45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”
8:45
But because I tell the truth,
By contrast to the Jews and the devil, Jesus tells the truth. Everything He says corresponds to reality. Satan’s core operating mode is the lie, especially religious lies. The Jews bought into the religious lie that they had a relationship to God without the same kind of faith Abraham had.
you do not believe Me.
The devil’s children are so characterized by lies that they are not able to accept the truth. Truth and lies cannot mix. This is why the only way they can genuinely accept Christ as their Savior is for the Father to draw them to Himself (Jn 6:44).
Truth arouses the antagonism of the satanic system. His system works primarily through false religion. Satan warps the thinking of his children through lies whereby they prefer falsehood to the truth. They are more ready to believe a lie than the truth.
8:46
Which of you convicts Me of sin?
Jesus challenged the Jews to offer legitimate grounds for a charge against Him. Jesus was sinless. He was the only person who was not born in sin and did not commit an act of sin. The Jews could not accuse Jesus of murderous thinking toward His enemies.
No one could point to a flaw in Jesus’ character. His enemies could not point to falsehood from Him. His character is matchless and without flaw.
And if I tell the truth,
Christ here was primarily defending His teaching rather than His person. Since Jesus was not guilty of sin and He spoke the truth, why would not the Jews believe what He said?
why do you not believe Me?
Since the Jews could not convict Jesus of sin, they should have believed on Him. They had no grounds for not believing Him.
8:47
He who is of God hears God’s words;
Those born into God’s family have positive volition to what He says. They are “of God.”
therefore you do not hear,
The reason the Jews did not hear or respond to God is that they did not belong to God.
because you are not of God.”
By not hearing what Jesus said, the Jews proved their spiritual kinship came from the devil. The reason they did not believe Jesus was that they were not the children of God (Jn 10:26; 18:37).
PRINCIPLE:
Embracing falsehood prevents people from coming to the truth.
APPLICATION:
People who resist the truth do not belong to God. They always find reasons for not believing the reality of what God offers. Rather than opening their volition to truth, they assume Christ’s didactic statements are not true. Only God can verify what God says. This requires man to be open to God’s speaking to him. The onus is on God to initially bring the case to man (Jn 6:44).
