Who is Your Father?

[Christsfreeservant]

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ 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”?’​

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“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.’​

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“They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.’ They said to him, ‘We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.’​

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“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 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. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.’” (John 8:31-47 ESV)​

Now this began by Jesus stating that these Jews believed Jesus, i.e. what he was telling them (see verses 12-31), but it soon becomes clear that they didn’t really believe him or that their belief was superficial or only up to a certain point. And Jesus knew this about them, which is why he said to them what he did next. For many people can make professions of faith in Jesus Christ, claiming that they believe in him, but their “belief” is not true biblical faith, for they just wanted the free ride into heaven without discipleship.

So Jesus told them plainly, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”​

And this is what it really comes down to – knowing and believing and practicing the truth of God’s Holy Word given as instructions to all those who have confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of their lives. For to abide in Christ and in his word is to follow, obey, keep to, conform to, act in accordance with, uphold, agree to/with, pay attention to, continue in, remain in, and stay with. So this isn’t just about knowing what the Scriptures teach, but this is about doing what they teach, in practice, consistently.

Now there are many people who are convinced that they are of God because they have made a confession of him as Lord and Savior at some time in their lives, which they then believe secures them heaven as their eternal destiny, but regardless of how they live. But what did Jesus say? “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” And Jesus and his NT apostles clearly taught us that if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, we don’t know God and we are not promised heaven.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

The Jews (not all of them) made the false assumption that because they were Abraham’s physical offspring that they were in right relationship with God. And many people today professing faith in Jesus Christ are making similar false assumptions, too. For they are “killing” Jesus by how they are living their lives in deliberate and habitual and sometimes premeditated sin against, not only God, but their fellow humans, and even sometimes those of their own families and households.

But many of these professers of faith in Jesus, when challenged with the truth of God’s word, will retort that they are Christians because they “prayed the prayer” at some time in their life. But what was Jesus’ response to the Jews? “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works that Abraham did.” And the NT Scriptures teach us the same thing, that if we are truly God’s children, we will be doing the will of God the Father in heaven and we will not be living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord.

But because these specific Jews were trying to kill Jesus, Jesus said of them that they were doing the works of the devil, who was their true father. Abraham was not their father. God the Father was not their Father. Satan (the devil) was their father, for they did the works of the devil and not the works of God. And Jesus and the NT apostles taught us the same thing. If sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to God, our father is the devil, and we are not of God, not born of God.

And what is one of the characteristic traits of the devil? He is a liar and the father of lies. And so those who end up following him, and not God, even if they give lip service to Jesus Christ, also become liars, thieves, adulterers, the unfaithful, the morally corrupt, evil, and workers of lawlessness. And so they go on sinning and doing evil and hurting other people who they claim to love or who they are supposed to love, but who they truly hate, which is evident by their actions towards them and towards God.

But, like the Jews of Jesus’ day, so many of them don’t want to hear the truth. They don’t want to be confronted with their sinful practices and called to repentance and to faithful obedience to the Lord. For they want their sin more than they want God. And they want their sin more than they want genuine loving relationships with other humans, too. And so even if they know the truth, they don’t want to hear it, and so they will treat the “messengers” the same as the Jews treated Jesus who rejected him.

So, if we are on the side of truth and righteousness and obedience to our Lord, and if we are teaching the truth of the gospel, that we must die to sin and walk in obedience to our Lord, and if we are, thus, refuting the lies of the enemy that so many are believing and accepting as truth today, we are going to be hated and mistreated and perhaps even put to death by those who refuse to listen to the truth and to obey it, because they love their sins more. But we are not to fear their attacks against us. God is on our side.

Why Are You Afraid?

An Original Work / December 5, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures

Do not be afraid.
Your Lord is always by your side.
Serve the Lord in righteousness
Before Him all your days.

Those who hate the light
Will not come to the Lord.
They fear their deeds
Might be noticed.
So, they hate the light,
And they embrace the night.

Do not be afraid,
Although your enemy attacks.
Dare to share your testimony
Of God’s saving grace.

Do not fear their threats,
But honor Christ, your Lord.
Be prepared to give an answer
For the hope you have,
With gentleness; respect.

Why are you afraid?
For all that’s hidden will be shown.
What I tell you, speak in daylight.
Let the truth be known.

Do not be afraid
Of those who’ll take your life.
Fear the Lord with understanding.
Trust Him with your life,
And give not up to strife.

Do not be afraid.
Take courage, it is I, your Lord.
Bow before Me; now adore Me.
Oh, why do you doubt?

Listen to the Lord.
Get up and bear His name!
Run and tell the world He loves them.
Jesus came to save.
Give Him your all today.