Unless You Believe | John 8:21-30

If you have your Bibles with you, please turn in them to John chapter eight. John chapter eight. This morning we will be in verses 21 through 30.

I’m about to read this text, and then I’m going to lead us in a word of prayer. I think I do that pretty much every single week. And I do that because we are dependent upon the Spirit of God to be at work in services like this. The Bible says that the preaching and the Word of God is power, and that faith comes through hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ.

And we’re going to see two types of people in the text. And I’m about to read the text and will begin by talking about people who are dead in their sins. Many of you right now are dead in your sins. Every time I get up here to preach the Word of God, there are people in this room that are dead in their sins.

And the text ends with people who believe in Christ. They’re saints. Those are people that are no longer dead. There are people that have passed from death to life. There are people that know Jesus. The aim for preaching, first and foremost is to be faithful. But my central goal in preaching is that you would move from verse 21 to verse 30, that all of us, if we’re struggling and see ourselves in verse 21, that we would grow in our faith and be like those in verse 30.

The goal of preaching is the strengthening and the establishing of faith. I’ll pray for that in a moment. But first let me read the text. John eight verses 21 through 30.

So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?” He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father.

So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 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.” As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

Let’s pray.

Father, our prayer right now is that by your Spirit you would make your word a swift word, that it would pass from ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip and conversation. But as the rain returns not empty, so neither may your word return empty, but that for which it was given. Father, please. What we ask not, would you grant us? What we know not, would you teach us? What we are not, would you make us by the great power of your Spirit, through the promises that you make in Jesus Christ? We ask these things. Amen.

Our brothers and sisters, I just have two points this morning that are derived from the text. Jesus is going to talk about what unbelief is and the consequences of unbelief. And then he is going to move to talk about the object of belief. If you’re helped by points and having a sermon outline, those are the two points. You have the consequences of unbelief, the consequences of unbelief that should take us from verse 21 through 24. And then you have what is far more important, what delivers us from unbelief and the consequences of unbelief. And that is the object of belief. And that will take us from verses 25 through 29. Verse 30 is really just a capper to the narrative as we see people respond to Jesus Christ in faith.

I’ll just make one more housekeeping comment, and that is that this sermon is sort of a two-parter. This sermon ends, as many of these discourses do, or the sermons on these discourses do, in the middle of a narrative, in the middle of a conversation. And what’s going to happen at the end of this text that we’re considering this week is we’re going to see people genuinely believing in Jesus. This isn’t false faith. What we see in verse 30, I think it’s real. And then Jesus is going to immediately direct those, speak to those people who have expressed faith in Christ. So this is going to be the first part of that conversation. We’re going to see a response. And then Jesus responds to the response of those who believe in him.

Point One: The Consequence of Unbelief

Look at verse 21. So he said to them again—them is the Jews, Pharisees, people who are ready to persecute him, people who are breathing threats against him, the people that will ultimately crucify him. He said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.”

In verse 21, Jesus says he’s going away. And this is a restatement of what we saw last week of what Jesus says in verse 14. You can look back at John 8, verse 14. Jesus answers, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from or where I am going.”

By way of reminder, Jesus is arguing in John 8: “I came from my Heavenly Father. I’m going to die, and I’m going to return to my Heavenly Father. And you don’t know him. Therefore you’re never going to go where he is. You’re not an inheritor of eternal life.” And that’s why he’s going to make things crystal clear. You’re dead in your sins, and you need deliverance from the judgment and the consequences of those sins. “Where I am going you cannot come.” Jesus belongs to a realm to which they are perfect strangers.

In verse 22, the Jews rightly perceive that Jesus is talking about his death. So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?” Then in verse 23, Jesus does what he does so often. He sharpens the line of demarcation between himself and the Jews. This is what the gospel always does. Radical antithesis. Line drawn between followers of Christ and followers of Satan. You could say the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. You could say children of God, children of their father, Satan. You fall into one of these camps. You are either one of those people that trust in Jesus and is so fast bound and united to him that you have a hope of heaven. You’ve been delivered from the death that is to come, or you are still dead in your sins. No in between. There is no such thing as an almost Christian.

There is no curve that Jesus or God judges upon. The question you need to ask yourself at the beginning of this sermon—I’m going to ask it again and again throughout this sermon—is: Am I a child of God? Do I have the type of faith that Jesus describes in this text? Am I united to him? How do I know that I’m united to him? Or am I still dead in my sins?

And let me just encourage you, if you’re asking that question, or if you’re put off by that question, just ask the question. Examine yourself. The Bible is filled with warnings and encouragements to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Do not whistle your way to spiritual judgment. You know, pave your way down the road to perdition because you never wanted to ask yourself honest questions that the Bible asks you. We don’t want to create a culture of suspicion here at Trinity Church, but we want the people here that worship God, that we unite arm in arm together with in faith. We want to be heading in the same direction. And therefore, let me just encourage you, brothers and sisters, even if you’re a member of the church, ask yourself, “Do I believe in Jesus Christ the way this text describes? Or am I like the Jews in this text?” Many of the Jews are like the Pharisees in this text, still dead in my sins.

Later, Jesus is going to say that many of his hearers are of their father, the devil. Jesus in John 8, and indeed the entirety of John’s Gospel, asserts a radical distinction between himself and the Jews. In verse 23 he said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.”

He and his followers, they stand over against the Jews and not just the Jews or Jewish people or Jewish beliefs, but ultimately all who fail to believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus says, “I am this dark world’s light. You are the darkness. I am from above. You are from below. I am from heaven. You are from this world. My Father is God. My followers are the children of God. You are the children of Satan. God is not your heavenly Father. Abraham is not your forefather. Heaven is not your home. You cannot go where I go because you are destined to die in your sins for your unbelief.”

Now, some of you might be confused by something you saw in verse 21. Verse 21, Jesus says, “I am going away and you will seek me.” Well that’s confusing. I thought all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. I thought, as the author James says in the book of James, “God draws near to all those who draw near to him.” Doesn’t Jesus say, “Ask, and it will be granted to you. Seek and you shall find”?

What is Jesus saying here to his hearers, that, “Hey, I’m going away, you’re going to seek me and I’m going to reject you”? Why would he say that? Is Jesus saying that some who seek him will not be saved? Rather, no. Jesus is not saying that when Jesus says “you will seek me,” he’s not saying they will later develop a personal saving interest in Jesus. He’s not saying that at all. Rather, he’s saying, “You’re going to reject me. You can’t go where I’m going. I’m going to die, and you’re going to keep seeking me. You’re going to keep awaiting and anticipating a Christ to come who has already come.” He’s saying they will go on looking for the Christ.

You see, brethren, the problem with the Jews in Jesus’ day was not their failure to seek a Christ, but their rejection of the Christ they got. Their failure was unbelief in Jesus Christ. Notice the connection between verse 21 and verse 24. Jesus connects their death in sins to unbelief. In verse 21, Jesus says, they will die in their sins. And then in verse 24 he uses that phrase twice. He says, “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”

Seeking is not the problem. Unbelief in Jesus is the problem. Sincerity saves no one. What saves is a sincere, saving belief in the provision and the Christ that God the Father has provided in His Son. There is only one name under heaven by which men and women can be saved, and it’s the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, brethren, even today, the problem with religious Jews today is not their interest in a Christ, but their vehement rejection of the only Christ who is. In the words of one popular Jewish author, “Jesus was a Jew who tried to lead a revolt against the Romans and was killed for his trouble.” That’s the standard Jewish view of Jesus, and it’s blasphemy. It’s total blindness to the glory of Christ. And it’s that same blindness that alienates all unbelievers from God.

The only thing that’s uniquely tragic about Jewish rejection of Christ is that they continue to seek. It’s so sad. They continue this breathless search for a Messiah who’s come, all the privilege, all the access they’ve had to the oracles of God. All the covenants of promise only leave them dead in their sins.

This is the consequence of unbelief. I want to give two applications to you, brothers and sisters.

First, unbelief is—we must realize that unbelief is the decisive sin that leads to death. I’ve said this, I think often in this series of John, that person you’re evangelizing doesn’t have to overcome some particular flagrant sin in their life unless that flagrant sin is unbelief. Whether it’s sexual promiscuity, whether it’s self-autonomy, whether it’s pride, whether it’s overcoming intellectual obstacles to Christianity. No, no. Their ultimate problem, the Bible says, is unbelief. Unless they believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is he. Unless they believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Savior that can save, unless they believe these things. That is the decisive sin that leads to death.

Jesus says, “Unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” To die in your sins is to inherit eternal death. It means to be consigned to the judgment of God forever. Please let this sink in. Brethren, there are billions of people in the world who have died in their sins already. There are billions of people in the world today who are presently dead in their sins, and billions more will yet die in their sins. Over 100,000 people will die today, most of whom will perish in their sins.

Some of them, like the Jews, sincerely seek a Savior, but yet they self-consciously reject Jesus Christ. They will die in their sins. Far more in the world are totally indifferent to Christ, yet failing to believe they too will die in their sins. Many people will die today with some formal relationship to Christianity. This might describe some of you in the room. Some of them old, some young, some baptized, some moral, some church-attending, yet ultimately failing to believe in Christ. They too will die in their sins.

Friends, it doesn’t matter what form of unbelief you possess. If you don’t know Christ, you will die in your sins. This is the sin that leads to death.

But the second thing I want to say, brothers and sisters, is we must not shy away from warning people of the danger of unbelief. Like, you just can’t let that friend in your life say, “Hey, Christianity is great for thee, just not for me. I’m happy for you.” Most people are friendly. They’ll cheer on the fact that you go to church on Sunday. We’ll say that’s just not for me. That type of rejection of Christ is flagrant. That type of rejection of Christ ultimately leads to death. They need Jesus. And before they can understand the need for Jesus, they need to understand the judgment that is to come. They need to understand the consequence of unbelief.

Christian, there is no greater act of love than to expose the consequences of unbelief. J.C. Ryle on this text says, “Let us never suppose that there is any want of charity in speaking of hell. Let us rather maintain that it is the highest love, to warn plainly of the danger, and to beseech them to flee from the wrath to come.”

Point Two: The Object of Belief

If the consequences of unbelief are catastrophic, then it’s crucial we understand what the object of belief must be. We’ve already seen. It’s not enough to believe in a Christ. The Pharisees and Jewish leaders arguably had an impeccable commitment to the idea of a Christ, but just not Jesus Christ. We’ve already seen in the Gospel of John, many of the crowds believed in him on account of the signs. They wanted a miracle worker. It wasn’t real faith. It was false faith. It was unformed faith. It wasn’t the type of faith that saved.

So we need to understand what’s the nature of saving faith. And the nature of saving faith is always connected to the veracity and the legitimacy of the object of faith. Who is the person? What is the thing? Who is the person that we’re ultimately resting upon?

Now there’s another version, another danger of this type of false faith that I think we see today often. Many people today repeat some version of the nostrum: “Hey, Christianity is not a religion, but it’s a relationship with God. You know, many people, they want smells and bells and they just don’t realize Christianity is really just about a relationship with God. Out with doctrine. Out with theology. Out with the church. Let me just have Jesus. That’s all I need.”

Well, brethren, I hope you understand where that breaks down rather quickly. I’m pretty passionate about my wife, Erin. We’ve been going steady for many years now. If I were to tell you, “I love Erin. I have this fantastic relationship with Erin.” And you’ve not met Erin, like, “Tell me about her.” Like, “I’m not into labels, man, like I don’t. Don’t ask me things about her. It’s about a relationship with her.” Do you see how nonsensical that is? The knowledge of who she is is essential to my relationship to her. It matters that she’s a woman. It matters that she’s beautiful. It matters that she has character. It matters who she is. And that accents the nature of my relationship with her.

Your relationship to Christ has everything to do with doctrine. It has everything to do with who Jesus is. Yes, Christianity is about a relationship with Jesus. But which Jesus? It almost certainly—or it is certainly not the Jesus of the Quran. No, they worship a false prophet. That’s not the Jesus who is. It’s the Jesus of God’s Word. Therefore, the Word of God actually matters. What you believe about the scriptures matters. We believe in Jesus as the incarnate Son of God. That he is divine matters because only a Savior who is God can actually save you from your sins. That he is robed in flesh and is incarnate and is a man matters because only such a person can actually be a right mediator between God and man. All these things matter. We have to understand who Jesus is.

Christianity is more than rubber-stamping right doctrine, but it is not less than belief in specific propositional content about the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to know who he is. You need to understand some things about Jesus. There are people who think they know Jesus who will actually die dead in their sins because they don’t understand. It’s as grave. We need to understand the gospel. We need to understand Jesus Christ.

So there’s three things that our text highlights about Jesus. Three things Jesus highlights about Jesus. It highlights his identity, his nature, who he is. He then highlights his work on the cross, sacrifice for sinners. And then, kind of related to the first, he highlights the nature of his communion with the Father. Those are all things we must understand about Jesus Christ.

First, he highlights his identity. Look at verse 24. “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”

Okay, we need a Greek lesson here. I’m so sorry, but I have to talk about Greek for a minute. Jesus says unless you believe that I am he. That’s one of the 5 or 10 Greek phrases that people tend to know. *Ego eimi* is the Greek phrase he uses. It’s the same phrase he’ll use in verse 28: “Then you’ll know that I am he.” That “he” is not explicitly in the Greek. It’s something the translators of the Bible add in the ESV. And then many of you will be familiar with verse 58, where he says, “Truly, truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” Same exact phrase.

So we want to know what Jesus is saying when he says you’re going to die in your sins unless you believe that I am he. Nothing in the world is more important, evidently, than this. If I don’t understand what Jesus means when he says “I am he,” I’m going to hell. So we have to understand. What does Jesus mean?

It is essential. Okay, there’s three ways that phrase *ego eimi* is used in the Bible, particularly three ways it’s used in the Gospel of John. First, it’s just a common sense way. It can be translated as “it is I.” Jesus says that actually in John 6, when he sees his disciples in the Sea of Galilee. They ask, “Who’s that?” He says, “It is I.” It’s just a common way of saying exactly that.

There’s also a predicative way. You know, “I am something.” So when Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” “I am the bread of life,” “I am the light of the world.” All of those phrases are using the same Greek phrase *ego eimi*.

Then there’s a third way. And the third way is an absolute sentence. And that’s how he’s using it in this text. It’s not accenting or pointing to any other phrase. He says, “Unless you believe that I am.” Whereas verse 24 and 28 say, “I am he.”

Now what does that mean? What is Jesus referring to? Well, in verse 58, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” And I’m not going to preach that text right now. It’s a very important text. What do they do right after that? They lift up stones to kill him, to execute him, to put him to death.

Many of us think of the Exodus narrative. What does the Lord say to Moses at the burning bush? Moses asked him, “Who are you, Lord?” He says, “I am who I am.” And then he commissions Moses to go back to Egypt, deliver his people to the promised land. And he says, when you do that, tell them, “I am who I am sent you.”

So many people, if they’re reading the Bible in English, they naturally think when Jesus says “I am,” he’s referring to that Exodus 3 narrative. I actually don’t think that’s the case. I don’t think that’s the case because—roll with me here. I know I’m losing a lot of y’all. We’re going to be out of this Greek lesson in just a minute. When Jesus says “I am he,” the Greek for that Exodus 3 text actually says *ego eimi ho on*. It’s a larger phrase. So all the instances where Jesus says *ego eimi* in John 8, he does not say that whole phrase, which if he wanted a callback to Exodus 3, we would expect him to say *on*. He doesn’t say that.

And it’s why the vast majority of commentators believe that Jesus actually has a different proof text in mind. Instead of Exodus, he is actually these manifold “I am” statements, these glorious statements in the prophet Isaiah, in chapters Isaiah 40 through chapter 55.

Listen to some of these promises. Listen to what God says when he uses this phrase *ego eimi*. Isaiah 43:10: “You are my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe and understand that I am he. Before me no God was formed, nor shall there be any after me.” You gotta understand that “I am he.” I’m God. There’s no other God that’s come before me. None shall follow.

Isaiah 43: “I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”

Isaiah 48: “Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first; I am the last.”

Isaiah 51: “I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass?”

Brethren, for Jesus to apply such language to himself is nothing less than blasphemy. It’s nothing less than blasphemy unless it’s true. He truly is the incarnate Son of God. Unless you believe that I am—he—the only self-existent one.

According to Jesus, part of saving faith is recognition that he is the incarnate divine Son of God. He and the Father are one. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And Jesus says, “I am he who’s before all time, no God before me, no God to follow. I am the first. I am the last. I am the one who comforts all my people. I’m the only one who can forgive people of their sins. I blot out their transgressions. I remove them as far as the east is from the west.”

You see, anything less than blood-earnest belief that “I am he” will only leave you dead in your sins. The identity of Christ, the nature of Christ, is the object of saving faith.

Secondly, Jesus says his cross is the object of faith. Particularly, he highlights the vindication and his vindication on the cross. Look at verse 28. Jesus says, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.”

When you have lifted up the Son of Man, we’ve seen that phrase before. John 3:14, Jesus to Nicodemus, who’s actually hearing Jesus speak again right now in John 8, he says, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”

Moses lifted up that bronze serpent in the wilderness, and everyone who got bit by a serpent could look to that structure and be saved. Look to that object with faith. And they were healed from all their transgressions. So it is with those who look to Jesus the Christ.

Friends, the cross serves to reveal who Jesus is. And what the Jews will intend for derision and scorn will be the sensational means of his supreme exaltation. When Jesus says, “Then you will know that I am he,” he’s actually not saying they all will be converted, but rather if they do come to know who he is, it will be because of the cross.

And what’s fascinating about the narratives of the Gospels and the book of Acts is we’ll see that many of the people who actually crucify Jesus did come to saving faith in him. They did come to believe that he was who he said he was, but not all of them. In Mark 15, we read that when the centurion who stood facing him saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” That’s the fulfillment of John 8:28. When he’s lifted up, he sees Christ and knows this man is the Son of God. But we know many rejected him. Some will stand condemned even after Christ has died. But not forever in the sense that that one day they will remain condemned, but they will one day be forced to kneel and acknowledge they exalted Christ.

Philippians 2 says, “Being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Because of the cross, the cross is going to be the instrument of Christ’s supreme exaltation. Brethren, the cross of Jesus Christ, the gruesome death of the Son of God for the sins of men, is the blazing center of the Christian faith. In that single event, God purchases elect, supremely exalting his Son. Thus, all of Scripture moves towards this momentous sacrifice. The serpent lifted up in the wilderness pointed ahead to the Son of Man on the cross. The Passover lamb foreshadowed the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The water at the feast pointed to the water of life. The temple lights themselves to the light of the world. Every aspect of the Lord’s life finds its purpose. It finds its *telos*. It meets its terminus in the power of the cross.

Nothing surpasses the saving message of Christ’s sacrifice for the sins of the world. When he lifted up the Son of Man, then—oh, then you will see. Then you will know that I am he. And so the church sings, “Lifted up was He to die. ‘It is finished,’ was His cry. Now in heaven exalted high. Hallelujah! What a Savior!”

His work on the cross is the object of saving faith.

Thirdly, and lastly, Jesus highlights his union to His Father. And this will be even more important next week. But we need to consider it now. Look at verse 28: “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 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.”

Now you may remember that we saw this truth in John 3 and John 5. The Son and the Father, they dwell in perfect, eternal fellowship. John 3:34 says, “For he whom God sent utters the words of God, for the Father gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.”

That means that throughout time and at all times, God is showing his deepest love for His Son and ceaselessly giving him the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. And the ministry of Christ is the profound display of this Trinitarian motion and affection, even in preaching. The Trinity is at work now.

Now, what’s that got to do with you and me? It’s good to just know things about Jesus. It’s good to just know how God operates. But how does that affect your Tuesday? Well, it’s actually electrifying because it does not just show us how Christ ticks, but rather it shows us that in his communion with the Father, he informs our communion with him. We learn something about how to relate and dwell in fellowship with the Triune God by how the Trinity relates with one another.

Because Jesus shows us this connection, the Father and the Son dwell in a friendship of infinite perfection, and we are to enter into this eternal fellowship. You’ll notice this if you look at the connection between verses 29 and then what happens in verse 30 and then 31 and 32. Jesus talks about this holy connection he has with his Father. Now look at verse 30: “And as he was saying these things, many believed in him.”

What’s the next thing that comes out of Jesus’ mouth? Jesus says to the Jews who had believed in 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.”

So Jesus is talking about, “Hey, you need to know that I am he. Hey, I’m going to die for the sins of mankind. And you know what? I always do those things that are pleasing to my Father. And he is always with me. And he and I are one.” And it says as he was saying these things, people are believing in him. Jesus just said, “I always do what my Father says.” And what does he say after these people believe in him? “Abide in me. If you abide in the truth, if you abide in my word, then you will be my disciple.”

True disciples of Jesus Christ abide, and as reflective of the perfect fellowship and friendship of the Father and the Son and the Spirit of God have in the Godhead. One of the chief ways the Son communes with the Father is through obedience. “I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” The text says the Son constantly pleases the Father by doing his will. Likewise, true freedom, pleasure in God in the Christian life is found in obeying Christ.

You’re not going to understand what it means to be a Christian if you do not delight in the law of God, if you don’t long to please him. If you haven’t been remade and renewed and you want to obey the commands of God. It’s not sheer duty. I delight to be following him. I delight to please God. I want to be like him. That’s the motif of the Christian life. That’s the pattern of the Christian life.

Let me close with two applications, friends.

First, brothers and sisters, the pleasure of God is the governing motif of all Christian ethics, relationships and behavior. The pleasure of God—him being pleased in us and us seeking his pleasure and finding pleasure in him—that’s the governing motif, the North Star of all Christian ethics. Like, how shall we then live? All of our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ and those outside of Christ, and indeed all of our behavior.

Christian, for some of you, your struggle in holiness is a pleasure problem. You don’t form your life in Christ around the joy of pleasing God, but only out of cold duty or some sort of debtor’s ethic. That’s why so many Christians love their life. Good days, bad days. I feel bad on my bad days. I feel good on my good days. I’m living before the countenance of some sort of sky God who has a furrowed brow, and he’s angry at me, and I need to turn that frown upside down. That’s why I need to be a good boy today. That sounds so manifestly ridiculous, but it’s how many of you live.

And there’s also many Christians that have not yet understood the place of the law of God in the Christian life. The law of God is a wonderful thing. Like, how God wants us to live. And part of a Christian’s pleasure is to please God by obeying him. You will never progress in the Christian life until the will of God is your delight.

Think about this: the only way that Jesus can actually be your model in obedience is if you love God’s ways. Jesus didn’t live his life under heaven to the tune of some sort of debtor’s ethic. He never sinned. But the Bible says all the time he delighted to do the will of his Father. He was always pleasing him. He was always obeying him. And that’s why there was no deceit in his mouth. That’s why he went to the cross. That’s why he fulfilled the law. How could he not? He loved his Father perfectly.

So when we say we want to be like Jesus, when we say we want to model Jesus, we have to find a way to please the Father. Let that be the motif that informs our Christian experience. 1 Peter 2 says, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” I want to follow in Jesus’ steps. “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

We want to live our lives for the smile of God. We want to fear him. We want to please him.

Secondly and lastly, this blood-bought impulse to please God is the infant cry of repentance. And we see that cry of repentance immediately in verse 30: “As he was speaking, many believed in him.”

I want to ask each of you right now: Is there a desire within you to obey God, or do you hate his law? Is Christianity for you just a “get out of hell free” card? Is it just a means to have some deliverance from harm, or do you actually love God? “I delight in him. I delight in his law in my inward being.”

If you think I’m asking for perfection, you know I’m not asking that. You can listen to my sermon last week. I’m asking, do you delight in the law of God?

For some of you that should produce repentance. “I put away sin. I put on Christ.” For some of you, that means you need to be baptized. “I need to follow the words of my Lord and my Christ. I need to obey his call and be baptized, and I need to join a local church.” There’s so many ways the Lord may be calling you to repentance now. Do not resist his voice. Follow him.

And I return to that question I asked at the beginning. Will you die in your sins? This is if you’re outside of Christ. Will you die in your sins? Or will you believe that Jesus is who he says he is? He is himself divine. He is the only begotten Son of God. He came into the world to save sinners like you and me. He died on a Roman cross. Three days later he rose for our justification. Do you believe that message? That’s not a message that is just true. It’s a message that is true and demands a response.

Repent of your sins. Do you? And trust yourself to him? Where he’s going, I’m going. I’m going to follow him. I’m going to love him. I’m going to pursue him all the days of my life. Jesus offers himself to you now. He did not tell these people that they were going to die in their sins just to say something true. He told many of them that to deliver them from their sins and to lead them to himself. You can receive Christ now in your chair. You can come to him now.

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. Lord, we pray that you would use this message as imperfect as it is to produce within us the type of belief in John 8:30. Lord, many of us who are in Christ, we still wrestle with unbelief. Would you strengthen us? Would you help us, Lord, with the promises of the gospel? Be more trustworthy in our hearts and in our minds? Help us to cling to Christ.

Lord, we pray that you bless our worship now in response. Lord, prepare our hearts to receive the Lord’s Supper in a few moments. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.