Help! I’m Sin…king!

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave[ to sin. John 8:34

Why does Jesus say, “Truly, truly” or literally “Amen! Amen!”- which, by the way, occurs 25 times in the gospel of John - meaning to affirm and confirm a statement, and emphasize what is to be said. Jesus wants us to know that everyone (I think that includes all!) who sins is a slave to sin. The wording here actually describes something that is done habitually and repeatedly – perhaps even without remorse – placing the doer in bondage, ultimately making sin their master.

Earlier, Jesus claimed to be the one and only source of spiritual truth, and those who accepted Him would be set free from the enslavement of sin (John 7:37–38; John 8:12). Jesus is pointing out that sin is a mark of following darkness, instead of His light (1 John 1:5-10). Sin, by definition, means choosing earthly, worldly things over heavenly things.

What Jesus is not saying is that all sin, at all times, should be interpreted to mean that the sinner has no relationship to Christ. The Greek of this phrase makes this nuance much easier to understand than any English translation. The exact phrasing used is pas ho poiōn ho hamartia doulos ho hamartia. This means "everyone who keeps practicing sin is a slave of sin." In other words, Jesus is now speaking of a habitual, persistent sin. Those who are free in Christ may stumble into darkness, but they do not perpetually "walk" in it (John 8:12).

Someone said, “We’re too Christian to enjoy sin and too sinful to enjoy Christ. We’ve got just enough Jesus to be informed, but not enough to be transformed.”

Most of our sins are little ones and rarely get us on the 10:00 o'clock news. Few of us are ever convicted of robbery, murder, or rape. The majority of Christians manage to avoid the big "whopping" sins most of the time. That's why when a Christian does break the law, it's news. Satan wants us to believe the lie that repentance means getting rid of the big stuff but not worrying about the little stuff. He knows more houses are destroyed by termites than dynamite. Wow! The “little” sins repeat themselves over and over again, boring little holes in our souls eventually bleeding us of all faith and spiritual energy. So, whether big or little, we have to break the sin habit in order to grow in Christ. But how? First, admit it, ask his forgiveness, and then trust God will fill the hole where the sin used to be with something better!

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.” (Jn. 8:31). We need to abide in and obey his word, which usually means making significant changes in our lives. He will help us if we just ask.

Deb Hill

by Deb Hill

Becoming Disciples

John 8:31-32
The word ‘disciple’ is a bit ambiguous today. If you ask a group of people what it means to be a disciple, you’ll get a number of different answers. However, in Jesus’ day, the word was very common in society as a whole. The word disciple was used similar to the way we use the word “apprentice” or “student” and people would have a good idea of what the word meant. They would have seen and heard about rabbis calling students to become their disciples. A disciple was someone who followed a rabbi so that they could be with, become like, and do what their rabbi did.

While we typically think of the word disciple as a religious word, discipleship encompasses far more than religious formation, it’s part of our human journey. John Mark Comer once wrote, “The question isn’t, am I a disciple? The question is, who or what am I a disciple of.” He’s right. There are many who are discipled by Netflix and Youtube. There are many discipled by their favorite celebrities. There are many who are discipled by the culture at large. They are being with, becoming like, and doing the things their “rabbis” are doing.

Listen to what Jesus said when Jesus began calling his followers. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) Notice that Jesus gave those who believed in him a challenge - to abide in his word. He wanted them to position their lives before him in such a way that their affections and actions became an outflow of his teaching and truth. He then told them what would happen if they did that consistently - they would become disciples. See, not everyone who believed in Jesus (see 8:30) became disciples of Jesus.

Jesus is giving us the same challenge today. He doesn’t only want us to believe in him, but he wants us to abide in his word to the point where we are spending time with him consistently, becoming like him internally, and then doing what he did. In short, he’s calling us to abide in him so that we become his disciples. And we always become like what we abide in.

One of my favorite authors, Dallas Willard, attempted to put into words how important this invitation from Jesus is. Listen to what he wrote, “The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.” May we, may you, become his disciples - and may we learn how to live the life of the Kingdom in our homes, workplaces, marriages, and friendships. Becoming disciples changes everything and it all begins with abiding.

Pastor Ryan Paulson

by Ryan Paulson

An Invitation to Freedom

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.” John 8:31-32

The short video showed a small family gathering around what was clearly a birthday celebration. It was the stepfather’s birthday and they were finally at the stage where he was opening the presents lovingly bought or handmade for him. There was much joy in this family! Then the last beautifully decorated box was handed to him; it was from the children who eagerly watched his face. The box was not large, he thought it might be a shirt. After he opened the box and spread aside the tissue, he saw a letter. As he read it, this big strong man began to weep. It was a letter signed by all three children asking if he would please adopt them. What a joyous moment as he gathered them into his arms and tearfully said he could hardly wait to give them his last name.

It seems clear from the story that these children had been living with their stepfather for a long time. They must have felt loved, safe, and free to ask this. Perhaps he had told them he would like to adopt them but it took time for them to get to that place.

When the Lord gave us the promise of freedom if we abide in Him and His word, it would also take time for us to realize it! What exactly does it mean to abide in His word? If we truly want to be Jesus’ disciples, we hold to His teachings, making a commitment to put them into daily practice. For instance, forgiving as He forgives; loving our enemies; serving others; turning our cheeks; being kind to one another, and more. We make our home in Scripture and it becomes the way we view life. The truth of living out, and experiencing what Jesus teaches, releases us from the bondage of sin. What a wonderful promise, freedom from the slavery of sin. If we abide in His word, we become His disciples truly by living out what Jesus taught and then we are free indeed.

Reflection: How would your day-to-day life change if you chose to live out what Jesus teaches? Ask the LORD to reveal to you an area where He wants to free you from bondage. Commit to accepting this invitation to freedom.

Francie Overstreet

by Francie Overstreet

Confusion

Have you ever listened to a conversation where both people weren’t listening to each other, so two very different conversations were happening? And suddenly, they realize that neither one knows what the other is talking about. There is a look, an unmistakable look of confusion before they burst into laughter.

In John 8: 31-33, we see the believers talk back to Jesus in a defensive, almost nonsensical way. Obviously, they expected Jesus to say something very different from what they were hearing. I wonder if the scriptures recorded for us only part of their conversations. I’d wager there had been a fair bit of assumption and non-listening going on before this point. And it is at this point they realize Jesus is getting at something very different.

We could say, “Silly people, you should have asked questions or listened better!” But misunderstandings are just going to happen. We are tainted by sin and will cause confusion for one of a hundred different reasons. We will also be confused by each other; trust me, we’re all pretty weird underneath our cool, collected exteriors.

It wasn’t until Jesus rebuilt the temple in three days; it wasn’t until he rose again that people truly began to understand. Their misunderstanding is part of our scripture, and we can often relate to the misunderstanding in one way or another. We wrestle with confusion, and that’s okay. That’s what we are supposed to do. Faith is how we do life because understanding isn’t always possible at whatever stage of life we’re in at the moment.

If we try to comprehend what daytime looks like in the middle of the night, the rising sun opens our eyes to new possibilities. As the light of the world illuminates everything, understanding will come.

Jonathan Duncan

by Jonathan Duncan

The King of Object Lessons

John 8:12; 20

One of the things I love about Jesus’ teaching is that he often used nature and other objects to get his point across. He was masterful at using his environment to make a point. Whether it was talking about a farmer sowing seed, being the bread of life, or telling stories about a hidden treasure, you can imagine that Jesus was often seen pointing at things as he taught people. The scene in John 8 is no different.

In John 8:12, Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” That’s quite the statement! Light carries some implicit illusions that we can grasp and understand, but for Jesus’ first listeners, the imagery would have been even stronger. See, later on in the chapter John tells us where Jesus was when he made that statement. He said, “These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple…” (John 8:20) This is one of those very specific details John gives us that should cause us to ask why he’s so specific. Well, during the Feast of Booths, four great lamps were lit that illuminated the whole Temple area. Each of them was 75 feet tall and was said to cast light over every quarter of the city. Guess where those lamps were? That’s right, in the same court as the treasury… right where Jesus was standing.

The lamps were lit during the Feast to recall the cloud and fire that accompanied the people through their desert wanderings. For the Jewish people, that light in the wilderness symbolized God’s presence with his people, protected them from surrounding armies, and most importantly, was the way God guided his people. When the cloud and fire moved, so did the Israelites. They followed the light - quite literally!

On the last day of the feast, the lights went out. So just imagine Jesus is standing in the very place where the people had been lighting lamps for the last seven days. The lamps had gone dark, and I picture Jesus pointing to the extinguished lamps and saying, “I am the light of the world.” Jesus was claiming that he illuminated in the same manner, but that he would not be extinguished. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness cannot overcome it. (Jn 1:5)

Just like the Israelites followed the light through the wilderness, we too are called to follow Jesus. Just like he led and guided them, he will lead and guide us. The question we have to answer is: Will we trust his wisdom to be our light? The Israelites had to choose whether or not they would follow the light as it traveled; we too must decide if we will follow Jesus. He is the light of the world, will you trust him as your light?

Pastor Ryan Paulson

by Ryan Paulson

Clueless

“They did not understand…”
John 8:27a

When reading the passage of Scripture for this week, John 8:12-30, the first word that came to mind about the Pharisees' challenge to Jesus was ‘clueless’.

They really had no concept of who He was. Being clueless can be caused in a few different ways. As in the 1995 movie Clueless, it was because the lead character was incredibly naïve and had no idea that she was clueless about life! I would describe myself as being clueless when it came to the reason for Jesus’ death on the cross. I knew the story of the crucifixion and resurrection but was clueless as to the why of it. I had some knowledge, just not complete knowledge. That changed at a Youth for Christ rally years ago when salvation was explained to me and I trusted in Him as my Savior.

The third causal factor for being clueless is limiting ourselves by our preexisting ideas and assumptions. It is apparent that no matter what Jesus said, the Pharisees would not see Him as the Messiah. They believed the Messiah would come to be a mighty conquering warrior to free the Jews from Rome. They missed Isaiah 52 and 53 which describes the Suffering Servant and the Sin-bearer lamb that would “bear the sins of many.” The Pharisees assumed the Messiah would come as they wished and so chose not to hear what Jesus was telling them. They asked the right question, “Who are you?” in John 8:25 but they still didn’t hear his answer because it didn’t fit their assumption. Jesus told them who He was by word and deed, but they continued to choose to be ‘clueless.’

In this event, not all were clueless and many chose not to be clueless any longer:
“Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.” John 8:30

Pray:

LORD, search me and show me where my own preexisting ideas would keep me from truth, keep me from hearing You, keep me from trusting You. Reveal to me what holds me back that I might surrender it to You that I might live in the way You want!

Francie Overstreet

by Francie Overstreet

A Short, but Powerful Phrase

In John 8:12-30, I want to highlight four verses…

12 “I am the light of the world.”
18 “I am the one who bears witness about myself…”
24 “Unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
28 “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he…”

Do you notice the short two-word phrase that is repeated in each of these four verses? Take a minute to read them again. Do you see it? It is a simple-sounding phrase that can be easily overlooked, but it is a phrase that has profound theological importance. The phrase is, “I am.”

I’m sure that many of you are thinking to yourselves, “Hey I know what that means!” Sure enough, it is the English phrase that translates the Name of God, Yahweh. This is such a sacred name that our Jewish friends don’t even pronounce it. Back in Exodus 3:13-14, Moses asked for God’s name and God answered with the Hebrew word “Yahweh.” When the Old Testament was first translated from Hebrew into Greek, about 100 years before the time of Jesus, the short two-word phrase that they chose to translate God’s Name was: ego eimi, which translates into “I am” or “I am he.” These are the Greek words that are used in each of the four verses above.

Now, here’s the tricky part. Although the New Testament was written in Greek, Jesus would have been speaking a version of Hebrew called Aramaic. That means that in each of these four verses, Jesus would have used a version of the word Yahweh in each instance, thus identifying Himself with Godself! Wow!

Later in John 18:6, the text says, “When Jesus said, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground”!! Words so powerful they knocked people over!

As we look at these verses again, may they cause you and I to be knocked off our feet. May we fall to the ground in worship of Jesus today.

Josh Rose
Discipleship Pastor 

by Josh Rose