Page 534 - The MacArthur Daily Bible

TN_05_MacArthur_Bible_May.qxd 8/8/03 15:41 Page 515

MAY 26
55 Yet you have not known Him, but I know
Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall
be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep
56
His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to 8:58 Most assuredly…I AM. Here Jesus
see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” declared Himself to be Yahweh,i.e.,the Lord of
57 Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet the Old Testament. Basic to the expression are
fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” such passages as Exodus 3:14; Deuteronomy
58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say 32:39; Isaiah 41:4; 43:10, where God declared
to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” Himself to be the eternally preexistent God
Then they took up stones to throw at Him;
59 who revealed Himself in the Old Testament to
but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the tem- the Jews.
ple, going through the midst of them, and so
passed by.
DAY 25:What are the steps toward true Christian discipleship?
John 8:31–36 is a pivotal section of Scripture in understanding genuine salvation and true dis-
cipleship.John emphasized these realities by stressing truth and freedom.The focus in the passage
is upon those who were exercising the beginnings of faith in Jesus as Messiah and Son of God.Jesus
desired them to move on in their faith. Saving faith is not fickle but firm and settled. Such maturity
expresses itself in full commitment to the truth in Jesus Christ resulting in genuine freedom.
The first step in the progress toward true discipleship is belief in Jesus Christ as Messiah and
Son of God (v.31).“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed”reveals the second step in
the progress toward true discipleship.Perseverance in obedience to Scripture (Matt.28:19,20) is the
fruit or evidence of genuine faith (Eph. 2:10).The word “abide” means to habitually abide in Jesus’
words. A genuine believer holds fast, obeys, and practices Jesus’ teaching.The one who continues
in His teaching has both the Father and the Son (2 John 9; Heb. 3:14; Rev. 2:26). Real disciples are
both learners (the basic meaning of the word) and faithful followers.
“The truth”(v.32) has reference not only to the facts surrounding Jesus as the Messiah and Son
of God but also to the teaching that He brought. A genuinely saved and obedient follower of the
Lord Jesus will know divine truth and both freedom from sin (v. 34) and the search for reality.This
divine truth comes not merely by intellectual assent (1 Cor. 2:14) but by saving commitment to
Christ (Titus 1:1,2).
“Whoever commits sin”(v.34).The kind of slavery that Jesus had in mind was not physical slav-
ery but slavery to sin (Rom. 6:17,18). The idea of “commits sin” means to practice sin habitually
(1 John 3:4,8,9). The ultimate bondage is not political or economic enslavement but spiritual
bondage to sin and rebellion against God.Thus, this also explains why Jesus would not let Himself
be reduced to merely a political Messiah (6:14,15).

4 And he shall be like the light of the
May 26 morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
Like the tender grass springing out of
2 Samuel 23:1–24:25 the earth,
By clear shining after rain.’
23 Now these are the last words of David. 5 “Although my house is not so with God,
Yet He has made with me an
Thus says David the son of Jesse; everlasting covenant,
Thus says the man raised up on high, Ordered in all things and secure.
The anointed of the God of Jacob, For this is all my salvation and all my
And the sweet psalmist of Israel:
desire;
2 “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, Will He not make it increase?
And His word was on my tongue. 6 But the sons of rebellion shall all be as
3 The God of Israel said, thorns thrust away,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me: Because they cannot be taken with
‘He who rules over men must be just, hands.
Ruling in the fear of God. 7 But the man who touches them

515