23 And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.
24 “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
25 So they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “What have I been saying to you from the beginning?
26 “I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.”
27 They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father.
28 So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
29 “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”
30 As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.” John 8:21-30.
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The world teaches self-esteem, diversity, and tolerance. The world teaches that everybody is right and good.
Jesus teaches humility, one narrow way to salvation, and sovereign control. Jesus teaches that nobody is right and good.
In this Scripture for today, Jesus said three times in slightly different ways that “unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
Jesus’ message is quite different than many seeker-sensitive messages that we hear in churches. But, Jesus speaks “these things as the Father taught” Him.
Are our verbal and written messages also “these things as the Father taught” us?
Psalm 25:5
“Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.”
We need grace from God to learn the truth and speak the truth. But, there is hope! We have Jesus who is “full of grace and truth”! We have the Holy Spirit to guide us into all the truth!
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'” For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” John 1:14-17.
John 16:13
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”
And, what was the result of these strong words of Jesus (“unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”)?
“As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.” John 8:30.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 