CHRIST IS NOT OF THIS WORLD AND NEITHER ARE BELIEVERS

Proclamation:

“Once more Jesus said to them, ‘I am going away, and … Where I go, you cannot come.’ … But He continued, ‘You are from below; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.’”  John 8:21-23 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the Apostle John under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  John begins this chapter with Jesus, The Christ, in the temple in Jerusalem teaching when the scribes and Pharisees brought in a woman who was caught in the act of adultery.  They recounted the law to Him and then asked Him what His opinion was, so that they could trap Him and have a basis for accusing Him.  If He agreed with the law of Moses, they would accuse Him to the Roman governor for taking it upon Himself to condemn a person to death.  If He disagreed with the law of Moses, they would accuse Him to the Jewish people as being an enemy of Moses.  Jesus did neither and said to them, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (John 8:7)  Being convicted by their conscience, those who brought the woman left, (John 8:9) and Jesus resumed teaching.  However, the Pharisees within the crowd in the temple challenged Him with respect to His authority. (John 8:13)  In His explanation of who He was, Jesus said that He was not of this world. (John 8:23)  Later, He told them that they were children of the devil and not of God. (John 8:44-47)  They claimed to be the children of Abraham and asked Jesus if He was greater than Abraham. (John 8:52-53)  To this Jesus responded, “Before Abraham was, I Am!” (John 8:58)  Hearing this, they picked up stones in order to stone Jesus but He slipped away passing through the midst of them. (John 8:59)

Application:

Here are four of the many points in this chapter.  First, people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.  The reason that the people who accused the woman of adultery could not stone her was because all of them were guilty of sin themselves. (John 8:7-9)  We should not go around accusing others of sinning when we are guilty of sinning, maybe a different sin, ourselves.  Secondly, as believers we have The Holy Spirit of God within us; and since God is not of this world, we are not of this world.  We are just strangers here passing through on our way to our home in heaven.  Thirdly, the devil is a liar and the truth is not in him.  He is the father of lies. (John 8:44)  It is not Christ-like to tell a lie.  Fourthly, the people of God hear the voice of God, (John 8:47) and we know His voice, (John 10:27) even if we do not always obey it.