Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                  Chapter Eight

                                                                                                                                              Verses 27-29

Jesus had already told these unbelievers many times that He came from His Father and that He did the work of His Father. But they could not believe that Jesus came from God because to them God was merely the protector of their authority and the Savior of the nation of Israel. Humans often conceive of a god that they can control. Jesus had told them that they thought they could please God through religious practices, and they had ignored the fact that God's judgment rested on His mercy and faith in Him as being compassionate to repentant sinners. Matthew 23:23; Psalm 51:1-19. Many people use the name of God as a means to gain power over others. For this reason, the scribes and Pharisees could not believe that Jesus came from the Father.

Jesus then revealed to these unbelievers one of the most profound truths that He ever taught. Jesus told His most virulent enemies that when they would have Him nailed to a cross, then deep in their hearts they would know exactly who He was and that His works and His sermons came directly from His Father. This truth that applies to Jesus' worst enemies must also apply to every human who ever lived. God creates every living human in His image and that image has faith to recognize the Word of God when they hear it. Genesis 1:27; Genesis 1:31; Romans 12:3. They may hate it and fight against it when they hear it, but they will always recognize it.

The spiritual death that the Devil has injected into the inner beings of all humans influences all humans with a desire to get rid of God so that they can practice their sinful pleasures and their lust for power over others without any accountability for their evil to a Holy God. Genesis 2:17. To the extent that this evil influences humans, some react with hatred toward God, but others who allow their spiritual natures to somewhat prevail inside themselves, acquire a desire to be rid of their spiritual evil. The former tend to become atheists, but the latter tend to become believers saved by grace. But the spiritual evil in all humans nailed Jesus to the cross. Acts 4:25-28. But Jesus prayed from the cross that His Father would forgive all of them even though they all desired to murder Him. Luke 23:34.

Just as the evil nature of humans influences living humans to commit sins and gives them a desire to get rid of God, the Holy Spirit influences all living humans to allow the faith that God has put in to their good, spiritual natures to trust in Christ as their personal Savior. John 1:9. For this reason, the Holy Spirit has preached the gospel to every human who ever lived or will live. Colossians 1:23. Only the Holy Spirit can preach the gospel. The Holy Spirit can bring living humans who have never heard the gospel and who do not have a Bible to faith in Christ deep in their hearts even though they do not know His name. The doctrine that humans go to Hell because the Church fails to send preachers to preach the gospel to them can only be wrong. The fact that Jesus knows every one of His sheep and can never lose a single one of them belies this doctrine. John 10:27-28. Preachers of the gospel cannot be a part of the gospel. I Corinthians 15:1-4. Nevertheless, the Church should obey God and send preachers and missionaries to preach the gospel to those who have never heard it so that those who have been saved by the Holy Spirit will come to a conscious realization that they have been saved by God's grace, and they will then have a desire to join a church and serve God. Matthew 28:18-20.

Jesus then reaffirmed His preaching that He came from His Father to demonstrate His Father's Love and compassion for a lost human race. Luke 19:10. The living human race would have been lost forever in spiritual death had not Jesus come to earth to save it with a higher and a lesser form of salvation. Hebrews 2:9. If Jesus tasted death for every human then He cannot fail to save every living human whom He creates and loves. Ecclesiastes 3:14; I Corinthians 13:8.