YE ARE NOT OF GOD

John 8:42-47 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love Me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do ye not understand My speech, even because ye cannot hear My word? Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe Me not. Which of you convinceth Me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe Me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. (Also see John 8:33-41)

Having just told the multitude that the truths that He taught would make you free, those that disbelieved Him to be the Son of God were angered at this statement. They answered Him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man. Although they, as a nation, had been in bondage for hundreds of years, and currently under Roman rule, yet as descendants of Abraham, they were promised by God that, when the Messiah came, they would once again be a free people. Since these Jewish leaders did not accept Jesus as the Messiah, they did not believe and accept His promise that the truths of God that He taught would free them (See Vs. 32). This prompted them to ask Jesus, how sayest Thou, Ye shall be made free?

By their reply, it is evident that they were looking forward to being free as a nation of people and ruled on earth by the promised Messiah. However, Jesus corrected their misunderstanding of His teaching by telling them that, as descendents of Abraham, they had disobeyed the will of God, replaced it with the wisdom of man, and were currently living in sin. Therefore Jesus told them that they were bond servants of sin (Vs. 34). As disobedient servants of sin, Jesus told them that they would be cast out by the Master, unlike the true, faithful Son of God, Who would remain forever in His Father's house (Vs. 35). However, the Son of God was given the power to make them free indeed, if they would but believe, accept, and obey His teaching (Vs. 36).

Jesus did not deny these Jewish leaders being descendents of Abraham, yet the promised "Seed" that would be a blessing to the world, which is Christ Jesus, they rejected. Why? Because the inspired message taught by Jesus hath no place in you. Their minds were so filled with self-pride, prejudice, and misinterpretations of God's word, which came from the human wisdom of the Jewish elders, that their false doctrine could not be penetrated by the inspired truths that came directly from God that were being taught by Jesus (Vs. 37-38). Jesus told them that if they were indeed Abraham's children, they would do the works of Abraham (Vs. 39). Jesus continued to tell them that He, like Abraham, was faithful to God, and yet they sought to kill Him (Vs. 40). He then said to them, Ye do the deeds of your father. They understood the meaning Jesus inferred to their true "father" as Satan, to which they replied, We are not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God (Vs. 40). They denied their blood line was mixed with sinners, and continued to falsely claim that they had been, and still were, faithful and obedient to God, their Heavenly Father (Vs. 41).

Continuing to claim God as their Father, Jesus told them that they contradict their claim by their actions. If God were your Father, ye would love Me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me. In order to recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah, the Son of God, these Jews must love God and accept His Holy Word as it is written, instead of altering it, adding to it, and ignoring some of its precepts. His word correctly and sufficiently identified Jesus as the Savior, yet by making it void by their human wisdom, they were unable to accept Him as the Messiah. By rejecting His word, they rejected God, and therefore, rejected Jesus the Christ, whom He had sent. Indeed, they refused to accept the teaching of Jesus because it undermined the human doctrine, which guided their irreligious lives.

Jesus then told them the source of their disbelief: Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. It is true, those that accept and follow worldly wisdom and desires, reject God and His wisdom, and, by doing so, reject the Father in Heaven, and have become the children of the devil - Satan himself. Reading Genesis 3:3-7 we know that Satan was a deceiver from the beginning. He is a liar, and the father of it, which brought nothing but death, turmoil, and destruction to people of the earth. Those that are given to and practice murder and deceit, reject God and accept only the devil as their father.

The Jewish leaders, and those that followed their teaching, refused to accept Jesus as the Messiah because their false teaching was exposed by the truth of God's word, which He taught. The question, Which of you convinceth Me of sin, carries this true meaning: "Which of you can find convincing proof that will convict Me of teaching error?" This question being posed to them, Jesus continues by asking these disbelieving Jews, if I say the truth, why do ye not believe Me?

Continuing His righteous judgment of these Jewish leaders, Jesus told them that if they truly were children of the Heavenly Father they would hear God's words, believe them, and accept them to govern their conduct of life. The only way the Jews during this era, or people of any age, including those living in today's world, can prove that they accept God as their Heavenly Father, is to know and obey His will that has been preserved and made known in His Holy Word. By the refusal of these self-righteous Jews to hear and obey His word, Jesus condemned them to be children of the devil by telling them, ye are not of God.

To all of God's children today; to all those that are members of His church, the church of Christ, let it never be said that we have abandoned the wisdom of God through the self-serving human doctrine of mankind. May Jesus never have reason to say to us, ye are not of God.