To Whom We Belong

Psalm 100:3 “3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

John 8:31–36 ESV

31 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.” 33 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’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Do you Abide in my word, is a self-examination of disciples

2 Corinthians 13:5 “5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

Of the appearance of many follower

Matthew 7:22 “22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’”

Matthew 13:47–50 “47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Abiding in the word

John 6:68 “68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,”

Jewish People Reject Slavery

Leviticus 25:39 “39 “If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:”

“Sir, you’re mistaken. We’re Jews- we’ve never been slaves.”

Josephus wrote “they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is their only ruler and Lord.”

Cyril of Jerusalem wrote of Joseph: ‘Joseph was sold to be a bond slave, yet he was free, all radiant in the nobility of his soul.”

Parable of the Sower.

Matthew 13:1–9 “1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.””

Free Will

“We can do whatever we like”

Yes that’s true- but you can’t like whatever you like.

Think of diets, working out, reading scripture. You can reorient your tastes, but no one slips into righteous living.

“Moral Freedom” is the ability to choose God-glorifying actions or not. Before becoming Christians, you had zero ability to act in this way. You were enslaved to sin. You could not glorify or honor God purposely. You didn’t know it, but you were in slavery.

Christians are fully free- naturally we can do what we like, and morally we can do what we like .

The unbeliever has natural freedom, but can only choose to sin.

"Free will without grace has power to do nothing but sin." — De Correptione et Gratia

William Barclay “‘Surely I can do what I like with my own life.’ But the point is that those who sin are not doing what they like; they are doing what sin likes.”

Verse 34-35 is Defining Categories. THIS IS NOT AN ANALOGY or a parable.

Definition of a sinner is a slave.

Definition of son is someone who stays in the house.

SEPARATELY-

John 8:36 “36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

This is an invitation to be set free. Notice your translators probably wrote a capital “s” here since it is Jesus. the previous

John 8:37–38 “37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.””

I know you’re Jewish.

I speak of what I have seen with my Father (God).

You speak of what you have seen with your father. Now- this whole narrative we’re thinking what? God is Jesus’ Father, and their father is Abraham, right?

Well, not quite.

Galatians 3:7 “7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.”

If Abraham is your Father, so is God and vice versa.

Instead Jesus in verse 44 says something shocking to these false converts.

John 8:44 “44 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.”

Jonathan Edwards “Natural Freedom”- the ability to do what we desire. Everyone can do that, apart from physical slavery/restraint.

Sin is Slavery! Jesus offers freedom from sin.

The World Divided into 3 kinds of people (J. Piper)

People who don’t follow Jesus

People who say they follow Jesus

People who follow Jesus

What is “my word”?

Singular. The sum of His teaching.

“He is the sum of His word” All His words, in one way or another point to Him. I am the bread etc...

John 20:31 “31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

True Disciples: Abide (remain) in the word (Jesus’ teachings)

Abiding-

Word-

Which produces TRUTH

Truth sets you free

Abiding in the word = true disciples

True disciples will know the truth

Truth sets you free.

From what? The Slavery of Sin.

John 8:33 “33 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’?””

Why do they rebut Jesus with their heritage?

John 8:37 “37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.”

This is so reminiscent of the parable of the soil.