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Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come."
So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"
And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"
And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."
They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.
Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.
John 8:21-30NKJV
In this passage we see a contrast of two types of people in this world. The first type is the people who would die in their sins because they did not believe. They would not believe because Jesus was not the type of Messiah they expected. They could not understand his words because his words were spiritual and must be spiritually discerned.
The second type of people was those who heard Jesus’ words and these words struck a chord in their hearts. They believed and received grace. They probably did not intellectually understand what Jesus was saying either, but they accepted His words by faith. They knew whatever He meant was the truth.
The requirements for eternal life are not difficult to meet. We, by nature, strive to be good enough to meet God’s demands. Our striving is in vain, for we can never do that which earns us the right to stand before a holy God. But we have that privilege if we believe in the Lord and submit ourselves before Him.
Which type are you? Do you insist on understanding things which cannot be understood by mortal men before you believe? I am not suggesting that you must commit intellectual suicide and ignore reason to believe what Jesus says, but you must be willing to accept that some things will be beyond your capacity to completely comprehend. Jesus may not be the person you expected Him to be, but He is the savior that you need escape the consequences of your sin. Stop trying to compute the formula that will make you acceptable to God and ask Jesus to give you the answer. He has completed the exam and aced it!