Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

 ³⁹  They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father ”  Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham.

 ⁴⁰  “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God;  this Abraham did not do.

 ⁴¹  “You are doing the deeds of your father ”  They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication;  we have one Father: God.”

 ⁴²  Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.

 ⁴³  “Why do you not understand what I am saying?  It is because you cannot hear My word.

 ⁴⁴  “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

 ⁴⁵  “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.

 ⁴⁶  “Which one of you convicts Me of sin?  If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?

 ⁴⁷  “He who is of God hears the words of God;  for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”  John 8:37-47.

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We share God’s Word liberally.  Some understand and believe;  others do not understand and do not believe.

There is Godly wisdom in not casting our pearls before swine.  Matthew 7:6.  But, just because there are those who do not understand and do not believe, that fact should not induce us to only share God’s Word with those who we think will be receptive.

Rather, we are commanded to preach the Gospel to all creation.  Notice how liberally, everywhere, the Gospel is preached. 

 ³³  They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone;  how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

 ³⁴  Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.

 ³⁵  “The slave does not remain in the house forever;  the son does remain forever.

 ³⁶  “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:31-36.  (Emphasis added,)

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“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”  We are reminded of Romans 6:16.  “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?”

But, there is hope!  

“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.”    

So, we “continue” in God’s Word.  “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.”  Psalm 1:2.  This law leads us to Jesus.  “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.  For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”  Galatians 3:24-26. 

We learn about the Truth.  “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life;  no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  John 14:6.  “and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.  For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”  Romans 8:1-4.

“The slave does not remain in the house forever;  the son does remain forever.”  This Scripture reminds us of Galatians 4:21-31.  The slave represents those who are under the Law.  The son represents those of faith in Christ Jesus.  Those who are under the Law will not share “the house”, which represents heaven, with those who are of faith in Christ Jesus. 

“²¹  Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law?

 ²²  For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman.

 ²³  But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.

 ²⁴  This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants:  one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves;  she is Hagar.

 ²⁵  Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

 ²⁶  But ^{the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.}

 ²⁷  For it is written,
         “REJOICE, BARREN WOMAN WHO DOES NOT BEAR;
         BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR;
         FOR MORE NUMEROUS ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE
         THAN OF THE ONE WHO HAS A HUSBAND.”

 ²⁸  And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.

 ²⁹  But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.

 ³⁰  But what does the Scripture say?
         “CAST OUT THE BONDWOMAN AND HER SON,
         FOR THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN SHALL NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN.”

 ³¹  So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman.”  Galatians 4:21-31.

In conclusion, our Scripture for today instructs us that Jesus makes us free from sin.  We may be tempted to seek the Law to make us free from sin.  But, through the sin within us, the Law makes us a slave in bondage to sin.  “I was once alive apart from the Law;  but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;  and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;  for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”  John 7:9-10. 

But, there is hope!

“So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.  But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.  Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”  Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son;  and if a son, then an heir through God.”  Galatians 4:3-7. 

 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.

 ¹⁵  “You judge according to the flesh;   I am not judging anyone.

 ¹⁶  “But even if I do judge, My judgment is true;  for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.

 ¹⁷  “Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true.

 ¹⁸  “I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”

 ¹⁹  So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?”  Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father;   if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”

 ²⁰  These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple;  and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.”  John 8:13-20.

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What did Jesus testify about Himself?

Here are some “I am” descriptions that Jesus gave to us in this Book of John.

John 6:51
“I am the living bread that came down out of heaven;  if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever;  and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

John 8:12                                                                                                                                      “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ” I am the Light of the world;  he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

John 11:25
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,” 

John 15:5
“I am the vine, you are the branches;  he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

What did the Father testify about Jesus?

Matthew 17:5
“While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased;  listen to Him!”

 ³  The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court,

 ⁴  they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.

 ⁵  “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women;  what then do You say?”

 ⁶  They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him.  But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.

 ⁷  But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

 ⁸  Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

 ⁹  When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court.

 ¹⁰  Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they?  Did no one condemn you?”

 ¹¹  She said, “No one, Lord.”  And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either.  Go.  From now on sin no more.”]”  John 8:1-11.

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This Scripture for today reminds us of 1 John 1:8-10.  “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

Some people misuse the Scripture for today, particularly “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”, to try to make it seem as if either they did not sin or some friend did not sin.

However, Jesus did not teach that the woman did not sin.  Yes, he did not condemn her, but he made it clear that she did sin by stating:  “Sin no more“.  (Emphasis added.)

So, we go back to 1 John 1:8-10.  We learn to admit our sins.  But, we do more than just admit our sins when we are confronted with our sins.  We confess our sins even if others do not confront us with our sins.

We may wrongly think that the worst that can happen to us if others confront us with our sins.  But, Psalm 32 reveals the worst.  “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long.  For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;  My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.”  Psalm 32:3-4.

But, when we confess ours sins, God forgives us of our guilt.  Psalm 32:5.

God provides deliverance and even a hiding place.  “You are my hiding place;  You preserve me from trouble;  You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.”  Psalm 32:7.

God delivers us from our sins.  1 John 1:9 assures us that God cleanses us from all unrighteousness. 

Can God even provide a hiding place for us?  He did so for the adulterous woman.  If ever there was a person who needed and wanted a hiding place, it was this adulterous woman.  Yet, Jesus provided it for her as Jesus caused her accusers to leave one by one.  Her story builds our faith that Jesus can forgive us, deliver us, and hide us.

 ⁴⁷  The Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you?

 ⁴⁸  “No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he?

 ⁴⁹  “But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.”

 ⁵⁰  Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them,

 ⁵¹  “Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?”

 ⁵²  They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you?  Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”

 ⁵³  [Everyone went to his home.”  John 7:45-53.

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I was intrigued by the Pharisees’ statement:  “But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.”  

There are 81 verses with either the word “accursed” or “cursed” in it. 

In a review of these verses, I did not see any verses which base such a curse on lack of knowledge of the law.  Rather, the curses were based on “doing“, either doing something forbidden by the Law or based on not doing something commanded by the Law.

Deuteronomy 27:26
” ‘Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’  And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ”

So, we take the step from knowledge to “doing”.

But, we are not saved by the “doing”.

“For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.”  Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident;  for, “THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”  However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM.”  Galatians 3:10-12.

So, we take the next step from the “doing” to “faith”.

But, even though faith is the means by which we are saved, we are not saved by faith as if we generated our own faith or were wise enough to believe.      

“For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.”  So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”  Romans 9:15-16. 

^“For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”  1 Corinthians 1-26-29.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith;  and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9.

Grace comes to us:   “it is the gift of God.” 

^“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),”  Ephesians 2:4-5.

 ⁴²  “Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”

 ⁴³  So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him.

 ⁴⁴  Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.”  John 7:40-44. 

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Regarding the division, we are reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:34-39.   “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth;  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  “For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW;  and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.  “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me;  and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”  Matthew 10:34-39. 

We also remember John 6:66-69.  “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.  So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”  Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have words of eternal life.  “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”  John 6:66-69.

The division is sharp.  On which side are you?

 ³⁴  “You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

 ³⁵  The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him?  He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He?

 ³⁶  “What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

 ³⁷  Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

 ³⁸  “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'”

 ³⁹  But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive;  for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”  John 7:32-39.  

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There are three things  that I want to cover in this Scripture.

First, I want to cover the contrast between the reprobates and the elect. 

Although in a sense, Scripture tells us that in our total depraved condition, no one seeks after God (Romans 3:11), the Pharisees were seeking Jesus, not to follow Him and be His disciples, but to seize Him.  The Pharisees represent the reprobates who seek Jesus to handle Him on their own terms for their own purposes.  They may want to be saved, but they are only willing to receive Jesus on their own terms.  They will neither find Jesus nor go where Jesus is (heaven).

On the other hand, there are those elect in whom God creates that thirst for Jesus.  We read in the last chapter, John Chapter 6, about God’s irresistible grace through which God draws His elect to Jesus.  Although everyone receives an outward call, even command, to come to Jesus, only the elect receive that inward call and thirst for Christ.   

Second, the Pharisees’ scoff, that Jesus would not go to the Greeks (a/k/a Gentiles), was prophetic.  To these Pharisees, and most Jews, it was unimaginable that Godly Jewish leaders would go to and teach  the heathen Gentiles.  But, Jesus, through His Body, the Church, did exactly that.  This reminds us of the depth and extent of the love of God for the whole world, namely for people beyond just the Jews, people of every nation and tribe.

Third, Jesus statement “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” should greatly encourage us.  Even though Scripture has recently pounded the table about the truth of election, we need not “inquisitively pry into the secret and deep things of God”.  No name, after those in the first century, is written in the Bible.  No one, except God, can peer into the Book of Life.  Rather, we can perceive as to whether or not we are thirsty for Christ.  If we are thirsty for Christ, then we receive assurance by Jesus’ statement that we can come to Jesus and drink.

There is no Reformed Confession that is stricter about election nor pounds the table more about election than The Canons of Dordt.  But, here is the comfort of what The Canons of Dordt states about such a thirst. 

Article 12.  The elect in due time, though in various degrees and in different measures, attain the assurance of this their eternal and unchangeable election, not by inquisitively prying into the secret and deep things of God, but by observing in themselves with a spiritual joy and holy pleasure, the infallible fruits of election pointed out in the Word of God – such as a true faith in Christ, filial fear, a godly sorrow for sin, a hungering and thirsting after righteousness, etc.

Article 16.  Those who do not yet experience a lively faith in Christ, an assured confidence of soul, peace of conscience, an earnest endeavor after filial obedience, and glorying in God through Christ, efficaciously wrought in them, and do nevertheless persist in the use of the means which God hath appointed for working these graces in us, ought not to be alarmed at the mention of reprobation, nor to rank themselves among the reprobate, but diligently to persevere in the use of means, and with ardent desires, devoutly and humbly to wait for a season of richer grace.  Much less cause have they to be terrified by the doctrine of reprobation, who, though they seriously desire to be turned to God, to please him only, and to be delivered from the body of death, cannot yet reach that measure of holiness and faith to which they aspire;  since a merciful God has promised that he will not quench the smoking flax, nor break the bruised reed.  But this doctrine is justly terrible to those, who, regardless of God and of the Savior Jesus Christ, have wholly given themselves up to the cares of the world, and the pleasures of the flesh, so long as they are not seriously converted to God.

 ²⁷  “However, we know where this man is from;  but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.”

 ²⁸  Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.

 ²⁹  “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

 ³⁰  So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.

 ³¹  But many of the crowd believed in Him;  and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”  John 7:25-31.

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I love that question.  “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”  The inference is that the believers were reminding others of the signs that Christ performed. 

When we feel like we are not a good witness for Christ, we can take comfort and gain strength through remembering Acts 1:8:  “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;  and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

And what do good witnesses do?  They tell others of what they witnessed.  Maybe, we witnessed some Scripture by reading it and understanding it to some God-given extent.  Maybe, we witnessed some Reformed Confession and can link it to some Scripture to help others better understand the Scripture.  Maybe, we witnessed some personal experience that Scripture describes.  Maybe, we witnessed some Godly character trait in others, such as the fruit of the Spirit, and we can encourage them that God is working in them.

These are all signs.  Scripture is a sign.  Reformed Confessions are signs.  Personal experiences are signs.  Godly character traits in others are signs.  We can and should point to these signs. 

Now, obviously, some signs are more reliable than others.  Scripture is more reliable than the others I mentioned.  But, a witness can and should tell others of not only the clearest and closest thing he saw;  a witness can and should tell us, with careful explanation of the conditions, of things that he saw through a darker light and from a greater distance.  We should testify even though we are not perfect and even though our observations are not perfect. 

We can raise a helpful question like was raised here.  “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”  

We can also testify as to our personal experience (point to a sign) and raise a question as was done by the Samaritan woman at the well:  “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done;  this is not the Christ, is it?”  John 7:29.

So, what have you witnessed that may help others?