My Own Worst Enemy
John 8:31-47
“I’ve looked into the eyes of the enemy and the enemy is me!”- Pastor Chadism
I struck a chord last week with some of you when I made the statement that the spirit of the Anti-Christ is within us. Naturally, we don’t like this idea. However, as Jesus was talking to the Jews in his day, he tells them the exact same thing, “you belong to your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire.”
- John 8:42-47
Ingrained in us is the DNA of being an enemy of God:
- Genesis 6:5-8
- Genesis 8:20-21
- Psalm 51:3-5
- Psalm 58:3
- Jeremiah 17:9
What leads up to Jesus’ comments about mankind’s fallenness?
- John
8:12-27
- Verse 15- human judgement
- Verse 19- human knowledge
- Verse 23- human residence
- Verse 27- human understanding
What is mankind’s tendency?
- We will not listen- Verse 43
- Our desires are tainted- Verse 44
- We have murderous tendencies- Verse 44
- The ability to lie is always there-Verse 44
- Therefore, we struggle believing what is true- Verse 45
If the previous 5 statements are true of any of us, then:
- We do not belong to God- Verse 47
- If we don’t believe Jesus’ words, we are then an anti-Christ!
Hebrew term sâtan (Hebrew: שָּׂטָן) is a generic noun meaning “accuser” or “adversary”. The word is derived from a verb meaning primarily “to obstruct, oppose”.1
Mankind and the Man of Lawlessness:
- 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
- ἄνθρωπος-anthrōpos-anth’-ro-pos- human being or mankind
- ἁμαρτία-hamartia-ham-ar-tee’-ah- sinful or full of offences
- 94% of the ancient manuscripts use the term “man of sin” instead of “man of lawlessness”2
- In fact, when referring to lawlessness, the Greek word that is used is ἀνομία-anomia-an-om-ee’-ah which mean iniquity or transgressor of the law
The context of this passage must be understood as such
–Someone sent them a letter supposed written by himself or one of the other Apostles. – Verse 2
–That person is deceiving them, but many of them believed the lie. – Verse 3
–Remember Paul’s teaching. – Verse 5
–Some now are refusing to listen to Paul’s teaching, believing the lie- Verse 7
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[1] Buttrick, George Arthur; The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, An illustrated Encyclopedia.
[2] Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft: Stuttgart 1994).