How To Die a Spiritual Death (Part 4)

We have been looking at John 8:21-30 the last few days and asking the question, “So you want to die a spiritual death?” You need to do 4 things: (1) abide in self-righteousness, (2) idolize the world, (3) subside in unbelief, and (4) decide to be ignorant.

1. Decide to be ignorant – “” (vs. 25-30).

It’s puzzling why the religious leaders would ask this question about His identification after all the witnesses given in Chapters 1-8 in the Gospel of John. They acted as if they had never heard these witnesses. When the witnesses of John the Baptist and the miracles of Christ and the Nicodemus and the Scriptures were presented as witnesses to Jesus Christ, they acted as if they had never heard any of those defenses here.

Why? Because they were deciding to be ignorant. They were pretending to not know what He was talking about. Jesus reminded them, “You know who I am. Ever since my ministry began I have been telling you who I am. There is no mystery about My person.”

Albert Barnes wrote, “He assumed no new character; he made no change in his professions; he is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and as he had once professed to be the light of the world, so, in the face of contempt, persecution, and death, he adhered to the profession.” There was nothing new to be added. Jesus had told them all along He was the Messiah, Son of God, and Son of Man.

Jesus said there were many things He could say to them. There many sins of pride and hypocrisy He would expose because He knows the hearts of men. But He reminds them again that everything He had been saying was from the Father.

Jesus confronted their ignorance by stating they would truly know the level of their sin when the Son of Man is lifted up. This, of course, means that when Jesus Christ ascends – He is lifted up – into heaven, they will know He spoke the truth. There will be many who realize He was speaking the truth all along. Then their proof will have arrived. But, of course, their belief will come a little too late. Jesus would already be gone.

John MacArthur gives this summary, “You want to die in your sins? Just continue in your course, just believe you’re good enough the way you are. Just carry on with your love affair with human ideologies. Just refuse to believe the great truths concerning Christ. Love your sin so much that you choose the darkness and are willfully ignorant. But to do this you’re going to have to stumble over the cross. That’s right, you’re going to have heartlessly, irreverently trample Christ’s blood because you know the gospel.” (http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/80-167.htm)

How about you friend? Are you afraid to die? Are you afraid to go through that process of aging or maybe even a sudden death? Is it physical death that scares you or spiritual death? You see we have nothing to fear about death if we have genuinely accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. A genuine believer has nothing to fear when it comes to death. They can proudly say “No Fear” when it comes to death.

But the unsaved man should be terrified, because His desire to live for Himself, love for the world, unbelief and longing to live in this ignorance will lead Him to something far worse than death: a spiritual death which includes eternity in separation from the Father in heaven. Anyone want to sign up for that future?