John 8:37-47
The Proof of Paternity
Illustration: When our son Evan was born, Dick Housenga said that one of the things that convinces him of a Creator is babies. He says “when that little squirt comes out he don’t look like me, he looks like you.” His point was that the resemblance Evan has to Annie and I is proof that God is the Creator. In that too is the proof that we are his parents. There is nothing like the joy of a new baby and seeing the resemblance to the parents. And as they grow watching the features, the body types, the manner of speech, the mannerisms and gestures, the personality traits all look like mom and dad. Seeing a little one that is yours and looks like yours is one of the greatest gifts God gives! Few things can bring joy like an apple that hasn’t fallen too far from the tree.
In John 8 the Jews are disputing with Jesus over who their real father is. And in verse 39 Jesus says something that is very key to this entire chapter, “If you were Abraham’s children then you would do the things Abraham did.” In other words, you don’t look like the one you claim to be related to. Now, we need to understand this man Abraham a little bit more before we can fully appreciate the rest of John 8.
When it comes to having faith in God, Abraham has set the standard. In the Bible he is known as the man who believed God. And Hebrews chapter 11 is known as the faith hall of fame of the Bible and 8 out of those 39 verses are dedicated to Abraham. No one else in that chapter gets anywhere near as much attention. He set the bar. No one’s faith has surpassed that great faith of Abraham because out of all who have faith throughout history he is the chief among them.
He is even referred to as the father of all those who have faith. The centurion of Matthew 8, the paralyzed man and the bleeding woman of Matthew 9, the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15, and many more whose great faith made them children of Abraham.
But, we find in chapter 8 of John’s Gospel that Jesus did not find in these Jews the same faith that Abraham had. And therefore Jesus says that even though they are Abraham’s physical offspring, they were not Abraham’s spiritual children. Jesus uses two different words in this text. When he says they are Abraham’s descendants in verse 37 he uses the Greek word “sperma”, which means physical offspring. It refers to your physical relationship to someone and that you are their blood relative. It’s your family tree.
But in verse 39 when Jesus uses the word “children” he is using a different Greek word, “teknon”. This word has a broader meaning and here it emphasizes the likeness you have to someone even though you may not be blood relatives. Jesus is saying to these Jews that they were not like Abraham in matters of faith and therefore they were not his spiritual children.
Paul taught this too in Romans 9. Please turn there with me. In verse 7 it says, “Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children..” Descendants is the same greek word, “sperma” which means physical descendant. And “children” is the same greek word again “teknon” referring to someone’s spiritual likeness and similarity to Abraham. The verse might read like this, “Just because someone is a physical descendant of Abraham does not mean that they are a true spiritual child of his.”
In other words, blood relation to Abraham counts for nothing when it comes to salvation. Many who are related physically to him are not related to him spiritually. And what’s more, many who are not related by blood to Abraham are related to him spiritually. This is because the faith that lived in Abraham lives in them.
John the Baptist lambasted the Pharisees for thinking this way in Matthew 3 when he said, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” John was assaulting them for their arrogant mistake of trusting that their relation to Abraham would save them. God can raise up spiritual children for Abraham from stones. In other words, don’t bank on being a descendant of Abraham. Make sure he is your spiritual father by having the same kind of faith that he had. In other words, the proof of paternity is faith, not blood relation.
This spiritual paternity is common in Scripture. Paul called both Timothy and Titus his true sons in the faith. They had the same quality of faith as he did. He could trust them to go into a city and do and think and evaluate and act in the same manner he would if he were there. They resembled him in the faith. They looked like him in faith. The quality and kind of faith Paul had was in them. If you wanted to know what Paul’s faith was like you could look at these two young men.
More importantly, if you wanted to know what Christ was like you could look at these two men. They imitated Paul and that was a noble thing because Paul imitated Christ. That’s why he was their spiritual father and they his spiritual children.
Paul told the Corinthians that he was their spiritual father. Now if you know anything about the Corinthians they looked nothing like Paul in the faith. But, they came to Christ because of him and he is their spiritual father because he labored among them to produce in them that same kind of faith and that same kind of godliness that he had himself. He wanted to reproduce in them the faith that was in him. He wanted to be able to recognize in them the same kind of faith he had. He longed to be able to say about them, “you remind me of me. When I look at you, I see me.” He wanted them to prove their spiritual paternity and join the family of faith by having the same faith as Paul and Abraham.
As people we have to answer a question ourselves: Who is our Father? What kind and what quality of faith do we have? Last week we saw that as Christians we belong somewhere. That somewhere is the Father’s house. This week we see that as Christians we belong to someone – our Father in Heaven. We belong to Him because we are His children and He is our Father. Galatians 4:6 says, “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’”
Because of Jesus Christ, we have the right to be called sons of God and we have the right to call God in heaven our Father. We were born into a spiritual family that will never be separated – look around you, these are some of those who you will spend all of eternity with. We all have one Lord, faith, one baptism, one God and Father over all. And it is by this faith that we are also children of Abraham.
Well just as Abraham’s faith was proven, so too will ours be. In verses 37-47 we see some proofs of spiritual paternity. That is, here are some key proofs that our faith is like Abraham’s and that God is our heavenly Paternity.
Accept God’s Word (v37)
The first proof of paternity is that we Accept God’s Word. Verse 37 says, “I know that you are Abraham’s descendents. Yet you are ready to kill me because you have no room for my word.” The Jews did not accept the word Jesus spoke to them. Jesus words are the words of God and they rejected those words. He told them in 5:38 that “the Father’s word does not dwell in you because you have not believed the one He sent.”
But true children of Abraham who have the same faith as Abraham have God’s Word dwelling in them because they accept it. 1 John 2:14 says the Word of God lives in us. Colossians 3:16 says we are to “let the word of Christ dwell in us RICHLY”.
This is the word of truth. In verse 40 Jesus says, “As it is you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth I heard from God”. And it is truth from God that these Jews rejected. They didn’t understand it and they didn’t hear it (v43), they didn’t believe it (v46).
Accepting the truth of God’s Word is proof we are God’s children, it is proof of paternity
.
Act Like Abraham (v39)
Secondly, to prove your spiritual paternity, Act Like Abraham. Notice verse 39-41.
They did not look like Abraham!
Now, it’s important to have a perspective, a framework of Abraham’s faith. What did he do? What was his faith like that was so foreign to these Jews? The author of Hebrews describes 3 ways that Abraham’s faith was manifest. And we will do well to pay careful attention to these. Please turn to Hebrews 11.
First, he followed God’s leading (8-10). God commanded Abraham to leave his country and Abraham went without any idea of where he was going. Without any idea where this place was or who was there or what this new life would be like, Abraham left his old life and his old country and everything he knew behind and followed God’s leading in faith.
Second, he trusted God was faithful (11-12). He believed God would do what God promised to do. God promised him he would have a son even though Abraham and his wife had no children and were way too old to have kids. Verse 12 emphasizes their old age when it says the bodies of Abraham and his wife were as good as dead.
When God promises to give them a child, and it was humanly absurd to think it could happen, they had two choices: to believe God or not to believe God. It’s at this point when it seems absurd to human understanding that we prove whether we believe God. Abraham believed. And at 100 years old God gave him a son as He promised He would - and verse 12 says Abraham’s descendants became as numerous as the stars in the sky just as God promised.
The third way Abraham’s faith was proven was in what he was willing to forego. God told Abraham to take his son and sacrifice him as an offering. That only son of his, that son whom God promised to him in his old age, that son he waited his whole life for and the son he finally received. It was through this son that God was going to make his descendents as numerous as the stars in the sky. Now God who gave him a son was commanding him to give him back by sacrificing him. Verse 19 says, “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.”
If you’re unfamiliar with this history, at the moment Abraham was going to bring the knife down on his son God told him to stop. Abraham’s faith was proven in his obedience to God’s command.
Here’s the point: Abraham’s faith was so valuable that there was nothing he would not give up for God. That’s the kind of faith that is valuable to God. Can we even begin to imagine what the applications are for us? Who or what is your Isaac? Do you have faith like Abraham? Are you ready to sacrifice your Isaac if God commanded you?
Now the thing about Isaac is that he lived. He lived to have a son named Jacob. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel and Israel had 12 sons. Those 12 sons became the nation of Israel. They are the ones whom Jesus came to minister to on this earth. These are the ones who Jesus was speaking with in chapter 8 of John’s gospel. They were the physical descendants of Abraham but they were not the spiritual children of Abraham. They do not do the things that Abraham did. They rejected God’s Word and they were trying to kill God’s Son. These things Abraham did not do.
The 2nd proof of spiritual paternity is to Act Like Abraham. Follow God, trust God is Faithful, and be ready to Forego your Isaac.
Admire Jesus Christ (v41-42)
The 3rd Proof of Paternity is to Admire Jesus Christ. Notice verses 41 and 42.
These Jews don’t admire Christ. When they say, “We are not illegitimate children” they are insulting Jesus. Whose mother became pregnant before she was married? Jesus. Who, besides Mary, knew that it was God that made her pregnant and that it wasn’t because she was immoral? Only Joseph and Jesus knew that truth.
And so here these Jews slam Jesus with an insult about his mother. “Don’t tell us about our father, we know who our father is. We weren’t born like you were Jesus. We know about Mary and Joseph. Who are you to tell us about our father?” When people are confronted with truth that convicts it is common that they would turn to insults.
The point is they don’t admire Jesus. But true children of Abraham who have faith like him do admire Jesus. By faith we see Him now as we will one day see Him. We know that He is the One that God exalted to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name. And we know that every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Universal admiration for Jesus is coming. We sing “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever!” In a world that hates Jesus Christ we admire Him in the highest. The proof of spiritual paternity is in Reverent Admiration for Jesus Christ.
Answer to Truth (v44)
Another Proof of Paternity is that we answer to Truth. Notice verse 44.
Those who do not belong to God can only belong to one other – Satan. Satan is the father of all who have not accepted Jesus Christ. They belong to him and his desires are their desires. We need to see two things about Satan that Jesus teaches here. First, that he is a liar, and second, that he is a murderer. In one verse Jesus says 5 different ways that Satan is a liar. Jesus is emphasizing this point because deception is Satan’s method of operation. Murder is his objective.
In the garden he used deception to lure Adam and Eve into disobeying God. But that wasn’t his final goal. God warned them they would die if they disobeyed Him and Satan knew this. Satan’s goal was to murder Adam and Eve – to take their life from them by lying to them and leading them into death. Satan’s goal is to rob of life.
Today there are more so called “paths” to salvation than you can count. Satan doesn’t have to get you into his religion, he just does everything he can to keep you out of God’s religion in Jesus Christ. He does this through lies. Broad is the way that leads to destruction and narrow the path to salvation (Matthew 7:13). The path to destruction is broad because Satan has produced so many lies in the world and all of them lead to eternal death. This road is a highway paved by Satan and it has as many lanes as there are false religions in the world.
But, the road to salvation is narrow because it is the only path – it is a one lane road that starts with the cross. This is the road of truth and life. This is the road of Jesus Christ. He said “I am the way, and the truth and the life”.
Satan’s objective is murder and his method of operation is deception. Jesus on the other hand is the giver of life and He does that through truth. “For just as the Father gives life, even so the Son gives life.” (John 5:21). Jesus is not a liar; He always speaks truth and He is truth incarnate (14:6).
All those who are on the side of truth listen to Him (18:37). His truth has the power to set people free from bondage to sin and death. And all those who are spiritual children of Abraham answer to truth, not to lies. They do not belong to Satan and they do not carry out his desires. They are not among those who suppress the truth by their wickedness (Rom 1:18), but, are rather among those who believe and obey and live according to the truth that is in Jesus Christ (Eph 4:21).
Acquit Jesus (v45-47)
I’ll close with verses 45-47.
True spiritual children of Abraham acquit Jesus. They drop all the false charges against Him. When a man does not believe in Jesus Christ the Bible says that he condemns Jesus in his heart and will do anything to silence the voice of truth that speaks against the sin in his heart. He will ignore and insult Jesus if Jesus were to get too close.
But, in turning to Jesus Christ by faith a man is dropping all charges against Jesus and he realizes he is the one who is guilty. The question of “How can a man become one of God’s children is answered in the person of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. He is the doorway into the house of God and into eternal life. He can set a man free from sin and death. If at once he would believe in Him that His death on the cross paid the price for all his sins, that man would become a child of God, have peace with God, and enter into the family of faith that has eternal hope in Christ Jesus.
The Proof of Paternity
Illustration: When our son Evan was born, Dick Housenga said that one of the things that convinces him of a Creator is babies. He says “when that little squirt comes out he don’t look like me, he looks like you.” His point was that the resemblance Evan has to Annie and I is proof that God is the Creator. In that too is the proof that we are his parents. There is nothing like the joy of a new baby and seeing the resemblance to the parents. And as they grow watching the features, the body types, the manner of speech, the mannerisms and gestures, the personality traits all look like mom and dad. Seeing a little one that is yours and looks like yours is one of the greatest gifts God gives! Few things can bring joy like an apple that hasn’t fallen too far from the tree.
In John 8 the Jews are disputing with Jesus over who their real father is. And in verse 39 Jesus says something that is very key to this entire chapter, “If you were Abraham’s children then you would do the things Abraham did.” In other words, you don’t look like the one you claim to be related to. Now, we need to understand this man Abraham a little bit more before we can fully appreciate the rest of John 8.
When it comes to having faith in God, Abraham has set the standard. In the Bible he is known as the man who believed God. And Hebrews chapter 11 is known as the faith hall of fame of the Bible and 8 out of those 39 verses are dedicated to Abraham. No one else in that chapter gets anywhere near as much attention. He set the bar. No one’s faith has surpassed that great faith of Abraham because out of all who have faith throughout history he is the chief among them.
He is even referred to as the father of all those who have faith. The centurion of Matthew 8, the paralyzed man and the bleeding woman of Matthew 9, the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15, and many more whose great faith made them children of Abraham.
But, we find in chapter 8 of John’s Gospel that Jesus did not find in these Jews the same faith that Abraham had. And therefore Jesus says that even though they are Abraham’s physical offspring, they were not Abraham’s spiritual children. Jesus uses two different words in this text. When he says they are Abraham’s descendants in verse 37 he uses the Greek word “sperma”, which means physical offspring. It refers to your physical relationship to someone and that you are their blood relative. It’s your family tree.
But in verse 39 when Jesus uses the word “children” he is using a different Greek word, “teknon”. This word has a broader meaning and here it emphasizes the likeness you have to someone even though you may not be blood relatives. Jesus is saying to these Jews that they were not like Abraham in matters of faith and therefore they were not his spiritual children.
Paul taught this too in Romans 9. Please turn there with me. In verse 7 it says, “Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children..” Descendants is the same greek word, “sperma” which means physical descendant. And “children” is the same greek word again “teknon” referring to someone’s spiritual likeness and similarity to Abraham. The verse might read like this, “Just because someone is a physical descendant of Abraham does not mean that they are a true spiritual child of his.”
In other words, blood relation to Abraham counts for nothing when it comes to salvation. Many who are related physically to him are not related to him spiritually. And what’s more, many who are not related by blood to Abraham are related to him spiritually. This is because the faith that lived in Abraham lives in them.
John the Baptist lambasted the Pharisees for thinking this way in Matthew 3 when he said, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” John was assaulting them for their arrogant mistake of trusting that their relation to Abraham would save them. God can raise up spiritual children for Abraham from stones. In other words, don’t bank on being a descendant of Abraham. Make sure he is your spiritual father by having the same kind of faith that he had. In other words, the proof of paternity is faith, not blood relation.
This spiritual paternity is common in Scripture. Paul called both Timothy and Titus his true sons in the faith. They had the same quality of faith as he did. He could trust them to go into a city and do and think and evaluate and act in the same manner he would if he were there. They resembled him in the faith. They looked like him in faith. The quality and kind of faith Paul had was in them. If you wanted to know what Paul’s faith was like you could look at these two young men.
More importantly, if you wanted to know what Christ was like you could look at these two men. They imitated Paul and that was a noble thing because Paul imitated Christ. That’s why he was their spiritual father and they his spiritual children.
Paul told the Corinthians that he was their spiritual father. Now if you know anything about the Corinthians they looked nothing like Paul in the faith. But, they came to Christ because of him and he is their spiritual father because he labored among them to produce in them that same kind of faith and that same kind of godliness that he had himself. He wanted to reproduce in them the faith that was in him. He wanted to be able to recognize in them the same kind of faith he had. He longed to be able to say about them, “you remind me of me. When I look at you, I see me.” He wanted them to prove their spiritual paternity and join the family of faith by having the same faith as Paul and Abraham.
As people we have to answer a question ourselves: Who is our Father? What kind and what quality of faith do we have? Last week we saw that as Christians we belong somewhere. That somewhere is the Father’s house. This week we see that as Christians we belong to someone – our Father in Heaven. We belong to Him because we are His children and He is our Father. Galatians 4:6 says, “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’”
Because of Jesus Christ, we have the right to be called sons of God and we have the right to call God in heaven our Father. We were born into a spiritual family that will never be separated – look around you, these are some of those who you will spend all of eternity with. We all have one Lord, faith, one baptism, one God and Father over all. And it is by this faith that we are also children of Abraham.
Well just as Abraham’s faith was proven, so too will ours be. In verses 37-47 we see some proofs of spiritual paternity. That is, here are some key proofs that our faith is like Abraham’s and that God is our heavenly Paternity.
Accept God’s Word (v37)
The first proof of paternity is that we Accept God’s Word. Verse 37 says, “I know that you are Abraham’s descendents. Yet you are ready to kill me because you have no room for my word.” The Jews did not accept the word Jesus spoke to them. Jesus words are the words of God and they rejected those words. He told them in 5:38 that “the Father’s word does not dwell in you because you have not believed the one He sent.”
But true children of Abraham who have the same faith as Abraham have God’s Word dwelling in them because they accept it. 1 John 2:14 says the Word of God lives in us. Colossians 3:16 says we are to “let the word of Christ dwell in us RICHLY”.
This is the word of truth. In verse 40 Jesus says, “As it is you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth I heard from God”. And it is truth from God that these Jews rejected. They didn’t understand it and they didn’t hear it (v43), they didn’t believe it (v46).
Accepting the truth of God’s Word is proof we are God’s children, it is proof of paternity
.
Act Like Abraham (v39)
Secondly, to prove your spiritual paternity, Act Like Abraham. Notice verse 39-41.
They did not look like Abraham!
Now, it’s important to have a perspective, a framework of Abraham’s faith. What did he do? What was his faith like that was so foreign to these Jews? The author of Hebrews describes 3 ways that Abraham’s faith was manifest. And we will do well to pay careful attention to these. Please turn to Hebrews 11.
First, he followed God’s leading (8-10). God commanded Abraham to leave his country and Abraham went without any idea of where he was going. Without any idea where this place was or who was there or what this new life would be like, Abraham left his old life and his old country and everything he knew behind and followed God’s leading in faith.
Second, he trusted God was faithful (11-12). He believed God would do what God promised to do. God promised him he would have a son even though Abraham and his wife had no children and were way too old to have kids. Verse 12 emphasizes their old age when it says the bodies of Abraham and his wife were as good as dead.
When God promises to give them a child, and it was humanly absurd to think it could happen, they had two choices: to believe God or not to believe God. It’s at this point when it seems absurd to human understanding that we prove whether we believe God. Abraham believed. And at 100 years old God gave him a son as He promised He would - and verse 12 says Abraham’s descendants became as numerous as the stars in the sky just as God promised.
The third way Abraham’s faith was proven was in what he was willing to forego. God told Abraham to take his son and sacrifice him as an offering. That only son of his, that son whom God promised to him in his old age, that son he waited his whole life for and the son he finally received. It was through this son that God was going to make his descendents as numerous as the stars in the sky. Now God who gave him a son was commanding him to give him back by sacrificing him. Verse 19 says, “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.”
If you’re unfamiliar with this history, at the moment Abraham was going to bring the knife down on his son God told him to stop. Abraham’s faith was proven in his obedience to God’s command.
Here’s the point: Abraham’s faith was so valuable that there was nothing he would not give up for God. That’s the kind of faith that is valuable to God. Can we even begin to imagine what the applications are for us? Who or what is your Isaac? Do you have faith like Abraham? Are you ready to sacrifice your Isaac if God commanded you?
Now the thing about Isaac is that he lived. He lived to have a son named Jacob. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel and Israel had 12 sons. Those 12 sons became the nation of Israel. They are the ones whom Jesus came to minister to on this earth. These are the ones who Jesus was speaking with in chapter 8 of John’s gospel. They were the physical descendants of Abraham but they were not the spiritual children of Abraham. They do not do the things that Abraham did. They rejected God’s Word and they were trying to kill God’s Son. These things Abraham did not do.
The 2nd proof of spiritual paternity is to Act Like Abraham. Follow God, trust God is Faithful, and be ready to Forego your Isaac.
Admire Jesus Christ (v41-42)
The 3rd Proof of Paternity is to Admire Jesus Christ. Notice verses 41 and 42.
These Jews don’t admire Christ. When they say, “We are not illegitimate children” they are insulting Jesus. Whose mother became pregnant before she was married? Jesus. Who, besides Mary, knew that it was God that made her pregnant and that it wasn’t because she was immoral? Only Joseph and Jesus knew that truth.
And so here these Jews slam Jesus with an insult about his mother. “Don’t tell us about our father, we know who our father is. We weren’t born like you were Jesus. We know about Mary and Joseph. Who are you to tell us about our father?” When people are confronted with truth that convicts it is common that they would turn to insults.
The point is they don’t admire Jesus. But true children of Abraham who have faith like him do admire Jesus. By faith we see Him now as we will one day see Him. We know that He is the One that God exalted to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name. And we know that every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Universal admiration for Jesus is coming. We sing “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever!” In a world that hates Jesus Christ we admire Him in the highest. The proof of spiritual paternity is in Reverent Admiration for Jesus Christ.
Answer to Truth (v44)
Another Proof of Paternity is that we answer to Truth. Notice verse 44.
Those who do not belong to God can only belong to one other – Satan. Satan is the father of all who have not accepted Jesus Christ. They belong to him and his desires are their desires. We need to see two things about Satan that Jesus teaches here. First, that he is a liar, and second, that he is a murderer. In one verse Jesus says 5 different ways that Satan is a liar. Jesus is emphasizing this point because deception is Satan’s method of operation. Murder is his objective.
In the garden he used deception to lure Adam and Eve into disobeying God. But that wasn’t his final goal. God warned them they would die if they disobeyed Him and Satan knew this. Satan’s goal was to murder Adam and Eve – to take their life from them by lying to them and leading them into death. Satan’s goal is to rob of life.
Today there are more so called “paths” to salvation than you can count. Satan doesn’t have to get you into his religion, he just does everything he can to keep you out of God’s religion in Jesus Christ. He does this through lies. Broad is the way that leads to destruction and narrow the path to salvation (Matthew 7:13). The path to destruction is broad because Satan has produced so many lies in the world and all of them lead to eternal death. This road is a highway paved by Satan and it has as many lanes as there are false religions in the world.
But, the road to salvation is narrow because it is the only path – it is a one lane road that starts with the cross. This is the road of truth and life. This is the road of Jesus Christ. He said “I am the way, and the truth and the life”.
Satan’s objective is murder and his method of operation is deception. Jesus on the other hand is the giver of life and He does that through truth. “For just as the Father gives life, even so the Son gives life.” (John 5:21). Jesus is not a liar; He always speaks truth and He is truth incarnate (14:6).
All those who are on the side of truth listen to Him (18:37). His truth has the power to set people free from bondage to sin and death. And all those who are spiritual children of Abraham answer to truth, not to lies. They do not belong to Satan and they do not carry out his desires. They are not among those who suppress the truth by their wickedness (Rom 1:18), but, are rather among those who believe and obey and live according to the truth that is in Jesus Christ (Eph 4:21).
Acquit Jesus (v45-47)
I’ll close with verses 45-47.
True spiritual children of Abraham acquit Jesus. They drop all the false charges against Him. When a man does not believe in Jesus Christ the Bible says that he condemns Jesus in his heart and will do anything to silence the voice of truth that speaks against the sin in his heart. He will ignore and insult Jesus if Jesus were to get too close.
But, in turning to Jesus Christ by faith a man is dropping all charges against Jesus and he realizes he is the one who is guilty. The question of “How can a man become one of God’s children is answered in the person of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. He is the doorway into the house of God and into eternal life. He can set a man free from sin and death. If at once he would believe in Him that His death on the cross paid the price for all his sins, that man would become a child of God, have peace with God, and enter into the family of faith that has eternal hope in Christ Jesus.
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