
others, or who wants to assert his own way in the world, or who dedicates
himself to the next pleasure, also bears chains in the soul. The truth is that we are all in bondage
outside of Christ, enslaved to self, the world, and Satan. In fact, the longer a person engages in sin,
the more it will hold the person captive.
For those who agree that this is a problem, another biblical concept
from the slave market provides hope — redemption. Jesus purchases the slave with His precious
blood and frees him from the chains of unrighteousness!
Yet,
these individuals are demonstrating that they are lacking true faith in Christ. They say as much — their faith is in their
lineage as Abraham’s descendants or seed.
They boasted in being God’s chosen people, for God promised blessing for
Abraham’s descendants (Gen. 12:2–3).
However, they seem to miss that Jesus is also of Abraham’s seed, and God
will execute that blessing through His Messiah (cf. Gal. 3:16).
Because
they are offended, they seem to exaggerate in the heat of the moment. They say they’ve never been slaves! Yet, they’ve been in subjugation multiple
times in history to great empires like Egypt, Babylon, and Persia. They might be referring to their own lives,
but the truth is that Rome rules them from afar. If we assume the best and figure that they
are not talking about political bondage but spiritual, then they are saying
that they are doing fine as God’s chosen, Abrahamic people. Whatever the case may be, they seem to reject
Jesus’s words out of hand.
So,
Jesus answers them in v. 34. He begins
with one of His solemn, “Amen, amen” or, “Truly, truly” statements. As Matthew Henry notes here, “The style of
the prophets was, Thus saith the Lord,
for they were faithful as servants;
but Christ, being a Son, speaks in his own name: I say unto you, I the Amen,
the faithful witness; he pawns his veracity upon it. ‘I say it to you, who
boast of your relation to Abraham, as if that would save you.’ ”[2] The
Lord speaks truth which would set them free if they would only accept it.
He
goes on to say this: “everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” This demonstrates how universal slavery to sin
is. Most people today have no problem admitting
that they’re imperfect, that they have sinned in some way, though they don’t
usually see that as a big deal. However,
Jesus says that it proves that they are enslaved by a sin nature, having no
hope of redemption, unless they hear and believe His Word.
People
stumble at this point, thinking that they can give up sin at any time, like the
smoker who says he quits cigarettes all the time! We are enslaved, and both Paul and Peter
carry this thought forward (Rom 6:16; 2 Pet 2:19). This is the practice of sin (1 John 3:4, 8,
9), and it evidences that the human will is never truly free from
influence. We are all drawn to our desire
to sin. This is why we would never
freely choose God on our own.
True
believers understand we need to be set free.
They understand that, outside of Christ, there is a bondage in their
souls which keeps them from true righteousness.
They might say things like, “God bless America,” but they don’t give Him
much thought outside of a few empty platitudes.
They realize that the longing in their soul isn’t to be necessarily
closer to God, but to be free from His watchful eye and wrath. They don’t have a genuine love for God and
His ways because they love sin more. So,
Jesus’s teaching here resonates with them, giving them a new desire for freedom.
That’s
what Christ offers, as we see in our final point:
IV.
Third, True Believers Have Their Souls Declared
Free (vv. 35–36)
“The slave does not remain in the house
forever; the son does remain forever. So
if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
We
have to think for a moment about Jesus’s words here. There’s a lot we can say about slavery, and I
covered the topic more in depth several weeks ago as part of our evening study
of the Book of Ephesians. In summary, typical
ancient practice didn’t employ slaves permanently. A person may look for employment as a slave
and even get compensation for his services, but he would not necessarily become
a family fixture, even though there was some paternalism present in ancient practice. As one study notes, “A Jewish slave was only
supposed to serve for six years and go free in the seventh (Exod 21:2).”[3] There
is a difference between a slave and a son in this regard.
We
see this in the Old Testament. Hagar was
a committed handmaiden for Sarah, but she was eventually reminded of her subordinate
status. Once Sarah became pregnant and
gave birth to Isaac, Hagar’s son Ishmael could not be the son of promise and
was driven out (Gen. 21:10; Gal. 4:30).
God had a blessing for Hagar and Ishmael, but Isaac would be the natural-born
son of promise.
Now,
if God had chosen to do it another way, He could have. Abraham could have adopted his servant
Eliazer and given him the inheritance. In
most of the ancient world, if someone adopted a son, the son could never
legally be disowned. If a master chose
to set free and adopt a slave as a son, the slave would forever be a son and
never again a slave. (Islam changed this
philosophy, but that is a topic for another day.) The
concept of sonship overrode any other business relationship, for obvious
reasons, and the word of the son is more important than the word of a slave.
Well,
Jesus goes on to say in v. 36, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free
indeed.” The translators made a choice
here to capitalize the word “Son,” and I agree — Jesus shifts now to speak of Himself. A son is the permanent fixture in a
household, and with the authority of the Son of God in the household of God,
Jesus has the right to set a slave free!
What
again enslaves us? Jesus is talking
about the bondage of sin. And, since God
declares all people who practice sin to be slaves to sin, we have no hope of freedom
from that declaration unless the Son of God chooses to show grace on some of us
lowly slaves. Well, those who are His
disciples, who abide in His word because they understand their bondage, have His
promise that they will be set free from sin!
He
even says here that we will be “free indeed,” or really free. He sets us free through His truth (v. 32),
and that’s not just a legal declaration.
You who have been ruining the relationships with those around you will
be really free. You who have been enslaved
by your own anger and bitterness will be free indeed. You who bear the chains of gossip and people’s
opinions of you will find those chains broken.
Those who can’t find your way out of the bottle will find it shatter
around you, exposing you to the fresh air for the first time. He will break every cord which binds you in
this life, if you let Him.
V.
Conclusion
Jesus
offers us true freedom. That’s why it is
so blessed to be counted as a disciple of Christ. We can know that, in Him, our sins are
declared forgiven, and we know that we have the power to turn away from those
sins in the future. We can finally walk
as God created us to be, free from the bondage of sin and shame.
Sadly,
there are some who join churches and claim belief in God, but they have little to
no concept of this. Maybe they think it’s
important to believe Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, but they
never really applied that belief to their lives. Maybe they think of church as more of a
country club, a place for some social credibility and great gossip. Maybe they believe it’s where their kids need
to be because that’s where they were as children, but they do not follow the
teachings of Christ in their personal lives.
They might believe Jesus, but they don’t believe in Him.
If
I’ve just described you, know that means you’re a tare, not wheat, and you’re still
in bondage to your sin. Thankfully, the
Lord is in the adoption business. The Son
can set you free, and you will be free indeed.
Trust in Him, asking Him to forgive your sins and to set you free.
Maybe
you are someone else. Maybe you have
searched your heart and concluded that you’re a true believer, but you haven’t
been following the Lord closely lately. You
would be ashamed to be called a disciple of Christ outside of these walls (or
maybe even within them). If that’s the case,
I offer this word of comfort — Jesus forgives all our sins, and He can declare
us to be sons and daughters permanently.
Confess your sins and find the grace He offers, and start following His
word as disciples today. He will help
you to break the remaining chains in your life from this day forward!
[1] Roy B. Zuck, A
Biblical Theology of the New Testament, electronic ed., (Chicago: Moody
Press, 1994), 229–230.
[2] Matthew Henry, Matthew
Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume,
(Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1969–1970.
[3] John D. Barry, Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Michael
S. Heiser, Miles Custis, Elliot Ritzema, Matthew M. Whitehead, Michael R.
Grigoni, and David Bomar, Faithlife Study
Bible, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Jn 8:35.