The devil is the source of sin (8:44). Sin is the nature of the devil, and sin, the nature of the devil, is a lie. Sin is a lie, a falsehood. Everything that is sinful is unreal. The issue of the lie is death and darkness. Death and darkness, as falsehoods, are opposed to reality. Since the devil is the father of liars, he is the source of sin. The divine element of God, working as life and light within man, sets man free from the slavery of sin. But the evil element of the devil, working as sin by death and darkness within man, enslaves man to sin. His nature is a lie and brings in death and darkness. With darkness is falsehood, the opposite of the truth, the reality.
The devil is the evil father who has brought forth sinful children (1 John 3:10). The sinful children are all the followers of the devil. Thus, in 1 John 3:10, we have the term “the children of the devil.” Because the devil is the father of sinners, the sinners are “the children of the devil.” The devil is the old serpent (Rev. 12:9; 20:2), and the sinners are also the “serpents, the brood of vipers” (Matt. 23:33; 3:7). Hence, they need the Lord to be lifted up for them in the form of the serpent on the cross (John 3:14).
Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin (8:34). A slave is always under a certain bondage. Satan, the devil, has brought all humankind under the bondage of sin by imparting himself into man as the sinful nature that compels man to sin. It is impossible for anyone to free himself from such a slavery.
The result of sin is death (8:24, 51-52). In verse 24 the Lord said, “Unless you believe that I am, you shall die in your sins.” Death came in through sin. “Death passed to all men because all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). As long as one has sinned, he is destined for death. Thus, the result of sin is death.
The three main items of sin are adultery or fornication, murder, and lies (8:3, 41, 44). These items are the most sinful aspects of sin. Consider—can you find another aspect of sin that is as sinful as adultery, murder, and lying? Nothing is more sinful than these three aspects, which represent the whole relationship of sin. All sinful things are included in these three categories. Adultery or fornication means confusion. Anything that confuses humankind is a type of adultery or fornication. Murder is killing, and lying is cheating. Anything that is sinful either confuses, kills, or deceives people.
This chapter reveals something more on the positive side, for we are told how we can be delivered from sin. Firstly, this chapter reveals the only One who is not sinful. Throughout the whole universe, who is the One without sin? It is only the Lord Jesus Himself. He is without sin (8:7, 9).
Who is qualified to condemn you? Who has this position? Only the One who is without sin. The only One who is qualified and has the position to condemn you is the Lord Jesus Himself, for He is without any spot of sin. Although He is qualified to condemn you, He would not do it.
The Lord Jesus was lifted up for the sinners’ sin (8:28). Sin is the embodiment of the serpent, and the sinners’ sin is the poison of the serpent. For redemption, the Lord Jesus had to be the Lamb of God, but for dealing with the serpentine nature, the Lord Jesus had to be lifted up in the form of the serpent. In order to deal with the sinful, serpentine nature of mankind, He had to be lifted up on the cross in the form of a serpent.
The Lord is qualified to forgive man’s sin and able to set him free from the slavery of sin (8:32-34). The Lord not only gives us life, but He also enters into us as our life. Satan’s subtlety was not only to cause us to do something wrong; it was to inject himself into us. Thus, sin is no longer merely objective, an outward wrongdoing. Sin is in the very subjective nature of our being. It is no longer outside of us; it is inside of us. It has even become our very self. It is in our nature. Therefore, anything that is outside of our nature cannot help us in dealing with the sin that is in our nature. We need another life to come into us. In human history, there is only one Person who is able to come into us and be our life to encounter the serpentine nature within us. Confucius or Plato cannot do it. The only One who can do it is Jehovah, the great I Am. Only He Himself can come into us as life to counteract the serpentine nature within us. Our slavery is not an outward thing; it is inward, even in our nature. We need another life, a stronger, richer, higher life, to set us free from this slavery. Only the Lord can be such a life, and He truly is such a life because He is the divine life. The divine life is higher than the human life. It is also higher than the satanic life. When this divine life comes into us it defeats the serpentine life and nature.
The Lord is able to save man from the result of sin, which is death (8:24, 51-52). Once sin has been dealt with, spontaneously the result of sin also will be removed. The religion of law is unable to do this, for it belongs to the tree of knowledge resulting in death (Gen. 2:17). Jesus is the tree of life resulting in life (Gen. 2:9). In principle, saving man from the result of sin is changing death into life.