Last week I asked you a critical question: What must a person believe, in particular about Christ, to be sure of going to heaven The answer, of course, is that person must believe He is God, very God of very God, the God-Man.
This morning I’m going to ask you another compelling question: What single factor demonstrates the difference between a true follower, a true believer in Christ and one who is not? What factor is the proof that someone is a follower or believer in Christ?
Now there are a lot of answers people might give. Some might say it’s the profession of faith in Christ. Some might say it’s a matter of whether they go to church or not. Some might say it’s their love for one another, which sounds pretty reasonable. Someone else might say it’s whether they bear fruit. And at that point I would say you’re getting pretty warm.
This morning I’m going to suggest to you that the outward sign or proof that someone is a true follower or believer in Christ is not just his profession of faith, but the obedience to Christ’s Word. The obedience that comes as a result of faith. In other words, your response to the Word of Christ, or the Word of God, for that matter, demonstrates who and what you are. And that seems to be the point of the continued discussion between Jesus Christ and, for the most part, His enemies in Jerusalem.
Again, its six months before Christ’s crucifixion. He’s at the Feast of Booths in late summer or early fall of His final year in ministry. He’s been speaking in the temple. The chief priests, the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, the council of 70 who are the political leaders of the Jewish nation in Jerusalem, have already determined that they need to rid themselves of Jesus—that He needs to be eliminated, however they need to eliminate Him. And in true Mafia-style private deliberations, they’re willing to do any and everything they need to do to eliminate Jesus, because with all the miracles He’s doing, with his continued exposure of their corruption, they risk losing their place and their following, and all the benefits that went with it in Jewish culture. He’s a huge political and spiritual threat, a great liability.
And yet as we have seen, He’s preaching openly in the temple. He’s attracted throngs of crowds. The Jewish leaders have been doing their best to discredit Him. He has already made some incredible, unbelievable statements about Himself such as He’s the Light of the World; He’s the “I Am” of the Old Testament, very God of very God. And as He has been speaking, there are some onlookers in the crowd who are observing this hostile debate who are being won over, convinced by Jesus, that He is truly the Messiah, that He is who He claims to be. And so the Apostle John, who was an eyewitness of these proceedings, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit tells us what happens next as we pick up where we left off last week. Verse 30: “As He (Jesus) spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.” In other words, Jesus is winning the debate for those who are open to the objective truth.
And so John tells us in verse 31 that Jesus pauses for a moment in his debate with his sworn enemies to address those who have come to believe in Him. And He says to them,
“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.”
Now, once again, we have another statement of earth-shaking significance for those of us who claim to be believers in Christ. Here Christ answers the question which we have just posed: What is the proof, what single factor demonstrates above all else whether any person is truly a follower or a believer in Christ. Yes, of course, we would hope there’s at least a profession of faith in Christ. But there’s got to be something else along with that profession of Christ—there’s got to be this matter of continuing in the Word of Christ.
Exactly what does that mean? The Greek word means to remain in, or to stay in Christ’s word. The idea from the totality of Scripture seems to be that of making God’s Word, and especially Christ’s Word, the centerpiece of your life, the instruction book, and the operating manual for life. In other words, the picture of a true believer or follower of Christ is not someone who hears about Christ and announces he believes in a one-and- done sort of fashion and then goes on living as he always did before. Instead, it’s the picture of someone who comes to believe in Christ in such a way that it results in earth-shaking changes in his lifestyle—earth-shaking changes that result from a continual devotion to believing in, knowing and then doing what Christ’s Word instructs Him to do. Jesus here defines a true follower of Christ to be one who is continually drinking in the Word of Christ, meditating on it, conforming his life to it, devoting his life, therefore, to Christ. And as a result, the person demonstrates that he has become a new creature in Christ, as II Corinthians 5:17 puts it.
And how did this work out in the New Testament? Well, Acts 2:42 tells us what happened after the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit empowered the Apostles to preach the Word of Christ and the Gospel of Christ and thousands of Jews suddenly came to Christ and began to grow in their personal relationship with Christ and with His Father as a result. Acts 2:42 says, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” And did you notice that word “continually.” Awfully close to precisely what Jesus said in John 8:31 here. They were continuing in Christ’s Word. They were constantly devoting themselves to and giving attention to “the Apostle’s teaching.” What were the Apostles teaching? Christ’s words. Christ’s ways. The Apostles were obeying the Great Commission which Jesus had given them in Matthew 28:18-20 in which they were instructed to teach other disciples in accord with the command found in verse 20 there to be “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
Now remember, at this point in Christian and church history, there was no New Testament. Not a single book of the New Testament had yet been written. The Apostles and their close associates would write the books of the New Testament over the next 60 years, but at this point, the apostles themselves were the primary and expert witnesses and teachers of all that Christ taught. So these new believers didn’t have the privilege that we have today of having the New Testament or the Word of God as it now stands, which they could use privately in their own homes for Quiet Times and studies and memorization. They had to listen to the Apostles and these folks therefore were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching which was Christ’s word, and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer. And verse 46 tells us just how often this was going on—day-by-day continuing with one mind in the temple. That was church then. That was how devoted these believers were to the very thing that Christ said would distinguish those who were disciples; those who were truly followers of Him.
Colossians 3:16 gives us another picture of what continuing devoting yourselves to Christ’s Word looks like: The Apostle Paul there instructs us to “Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word and deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. In other words, we are to be so full of Christ’s Word, that His Words have been memorized, they are always on our hearts and minds, they are the words that we talk about, and sing about, and encourage one another about and they form the reason for our giving thanks to God for all his great gifts. And they are the basis for all that we do in word and in deed, because we do everything in the name of Christ.”
Now, let me ask you something. Does this picture describe you? Is this what is going on in your family? Are you always relating to each other with regard to what the Word of God says and has said? Are you singing with Psalms and spiritual songs and hymns giving thanks to God?
I’ve asked that questioned of myself and did so very seriously about seven or eight months ago. And the answer was a resounding no and is probably a no because of my lack of spiritual leadership in my family. And I suspect there a few of you who can say yes, and there’s a probably a number of you who have been or are in the same boat as I am and would have to admit that you and yours fall short in this matter.
And what I would say, is it’s time to grab the bull by the horns, to make definite plans and commitments to abide in the Word of Christ, to remain, or to continue in ultimately, what all this means—to be so full of the Word of Christ, that you actually obey Christ, that you actually follow in Christ’s footsteps which is what happens when you continue in the Word of Christ. And therefore just as He said, you prove to be His disciples, you are truly followers of Christ.
And that’s our first point this morning. Continue in Christ’s Word, and show yourself to be a true follower of Christ. Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you and so demonstrate you are truly a follower of Christ. For this is the litmus test that separates that true believer, the true follower from the false—devotion to and thus obedience to the Word of Christ.
Now I have something here with me this morning from the Center for Bible Engagement. The Center for Bible Engagement was an organization put together by Back to the Bible Broadcast, in Lincoln, Nebraska where I worked about 30 years ago. And the paper is entitled: “Understanding the Bible Engagement Challenge: Scientific Evidence for the Power of 4.” Dave Giannotti mentioned this study a few months back in one of his messages. At any rate, this paper scientifically demonstrates the power of the Word of God, the Word of Christ, to change people’s lives. What it scientifically demonstrated is the truth of John 8:31: That in order to truly be a follower or a disciple of Christ, a person must continue in, or devote themselves to the Word of Christ. Those who devote themselves to the Word of Christ follow in the footsteps of Christ. Those who don’t devote themselves to the Word of Christ, don’t follow in the footsteps of Christ.
The Center for Bible Engagement did internet surveys with 40,000 Americans ranging in age from 8 to 80. And what they discovered was that the single Christian discipline among things like praying, going to church and reading or hearing the Bible in terms of people behaving like Christ, was the matter of reading or listening to the Bible. They discovered that, and I quote, that “statistical analyses reveal that, controlling for other factors, such as age, gender, church attendance and prayer, Christians who are engaged in Scripture most days of the week have lower odds of participating in these behaviors: 57% for getting drunk, 68% for sex outside marriage, 61% for participating in pornography, and 74% for gambling.”
They also discovered that the number of times a person was engaged in the Bible per week was a huge factor in determining Christ-like behavior. There was almost no statistical difference in the behaviors of self-identified Christians who were involved with Scripture 0-3 times per week. But when Scripture began to make a difference was when Christian’s began spending four or more times reading or listening to Scripture per week. “Controlling for other factors, those who read or listen to the Bible at least four days a week have higher odds of participating in sharing their faith with others—228% higher odds; discipling others, 231% higher; and memorizing Scripture—407% higher.
And so the fact, according to Jesus’ Word, and now scientific evidence, is that continuing Christ’s Word, on a nearly daily basis, at least over half the days during any given week, makes all the different in terms of developing a Christ-like lifestyle—in other words, being a true disciple of Christ—exactly what Jesus’ Word would have predicted.
So, again, continue in Christ’s Word and you will show yourself to be true follower Christ, one who does not follow Christ merely in word, but also in deed.
Now notice, this is how Jesus’ follows up on new believers. He tells them to continue in His Word. That tells us the single most important thing for new believers to hear from us and to be encouraged to do is to be in the Word of Christ.
And there’s another reason why this is so important. The second reason is “When you continue in Christ’s Word, the truth will set you free from sin—and of course, from sin’s consequences.
And this is also part of Christ’s exhortation to the new believers. John 8:31-32, reading both verses now: 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.
What happens at this point, I believe, is that Jesus’ enemies now respond, even though Jesus is not talking for their benefit, or talking to them. They’re insulted that Jesus would insinuate that they’re not free men in any way.
Now many commentators on this passage claim that it’s the believers who object to what Jesus has said here. And that’s because we have the indefinite pronoun “They” at the beginning of verse 33. And grammatically, it would make sense that the word “they” refers back to the believers, which are the closest antecedent in verse 31. However, the character of those who are insulted by Jesus’ statement is not that of a believer. About them, in verse 37, Jesus says they have made no room in their hearts for his Word, and if the people He’s talking to had just believed in Him, and then it’s evident that they have made room in their hearts for His Word. More than that He accuses them of planning to murder Him, which they do not deny, in verse 38. Would someone who had just believed in the Messiah then be planning to murder Him? I don’t think so, and for those I truly believe that those who are insulted by what Jesus said, and say so out of their overweening pride, are not those in the crowd who have believed, but rather Jesus’ sworn enemies who have been debating Him in this scene all along.
And they say in verse 33, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, “You will become free.” In other words, these Jewish non-believers in Christ, by virtue of the fact that they are the physical descendants of the Jewish patriarch Abraham, believe that they are the chosen people of God, and by virtue of their physical descendancy alone, they will be counted as right before God. And this self-righteous perspective has resulted in, as I said, an overweening pride which is quickly insulted at any suggestion that they might have ever been enslaved or in bondage to anyone or anything. This is despite the fact that the Jews as a nation had indeed been literally enslaved, and were slaves in Egypt before Moses delivered them, that the same thing had happened with respect to the Babylonians 600 years earlier and that at the very moment they were speaking, the entire nation of Israel was one of many vassal nations to the Roman Empire, and that the Roman governor Pontius Pilate had ultimate political power and control over the nation.
And that’s the way it is wherever you find self-righteousness and pride. It blinds people to their very real spiritual needs. And it blinds people to the truth about Jesus and their need for the mercy, forgiveness and salvation which only He can provide for them.
So, for the sake of especially the believers who are hearing Him, Jesus patiently explains for the crowd as well as for His enemies exactly what He meant when He promised that the truth of His Word would set people free. Verse 34: Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sins is the slave of sin.” In other words, Jesus is speaking of a spiritual slavery, not a political or physical sort of slavery. And the slavery that He’s speaking of is a bondage to sin, an overwhelming tendency on the part of human kind to sin, a propensity so strong that it corrupts and destroys and distorts and perverts every effort any of us might have toward doing what is right, what is pure, and what love would do in God’s sight. What Jesus is speaking of here is further explained in the rest of the New Testament, and especially by Paul in the Book of Romans as the sin nature. The teaching of Jesus here and the rest of the New Testament is that all human beings have been born with a sin nature, a controlling and over-arching propensity to sin, which we cannot, apart from Christ’s help, overcome. Even the Apostle Paul, who had been a strict legalist as a Jew before believing in Christ, and one of the members of the sect of the Pharisees, writes,(I believe about his pre-Christian experience) in Romans 7:21-25: “I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
In other words, Paul Himself confessed that before he was a Christian, he was a slave to sin. And that only Jesus Christ could and did rescue him from the sin nature so that he was now free not to sin but live according to righteousness. And how did that come about? According to what Jesus says here it was through the power of Christ’s Word. That only the power of God, the power of God coming through His Word, the Word of Christ, that mankind has the ability to overcome that sin nature that controls his nature and his works so that they are contrary to God’s will. And that’s what Jesus is saying here: That the means by which any one of us can be rescued from our slavery to sin is by being in God’s Word, in Christ’s Word, so that Christ, God in the person of the Holy Spirit working in us, can defeat that law or power of sin that is in us and make it possible for us to live a godly and righteous life. It is not this godly or righteous living that saves us. It is the faith that saves us, but that same faith makes it possible for us to live a Christ-like life as well.
So, Jesus is saying that the kind of slavery that all of us experience without him is slavery to sin. And His Word, attention and devotion to it, delivers us from that slavery.
Now Jesus adds to this verse 35. “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.”
Now if these last two verses puzzle you, join the crowd. I struggled to understand them this week myself. And after a lot of reading and thinking, here’s what I think Jesus meant.
First of all, in Roman and Jewish culture at this time, it was in fact true that if a person was a slave in a man’s household that he could be dismissed from that household, or he could be sold. So he would lose his position in that household. On the other hand, if a man were the son of the father in that household, the Son could not be dismissed or sold, because he was the heir of the household, and hopefully, of course, loved and valued by the father. And as the son, he would ultimately grow up and have authority over the household and the slaves within it.
The Jews would have been very aware of this fact, especially in the context of discussions about Abraham. For Abraham had slaves in his household, most notably Hagar, by whom Abraham did have a son, Ishmael. Nevertheless, Ishmael was still a slave, and when contentions broke out between Hagar and Sarah, Abraham’s wife, the slave, Hagar, and her son were sent away. However the son that came legitimately by Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was never sent away, and became heir of all the promises and everything else Abraham had to give him. So he remained in the house or the family of Abraham forever. But not so with a slave, or for that matter, the son of a slave.
So, as slaves of sin, we occupy an uncertain place with regard to our future in God’s household. We could be dismissed or sold because of our unfaithfulness or sins at any time. But the Son, Jesus, in God’s Household, who will come to be the heir of all that God the Father gives in the Kingdom, has authority to free us from that uncertain state and condition of being a slave, who could at any time lose his privilege of remaining in the household. This is what Jesus, the bonafide Son of God has done for us who believe. He has saved us from our sins, and freed us from being slaves to sin, and thus in a tenuous relationship with the one who is in charge of the Household. And in making us free from sin, he has guaranteed we will continue to be members of God’s household forever.
And so Jesus can make the great promise to the believers back then and to us today, which we find in verse 36: “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
So back to our original question this morning: What does or what will prove that you are truly a disciple, a follower or Christ? It is if you continue or remain in or are devoted to the Word of Christ. The Word of Christ Himself has the power to supernaturally deliver from the one thing that is destructive, that is deadly, that ruins our experience of all the good things we would want to experience in this life. It’s the one thing that we should desire to escape. It deceives us into thinking that there is some other means to experience a fulfilling life than what God has outlined in His Word. It takes a deadly and destructive path which many of you have experienced again and again. And that’s why you have come to Christ, not only for eternal life, but for a fulfilling life, a life of peace and joy and love that can only be had through God, and through His Son Jesus Christ, and ultimately through devotion, knowledge of, dependence on and obedience to the very Word of Christ.
The proof of the pudding so to speak this morning is whether you remain in Christ’s Word, because then and only then will you demonstrate once and for all by your character and your obedience, that you are truly a disciple of Christ?
How are you doing this morning? Have you been in the Word? Is Christ’s Word the controlling and overarching factor in your life? Have you experienced victory over the sin that clings so closely? Are you experiencing the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness and self-control? Well, if not, it’s time to get aligned with the will of God, which is the Word of God, which is the Word of Christ. This week determine once and for all that you will become a devotee of the Word of Christ. Set apart that time which you will spend in Christ’s Word, the Bible, and especially the New Testament. Get on a Bible memory program; begin reading every day, meditating and fellowshipping with other believers around the Apostle’s teaching which is found in this book.
And then you will be free. You will no longer be captives to sin and its consequences destruction and death. You will be free, free at last to enjoy the blessings which God has from the beginning intended his people to enjoy!
Let’s pray!
