John 8:34

Jesus said, “Listen, this is the true story. You go against God and do bad things, and everyone that does bad things is like a slave. You can’t stop doing those bad things, so they are your boss.

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

In Context

33The Jewish leaders said to Jesus, “We belong to Abraham’s family, so we are God’s special people. We never had to work for somebody for no pay, like a slave. You know, slaves are workers that belong to their boss. They always have to do what their boss tells them to do, and their boss never pays them. But we are not like that. We belong to Abraham’s family, so we are already free. You can’t tell us that we will be free.”

35You know, slaves don’t belong to their boss’s family for ever. But the boss’s son belongs to the family for ever.

Read all of John 8

Cross References

Matthew 5:18Listen. God’s book is really important. Everything in it will happen. You know, the earth and sky are always here. They don’t change. Well, just like that, God’s word and his laws will not change, not even a little bit. They will stay the same until everything in God’s book happens.

Acts 8:23I can see that you are jealous, and that you want to do bad things, and that those bad things are controlling you.”

Romans 6:12So don’t just think about the law that comes from Moses. It talks about the bad things people do. If you just think about that, you will want to do those same bad things yourself. Then that law will be your boss, and your bodies will make you want to do bad things too. Don’t be like that. Don’t let any part of your body be your boss. Don’t do whatever it wants. Instead, you have to give your bodies to God and let him use you to do good things. You have to think about him all the time, and remember that he is very good to you, and that he made you alive again in a new way. If you think like that, you will not want to do anything bad. God is really good to you. That law is not your boss any more.

Romans 6:19I’m trying to say this in a way that you will really understand. In the past you used your body for wrong things. It was like those bad things were your boss, so you kept on doing more bad things. But now you have to use your bodies for good things. You work for God, and he gets you to do good things so that you will be his special people.

Romans 7:25Thank God, Jesus Christ can make us free. He is the answer. God made a way for us to be free. Jesus will be our new leader, and he is stronger than that old boss inside us. This is what I have been saying up until now. We ourselves, we really want to do things that are right, but we have a bad part in us that is our boss, and it makes us do things that are wrong.

Matthew Henry on John 8:32-38

Christ's Discourse with the Pharisees. 31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son… Read the whole commentary →

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