Who's Your Daddy? (Monday, John 8, Deuteronomy 2)

I feel somewhat inadequate to post again after so many insightful reflections from everyone over the last few days.  Thank you - your comments have challenged and provoked me in my walk with Jesus in many ways!
As I open up John chapter 8 on this tired Sunday evening, the words of Jesus seem unnecessarily confronting.  He claims we're either children of God or children of the devil!
There are two very different and separate observations I want to make from this passage:

First, you can't play with sin and get away with it.  Jesus responds to the Jews claim that they've never been slaves of anyone (which is a crazy claim anyway - just think of Egypt for starters) with this in verse 34: 'I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.'
So basically we think that when we sin (it might be pride or greed or laziness or drunkenness or lust) we are in control and that sin is something that serves us.  But Jesus claims the opposite is true, we are actually serving or slaves to this sinful habit - sin traps us because we start to need it.  We become slaves to sin.  Being part of Satan's family means being a slave, and a disposable one at that.
But on the other hand being part of God's family is not just a better family to be part of, but when the Son sets you free you are free indeed.  No longer a slave in Satan's family, but a Son (or daughter) in God's family.  What a wonderful transformation!  What a wonderful freedom Jesus offers!  Let's not tinker around with sin as if its a harmless toy for our enjoyment in moderation!  Let's flee the slavery to sin and run into the loving arms of our brother and Saviour Jesus and our Father.
Also, as we live with and speak to our friends and family who don't know know Jesus yet, we don't view them as neutral fence sitters, because that isn't what they are.  They are children of the devil, harsh as that may sound, trapped in slavery to sin and in desperate need of that freedom that only the Son can bring!

Secondly, a note on the Reliability of the Bible:
Matthew 7:53-8:11 is probably marked off in your Bible with a little note that says something like: "the earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11".  Should we be concerned that this part of the Bible is uncertain?  We should certainly not place too much importance on this part of the Bible - but it doesn't seem to say anything that could not be said from another part of scripture anyway.  What it does show us is that the experts who have established the original Greek text of the bible have been completely transparent in their work.  The remarkable thing about the New Testament is just how many original Greek manuscripts we have from different times and places and just how accurately they match up to one another.  The fact that uncertainties such as Matthew 8 are so rare, should give us confidence that the Word we are reading today is the Word that was written back then.  We are also confident that the God who inspired the scriptures also controls history, and also gives us insight into his word as we read and understand it by his Spirit.  God is behind every aspect of the process, from the writing and inspiration to the preservation to the understanding and applying of the scriptures to our hearts!

yours in Christ,
Ben Boardman (Assistant Minister)

Tomorrows Readings: John 9, Deuteronomy 3.