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 ChurchOccasion: AM Service

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.

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. 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.

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.’ ” 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:

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).” 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.

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!