Are You a Child of God, or a Child of the Devil?
John 8:31–59
True children of God are not defined by ethnic heritage but by faith in, love for, obedience toward, and honor of Jesus; those who reject Him and hate the truth are children of the devil, characterized by lies and murderous intent.
Outline
- Abiding faith and fruit as proof
- Claims of Abrahamic descent examined
- Works of Abraham versus works of the devil
- Children of God proven by response to Jesus
- Conclusion on true spiritual parentage
Themes: Child of God · Child of the Devil · Abraham · Faith · Truth · Lies · Murder · Projection · I AM
Key Cross-References: John 8:31-59, Genesis 17:4-9, Romans 4:3, Matthew 3:9-10, Galatians 3:7-14, 29, John 5:22-23, 1 John 4:14-15, John 16:27, 1 John 2:22-23, John 17:3, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Romans 1:18-19
MANUSCRIPT
“You are your father’s son.”
What a curious phrase. Of course, a son is the son of his father. What else could he be? But if you've heard this phrase before, you know it means more than just physical or genetic traits. It’s a way of noting that a child embodies many qualities, including the character and perhaps the reputation of their parent.
This phrase can be used as an insult: “You have the same ill character, make the same poor decisions, and are building the same awful reputation that your father did!” Or, it could be a compliment: “I see the same honesty, integrity, discipline, and character in you that your father was known for.”
When we use a phrase like this, we are acknowledging that sonship involves more than shared genetics. Genuine sonship is seen when a child shares the values, morals, ethics, character, and behavior of his father. When he does this, others might look at him and say, “You are your father’s son,” and his father might look at him and say, “That’s my boy!”
But what about when a child doesn’t share any moral, spiritual, or reputational resemblance to his dad? What if he goes around saying, “I am my father’s son!” That would give us pause, wouldn’t it? We might answer something like, “You are related to your father, but you aren’t at all like him.”
In our passage this morning, we are going to encounter some people who claimed spiritual privileges based on their ethnic heritage while sharing none of the moral or spiritual traits of their ancestors. Worse yet, they claimed to be sons of God the Father, who, based on their character, had no rightful claim to such a relationship.
Well, Jesus is going to confront these individuals and show them what it is that actually proves one is a child of God. Let’s begin reading in verse 31:
John 8:31-32 ¶ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Last week we learned that not everyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus, is. We learned from Jesus himself that genuine faith is an abiding faith. It is a following faith. It is an obedient faith. And, it is a fruitful faith.
Although anyone can claim anything about their relationship to Jesus, all are ultimately known by their fruit. That is, by the evidence in their lives.
This theme continues in today’s text. However, the conversation shifts beyond talk about who is genuinely a follower of Jesus and focuses on who is genuinely a child of God.
This is significant because many believe they can lay claim to a relationship with God, while rejecting Jesus. What we will learn this morning however is that genuine relationship with God is proven by faith in, love for, obedience towards, and honour of Jesus.
Let’s walk our way through this text, starting in verse 37.
John 8:37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.”
Remember from last time, that Jesus told his Jewish audience that they, like every other person born into this world, were slaves to sin in need of freedom. They rejected this diagnosis and sought to refute it by citing their Jewish ancestry, “Abraham is our father,” they said.
To be a descendant of Abraham was indeed special. It was with Abraham that God made covenant. God. The Lord says to Abraham in Genesis 17:
Genesis 17:4-9 ¶ “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 ¶ And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” 9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
God’s promise is that the Abraham and his descendants will be his people. He will prosper them, give them a promised land as an everlasting possession, and best of all – he would be their God. Abraham and his descendants would be able to lay claim to a covenant relationship with the God of heaven.
That’s what the Jews in our passage in John 8 are doing. Jesus said they were slaves, they say, “We are not slaves, we are children of the promise. We are God’s covenant people. We are Abraham’s children!”
Were they correct in these claims? Yes and no.
Look again at what Jesus said in verse 37:
John 8:37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham;
But then in verse 39:
39 … “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.”
Again, we come back to the theme of fruit and evidence. They could indeed claim Abrahamic ancestry, but were they really children of Abraham? What they were in an ancestral sense, they were not at all in a spiritual, ethical or moral sense. They may have had Abraham’s blood, but they do not at all have Abraham’s faith or character.
If they were truly Abraham’s children in this sense, their attitudes, actions and affections would align with Abraham’s – but they didn’t.
So, what do we know about Abraham and his works?
Paul in Romans 4:3 says: Rom 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
In Genesis 22 we read about the account of Abraham and Isaac where Abraham was willing to obey God even with great sacrifice.
In Genesis 18 we find Abraham as a man of prayer, interceding for the life of his nephew Lot and any righteous who might be found in the city of Sodom.
And of course, as we’ve already seen in Genesis 17, Abraham was covenant partner with God himself.
Abraham had faith in God. Loved God. Was obedient toward God. And lived a life which sought to honour God. Could this be said about the Jews in our passage? Not at all.
39 …Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.”
Jesus does a category shift and reveals that as far as God is concerned, it’s not the physical descendants of Abraham who are truly children of Abraham, but those who exercise the same faith, love, obedience and honour that Abraham did. As far as salvation is concerned, ethnicity didn’t, and doesn’t matter. What matters is the heart and the fruit which reveals the heart.
John the Baptist said to the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to be baptized by him:
Matthew 3:9-10 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Paul wrote to the Galatians:
Galatians 3:7-11 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Who are children of Abraham? Everyone who is justified by God, through faith alone. Jew or Gentile – it doesn’t matter. This means that appealing to physical Abrahamic ancestry to claim some special connection to God is folly. It’s those men and women of faith who are truly children of Abraham. And faith in what? Just faith? Faith in God in some generic sense? More than that. Paul continues in Galatians 3:
Galatians 3:13-14 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
Galatians 3:29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.
There are other faiths which claim Abraham as their patriarch. With Judaism, Islam also claims to be an Abrahamic religion. Muslims also claim to worship the same God as Jews and Christians. Do they have a right to this claim? No.
Anyone claiming a relationship with God because of their descent from Abraham is deceived, if they don’t also exercise the faith of Abraham. A faith which follows Yahweh, the triune God of the Old Testament and the God who ultimately sent his Son to die on the cross to make atonement for the sins of his people.
Look at what Jesus says in verse 54 of our passage in John 8:
54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
They were accusing him of being self-aggrandizing. His response is that it is the Father who is seeking the glorify the Son, and he is simply saying and doing the things the Father has given him to say and do. But then he makes a startling statement, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
Abraham, the man of faith, looked forward to the day when God would bring forth one of his offspring through him God would finally and fully fulfill all of his covenant promises. To be like Abraham is to embrace the Messiah, the promised saviour and King with gladness.
Is this what Jews do? No. Is this what Muslims do? No. These so-called Abrahamic religions are not so Abrahamic after all.
To be of Abraham is to have a faith in God which results in a love for, obedience towards, and honour of Jesus.
Abraham loved God, had faith in him and consequently waited in anticipation of the coming Messiah. If the Jews in our passage in John 8 were like Abraham, they would be receiving Jesus with glad hearts and open arms. As would Jews in our day, and Muslims – they are to claim that theirs is an Abrahamic religion.
Jesus continues in verse 40 of John 8:
40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.”
Jesus continues with the idea of ones morality and spirituality determining their parentage, more than genetics. If their works did not connect them to Abraham as their father, than whose children were they? We’ll answer that question in a second. First, look at their response to his claim that they are dong the works of their father:
41 … They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.”
What are they doing here? They are doing what most people do when they find themselves outgunned in a debate – they are resorting to insults and ad hominem attacks. With this statement they are snidely implying that Jesus is the product of sexual immorality.
“Suuuure, your Mother was a virgin when she gave birth. We know what really happened. We’ve heard the rumours. You’re an illegitimate child, aren’t you?”
Jesus doesn’t take the bait and instead turns back to the theme of fruit, or evidence that one truly is a child of God. He says in verse 42:
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
So again we see that God has chosen, for the purposes of salvation to set forth his Son, Jesus Christ, as the one who must be loved, believed, obeyed, and honoured if one is to have a relationship with Him.
Jesus said in John 5:
John 5:22-23 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
Do you want to honour God? Then you must honour the Son. Anyone who claims to be right with God, who does not honour Jesus as the Son of God, is self-deceived.
John wrote in the fourth chapter of his first letter:
1 John 4:14-15 ¶ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
Jesus said in John 16:
John 16:27 …the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
John again, in 1 John 2:
1 John 2:22-23 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.
Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17 and said:
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Do you want to honour God? Honour the Son. Do you want God to abide in you, and you in God? Confess that Jesus is the Son of God. Do you want to be loved by the Father? Love Jesus and believe that he came from God. Do you want to be able to accurately claim God as your Heavenly Father? Receive Jesus as your Messiah. Do you want eternal life? Ensure that you know Jesus as the sent Son of God, and only source of life.
Claims to relationship with God, like claims to Abrahamic heritage mean nothing unless they are proven by faith in, love for, obedience towards, and honour of Jesus.
Look back at John 8 and we’ll finally answer the question, if God was not the father (spiritually and morally) of the Jews in this passage, then who was their father? Jesus continued:
43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
We said that the evidence that one is a child of God is faith in, love for, obedience towards and honour of Jesus. That’s not at all what we see in the lives of the Jews in our passage. Instead, what do we see? Murderous intent, and lives built on lies. Their murderous intent, and hatred of the truth exposed them, not as children of God, but as children of the devil.
Jesus says that he, Satan was a murderer from the beginning. In what way? He tempted Adam and Eve so that they would plunge the entire human race into death and destruction. And how did he do it? By lying. He said to Eve, in contradiction of God, “You will not surely die, For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
He stirred up doubt and discontentment and ultimately disobedience by lying about what God said, and what he meant.
These remain his tactics. He casts doubt on what God has said. He makes people discontent with God as creator. He tempts people to sin and disobedience. He goal is chaos, anarchy, death, and ultimately godlessness.
Don’t we see this all around us? Yes. Homicides, terrorism, mass shootings, gang violence, and abortions are all products of Satan’s murderous influence and fallen mankind’s willingness to place themselves under it.
Do we see the influence of his lies all around us? Yes. Political corruption, religious deception, corporate fraud, fake news and rampant dishonesty are sadly commonplace.
Paul says of Satan that he is “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” Murder and lies are in the air – they have helped shape our current cultural zeitgeist. The spirit of the age is one which celebrates death, and can’t stand the truth.
Look again at verse 43:
43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
This is beyond not listening to the truth, he says that they can’t “bear to hear” his word. They can’t stand it. There is a visceral reaction to the truth which manifests itself in hatred and attacks against the truth tellers.
Governments label the truth “hate” and then pass laws against “hate speech” – effectively outlawing the truth. Social media companies do likewise, calling truth hate speech and barring truth tellers from the digital public square. Lies are repeated, falsely enshrined as the truth and truthtellers are labeled spreaders of misinformation.
The truth is hated, redefined, denied, and even suppressed. It was true in the first century and it is true today, and it will only continue to get worse. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
And to Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
And to the Romans:
Romans 1:18-19 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 ¶ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
God has his children, and Satan has his. The children of the devil are known by their fruit – murder and lies.
And what are the children of God known for? Not embracing lies and murder but embracing Jesus who reveals himself to be “the way, the TRUTH, and the LIFE.” Not lies, but truth. Not murder, but life.
So, the Jews in our passage are children of Satan. This explains why they couldn’t stand the truth. It found no place in them. Like their father the devil, they sought to distort, deny, and redefine the truth. Their hatred for the truth was so great, that it led them to first, verbally attack Christ, and then escalate their hatred to the point of murder. In doing so, they were behaving just like their father.
BACK TO OUR TEXT
45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God (v40). The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”
They’ve already slandered him and his mother by accusing him of being the product of sexual immorality and now they lodge two more insults – he’s a Samaritan and demon possessed.
We learn a lesson here – those who are children of Satan, who hate the truth have a tendency to “project.” Do you know what that means? To “project” is to unconsciously attribute to others, your own sin and shortcomings.
They suggested that he was the product of sexual immorality while they were willing to divorce their wives for any cause, and saw no problem with lusting after women in their hearts.
They suggest he is a Samaritan – that is, a hated Jewish compromiser who couldn’t genuinely claim Jewish lineage as they were mixed with Gentiles. All the while, they claimed to descend from Abraham, when they were nothing like him.
They claimed he was demon possessed, when it was they who were behaving just like their father, the devil.
You may have detected this pattern from others. Children of the devil project their sin upon others. They slander, accuse and mischaracterize all the while being guilty of the very things they accuse others of.
God’s children are known by faith in, love for, obedience towards, and honour of Jesus. While children of the devil are known by their unbelief, rejection of Christ, disobedience towards God, and denial of the truth.
Jesus responds in verse 49:
49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.
Remember earlier we quoted John 5 and said that for the purposes of salvation, the Father requires that all who would honour him, honour Christ? Well here the Jews are on the attack and dishonouring Jesus. In doing so, they weren’t only dishonouring Jesus, but they were dishonouring the God they claimed to know. Jesus says in verse 50 that it is God who is seeking to establish the glory of Jesus. And it is God who will judge the world on the basis of who honours Jesus and who does not. Jesus continues in verses 54-55:
54 …“If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word.
They claim to know God, but they don’t know God. They claim to be his children, but they are not his children. They claim to be connected to Abraham, but they are not of Abraham. They accuse Jesus of being the product of sin, but they are sinners. They say Jesus is controlled by Satan, while they are controlled by Satan. They claim that Jesus is out for his own glory, while they are hypocrites out for their own glory.
Now look at what Jesus says in verse 51, and their response:
51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”
How could Jesus say that keeping his word (which he claims is the word of God) would cause someone to never taste death if great men like Abraham and the Prophets, who were faithful to God and his word, died? Is he implying that he is greater than Abraham and the Prophets?
They intended it as a rhetorical question, with an implied emphatic “no” as the answer. But the fact is, Jesus is greater than Abraham and the Prophets. Again, since they were children of the devil, and couldn’t bear the truth, they responded to the truth by saying it was a sure sign that Jesus was demon possessed. They labeled the truth a lie, and projected their own Satanic character upon him.
So, Jesus responds to the accusation that he is pridefully exalting himself by stating that it is God, not him, who is seeking to glorify him. Beside that, he says in verse 56 regarding the question of Abraham:
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
Abraham died, yes. But he died in faith. He looked forward to the coming of Christ and trusted in the promises of God as they stood in his day. He, like every other Old Testament saint, was saved by God’s grace, through faith, as they anticipated the Saviour whom the Father would provide.
They claimed God as their Father, well it was the Father exalting Jesus. They claimed Abraham as their patriarch – well Abraham gladly anticipated the arrival of the Messiah, who was Jesus.
Of course, being spiritually blind, the Jews didn’t understand how Abraham could possibly have been anticipating the coming of Jesus, so they respond:
57 “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
Jesus responds:
58 … “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
This is where we will pick up next week, so I won’t get into too much detail now. Suffice it to say, Jesus is making an explicit claim to deity here. Whereas he previously spoke about his identity in a somewhat guarded manner, he isn’t doing so here.
By stating, “before Abraham was, I am,” he is claiming to be eternal. Beyond that, he is identifying with Yahweh himself. He is claiming to be the great I AM.
Why would he speak to explicitly now when he had shielded his true identity on so many other occasions?
He knows the hearts of his audience. These Jews are fully committed children of Satan. They hate the truth, and will continue to hate the truth. They will never come to him for life, because like their father, they love death. For this reason, Jesus offers a clear revelation of who he is to make their judgment sure.
He knows how they will respond to the truth. Their rage and murderous intent will be enflamed, and they will seal their fate as God-haters, and Christ-rejectors. And that is exactly what happened. Look at verse 59:
59 So they picked up stones to throw at him,
The clearer the truth, the greater their rage. He rightfully claimed to be one with the Father, and their response was attempted murder. They had just claimed to be children of God and Abraham and now Jesus has exposed them as children of Satan. He said Satan hated the truth and was a murderer, and he’s just proven that they also hate the truth, and are willing to murder.
He has caused them to expose their true nature, reveal who their true father is, and ultimately seal their own fate.
They were not children of God, they were children of the devil, as clearly seen by their unbelief, rejection of Christ, disobedience towards God, denial of the truth, and murderous intent.
Had they truly been spiritual descendants of Abraham and children of God, it would be evidenced by faith in, love for, obedience towards, and honour of Jesus.
CONCLUSION
True children of God are not defined by their heritage, but by their faith in, love for, obedience towards, and honor of Jesus. The Jews in our passage claimed to be descendants of Abraham and thus children of God, yet their actions and attitudes revealed otherwise. They rejected Jesus, sought to kill Him, and were aligned with the works of their true father, the devil, characterized by lies and murder.
The fact is, anyone, regardless of their ethnic background, can become a child of Abraham if they believe in Jesus by faith. It's not about physical descent, but about sharing in the faith of Abraham, who looked forward to the coming of the Messiah and embraced God's promises in Him.
Are our you a genuine child of God? Does your life bear the fruit of faith, love, obedience, and honor towards Jesus? Are you embracing the truth, or are we influenced by the deceptions and destructive character of this world?
Genuine children of God are known by their faith in Jesus, their love for Him, their obedience towards His teachings, and their honor of His name. These are the defining marks of those who belong to God and share in the promises made to Abraham.
