April 17
Bible Reading: John 8
John 8:24, “Unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
Medicine has advanced to the extent that there is seemingly some kind of remedy for nearly every kind of physical affliction. But for man’s sin problem, there is only one cure. Set before us, in clear and succinct fashion, is a prognosis and its sole remedy. The warning is to all since “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). Sin demands and deserves punishment (Romans 6:23). God is holy and just. A day of judgment looms in which “the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 4:6). They will “suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
To die in one sins is to die and then stand before God with no remedy in hand. No defense or excuse will work to deflect His wrath. No amount of self-righteousness will stay His fury. To die in one’s sins is to depart this life, troubled as it may be, to an existence of eternal woe. One can only imagine the pain and suffering of such a place, where there is eternal weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42). There is a great chasm fixed between heaven and hell—there will be no future escape from pain or sorrow for the one who dies in his sins.
The broad path that leads to destruction is well-traveled (Matthew 7:13), and though it seems right to men, it ends in death (Proverbs 14:6). We are all broad-path travelers by nature, delivered from that doomed path only by way of God’s intervention.
The “unless” at the beginning of our text speaks to God’s remedy. There is a way, one way, by which certain doom can be averted. The remedy lies in a person and is bound up in our response to Him. The Gospel of John was written to proclaim the truth that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:30). Seven recorded miracles testify to His deity. Likewise, He Himself made seven “I Am” statements that affirmed His identity. Two of these statements are in this context of our text. In the first, Jesus declared, “I AM the light of the world” (John 8:12). In the second He said, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” In response to His statement the Jews “picked up stones to throw at him,” having clearly understood He was declaring Himself to be the Son of God (John 8:59; 10:31-33). It is in this One—the divine Son of God who died for sins—that a sure remedy for sin can be found (John 1:29). That He has done all that is needful to save us is without question. The resurrection was proof-positive that God had accepted His once-for-all payment for sins (Romans 1:4, 4:25; 1 Peter 3:18).
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Some years ago, a man drowned in saving his son. His two-year-old son had fallen overboard. The father dove into the fast-moving water and handed his son to his father-in-law, but then he slipped underwater and did not resurface. He gave his life for his son whom he loved. God, in love, gave His son for rebellious sinners like us—so that we might not die in our sins (John 3:16). “Amazing love, how can it be that Thou My God shouldst die for me?”
The remedy for sin is appropriated by faith: “Unless you believe that I am He.” John’s gospel purposes to declare the truth about Jesus that “by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). Salvation is appropriated by faith and only by faith. 90+ times the word “believe” appears in John’s gospel. The message, from beginning to end of the gospel account, is that salvation is by faith in Him (John 1:12-13, 3:16, 3:36, 8:24, etc.). This message—salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone—is reiterated in numerous other Scripture texts (Acts 16:31; Romans 1:16, 10:9; Ephesians 2:8-9, etc.).
What is faith but trust? To believe in Him is to trust in Him. He proclaimed the truth about Himself. Some picked up stones to throw at Him… to their doom (John 8:59). Others believed in Him and were saved (John 8:30). Years ago, the supposedly “unsinkable” Titanic hit an iceberg and began to sink. People donned lifejackets, and some were fortunate enough to find a seat in a lifeboat. Those lifeboats proved lifesavers for those who got on board. They were saved, others perished in the cold North Atlantic. Jesus is a lifeboat to those “sinking deep in sin.” To trust in anything else is to remain in one’s sins. As that old song says, “You can’t get to heaven in a leaky old boat, ‘cause a leaky old boat it just won’t float.” To refuse to “obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus’ is to face certain and inescapable doom (2 Thessalonians 1:8). To believe in Him is to receive God’s remedy and the abundant and eternal life He alone can impart.
“Life is short… death is sure… sin is the cause… Christ the cure.”
Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law’s demands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.
LookingtoJesus 