SERIES: The Gospel of John
A Word to the Gospel-Hardened
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Introduction: There are some terms that have fallen out of the Christian vocabulary over the years, for better or worse. When I was a boy one of those terms was “backslidden.” A backslidden person was one who didn’t come to church as often as he used to or started smoking again or was spotted buying a six-pack out of the liquor store. While the term has pretty much fallen into disuse, that doesn’t mean the problem it described is no longer with us. We still have professing Christians whose lifestyles are indistinguishable from those who make no profession of faith at all, though the areas of concern may be different from what they were in the 50’s.
Another term that is no longer used is one the Puritans coined to speak of people who, though often exposed to the truth, had never been truly converted. They were called “Gospel-hardened.” The fact that we don’t use the term today is, again, no indication that the condition it describes has vanished. The Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day were clearly in the Gospel-hardened category, and I fear that many in the church today are, as well. They think they are tight with God because of their religious connections or their theological beliefs, but in fact they are “unsaved believers.” Perhaps you have never heard that term before, but I believe it accurately describes many people who call themselves “Christians.” They believe many right things and may even try their best to live moral, religious lives, but they are, in fact, deceived into thinking they are part of the family of God.
I don’t know how any subject could be more important than knowing how to distinguish between the phony and the real in the spiritual realm. And that’s what Jesus does in this passage before us, as He discusses the essence of true discipleship, true freedom, and a true relationship with God. My use of the term “true” hints that there is a phony kind of discipleship, a phony kind of freedom, and a phony kind of relationship with God. How do we make sure that ours is true and not phony? Let’s begin with
The essence of true discipleship (31-32)
Jesus is in dialogue with a group of people of whom it is said in verse 30 that they “put their faith in him.” Normally we would take such a statement as an affirmation that these people were truly converted. But as we have already learned in this Gospel, such an assumption cannot always be made. Back in 2:23 we saw an example of a faith that was not all it was cracked up to be: “Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.” We noted when studying that passage that while they believed in Jesus, Jesus didn’t believe in them.
Turn forward a few chapters to 12:42-43: “At the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” Whether these individuals were truly converted is not clear from the text, but obviously there is something deficient about their faith—it has not been translated into behavior. It is my opinion that John 8:31 is even clearer in describing “unsaved believers,” for evidently the same individuals who believe in Him in verses 30 and 31 challenge Him in verse 33, insinuate evil things of Him in verse 41, blaspheme Him in verses 48 and 52, and try to murder Him in verse 59.
How can one account for such a quick reversal? Well, they are interested only in a surface intellectual relationship with Jesus, and He will not allow it. They were like a philosophy professor I once had at SMU who thought he was being extremely open-minded and gracious to the religious students in class when he said, “I’m inclined to believe in the resurrection.” Inclined to believe?!? Of what good is that? When Peter stood up in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost and preached to thousands he didn’t say, “Please consider whether the evidence might lend itself to the hypothesis that Jesus might possibly have actually risen from the dead.” Instead, he proclaimed,
“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God … has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact…. Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Consider also Romans 10:9,10: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” You see, there’s a big difference between saying, “I’m inclined to believe in the resurrection,” and bowing down and confessing, “Jesus is Lord.”
As soon as Jesus shows these people that mere mental assent is not enough, but rather they must surrender themselves to Him as their personal Deliverer from bondage to sin and to Satan, they react, refuse, and turn their backs on Him. They are not interested in true discipleship. I wonder how many so-called Christians today, warming pews this very hour, wouldn’t also turn completely away from Jesus if sufficiently confronted with His drastic demands for discipleship, if aware that He rejects their shallow commitments as totally worthless.
Well, all that is by way of introduction to the Essence of True Discipleship. Jesus drives home three points about discipleship to these pseudo-believers, and the first is this:
Discipleship requires obedience to Jesus’ teaching. Let verse 31 sink into your mind and heart: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The key word here is “hold,” or “abide” (NASB). It is easy enough to lay a Bible on the coffee table at home, or bring it to church, or read a verse a day to keep the devil away, or even memorize portions of it. But none of that is what Jesus demands of true disciples. What He demands is obedience.
Several weeks ago I had a visit in my office with a woman whom I would call a radical, pro-abortion feminist, who accepts the gay agenda and believes there is nothing immoral about premarital or extramarital sex. And that’s just for starters. During our conversation, she assured me at least four times that she was a Christian and she resented any insinuations to the contrary. Now I do not presume to have access to the names in the Lamb’s Book of Life, but friends, if words mean anything at all, this woman is deluded when she claims to be a Christian. Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.” She may be a Christian in a cultural sense, as opposed to being an atheist or a Buddhist or a Muslim. But she is not a Christian in any biblical sense of that term.
But that’s a relatively easy case. What about those who are pro-life, pro-family Republicans, extremely concerned about social and moral issues facing our nation, but who cheat on their income taxes, treat their spouse like dirt, and take the Lord’s name in vain regularly at work?
Don’t Jesus’ words apply to such people also? “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.”
The second truth about discipleship that our text communicates is that …
Obedience produces knowledge of the truth. I suppose that nearly everyone, if asked, would profess to be searching for truth, but most people are looking for it in all the wrong places—In science, in philosophy, in art, in experience. Unfortunately, the truth they find there will not answer the ultimate questions of life, like, “Who am I?” Or, “Why am I here?” Or, “Where am I going?” Answers to such questions can only be found as one comes to the knowledge of the truth as found in the teachings of God’s Word.
But why the order we find here? One might rather think that knowledge of the truth would produce obedience, but Jesus says just the opposite: “If you hold to my teaching … then you will know the truth.” Actually this is a constant thrust of Scripture—that there is a partial spiritual blindness that is not lifted until a person responds in faith to the claims of Jesus. Anselm put it this way: “Believe, that you may understand.”
The Scriptures do not advocate a blind leap of faith, but they do make it clear that God expects us to respond to what He has revealed before He reveals more. Thirdly, …
Knowledge of the truth leads to freedom. “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” There are many applications of this principle. Think how different would have been the careers of Richard Nixon or Ted Kennedy had they chosen truth instead of falsehood at a critical point in their lives. Not only would it have altered the outward course of our nation, but imagine what freedom of conscience it would have brought to them! Think of yourself and the last time youlied, and how you eventually became trapped. You see, falsehood always brings bondage, while truth always frees.
But that’s just one application related to truth and falsehood in human communications. Jesus’ main concern is with spiritual truth as found in His Word, and that, He says, will set one free indeed!
We have seen that the essence of true discipleship is obedience, which in turn produces knowledge of the truth, which in turn leads to freedom. But what is the essence of true freedom?
The essence of true freedom (33-36)
We hear a lot about freedom—political freedom, religious freedom, sexual freedom, freedom from superstition—all these terms are constantly bandied about today. But it is very important for us to recognize that many people who think they are free are nothing but slaves, because …
The world’s freedom is really spiritual slavery. Consider these Jewish religious leaders. As soon as Jesus indicates that they can become free, they indignantly respond that they are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. Obviously, they cannot be thinking of their political condition, for the Jews had been in bondage to Egypt, then Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece, and even as they speak, they are political slaves to Rome. Nor can they be thinking of their social condition, for many individual Jews were economic slaves. Religiously, however, they deem themselves free because they are “Abraham’s descendants.” In other words, their spiritual security blanket is in their heritage.
How many people do you think there are in the U.S. who consider themselves spiritually free because they were born into a Christian family, aren’t pagans, don’t worship idols, or aren’t superstitious? In fact, many Americans consider themselves spiritually free because they have thrown off all religious teachings and have become total secularists. “I Did It My Way” is the theme song of those who think they are free. But are they really free? Jesus says not: “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” An unbeliever can say, “I am free and I do what I like with my own life.” But the one who sins does not do what he likes; he does what sin likes. He might say, “I could stop this habit anytime I wanted to, but I don’t want to. I do it because I like it,” but I don’t believe him. If he were totally honest, I think he would admit that he is a slave to that habit and he couldn’t break it if he wanted to.
Maclaren points out, “It is a far commoner thing for a man never to have done some given evil, never to have got drunk, never to have stolen, or the like, than to have done it only once.” [i] The habitual sinner is as truly in bondage as is the prisoner with a ball and chain, and every sin he commits weighs him down further until eventually it crushes him. Centuries ago, St. Augustine commented that slavery to sin is worse than all other forms of slavery.
“At times a man’s slave, worn out by the commands of an unfeeling master, finds rest in flight. But whither can the servant of sin flee? Himself he carries with him wherever he flees…. He has committed sin to obtain some bodily pleasure. The pleasure passes away; the sin remains. Evil bondage!”[ii]
Are you a slave to sin today? Have you tried to clean up your act through New Year’s Resolutions and failed again and again? Recognizing your slavery for what it is, is certainly the first big step one must take.
In verse 35 Jesus makes a second point about the essence of true freedom, namely that …
Slaves do not participate in family privileges, but sons do. “Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.” Jesus has been picturing these pseudo-disciples as slaves in chains. But now He changes the figure slightly and draws attention to the difference between the slave’s relationship to the home and that of the son. A slave may enjoy the privileges of his master’s house occasionally but not permanently. At any moment he may be dismissed or sold. The Jews, who prided themselves on their descent from Abraham, must bear this in mind. They are presuming upon rights which they do not really possess. A Jewish scholar named Trypho, for example, wrote, “The eternal kingdom will be given to those who are the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, even though they be sinners and unbelievers and disobedient to God.” Jesus flatly denies that.
Finally, we come to the real crux of the issue in verse 36:
If the Son sets one free, he is free indeed. He has talked about sons in verse 35; now He speaks of the Son, who is the only source of genuine freedom. When a convict’s sentence is commuted by a governor or reversed by a judge or ended by a parole board, that man is free. But the governor or judge or parole officer does not ordinarily adopt that man as his own son, restore all his privileges, and treat him as though he were guiltless. But when Jesus Christ the Son of God sets a man free from slavery to sin, He does all those things. He grants freedom that is freedom indeed!
On a simple grave next to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, a tombstone bears these words, “Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, I’m free at last. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.” I’ve heard the incredible speech he gave in Washington D.C. nearly 50 years ago many times, and I never cease to be stirred by it.
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.’ I have a dream that we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children can join in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last.'”
As much as I am personally in sympathy with the goals that Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to achieve, I must say that the freedom he cried out for that day from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial was not ultimate freedom. The Negro spiritual he quoted from does not speak of political, social, or economic freedom primarily, but rather of spiritual freedom. And as much as every human being deserves political, social, and economic freedom, those freedoms are nothing in comparison to the freedom that Jesus offers when He cries out, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Free from fear.
Free from loneliness
Free from self
Free from other people’s expectations
Free from guilt
Free from sin
I suppose that in a group this size there are a number who are in debt and a few, perhaps, are staggering under a heavy load of bills and financial obligations. What if this afternoon a total stranger came up to you and said, “I’ve paid off your house mortgage, your hospital bill, your credit card balances, your school loan. You are debt-free and there’s absolutely no obligation to me or to anyone. You are free!”
Can you even imagine how great that would be? Well, there is something even more fantastic. Jesus says that He has assumed the entire debt of your sin—every evil deed, every evil word, every evil thought, every time you have failed to help someone in need, every time you have been less than honest—He has forgiven it all and set you free.
That’s real freedom! When you have accepted the forgiveness Jesus purchased with His own blood on Calvary’s cross, then you can sing the spiritual with it’s true meaning, “Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty, I am free at last.”
So far Jesus has established for us that true discipleship comes from obedience to His teaching and that true freedom comes only through Himself. Thirdly, we are pointed in the direction of
The essence of a true relationship with God (33-47)
This whole discussion of freedom has put these pseudo-disciples very much on the defensive. They can clearly discern in Jesus’ words the inference that something is rotten in their spiritual state of Denmark, and they fall back immediately on their heritage.
The claims of the religious leaders:
1. “Abraham is our father.” (33, 39) In both verse 33 and 39 they appeal to their blood relationship with Abraham—a man of indisputable faith and unquestionably a man rightly related to God. They are incensed over Jesus’ intimation that their religious credentials are less than secure and in order. They fail to realize that religious heritage or religious privilege has never guaranteed a right relationship with God. One can have all the right credentials, one can be highly respected in the community, one can be known in business as a person with impeccable integrity, one can be an officer in the church, and still not know God.
When the Scribes and Pharisees first came to John the Baptist in Matt. 3, he said to them: “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.” Paul said essentially the same thing in Romans 2:28-29: “A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.”
But the Jewish antagonists in John 8 have still another claim, which comes in verse 41: “The only Father we have is God himself.”
2. “God is our Father.” (41) In the preceding verses Jesus has been hinting that their real spiritual heritage is not divine at all but rather diabolic, and these religious leaders see that they are being backed into a corner. So, they lash out with a vicious attack: “We are not illegitimate children…. The only Father we have is God himself.” The “we” in verse 41 is in an emphatic position and can be understood in this fashion: “we were not born of fornication,” implying, “like you were.” We know that later there was a common allegation among the Jews that Jesus was born as the result of an immoral relationship between Mary and a Roman soldier, and I believe we have evidence here that such a rumor was circulating even during His lifetime. But Jesus does not allow their viciousness to go unchallenged.
The challenge of Jesus. What He challenges is not their physical relationship to Abraham, but rather their spiritual relationship to him. In verse 37 He has already admitted, “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants.” But to Jesus it is one thing to be related to Abraham by blood and quite another entirely to be related to him in spirit. To show that the latter kind of relationship is missing He starts with this charge:
1. “You don’t do what Abraham did.” (39). To claim someone as one’s father, there should be a family likeness, so Jesus says in verse 39, “If you were Abraham’s children then you would do the things Abraham did.” Did they? Well, Abraham believed God, Abraham received God’s messengers, Abraham obeyed God’s commands, Abraham rejoiced to see the Day of Christ (see verse 56), but they didn’t do any of these things. Secondly, Jesus states …
2. “You do what Abraham didn’t do.” (40) “As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.” Do you remember how in Genesis 18 Abraham received three messengers from God? They had some good news and some bad news. The good news was too good to be true, and Sarah laughed—it was that she and Abraham would have a son at their advanced age. The bad news was too bad to be true—God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, where many of their relatives lived.
Did Abraham try to kill God’s messengers because he didn’t like their news? No. Oh, he argued a bit, very politely, but eventually he accepted their word, and all the time he showed them the utmost in hospitality, for he knew that any message which came from God must be respected. But thesereligious leaders are out to kill Jesus for telling them truth which came directly from God. How can they call themselves children of Abraham?
Thirdly, Jesus comes right out and calls them children of the Devil.
3. “Your real father is the Devil.” (38, 41, 44). You’ve all heard that phrase that has been the watchword of liberal Protestantism—”the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.” A more appropriate version would be “the fatherhood of Satan and the brotherhood of man,” for many more people are children of the Devil than are children of God. That sounds very harsh, I know, but look at verse 44: “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Please note that these words are not spoken by Jesus to pagans or agnostics or atheists, though they might well apply to all three. Rather they are spoken to religious leaders who had believed in Him, that is, who were inclined to believe that what He said was true, but they were unprepared to yield allegiance to Him. This is a most dangerous spiritual state. One scholar wisely writes that as we read these stern words, “let us not ask so much how He, the Lord of Love, should so speak to the Jews, as whether we have deserved that the Lord of Love should so speak to us.” [iii]
Furthermore, not only does Jesus make this charge; He also proceeds to prove it. It is identity of inner passions and desires that establishes spiritual descent, and they have the same desires and lusts that Satan has—particularly murder and falsehood.
Fourthly and finally, Jesus clearly states …
4. “You are not God’s children.” (47). “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” If they were God’s children, they would listen to and heed the words of God. But since they aren’t His children, they have no spiritual capacity for the reception of God’s Word.
By the way, have you noticed the important part played by the Scriptures in this entire passage? It starts by stating that true disciples are those that hold fast to the teachings of Jesus and ends with the observation that those who are not really God’s children do not hear His Word. And in between He states in verse 37 that their desire to kill Him and their lack of spiritual understanding is attributable to their inability to hear or receive the Word. One can hardly emphasize too much the importance of God’s Word in anyone’s life. When it comes right down to it, one’s attitude toward this book and the living Word of whom it speaks, is determinative of one’s eternal destiny.
Conclusion: Is your faith a shallow acknowledgement of the unusual nature of Jesus’ deeds and words? Or does it constitute a full allegiance to Him as the unique and eternal Son of God? I am convinced that the greatest danger in the evangelical church today is not heresy or unbelief, but rather that for so many of us, what we believe has so little impact on how we live. There are so many arrogantly affirming, “We are Abraham’s descendants, we are Baptists, we are Presbyterians, we are Evangelical Free and have never been slaves of anyone.” Friend, don’t allow yourself to become Gospel-hardened. Instead acknowledge today that Jesus is Lord. If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!
DATE: February 28, 1993
Tags:
Discipleship
Obedience
Freedom
Devil
[i] Quoted by my seminary professor, Dr. S. L. Johnson.
[ii] St. Augustine, cited by Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, 458.
[iii] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, 454.