Identity Crisis

John 8: 39 – 45,They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father." Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father -- God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. NKJV

Can we actually become a product of the things that we believe? According to the truths that Jesus shared with the Jews in today’s scripture, we certainly can. In the first part of this story, the Jews believed in Jesus; nevertheless, when He began to address their beliefs, they quickly turned on Him. The Jews wouldn’t receive Jesus’ words that they were bound by sin because they believed they were already free.

It’s impossible to believe two different beliefs/doctrines when they diametrically oppose each other. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 that we can’t serve two masters. By the leading of the Holy Spirit, Moses tells us in Deuteronomy that we must choose whom we will serve. This is also true in the story about the Jews who wanted to believe in Jesus, but refused to agree with His view concerning their identity.

You see; they were blinded by Satan because they had believed his lies. It’s not apparent at first; however, as you read the remainder of the story in John 8, you will discover that they didn’t have God’s Word abiding in their hearts. They were already filled with unbelief and therefore, rejected the truth when Jesus spoke it to them.

Finally, Jesus plainly told them that they were of their father the Devil. They had become a spiritual product (child of Satan) because Satan had spoken lies to them, and they had received his lies as truth. Paul told the believers in Corinth that he had begotten (or born) them through the gospel of Christ that he had preached to them. Peter teaches us in his epistle that we have been born again of an incorruptible seed which is the Word of God. We take on the “spirit of the seed” that we believe.

We have sufficient evidence that confirms that we become a “product or child” of the teachings we believe. In conclusion, we see through today’s teaching that we must guard our hearts very carefully, so that we don’t agree with or accept any teaching from anyone that doesn’t align with God’s Word. If you would like to hear more insights about today’s subject, then click on this link: “Identity Crisis” is a sermon that I recently preached at World Harvest Church North. Check it out!

Begotten By the Gospel of Christ,
Pastor Asa Dockery