John 8:30-36 A Slave to Sin

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A Slave to Sin

John 8:30-36

Introduction: I am continually amazed in studying this Gospel of how much time John is spends warning his readers against being partial believers, but to be true believers, true disciples. John continually defines the difference. We must pay careful attention to this. This text again highlights the challenge of becoming a rejected disciple. In other words, every time you and I read the Gospel John, we should be super focused on whether or not we are true disciples. He is writing this to people like us. He is writing this to individuals who believe in Jesus, but do not meet the standard that Jesus asks of us. 

Now consider how Jesus goes about changing a partial believer into a true disciple. He uses two motivations. First Jesus connects himself to the same God who delivered Israel out of Egyptian bondage. He’s the same God who sent manna to provide for the people. He’s the same God, who brought living water in the desert. He’s the same God, who brought them through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Therefore, we must learn from Israel’s failures. Second, Jesus is eliciting from everyone of us a strong and powerful response to what God has given us. We immediately think of the sloppiness of trust that came from the Israelites in the Old Testament. A greater than Moses is here, and we need to reflect that in our lives. 

1. “If You Abide in My Word…” 
   1. The fact that Jesus challenges these new believers with these words indicates that he knows their belief is not sufficient. As humans, we fall into this pattern easily. Listening to Jesus caused them to be enamored with him for the moment. But they really do not know him, and the only way that is going to happen is if they abide in his word. It is going to take effort. It is going to take work. It is that work and effort that will keep these new believers from enduring. 
   2. Consider for a moment: How would you describe a true disciple? In your own mind, what would that look like? If we pooled our observations, I think this is what we would come up with: 
      1. A true disciple would not resist God’s commandments. 
      2. A true disciple does not attempt to get by with as little as possible in serving his master. 
      3. A true disciple lives and breathes everything his teacher is and does. Jesus describes it well in Luke 6:40, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone, when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.” 
   3. We can illustrate this further by how God described some of the kings of Judah.
      1. 2 Chronicles 25:2 “Amaziah was 25 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.” 
      2. 2 Kings 23:25 speaking of Josiah, 2 Kings records, “Before him, there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.” Why would God want all? Well, why would a married person want all from their spouse? 
   4. True disciples are Word-oriented. Abiding in his word begins with being students of the Word of God. By abiding in his word, we come to the knowledge of the truth. It is the only way to come to the knowledge of the truth. We have all known Christians, who lived their entire lives faithfully attending worship in a local church, but not really working hard to know everything God revealed in the scripture so that they can passionately give him all their heart and all their strength. We simply cannot continue to allow ourselves to be satisfied with a superficial knowledge of the Word of God. To truly become free from sin demands it. 
   5. “And you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” As much as verse 33 does not make sense to these Jews, consider what it would be like to ask the average person if they were in bondage. Indeed, most all of us would say, “Of course not.” But Jesus makes clear that every person who has ever lived is a slave to sin and has been chained and shackled to sin. Every person outside of Christ is enslaved to sin. There is no escaping it. Abiding in Jesus’ word is the only hope of freedom.
2. Jewish Justification
   1. “We are the offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘you will be become free?’” 
   2. First, a simple point. Notice that they place their confidence and their hope in being the physical offspring of Abraham. That gives us a clear view of what we read in both the books of Romans and Galatians. Jesus shows that their physical heritage is not what is important. It is their spiritual heritage. The same is true for us today. 
   3. To give a parallel of that principle, we must not put our confidence in having been baptized or going to the right church or growing up in the church. That is no different than these Jews putting their confidence in being the children of Abraham because they’ve been circumcised and have the lineage. 
   4. The critical key is, are you living like your Father? Jesus is the Word, the very revelation of the Father. We live like the Father when we live like the Son. If we do not have that spiritual heritage, all the other outward works that we may do will not make any difference.
   5. Jesus gives a perfect explanation in verse 39. “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did.” Does your life look like Abraham’s life? 
   6. Instead, in verse 44 Jesus said, “You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your fathers desires.” 
3. Enslaved to Sin
   1. The phrase, “the truth will set you free,” has been commonly used in our society for all sorts of purposes. However, the phrase immediately caught the attention of this Jewish crowd. Jesus announced that unless they abide in his word, they would remain in bondage. When they objected, Jesus said that everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. We need to stop and give some consideration to being a slave to sin.
   2. The Old Testament repeatedly gave pictures of slavery in order to teach every person’s condition because of sin.
      1. The most obvious picture is Israel’s slavery in Egypt. That picture is repeated throughout scripture in order to give us an understanding of what our sin has done to us. 
      2. In Matthew 2, when Joseph took the infant Jesus into Egypt at the command of the angel, Matthew records that this was done in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, “I called my son out of Egypt.” Matthew was announcing a new exodus, a new deliverance out of bondage. This deliverance was not from a physical nation nor was indicated by a political battle. The announcement was an Exodus out of sin, a freedom from the bondage that had afflicted man since the Garden. 
      3. Also, in Matthew 2, when the children of Bethlehem were murdered by Herod, Matthew said this was to fulfill the scripture which said, “Rachel weeping for her children, she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” However, this quotation comes from Jeremiah 31:15, which is followed by God’s promise of returning the children of Rachel out of the captivity. Of course, that never happened physically, but it did happen spiritually, giving them restoration from their bondage of sin. Again, Matthew is announcing a new freedom. 
      4. Further, under the law, God gives pictures of freedom, in the Sabbath day, in the sabbatical year, and in the year of Jubilee. In fact, Isaiah 61:1-2 uses the Jubilee picture of our salvation in Christ: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God.”  
      5. In Isaiah, when God foretold of the coming of the Messiah, he gave the picture of a new Exodus, both out of Egypt and Assyria. Again, this Exodus was from the bondage and slavery of sin. Isaiah 11:10-11, 15-16; 12:1-6; 49:8-13.
   3. To appreciate what it means to be freed from the slavery of sin, we must understand what is taking place when we are enslaved to sin. It is obvious in this text, that Jesus recognizes these people do not understand the seriousness of their condition, and the seriousness of what it means to be a slave to sin. There is a tendency for us to think of ourselves, as fairly good people, and certainly these Jews lived moral lives, but it did not change the fact they were enslaved to sin.
      1. Slavery to sin is destructive, producing misery and death. Proverbs 5:1-6, 20-23; 7:21-23, 27; 9:13-18. 
      2. Slavery to sin is an addiction that consumes a person’s life. Sin is more addictive than any drug. It quickly becomes a way of life, something that is pursued on a daily and hourly basis. The first “hit,” the first taste, is so exhilarating that the person continues to seek more. However, the more sin is consumed, the less pleasure is obtained, until one’s brain is completely defiled and filled like a trash can with rotting garbage. Listen to Paul’s description in Ephesians, “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous, and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice, every kind of impurity” (Eph. 4:18-19). Paul defines this condition as “you are slaves of the one whom you obey either of sin which leads to death or obedience, which leads to righteousness” (Romans 6:16). In other words, the one enslaved to sin, obeys sin. Sin becomes the master, and the master must be obeyed. 
      3. Slavery to sin destroys a person’s mind and makes it impossible to think in healthy, productive ways. Titus 1:15, “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled, and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds, and their consciences is our defiled.” Peter said, “These are waterless Springs and miss driven by a storm. For them, the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.” (2 Peter 2:17-19) 
      4. Slavery to sin begins with the one sin. No one intends to become enslaved. But the nature of the sin-master is to take one into bondage.
   4. Now consider being freed from sin by abiding in his word:
      1. There is a new desire, a new heart, a new pleasure, and a new allegiance. Ezekiel 36:25-27
      2. Freedom from the Serpent enables us to find rest and experience true pleasure. (Matt. 11:28-30)
      3. Freedom from sin enables us to bear fruit for God that endures to everlasting life and gives us true treasures that are eternal. Romans 7:4-6

Conclusion: Please remember, we cannot serve two masters. There is no such thing as living like Amaziah, and being acceptable to God Amaziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not with his whole heart. He did not tear down the high places; he kept a semblance of idolatry in Israel and in his heart. It cannot be that way with us. 

Berry Kercheville